Managing a beehive isn’t about memorizing rules — it’s about learning to read your bees. This guide walks you through the core skills every beekeeper needs: inspections, adding space, preventing problems, making splits, and keeping your colony strong through every season.
Whether you’re brand new or building confidence, this page will help you understand what your bees need and when they need it.
🔍 1. How to Do a Hive Inspection
Hive inspections are the backbone of good beekeeping. They help you understand what’s happening inside the hive and catch issues early.
Your Inspection Checklist
- Look for eggs, larvae, and capped brood
- Check for a healthy brood pattern
- Look for signs of queenlessness
- Assess food stores
- Look for pests (mites, beetles, wax moths)
- Add or remove space as needed
How Often Should You Inspect?
- Spring: every 7–10 days
- Summer: every 10–14 days
- Fall: every 2–3 weeks
- Winter: do not open the hive
Related:
👉 How to Read a Frame
👉 Recognize a Queenless Colony Before It’s Too Late
👉 Don’t Sabotage Yourself and Make Them Want to Sting You
👉 Best Beekeeping Approach
📦 2. Adding Space: When & How to Add Supers
Adding supers at the right time prevents swarming and keeps your bees productive.
Signs It’s Time to Add a Super
- 7–8 frames in the top box are drawn
- Nectar is flowing
- Bees are storing honey in brood frames
- Crowding at the entrance
Tips for Adding Supers
- Add supers before bees run out of room
- Use drawn comb if you have it
- Add one super at a time
Related:
👉 Beekeeping During Heat Waves
👉 Bandit Bees: The Ugly Truth About Robbing
🐝 3. Understanding Brood Patterns
A healthy brood pattern tells you almost everything you need to know about your queen and colony health.
Healthy Brood Pattern
- Solid, consistent laying
- Few empty cells
- Eggs → larvae → capped brood in clear progression
Unhealthy Brood Pattern
- Spotty brood
- Multiple eggs per cell
- Drone brood in worker cells
- No eggs or larvae
Related:
👉 How to Read a Brood Frame
👉 Recognize a Queenless Colony Before It’s Too Late
🍯 4. Feeding Your Bees
Feeding is seasonal and depends on colony strength, weather, and nectar flow.
When to Feed
- Installing new bees
- Early spring build‑up
- During nectar dearth
- When colonies are light going into fall
What to Feed
- 1:1 sugar syrup (spring)
- 2:1 sugar syrup (fall)
- Fondant or candy boards (winter emergency)
Related:
👉 Winter Beekeeping Education
Stories & Community
🪵 5. Splitting & Combining Hives
Splits help prevent swarming and increase your hive count. Combining hives helps save weak colonies.
When to Split a Hive
- Strong population
- Queen cells forming
- Heavy nectar flow
- You want to expand your apiary
Beginner‑Friendly Split Methods
- Walk‑away split
- Simple split
- Even simpler split (your specialty!)
Related:
👉 A Simple Way to Make Splits
👉 An Even Simpler Way to Make Splits
When to Combine Hives
- One colony is queenless
- One colony is too weak to survive winter
- You want to consolidate resources
🛡️ 6. Preventing Problems Before They Start
Good hive management is proactive, not reactive.
Watch for These Warning Signs
- Bees bearding excessively
- Robbing behavior
- Spotty brood
- No eggs
- Aggressive temperament
- Low food stores
Environmental Stressors
- Heat waves
- Dearth
- Wasps
- Ants
- Moisture in winter
Related:
👉 Beekeeping During Heat Waves
👉 Bandit Bees: The Ugly Truth About Robbing
👉 Keeping Your Bees While on Vacation
🗓️ 7. Seasonal Hive Management Overview
Hive management changes with the seasons. Here’s your quick guide:
Spring
- Build‑up
- Frequent inspections
- Add space
Summer
- Manage heat
- Watch for robbing
- Add supers
Fall
- Treat mites
- Reduce space
- Ensure winter stores
Winter
- Do not open the hive
- Check food
- Manage moisture
Related:
👉 Thinking About Getting Bees?
👉 My Apiary Today
🧭 8. Your Next Steps
Hive management is a skill that grows with experience. Here’s where to go next:
Learn Bee Health
👉 Recognize a Queenless Colony Before It’s Too Late
👉 Bandit Bees: The Ugly Truth About Robbing
Learn Seasonal Care
👉 Thinking About Getting Bees?
👉 Rookie Beekeeping Mistakes
👉 Winter Beekeeping Education
👉 Beekeeping During Heat Waves
Beginner Foundations
👉 My Beekeeping Journey
👉 Dad Gives Daughter a Beehive
👉 Unique Challenges Women Beekeepers Face
👉 Honey Bee Humor
