This month will probably see our first full inspections and before opening any colony we need to know why we are opening it, what we are looking for - and what action we will take if we find that something is wrong. The air temperature is still quite low for opening colonies, so we need to choose a fairly calm day and then work reasonably quickly and methodically.

• Inspect with a purpose - there are five points to check:

1. Is the colony queenright - to know this we need to see sealed worker brood without too many empty cells and with no raised drone cappings amongst it (the first sign of a failing queen) - and is the queen laying the expected quantity of eggs.
2. Is there any disease or other abnormality? At this point we are mainly concerned about EFB, AFB and Varroa, but can note things like chalkbrood.
3. At this point in the season, is the colony building up at the same rate as other colonies in the same apiary? Later in the season we will be looking for signs of swarming, but this will probably be very unlikely in April this year.
4. Does the colony have enough space (brood and supers) to last it until the next inspection?
5. Does the colony have enough food to last until the next inspection - check by hefting the hive?

• Weak colonies need to be checked carefully for disease and can be united to strong ones if healthy (kill the queen in the poor colony first), but I prefer not to take the risk - the bees will be old and will not have long to live anyway.
• If there are signs of varroa damage it is essential to treat immediately - thymol can be used until the start of the flow and gives good results in April.
• It is a good idea to give each colony a clean floorboard whilst they are relatively easy to lift. Only one is needed - clean and scorch the floor from the first colony ready for the next, and so on.
• Hive stands can also be sorted out and levelled whilst colonies are still fairly light - just move the hive forward for a couple of minutes.
• Remove mouseguards and wire netting if you have not already done so.
• For that quick inspection, try using just newspaper as a smoker fuel - a couple of tightly screwed up pieces will last several minutes.