YorkshireNewbee · Yorkshire, UK · Beginners · Jun 10, 2026

I cannot see eggs no matter what I do — starting to think my eyes are the problem

First year, one hive, Yorkshire. Every inspection I hold frames up and stare into cells until my arms shake and I have never once confidently seen an egg. I see larvae fine once they're c-shaped and swimming in that milky stuff, but eggs? Nothing. Yesterday I stood there for 40 minutes and the bees were getting properly fed up with me. My foundation is standard yellowish wax, it was overcast, and I'm 46 so my close-up vision isn't what it was, which I suspect is half the battle. Is there an actual technique to this or do you all just have better eyes than me? I don't want to keep relying on 'well, there are tiny larvae so she was laying recently' forever.

#eggs#beginner#inspection#eyesight

▲ 17 votes 💬 4 replies ✅ Solved

4 replies

LavenderSophie · Jun 10, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer

Three fixes, cheapest first. One: sun OVER YOUR SHOULDER shining down into the cells — never look on an overcast day and expect eggs, angle is everything. Turn so the light hits the cell bottoms. Two: reading glasses, +1.5 or +2 from the pharmacy, kept in the bee box. At 46 this alone will solve it. Three: next boxes, buy black plastic foundation — a white egg on black is unmissable. Do those and you'll wonder what the fuss was.

HokkaidoHachi · Jun 10, 2026

Phone camera trick works well too — take a photo of the frame face in good light, then pinch-zoom afterwards at your leisure. Less time holding frames, less annoyed bees. I check my photos in the evening with tea. Eggs look like tiny grains of rice standing upright on day one.

DevonBees_Em · Jun 11, 2026

Don't feel bad — I couldn't see eggs my entire first season and my hives did fine. Youngest larvae are honestly an equally good signal (queen present within the last few days). But yes to black foundation, it's cheating in the best way.

YorkshireNewbee · Jun 12, 2026

Bought £3 reading glasses this morning, went in at midday with sun behind me — saw eggs within two minutes. TWO MINUTES. Months of squinting solved for three quid. Thanks all, black foundation on order for the next brood box.

Join 12,000+ beekeepers logging hives, asking questions, and mapping forage.

Get the Beekeeping Community app

I cannot see eggs no matter what I do — starting to think my eyes are the problem

Fondant's been on three weeks and hasn't moved — do they not need it, or can they not reach it?

First-year debrief: two hives, no honey taken, and eight things I'd do differently. What else did I get wrong?

When does the winter cluster actually form, and does it break up again on a warm afternoon?

First winter with a hive on my apartment roof in İzmir — sun all day, wind off the sea, no shade

Dead-out in October with honey still in the box and heads down in the cells — starved ten centimetres from food?

Everything's wrapped, fondant's on, guards are fitted — what does a beginner actually DO between now and March?