During an inspection, you notice a patchy brood pattern. The queen is present and surrounded by workers. Which statements help you interpret the situation correctly?
More than one answer is correct.
- The patchy brood pattern proves that the queen is failing.
- During a pollen shortage, workers may eat eggs and young larvae, which can affect the brood pattern.
- A retinue around the queen guarantees that she lays fertilised eggs that develop into workers.
- The brood pattern produced by the same queen can vary depending on the colony rearing her brood.
- The queen’s age alone is enough to diagnose an exhausted sperm supply.
- Before replacing the queen, food stores, brood health and Varroa infestation should be checked, and observations recorded.
Show the answer
Correct answers: 2, 4 and 6.
Why?
- 1 — False. The brood you see depends not only on egg laying, but also on what happens to the eggs and larvae. Nutrition, worker care and colony health can all play a part.
- 2 — True. In experiments, pollen shortages caused workers to eat eggs and young larvae. Food resources can also influence egg laying. This does not, however, prove that pollen shortage is the cause in the colony being inspected.
- 3 — False. A retinue does not provide a complete assessment of reproductive ability. Queen signals alone do not guarantee the production of worker brood. The type of brood present must therefore also be examined.
- 4 — True. In the study by Lee and colleagues (2019), queens from colonies with patchy brood produced markedly better brood patterns after being moved to other colonies. This demonstrates the influence of the colony rearing the brood, without ruling out the queen as a possible cause in other cases.
- 5 — False. Age is useful information, but it cannot by itself establish the quantity or viability of stored sperm. Nor is it enough to infer an age-related decline in pheromone production.
- 6 — True. Assessment should consider the queen, brood, resources and colony health together. Repeated observations and the sequence of events help support an informed decision.
What you should understand
The brood pattern results from several interacting processes: the queen lays eggs, workers rear the brood, and food resources and colony health affect both activities. A patchy brood pattern is therefore not a stand-alone measure of queen quality. Her chemical signals likewise provide only part of the information about her reproductive condition.
Key takeaway
Do not judge a queen solely by a patchy brood pattern. Check food stores, brood type, signs of disease and Varroa infestation, consider previous interventions and record how the situation develops. The Swiss Bee Health Service’s guidance sheets support this assessment.
Further reading
► How a colony evaluates its queen