For this lab we were tasked with observing the process of hive inspection, and then preforming the process ourselves. The hive Harper inspected was thriving, and likely to swarm soon unless it was split. The hive that the inspector, Barb, looked at was not so healthy. Before the inspection even began, I observed a drone with deformed wing virus crawling around the colony entrance. The hive inside was much smaller, and the presence of varroa was identified.
Drone with DWV
I inspected two more colonies myself, which both appeared to be in good health, with a large amount of stored nectar and pollen, and the presence of healthy brood in all stages of development. I liked the hive inspection form provided below, but if I were to design my own I would leave more space for miscellaneous comments like the need to split a colony, the presence and number of varroa identified, etc.
