Inspections and records | The Bee Bible

A regular inspection is how problems are caught while they are still small. This page covers how often to open a hive, a routine to follow on each frame, what to write down, and what to do about what you find. If you have never opened a hive, start with your first inspection, which covers smoke, handling and approach in detail.

How often to inspect

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice sets a minimum: inspect each hive at least twice a year, with the inspections at least four calendar months apart. It also says inspections must be frequent enough to limit the spread of pests and disease between hives, and to avoid colony loss.

Twice a year is a minimum, not a target. BeeAware recommends inspecting several times a year, through spring, summer and autumn.

Season	What the inspection is for
Spring	Confirm the queen is laying, check stores and space, watch for queen cells
Summer	Check space for honey, pests and brood health
Autumn	Thorough brood check and stores check before the colony settles for winter
Winter	Keep disturbance low; check from outside unless there is a reason to open the hive

Timing varies with climate zone, so adjust it to your local seasons and ask your club (see clubs and associations).

What the Code requires at each inspection

Look at the hive for general strength and for signs of pests and disease.
Visually inspect at least the equivalent of three full-depth frames of brood, after shaking the adult bees off.
In at least two inspections a year, test at least one hive in each apiary for external mites such as varroa, using a sugar shake, an alcohol wash or drone uncapping.

See varroa mite for how to run these tests, and note that state rules on testing frequency differ.

Routine on each frame

Work through the brood frames in order. Hold each frame over the box and look at both faces.

Queen and eggs. You do not need to find the queen. Eggs and very young larvae show she was laying within the last few days.
Brood pattern. Look for a solid block of brood with few empty cells. A patchy pattern is worth investigating.
Brood appearance. Caps should be an even cream, tan or brown. Larvae should be pearly white and curled in the cell.
Stores. Note how much honey and pollen the colony has.
Space. Check the bees have room for the queen to lay and to store honey.
Queen cells. Look on the faces and along the bottom edges of the combs.
Disease signs. Sunken, dark, greasy or perforated cappings; off-colour or oddly positioned larvae; dark scales on the lower cell wall.
Pests. Look for small hive beetle adults under the lid and in corners, wax moth damage, and mites on bees or brood.

A frame lifted out and laid across an open hive, with a patch of capped brood in the middle surrounded by cells of orange and yellow pollen and honey, and bees on the comb — A frame read from the middle out: capped brood in the centre, a ring of pollen, and honey at the edges. Photo: John Pons, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized.

What to write down

Write notes straight after closing the hive. A simple table is enough:

Date	Hive	Weather	Strength	Brood and queen	Stores	Pests or disease	Action taken

Record-keeping rules

The Code of Practice requires beekeepers to keep legible records of:

apiary inspections: dates, observations, hive strength, any pests or diseases found and how they were detected
actions taken to manage a pest or disease
American foulbrood honey tests
hive movements: dates, numbers and locations
anything brought in from elsewhere (bees, used hives or hive parts), with date and supplier
biosecurity training

Records can be on paper or electronic, and must be kept for at least three years. State rules can add to these, including how varroa tests are reported, so check your state department’s page (see registering your hives and state rules).

What to do about a problem

You find	Next step
Sunken, perforated or greasy cappings, patchy brood	Stop and compare with the diagnosis guide. Suspected American foulbrood is notifiable: see foulbrood
Mites on bees, or a positive mite test	See varroa mite
Beetles or slimy honey	See small hive beetle
Webbing, tunnelled comb	See wax moth
Other brood problems	See other brood problems
Anything unusual you cannot identify	Contact your state department
Queen cells	Read swarm prevention
Low stores	See feeding, water and forage

Only a laboratory test confirms a notifiable disease. A single odd cell is not a diagnosis, but it is reason to look again.

Photo credits

Frame from a hive: John Pons, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.