How To Find Your Queen Bee - Honey Bee Suite

Sometimes you need to find your queen bee, and sometimes you only need to know she is alive and well. The presence of eggs means she was there sometime during the last three days. The presence of larvae (uncapped brood) means she was there between three and nine days ago, depending on how large the larvae are.

But, if you absolutely must find an unmarked queen bee, there’s nothing like a little practice. You’ll find that spotting her gets much easier after you’ve done it a few times and learned how to look.

Start with the outer frames

Start your search by removing one of the outer frames. Check it quickly and set it aside. This gives you some room to work and makes it less likely that you will “roll” the queen as you inspect the rest. Although it is possible to find your queen on an end frame, it is rare. Usually, she will stay close to the center on a frame that contains some brood.

One-by-one, slide any empty frames into the void left by the frame you removed. These are easy to inspect since they usually contain few bees. Keep going until you reach the edge of the brood nest.

You will recognize the brood nest because instead of just honey, you will see some cells filled with brood or cells that recently contained brood. You may also notice cells filled with pollen. Gently lift the first of these out and scan for the queen.

Scan the frames for the unexpected

When I’m scanning a frame, I don’t look at individual bees but I look for something different, something that doesn’t quite fit the pattern. The queen is not only longer with a pointed abdomen, but she stands with all six legs splayed apart.

The queen can move quickly and the workers part the way for her as she goes. And when she stops, a group of them will stand facing her. You can often spot her by watching for this activity. She will sometimes dart to the dark side of the frame, however, so when you turn it over, scan quickly before she again heads for the shadows.

Hold the frames over the brood boxes

Check both sides of each frame, replacing it in the hive after you’ve looked. Be sure to leave a space between the ones you’ve checked and the ones you haven’t so the queen can’t easily go where you already inspected. And most importantly, remember to hold the frames above the brood boxes so if the queen falls off, she will land back in the hive.

You can go through the frames a second time if you don’t succeed on the first pass, but quit and close the hive if the second try doesn’t work either. After twice through, the hive needs time to calm down and restore order. You can try again on another day.

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