Frame Guide: what's on this frame?

You pull a frame and something looks off. Here are 32 of the things you'll actually see in a hive. Each one shows what it looks like, how to tell it from the look-alikes, and what to do next.

Queen problems

Swarm cells, supersedure, laying workers, a failing queen.

• Healthy Brood PatternJune · a strong colony, bees calm and covering the comb.
• Laying WorkerA colony that's been loud and 'roary' for weeks. No calm hum.
• Swarm CellsEarly May · booming population, bees boiling out the front.
• Supersedure CellsNothing dramatic. The pattern has just gotten patchy lately.
• Drone-Laying QueenQueen is present, but the brood looks bumpy and raised all over.
• Emergency Queen CellsYou rolled the queen ten days ago. This is the same colony now.
• Can't Find the QueenYou went through every frame twice and never saw the queen.
• New Queen Laying Double EggsThe queen you introduced started laying five days ago.
• Waiting on a Virgin QueenThis colony swarmed 16 days ago. No eggs, no larvae anywhere.
• Empty Queen CupsMid-April · the colony is building fast. Along the bottom bars you find these.

Disease

Foulbrood, chalkbrood, sacbrood, chilled brood, dysentery.

• ChalkbroodCool, wet spring. You spot chalky white bits on the landing board.
• American Foulbrood Warning SignsSpotty brood, sunken greasy cappings with pinholes, and an odd smell.
• European FoulbroodMay · built up fast, then stalled. A faint sour smell.
• SacbroodSpring · a handful of odd larvae scattered in otherwise decent brood.
• Chilled BroodYou went through this hive on a windy 48°F day and took your time.
• DysenteryLate February · brown streaks on the top bars and down the comb.
• Foulbrood ScaleA colony that dwindled and died last fall. You tilt a frame toward the light.

Pests & poisoning

Varroa, wax moth, small hive beetle, robbers, a spray kill.

• Varroa Mites & Deformed Wing VirusAugust · your alcohol wash came back at 9 mites per 100 bees.
• Wax Moth DamageThe outside frames of a colony that's been dwindling for a month.
• Small Hive Beetle Slime-OutHot, humid August. The box smells fermented, like rotting oranges.
• RobbingLate August dearth. Bees wrestling on the landing board.
• Bald BroodJune · a good colony, but these lines of open cells caught your eye.
• Pesticide PoisoningA field next door was sprayed in bloom yesterday. Piles of dead bees out front today.
• Healthy Colony, Low Mite CountLate June · an alcohol wash of 300 bees turned up 2 mites.

Management

Congestion, stores, new comb, honey supers, deadouts.

• Honey-Bound Brood NestStrong flow on. Bees crowding, and the queen seems to have nowhere to go.
• Starved ColonyLate March · they were flying in December. Now, silence.
• Normal Drone CombMay · the bottom edge of a frame from a strong, healthy hive.
• Pollen-Bound Brood NestA heavy pollen flow on, and a small colony that isn't growing.
• New Colony Drawing CombTwo weeks after you installed a package on fresh foundation.
• Uncapped Honey SuperLate June · a super frame, heavy in your hand. You're thinking about pulling honey.
• Moldy CombSpring · frames from a hive that died in January, left in the damp box since.
• Fall Brood NestEarly October · a strong colony, the goldenrod flow just ended.

Illustrations drawn by The Alleman Apiary, Middletown, PA. Try the Hive Simulator to model a colony through a whole season, or the Bee Bench for calculators like the mite-wash threshold and syrup mix.