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Los apicultores deben revisar la colmena hoy.

Los apicultores deben revisar la colmena hoy.
The beekeepers must inspect the hive today.
From Lesson 381:Probability vs. obligation (deber de / deber)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Los apicultores deben revisar la colmena hoy.

How does this sentence show that the beekeepers have a strict obligation, rather than us just guessing what they are doing?
It uses deben revisar without the preposition de. In Spanish, deber directly followed by an infinitive expresses an obligation or duty ("must" or "have to").
If I wanted to say "The beekeepers must be inspecting the hive today" (meaning I assume that's what they are doing), how would the sentence change?
You would add de after the verb, making it: Los apicultores deben de revisar la colmena hoy. Using deber de + infinitive shows probability or supposition, distinguishing it from the strict obligation shown in the original sentence.
Why is revisar translated as "inspect"? Doesn't it mean "to revise"?
Revisar is a classic false friend! It actually means "to check," "to inspect," or "to look over." If you want to say "to revise" in the sense of studying past material for an exam, you should use repasar.
Could I say tienen que revisar instead of deben revisar in this context?
Yes, they are very similar. Tener que expresses a strong, objective necessity and is extremely common in everyday speech. Deber is slightly more formal and often implies a moral or professional duty, which perfectly fits the context of beekeepers performing their expected job.

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