Seven days after installation, you're looking for exactly two things: eggs, and drawn comb. Everything else is detail. If you find both, the colony is working and you can close up and leave them alone.
When should I open them the first time?
A week after installation. Earlier than that and you're interrupting the work you want them doing — comb building and brood rearing both stall every time the box comes apart.
The exception is a package, where you check at day three purely to confirm the queen is out of her cage. That's a thirty-second look, not an inspection.
How do I find eggs?
Pull a frame from the middle of the brood nest and hold it with the sun over your shoulder, tipping it so light falls straight into the cells. Eggs look like tiny grains of rice standing on end at the bottom of the cell.
They're genuinely hard to see the first few times. If you can't find eggs but you find small C-shaped larvae swimming in white jelly, that's just as good — larvae mean there were eggs three days ago.
Do I need to see the queen?
No. Eggs are proof she was there within the last three days, and hunting for her costs you time with the hive open. Experienced beekeepers often go whole seasons without spotting queens in colonies they know are fine.
Look for her only if there are no eggs and no larvae.
What does normal progress look like at one week?
- Package: comb being drawn on three or four frames, eggs in the middle, syrup being taken down steadily.
- Nuc: the original five frames working, bees starting on the new frames beside them, laying pattern filling in.
Bees clustered quietly on comb rather than milling on the walls is a good sign. Loud roaring when you open up is not necessarily a bad one — some colonies are just noisy.
What actually warrants worry?
Three things:
- No eggs and no larvae at day ten. Something happened to the queen.
- Multiple eggs per cell, scattered on cell walls. Laying worker, and it needs attention quickly.
- Population visibly shrinking with no brood to explain it.
Everything else — some burr comb, a few crooked cells, bees that seem grumpy — is normal.
How long should the inspection take?
Ten minutes. Every minute the hive is open chills brood and costs the colony work. Get in, confirm eggs and comb, close up.
In a northern spring, that matters more than it does farther south — a cool May morning pulls heat out of an open hive fast.
Questions about any of this? Call or text us at (701) 809-0153. We're always happy to help, even if you didn't get your bees from us.