This time of year...

[dfizer]

Should I be checking the hive for any parasites or illness now?  Would I be treating them for anything now?  At this point Im just watching them work....
Please advise.

[BlueBee]

The two parasites you would have to worry about are wax moths and small hive beetle (if they’re that far north).  If you have lots of bees coming and going from a hive, the odds are the wax moths are under control.  I don’t have SHB here, so I don’t know about them.  I only worry about wax moths in nucs or weak hives.

You could check for varorra mites by uncapping some drone cells, looking for deformed wings on the bees, and counting mites drops under a screened bottom board.  If this is a first year hive, the mites probably haven’t out populated the bees yet and you are probably OK.  If you have a large mite count then you could split the hive to bring the mites down, or do some chemical treatment on which there are lots of threads on this forum.

[dfizer]

How do u count mites under the screened bottom board?  Is it as simple as placing a board or something similar under the screen under the hive?  If so how long do I leave it there and how many is too many?

[BrentX]

A white board coated with cooking oil placed under your screened bottom board will give one indication of mite loading.  I leave the board in place for three days and record total number of mites in my log book.  Might be good to do this every two weeks as a reference for August - september for  the mite population crescendo.  Also carefully observe the bees, looking for malformed wings and lot of bees crawling away from the hive on the ground.  Hopefully you won't see this, but once you do you will know what a sick hive looks like. 

You will get lots of opinions here about how many mites on the white board are required to initiate action.  I don't get worried about 10 mites after  three days on a strong hive this time of year.  If you find 100 mites in September some intervention is likely helpful to improve hive survival chances.   

If treatment is required there are many option you will find discussed here, but I would try to delay treating into fall, as now the bees are finishing up the honey. 

Your current just watching them is exactly what I would recommend.  Oh and take a little honey if there is enough to spare.   

[tryintolearn]

with my eyesight and reading glasses its still very hard for me to see them...i treated a hive with apiguard after seeing the signs posted here and the hive seems to be doing lots better after 2 week treatment starting another treatment now