3 Actionable Tips for Working MASSIVE Colonies

A commenter asked the question, “How can i get used to working large colonies?” His point was that working small and medium sized hives feels very different from inspecting a huge three deep hive that’s packed with honeybees. He’s right. Working large colonies is different from small and medium colonies. He mentioned hesitating to inspect some of these. That is a normal response. First of all, if you've manage to grow hives to this point, congratulations! Large colonies are a sign that you're doing many things correctly. Now you need to build comfort working those hives. Avoiding stings is a huge part of gaining comfort. The threat of being stung feels more urgent with large colonies. Working a hive nervous is a recipe for disaster. The first thing I recommend is to wear good protective gear. You should have a combination of gear that allows you to avoid all stings if necessary. For me, that's a mesh suit & veil, rubber-coated gloves, and suit legs tucked into thick boots. I don't wear those gloves often these days, but when I had a really hot hive, I was glad to have them in my back pocket. In my first year they were crucial for building up my confidence in working tough hives and large colonies. Getting comfortable takes experience, and to get experience you need gear that allows you to do that. I walk through how to wear a beesuit and gloves in order to avoid all stings. The second recommendation is to use smoke. Many new beekeepers don't need to use much, if any, smoke early in their first year. They start out with a small colony, and likely start during the heaviest nectar flow of the year. When you have these circumstances your bees will be at their most docile. So you end up using less smoke. When that colony grows to be massive, you don't have experience using smoke. If you're nervous, if something seems off, use more smoke and use it early in your inspections. The last tip is to have a plan going in to each inspection. Know exactly what you're getting into each hive to do. If you don't have a plan, or the plan is, "inspect the hive" you are going to have a much less productive inspection and it will take longer. Have a list, know what order you're going in, follow your list. Hopefully using these three things often enough allows you to get the practice you need to work through this stage in beekeeping. #beginnerbeekeeping #honeybees #beekeeping #hiveinspection #beekeeper