Bees still bringing in loads of pollen in late September — does that prove my queen is laying?
Galway, second year, three hives. The ivy has opened along every hedge round here and the bees are absolutely flying on it — bright orange-yellow pollen loads coming into all three hives every dry hour we get, which in Galway isn't many.
I haven't opened them since the Apiguard came off in early September and I'd rather not disturb them much more this year. Everyone says "pollen in = queen laying" and I want to believe it. Is that actually reliable? Or would a queenless colony still bring in pollen? I lost a hive to a failed queen in my first winter and only found out in March, so I'm a bit paranoid. Would one quick peek at a centre frame be worth the disruption?
#ivy#pollen#queenright#fall-inspection
▲ 10 votes💬 4 replies✅ Solved
4 replies
PerthshireBees · Sep 22, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
Not reliable, no. Brood stimulates pollen foraging, but queenless colonies keep collecting it and often store far more of it than they can use — a 'pollen-bound' frame is actually one of the classic signs of queenlessness. Laying-worker colonies carry pollen too. The only thing that proves a laying queen is eggs or young larvae. One quick look at a centre frame on a dry 15°C day costs the colony almost nothing; a queenless colony discovered in March costs everything. Take the peek, ten minutes, don't pull more than two frames.
CorkBeeRon · Sep 22, 2026
Cork here, same ivy. PerthshireBees is right. Ivy does two things for you though: it drives a late round of brood, which is exactly what you want for winter bees, and it fills the outer frames with a honey that sets like a stone. If you see a good slab of brood in the middle when you peek, close up happy — that ivy brood is the last the queen will raise until January.
YorkshireNewbee · Sep 22, 2026
Following this one because I had the same worry and did the peek yesterday in Yorkshire — eggs on both centre frames, closed up in eight minutes, no drama. The relief was worth it. GalwayBees, do it on a day the bees are flying hard so most of the foragers are out.
GalwayBees · Sep 23, 2026
Did it this afternoon in a dry spell. Hive one and two: eggs and a nice patch of larvae. Hive three: no eggs, no larvae, and a frame packed solid with pollen just like PerthshireBees described. So one of three is queenless. Going to newspaper-combine it onto hive two at the weekend before the weather turns. Very glad I asked.