When and How to Do Your First Beehive Inspection

Get it right and you’ll catch problems early. Get it wrong and you could kill your queen when there’s no way to replace her.

The One Question That Matters

Before you crack open that hive, ask yourself: what am I inspecting for?

If you can’t come up with a good reason, you don’t need to inspect. It’s as simple as that.

You wouldn’t pull frames apart in January to check for swarm cells. Your bees aren’t swarming in winter. And you don’t need to inspect just because you’re curious about whether your queen survived.

The first inspection of the year comes down to one thing: do you think the bees are going to swarm?

That’s it. The key is ensuring your bees are well fed, which you can monitor without a full inspection—simply weigh or heft the hive and feed them if needed. Remember, an inspection specifically means removing frames to examine brood and queen activity.

When Is It Safe to Start Inspecting?

The risk with early inspections isn’t that your bees will get cold. The risk is you’ll make a mistake and kill your queen.

The March Myth

In over 15 years of beekeeping across our North Wales apiaries, we’ve never lost a swarm in March. Not once. While climate change means early swarming isn’t impossible—and you might occasionally see reports from the far south of the UK—it remains exceptionally rare.

If you’re reading this in March, your bees are very unlikely to swarm.

Yes, there’s a slim chance you might lose 1% of colonies to early swarming. But weigh that against the far greater risk: killing your queen during an unnecessary inspection when there’s no way to replace her.

If you’re concerned about early-season swarming, double under-brooding offers a simple, effective solution. Place an extra brood box directly beneath your original brood box—that’s it. The added space helps prevent early swarming while keeping your colony well-positioned to handle late winter conditions.

The April Rule

For most of the UK, April is about right to start inspections.

Why April specifically? Because that’s when good quality mated queens become available. If the worst happens and you accidentally kill your queen, you have a backup plan.

Your trigger across the world: when good quality mated queens are available in your area, you can start doing inspections. It doesn’t necessarily mean you should start then. But it means if disaster strikes, you’re not completely stuffed.

Temperature Matters

Don’t inspect unless daytime temperatures are at least 12 to 14°C. If it’s colder than that, wait or keep the inspections very brief.

The only exception: if you’re into late April and still haven’t been in, you need to inspect regardless of weather. But in that case, work quickly and get the hive closed up again.

What to Look For in Your First Inspection

You’ve waited until April. It’s a warm day. The bees are flying. Now what?

1. Assess the Feed Situation

This is non-negotiable. Check feed levels on every single inspection through spring and summer (in autumn and winter we can heft to assess weight without inspecting)

If you don’t assess feed, colonies starve or come dangerously close, and it sets them right back. A quick heft tells you most of what you need to know, but when you’re inside, double-check.

What you want to see:

• Enough stores to get them through to the next inspection (every 7 days normally but can be 2-3 weeks depending on early season weather)
• Capped stores visible on frames
• Sufficient pollen stores (though this can be limited in cold weather)

2. Find the Queen

You’re looking for two things:

• Confirm you have a queen (not just assuming)
• Confirm it’s the same queen that went into winter

If you marked your queen and now she’s unmarked, ask questions. Has the marking rubbed off? Did they supersede? Is there more than one queen in there?

Generally it’s the same queen. But always check.

3. Look for Brood in All Stages

This is your health check.

What good looks like:

• A nice pattern of eggs in cells
• Larvae in various stages
• Capped brood
• No drone brood yet (early season)

If you see eggs, brood in all stages, a nice pattern, and no drone brood, that colony is completely good to go.

4. Check Space (The Balancing Act)

This is tricky. They can’t grow without space. But if you give them too much space, they can’t grow either.

In the spring, I tend to restrict the space until we add the first supers knowing the chance of swarming is low. Then once we add the supers we always make sure they have enough space. If they ever build up enough to hit the roof, they will swarm.

For standard hives: If you need to double-brood, lift the brood box up and slide another box underneath. Continue feeding at the top if needed if forage is not yet available.

Common First Inspection Mistakes

Inspecting Too Early

The biggest mistake. You’re not losing swarms in March. But you could kill your queen when there’s no replacement available.

Wait until April unless you’re in the far south of the UK or have specific local conditions that warrant earlier checks.

Inspecting Just Because

Curiosity is not a good enough reason. Every time you open a hive, there’s risk. Have a clear purpose.

Weekly Inspections

Once you begin inspections in April, weekly checks become necessary. You’re now actively managing swarm prevention, which means ensuring your bees always have adequate space and monitoring for swarm cells.

Forgetting to Check Feed

This is how colonies starve. Even if they feel heavy when you heft them, double-check stores when you’re inside. It takes seconds and could save a colony.

Rushing

Take your time breaking seals and separating frames. A dead queen in April is a disaster. A dead queen in Winter is a write-off.

Looking for beginner-friendly bees?

Every colony we sell is hand-picked by Laurence for calm temperament. That matters when you’re learning. Calm bees let you take your time during inspections, make fewer mistakes, and actually enjoy the process instead of rushing through in a panic.

Browse our starter colonies

Frequently asked questions