Signs of a Queenless Hive
Some signs are definitive; others are suggestive. Look for a combination:
Definitive Signs
- No eggs – Eggs are tiny, white, grain-of-rice shaped, standing upright in cells. If you can't find any after a thorough search (with good lighting), the queen hasn't laid in at least 3 days.
- No young larvae – Larvae look like small white C-shaped grubs floating in a pool of royal jelly. No larvae under 4 days old means no recent egg-laying.
- Only older/capped brood – If all you see is capped pupae and larger larvae, but nothing younger, the queen has been gone for a week or more.
- Queen cells present – Emergency queen cells (built on the face of comb, from existing cells) indicate the colony knows they're queenless and is trying to make a new queen.
Behavioral Signs
- Increased roaring/agitation – Queenless colonies often make a distinctive "roar" when opened—a higher-pitched, unsettled sound compared to the calm hum of a queenright hive.
- Bees seem aimless – Workers without queen pheromone to organize them may run around more frantically, seem disoriented, or cluster oddly.
- Increased defensiveness – Many queenless colonies become more aggressive due to stress and lack of calming queen pheromone.
- Reduced foraging activity – The colony may seem less busy at the entrance with fewer bees coming and going.
- Bees searching/interested in introduced queen – If you hold a caged queen near a suspected queenless hive, they'll show intense interest, clustering tightly around the cage.
Important: Not seeing the queen doesn't mean she's gone. Queens are elusive and easy to miss. Focus on finding eggs—that's the proof that matters.
Common Causes of Queenlessness
1. Swarming
2. Failed Mating Flight
3. Beekeeper Accident
4. Supersedure
5. Age/Natural Death
6. Pesticide Exposure
How to Confirm Queenlessness
Before taking action, make sure you're actually queenless. False diagnosis leads to bad decisions.
The Frame Test
The most reliable confirmation method:
- 1. Take a frame with fresh eggs and young larvae from a known queenright hive
- 2. Shake off all bees (to avoid transferring that queen by accident)
- 3. Place the frame in your suspected queenless hive
- 4. Check in 3-5 days
If they build emergency queen cells on the donated frame, they're definitely queenless—they're trying to make a new queen from your eggs.
If no queen cells appear, they likely have a queen somewhere (possibly a virgin who hasn't started laying yet). Keep waiting and re-check in another week.
Wait and Observe (Post-Swarm/Split)
After a swarm or split, it takes time for a virgin queen to emerge, mate, and start laying:
- Days 1-16: Queen cell development
- Days 16-20: Virgin queen emerges and matures
- Days 20-30: Mating flights occur
- Days 28-35: Queen starts laying
Don't panic if you don't see eggs for 4-5 weeks after a swarm. That's normal. Constantly opening the hive during this period can disturb mating flights or cause balling of the virgin queen.
The Laying Worker Problem
If a colony remains queenless for 3+ weeks with no eggs, some workers' ovaries develop and they begin laying. This sounds helpful but it's a disaster:
- Workers can only lay unfertilized eggs – These become drones, not workers
- Laying workers are not queens – They can't mate, and they lay erratically (multiple eggs per cell, eggs on cell walls)
- The colony rejects new queens – Laying workers produce queen-like pheromones, so they'll often kill introduced queens
- Population spirals down – No new workers, only useless drones, inevitable death
Signs of Laying Workers
- Multiple eggs per cell – Workers lack the queen's long abdomen, so they can't reach the cell bottom. They lay on cell walls and drop multiple eggs.
- Eggs scattered randomly – Not in the organized pattern of a queen
- All drone brood – Bullet-shaped cappings with no flat worker brood
- Drone brood in worker cells – Drones raised in too-small cells produce distinctive dome-shaped cappings
- Declining population – Obvious shrinking of the workforce
Timeline matters: You have about 2-3 weeks from queen loss to laying worker development. After that, recovery is much harder.
How to Fix a Queenless Hive
Option 1: Introduce a New Queen
The fastest solution if available:
- Purchase a mated queen from a supplier or fellow beekeeper
- Remove any emergency queen cells the bees may have started
- Introduce the queen in her cage with candy plug, suspended between brood frames
- Check in 4-5 days for release and in 10 days for eggs
Cost: $30-50 for a mated queen. Worth it to save a colony.
Option 2: Give Them Eggs (Walk-Away Fix)
If you have another hive with a laying queen:
- Take a frame with fresh eggs (less than 3 days old)
- Shake off all bees (don't transfer the other queen!)
- Place the frame in the queenless hive
- The bees will raise emergency queen cells from the donated eggs
- New queen will emerge, mate, and start laying in 4-5 weeks
This is free but slower. Make sure drones are flying in your area for mating.
Option 3: Combine with a Queenright Hive
If the queenless colony is weak or laying workers have taken over:
- Place a sheet of newspaper over a queenright hive
- Make a few small slits in the paper
- Stack the queenless hive on top
- By the time bees chew through the paper (1-2 days), the colonies have mingled and accepted each other's scent
- The queenright colony's queen takes over
This sacrifices the queenless colony as a separate unit but saves the bees.
Fixing Laying Workers (Difficult)
Laying workers are hard to fix because:
- They reject introduced queens (ball and kill them)
- There are many laying workers, not just one "bad bee" to remove
- Their pheromones suppress acceptance of a new queen
Method that sometimes works:
- Shake all bees off frames, 100+ feet from the hive
- Return frames (no bees) to the hive
- Flying bees will return; laying workers are poor fliers and often get lost
- Wait a day, then introduce a new queen or frame of eggs
Success rate is maybe 50/50. Many beekeepers recommend just combining laying worker colonies with queenright hives rather than trying to save them independently.
Preventing Queen Loss
- Be careful during inspections – Work slowly, know where the queen is, set frames down gently. Most accidental queen kills happen during handling.
- Inspect regularly – Every 10-14 days during active season. Catching queenlessness early gives you more options.
- Keep young queens – Requeen every 1-2 years. Young queens are less likely to fail unexpectedly.
- Mark your queens – A marked queen is easier to spot and track. You'll know immediately if she's gone.
- Maintain strong colonies – Weak colonies are more vulnerable to queen issues. A strong colony can recover from queen loss; a weak one often can't.
- Have backup resources – Keep at least 2 hives so you can donate eggs from one to save the other. One hive is a hobby; two hives is sustainability.
Don't Panic
Finding no eggs during an inspection is alarming, but it's not always an emergency. Queens sometimes take breaks (during nectar dearths or after heavy laying). Virgin queens need time to mate. A single inspection without eggs doesn't mean disaster.
If you suspect queenlessness, verify with the frame test before taking drastic action. Give the colony time—unless it's been weeks with no eggs, they may still be sorting things out.
When intervention is needed, act decisively. A queenless colony has a ticking clock, and every week without a laying queen brings them closer to laying workers and collapse.