Queen Bees & Swarming

You do not always need to see the queen herself. Fresh eggs, very young larvae and a normal brood pattern are usually enough to show that a laying queen has been present recently. If you are unsure, look carefully for queen cells, changes in brood pattern and signs of laying workers before deciding the hive is queenless.

A colony can remain without a laying queen for several weeks and still recover if it has suitable young brood or receives a replacement queen. The important factor is how long it takes to raise, mate and establish a new queen before the worker population begins to decline or laying workers develop.

A queen cup is a small cup-shaped structure that may remain empty and never develop further. Once an egg or larva is being raised as a queen and workers extend the structure, it becomes an active queen cell. The position, contents and stage of development can help indicate whether the colony is swarming, superseding a queen or responding to queen loss.

Swarming is the natural reproductive process of a honey bee colony. The old queen leaves with part of the worker population to establish a new colony, while the parent hive remains behind and raises or receives another queen. Strong population growth, congestion and suitable seasonal conditions can all contribute to swarm preparation.

A well-timed split can reduce swarm pressure by dividing the colony and giving the bees more space and another reproductive pathway. It is not a guaranteed solution, however. Timing, colony strength, queen cells and seasonal conditions all need to be considered before making a split.

If suitable eggs or very young larvae are present, workers can begin raising emergency queen cells. If the colony cannot produce a replacement queen or the new queen fails to mate successfully, the hive may remain queenless long enough for laying workers and population decline to become serious problems.

Yes. Worker bees can develop functioning ovaries when a colony remains queenless for long enough. Their eggs are normally unfertilised, which means they develop into drones rather than worker bees. A laying-worker colony usually shows a scattered brood pattern and multiple eggs in cells.

Yes. Virgin queens leave the hive for mating flights, and established queens may leave with a swarm when the colony reproduces. Outside those situations, a healthy laying queen normally spends most of her time in the brood nest.

A queen normally emerges about 16 days after the egg is laid. She then needs time to mature, complete one or more mating flights and begin laying. Depending on weather, mating conditions and colony circumstances, the full process from queen loss to a new laying queen can take several weeks.

Not automatically. A weak colony can result from poor forage, pests, disease, weather, low population, insufficient stores or management issues as well as queen problems. Confirm queen status and assess the whole colony before deciding to requeen.