Upon opening the first hive, the lack of activity was immediately explained. While the colony is a decent size, they are hopeless.

• The Findings: We found frames heavy with capped honey and nectar, but zero brood and zero eggs. This is a clear sign that the queen has either died or absconded.
• Emergency Measures: The workers are already aware of the problem; they have started building several emergency queen cells along the edges of the frames.
• The Risk: Without a laying queen, a colony can quickly dwindle. To ensure their success, we decided to give them a “boost” from a stronger neighbour.

The “Egg Donor” Strategy

To mitigate the risk of their current queen cells failing, we turned to a thriving hive nearby to find a donor frame.

• Spotting the Queen: In the second hive, we spotted the queen almost immediately. She’s a fast mover, but her presence is confirmed by the beautiful brood patterns and frames full of fresh eggs and larvae.
• The Transfer: We carefully selected a frame containing freshly laid eggs and young larvae. By placing this frame into the middle of the queenless hive’s brood nest, we give the workers the exact “ingredients” they need to raise a high-quality new queen.
• Success Factors: Bees can turn any female egg into a queen by feeding it royal jelly. This “insurance policy” ensures that even if their current cells aren’t viable, they have a second chance at survival.

Apiary Maintenance Tips

During the inspection, we also performed some “housekeeping”:

• Working Space: I always start with the second frame from the end. It’s easier to remove and creates the lateral space needed to slide the other frames without rolling (and potentially killing) the bees.
• Frame Precision: We noticed some “skew” comb on a frame from a previous removal. While it’s full of pollen, we’ve moved it to the end of the box. Our goal is to eventually cycle these irregular frames out of the brood nest once they are empty of brood.

Beekeeping in 2026 is all about this kind of proactive management. By moving resources from the strong to the weak, we stay on track for our 3 to 300 hive goal.

Want to see the queen cells up close?

I’ll be posting a macro-focus video of the cells we found today. Make sure to Subscribe to the Bee Sanctuary and hit the like button! Your support helps us save more colonies across Gauteng.