Any suggestions

[Arif Obaid]

I inspected my only hive today, and here is its situation. I would appreciate any suggestions to save / increase it.

- Hive has one deep + 1 super

- Activity in the hive reduced considerably in the past few weeks. I thought it might have been due to weather conditions, but it did not pick up even after the rains.

- There was no sign of beetles or mites. Looked pretty clean

- Has very less bees in it, I would say about 30-40% populated in the deep and about 15-20% populated in the super.

- Both the boxes have both capped and uncapped brood in it. However it is very less - about 3-4 frames in each box and 15% brood in each frame. There seems to be enough space available for laying eggs (no nectar in those cells).

I feel that the queen is not doing a good job - although I couldn't spot it.

Thanks

-Arif

[Jill Lambie-ponce]

Hi Arif, I have run into that situation before. Springtime, no signs of a mite issue but the hive just wasn’t growing or thriving. Finally I replaced the queen, and the hive started going gangbusters.

Jill

North Berkeley

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On Apr 19, 2026, at 4:16 PM, Arif Obaid <aob...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Gerald Przybylski]

You didn't mention which city and neighborhood you are in. 

Some parts of Berkeley and north Oakland are overpopulated with beekeepers, so competition for forage can be an issue, even in the Flow. 

Colonies do vary.  It can be queen genetics, or it can be a reflection on how many or few drones a queen mated with.  Well mated queens head better colonies.
So the advice to requeen is reasonable, but it's still a roll of the dice.   The next one may be just as good/bad, or really great. 

Look for everything that might be abmormal.  Spotty Brood pattern. (parasitic mite syncrome)  DWV bees.  Crawler bees. irregular looking larva in cells. 
Irregular looking capped brood cells that are too dark and sunken. Bees staggering around, shaking in an way other bees don't move.  Too much drone brood. 

Those who keep only one colony have all their eggs in one basket, waiting to trip up.  (&all the eggs break)
Beeks more expert than I recommend keeping two to four colonies so you have some insurance against disaster. 
You also learn beekeeping faster when you manage more hives.  #2 or #2 and #3 can be nuc colonies, or regular hives depending on your ambitions. 

that's my 2¢

[Robin Chatham]

Did It swarm?

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[Bees & Beeks]

That was my thought too.  Did you spot eggs?  If not hive could have swarmed and new Queen not yet laying.  Early March, 5 of my 6 hives were in middle of reQueening and they didn’t look well - only capped brood and larvae, no eggs, much less bees as compared to last check. I admit I was a little nervous.  4 of 5 hives successfully mated; one of hives was combined with small swarm capture and reQueened again.  Currently I’m at my max in my yard of 10 hives, 8 Queen-right.  

I treated my hives a few weeks ago, but didn’t treat the two hives that was reQueening.  My bees reQueen often because I take mated Queens from my hives to sell.   Selling mated Queens $40, 5 frame deep nucs $250. 

I don’t do Virgin Queens like Sung mainly because I find installing Virgin Queen the LEAST successful of all new Queen install.  Virgin Queen install ~50-60% successful, Queen cells 70% successful, mated Queen 100% successful,  split in Spring 95% successful.   I also find smaller mating nucs have lower success rate (80%) than reQueening in a full box (95% in Spring and summer, 85-90% in fall).   I run a small scale backyard apiary.  

Bee Kind, 

Mimi 

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On Apr 19, 2026, at 9:00 PM, Robin Chatham <angel202...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Arif Obaid]

Thank you Jill, Gerald, Robin, and Mimi for your advice.

To answer your questions, I am located in Newark. During my inspection, I did not spot any eggs, but I did see larvae approximately 5-6 days old. There are currently no queen cells, and I didn't see any during my last inspection four weeks ago. From what I could tell, everything looked regular—the cells were properly formed and the larvae in the open cells appeared normal.

It seems that requeening is the best course of action. I think I will need some assistance in locating the existing queen, despite having attended Robin’s session in Hayward on how to spot them quickly. 🙂

@Mimi: Do you have any mated queen available now?

Best regards,

Arif Obaid

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[Bees & Beeks]

Yes I do.  I simply grab a Queen from one of my QR (Queen Right) hives and my bees will requeen & in ~4-6 weeks I’ll have another QR hive.  BUT I recommend that you wait 2-3 weeks and check for eggs before purchasing a Queen.  It is early Spring and your hive have enough resources to reQueen successfully (waiting 2-3 weeks won’t turn your hive into laying workers, that takes about 3 months without eggs and you are only ~3 weeks without eggs).  It only takes 16 days for a Queen to hatch and hive will tear down cells soon afterwards.  Most likely you already have a Virgin Queen inside your hive.  It takes another ~2 weeks for Virgin Queen to get mated, plump up and then lay.   Rain delays reQueening process and Queens like 70-80 degree temps for mating.   

If you are NOT trying to maximize your honey intake or get your hive to be big enough for Almond pollination (which already passed) there is no need to rush into getting a Queen.  If in 2-3 weeks you still do not see eggs or a Queen, then call me 925-699-1626 for mated Queen.   Too often I see beeks rushing to buy Queen when if they simply trust nature take its course, their hives will be fine.  

Bee Happy,

Mimi 

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On Apr 20, 2026, at 10:45 AM, Arif Obaid <aob...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Arif Obaid]

Thank you Mimi. Much appreciated.

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[Bay Area Beeks]

No problem.  

1) Book says to check hive every 2 weeks because it takes 16 days for Queen Cells to hatch.  In 14 days you can do some preventive measures, like splitting hives; I favor artificial swarm splits.  This is more important in Spring during high swarming season than in fall or summer.  

2) While Virgin Queen is mating limit going into hive, because Queen might use you as landmark and not be able to come back when you are not there.

3) High density of bees mean hive is healthy but it also mean bees are more likely to swarm.  In Spring bees are expanding (some very quickly), give them plenty of room.  In winter bees are contracting so we lower boxes so bees have less space to patrol and use less resources to keep warm.

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