When you see signs your queen is failing, it can be discouraging prospect. You have come to appreciate all that she does for your colony. After all, every bee in the hive is related to her, and she directly controls how well your hive performs. If your queen is in fact failing, or you are experiencing queen bee problems, chances are, its not your fault.
Queens live somewhere between one to five years commonly. I once had a queen live more than five years (I’m not sure how old she was when I got her, so she was at least six.) The queen bee who lived the longest lived to thirteen! And I am sure there have been others to make it to similar ages, but the beekeepers just weren’t paying attention. Most commercial operations re-queen every year, so if your queen has made it past her first birthday, chances are, she has done pretty well in her little life.
But the time comes when it may be necessary for you, as the beekeeper to requeen. If you notice brood pattern issues, supersedure cells, emergency queen cells, or drone brood in worker cells, you need to understand what is happening. Another sign of a possibly failing queen is a declining colony population.
The good news is that these problems are fixable! Catching queen failure early is important so that you can re-queen before the colony declines.
This guide will help you identify a failing queen before your whole colony becomes weakened. See my post, Signs Your Colony Is Queenless.
What a healthy queen should look like
A healthy queen has. along abdomen, steady movements, and is surrounded by attendants. She should have a normal egg laying pattern. (This just means that you should see eggs laid one after another, once eggs to a cell, in the bottom of the cell. The capped brood should not be domed.)
What to look for during hive inspections- early signs your queen is failing
1. Spotty or scattered brood pattern- If it looks like someone took a shotgun to your frame, only instead of pellets, they took eggs, you have a spotty brood pattern. This indicates declining queen fertility, because as the queen runs out of sperm, she cannot lay as many worker eggs. See my post How to Read a Brood Frame for more detailed instruction.
2. Increased drone brood in worker cells- When a queen is out of sperm, she can continue laying eggs, but they aren’t fertilized. Only fertilized eggs become worker bees. The unfertilized eggs become drone brood. If drone brood is laid in worker cells, this is a sign you likely either have a failing queen, or a laying worker, since neither can lay fertilized eggs.
3. Eggs laid in odd patterns- This indicates something is wrong, because a healthy queen lays one egg in each cell, consistently. If you see multiple eggs per cell, eggs on cell walls, or sparse egg distribution, you either have a failing queen or a laying worker. (The exception to this is if you have a very new queen, she could also lay these odd patterns.)
4. Decreased egg laying- If a queen is slowing down at the wrong time of year, this could be a sign she is failing. If the hive is running out of resources (honey, pollen, or bees to cover the brood) then this is most likely not the case.
5. The queen moving erratically or appearing week- slow movements, a lack of attendants, or physical deformities are all signs your queen is failing.
6. Queen Cells appearing unexpectedly- Emergency cells or Supersedure cells both signify something is wrong with the queen. Emergency cells are somewhat irregular, and are built from converted worker cells. They are placed seemingly randomly throughout the frame. Emergency cells mean that your queen is either dead or declining so quickly that the bees decide they must replace her urgently. Supersedure cells look more uniform, and are usually two or three placed towards the center of the frame. With supersedure cells, they know the queen is failing or underperforming, and they have decided to replace her, but are not in as big of a hurry.
7. Low population growth- You can see when there are fewer nurse bees, and fewer foragers, that something might be wrong with the queen. If the colony is not expanding as it should for the season, and especially compared to other colonies, this could point towards a failing queen.
Common causes of a failing queen
Many things can contribute to a queen failing. Age, poor mating, genetics, stress (from transport, severe weather, or pests), and pesticide exposure can all be reasons a queen may fail.
How to confirm your queen is failing
During an inspection, look for the above mentioned signs. See if you consistently observe several of the signs mentioned. There are two approaches you can take; one would be to requeen, but this takes time and money, or resources, and the other would be to observe this hive throughout several hive inspections, to confirm your findings, and then act accordingly.
Personally, I would want to see this pattern over several weeks. A good queen is hard to come by, so fi she has served you well, I would want to ensure that I am not shortening her life prematurely.
If you are unsure, keep tabs on the situation for a couple weeks. Generally the bees know what to do, and can handle such situations on their own most of the time. If your queen is failing and you are sure she is, then you can step in to save the colony valuable time. Another consideration would be the time of year. If it is fall, err on the side of re-queening unnecessarily. You should go into winter with a strong queen.
What to do if your queen is failing
Option 1- Let the colony supersede her. This is your best option if you are unsure of what to do, are unable to acquire a new queen, and it is spring or summer so the hive has a chance to raise its own queen. This is your most hands-off approach. You will still want to watch to make sure that your colony is raising its own queen.
Option 2- Requeen the hive. If there are no eggs or comma shaped larvae, they cannot raise a queen. When choosing a queen, you want to look for local stock, known for the traits you most value. If you are a beginner, I would recommend a Carniolan or Italian queen, or even better, a mix of these two breeds.
Option 3- Combine the hives. This is your best option if the hive is quite weak and the whole colony is on the verge of collapse, or if you will not be able to get them built up enough before winter to make it through. The newspaper method is your best option here. Leave the strongest colony on the bottom, take the inner cover off, and lay a single page of newspaper on top and put the weaker colony below. They will chew through the newspaper and this gives them an opportunity to become accustomed to one another so they will not fight.
How to prevent queen failure in the future
Sometimes you can’t prevent everything, but regular inspections help you to notice a queen failing much sooner. Monitoring brood patterns is key, as this is the first sign you could notice. You will want to avoid whatever stressors possible, such as unnecessary transport, transporting when they are excessively overheated, and chemical and pesticide exposure. Choosing reputable queen breeders is also important. There are shortcuts that can be taken that will lessen a queen’s vitality, and shorten her life.
Next steps
The good news is that queens failing is actually pretty normal. At some point, queens will fail. The questions is really more about if they failed prematurely. And yet this is often something that is mostly outside of the beekeeper’s control. After reading this post you should have a good understanding of what to look for to diagnose a failing queen.