How do I read the frames in a beehive?
A healthy frame reads outward from the centre: capped brood in the middle in a solid slab, then a ring of pollen, then honey at the top and corners. Gaps and scattered cappings in the brood mean a failing queen or disease. Glossy white larvae curled in a C are healthy; grey, sunken or ropy ones are not.
The full lesson
What are frames and combs? If frame is the wooden skeleton holding the nest, while the comb is the hexagonal wax structure built by bees. Reading a comb means analyzing its patterns to evaluate the hive's health, strength and
immediate need. The capped, sealed sections at the very top and corners of the frame indicate the bees' winter food storage. Colorful cells right below the honey are pollen stores gathered by bees to feed the developing
brood. The large, flat brown capped area right in the center of the frame holds the future worker bees. Tiny white specks standing like rice grains at the bottom of open cells are the hive's
newest eggs. Glistening, C-shaped white grubs resting on royal jelly inside open cells are healthy-growing domed, bullet-like cap cells protruding near the edges of the comb signal the presence of drone bees.
Large, peanut-shaped structures hanging from the comb indicate that the hive is raising a new queen bee. If honey, pollen and brood form balanced concentric rings on the comb, your hive is healthy and thriving.
This lesson is also in the app, along with the other twenty-nine.
Next lessons
How do I find the queen in a hive?
1:40 10How often should I inspect my hive?
1:40 11Why do bees swarm, and how do I prevent it?
1:40Lessons and forum answers describe beekeeping practice and peer experience, not veterinary guidance. Treatment thresholds, inspection timing and disease management vary by climate, subspecies and local regulation. Diseases that are notifiable where you live must be reported to your national bee inspectorate.