First- not seeing eggs is extremely common
Honeybee eggs are tiny, and look like moist grains of rice, only far smaller! They can be incredibly hard to see sometimes.
Until you have learned to spot eggs, it can be easy to miss them. Last year, after having been a beekeeper for 12 years, I opened a hive and couldn’t find eggs. I figured something had happened to the queen. Then I opened the hive beside it, only to observe the same- no eggs. At that point I began to suspect I just couldn’t make them out that day because of the lighting. Sure enough, I went back four days later, and there were plenty of eggs and there had been eggs all along.
Sometimes beekeepers don’t have good enough vision to see eggs, and so must rely on seeing the tiny, coma shaped larvae to know their queen is laying.
The good news is that most often, other signs of a queen (calm hive demeanor, young larvae and spotting the queen herself) mean everything is still alright.
Normal reasons you might not see eggs
- If the sun is in front of you, instead of behind you, it will be almost impossible to see the eggs.
- If the frame is at the wrong angle, tilt it until the cells almost glow. This will highlight the eggs.
- If you are using too much smoke, the bees can cover the cells and make it impossible to see eggs.
- If most of the comb in the brood nest is new, it can be hard to see eggs against the white comb.
- If you are scanning for eggs very quickly it can be easy to miss them.
- If you are wearing a veil (see this post for why beginning beekeepers should wear protective gear) the veil can obscure the eggs, if the material is not ideal. (Here is my review of my jacket and veil, and here is a link directly to the jacket that I use and love.)
Seasonal or Biological Reasons Eggs May Be Missing
There are times in a hive when it is natural for there to be no eggs. During a dearth or towards the end of fall, or very early spring, and winter, there may not be eggs.
If there is a new queen, she may not be laying yet, since mating flights take one to two weeks.
If supersedure is currently in progress the old queen may be failing before the new queen has emerged and mated.
When a colony swarms, there is a broodless period before the new queen has mated.
Concerning Reasons Eggs Might Truly Be Absent
- If your hive is queenless, there will be no eggs, larvae it’s young brood.
- If you have a laying worker, you will see multiple eggs in one cell, a scattered brood pattern, and bullet cappings.
- A failing queen lays spotty brood, and drone brood in worker cells, which also produce bullet cappings.
- Disease or stress can also create times of broodlessness.
How to Confirm Whether Your Hive Is Actually Queenright
- Look for comma shaped larvae (these are very young and are easier to see.)
- Check to see if the cells are cleaned and ready for the queen to lay in.
- Do the bees seem to roar? Or are they calm? They roar when they have no queen.
- Are they still bringing in pollen? This is a good sign if they are.
- Do you see emergency queen cells? If you do, you most likely do not have a queen.
What to Do Next (Based on What You Find)
- Are eggs or young, comma shaped larvae present? If so, everything is alright, and you can finish your inspection.
- Are there no eggs, but larvae present? The queen is likely laying, and the eggs were just hard to see. If you can usually spot eggs, make note of this and at your next inspection, ensure you still have young, comma shaped larvea.
- If there was no brood at all, and there is usually brood during this time of year, then check for signs of queenlessness. (See this post.)
- If there are queencells present, then let the colony finish supersedure. Do NOT remove the cells!
- If there are multiple eggs per cell, then you have a laying worker, and need to correct the problem. For a step by step guide, click here.
- If you have just installed a new queen, then give her seven to fourteen days before you check for eggs, to give her a chance to start laying.
When to Intervene
- If there are no eggs, young larvae, or queen cells after seven to ten days, your hive cannot requeen itself. Add a frame of young eggs and brood from another colony, and they can make a queen from that frame’s resources.
- If the colony is loud and aggressive, this is another sign that there is likely no queen.
- If there is only a drone brood pattern, with bullet shaped cappings, you likely have either a laying worker or a failing queen.
- If the population is rapidly declining, requeen, and if possible, give them a frame of emerging brood from another colony.
The good news is that a queenless hive does not have a death sentence, and there are many appropriate ways to help. Allowing the colony to raise its own queen is usually the simplest method.
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