Inspect hives weekly during swarm season

Perform thorough frame-by-frame inspections every 7-9 days from early spring through midsummer to catch swarm preparations before the colony commits. Look for queen cups with eggs or larvae, especially along the bottom edges and face of brood frames.

Why It Works

Bees take roughly 16 days from egg to emerged virgin queen. Weekly inspections give you a reliable window to spot queen cells before they are capped (day 8-9), when intervention is still straightforward. Once cells are sealed, the swarm may depart within days.

Tips

• Check for a sudden absence of eggs, which signals the queen has slimmed down for flight
• Backfilling of the brood nest with nectar is a strong pre-swarm indicator
• Mark your queen with a paint pen so you can confirm her presence quickly during inspections
• Keep a brief written log of queen cell count and brood pattern at each visit to track escalation