Spotty Brood? What It Means and What to Do About It

Spotty brood always gets your attention—and for good reason. But it doesn’t always mean your queen is failing. Before you rush to replace her, let’s break down the common causes and how to tell when it really is time to requeen.

What a Healthy Brood Pattern Looks Like

A healthy brood pattern typically fills 90% or more of the center frame cells with eggs, larvae, or capped brood, leaving very few empty spaces. This generally means your queen is doing her job. But remember—a healthy brood pattern doesn’t guarantee the hive is healthy overall.

Spotty Brood? Start Here First

Varroa Mites:
Varroa mites can cause spotty brood patterns as bees remove infested larvae and pupae. Watch for signs like mites on adult bees, chewed-open capped brood, or discarded pupae. An overabundance of uncapped brood is a sign to perform a mite count—if it’s over 2%, treatment is recommended.

Disease:

• Chalkbrood leaves white or gray “mummies.”
• European foulbrood causes yellow, melted-looking larvae.
  Both cause brood death and spotty patterns. Improve airflow, feed probiotics, and requeen if possible.

Listen as expert Lauren Ward give us details on how to control European Foulbrood and Chalkbrood in our hives. 

Poor Nutrition or Dearth:
No pollen = no protein. Nurse bees may cannibalize larvae, causing a scattered brood pattern. Supplement with pollen patties and feed 1:1 syrup to get them through lean times.

Normal Growth Patterns:
In fast-growing hives, queens may skip cells filled with nectar or pollen—especially in summer. This “spotty” look on a few frames is usually no cause for concern.

Queenless or Failing Queen:
If all of the brood is spotty, you see drone brood mixed with worker brood, or there are no eggs or larvae, your queen might be aged out, poorly mated, or gone altogether. Time to requeen.

Here's a good example of spotty brood due to a failing queen.

When to Requeen

Requeening should be proactive—ideally once a year, before problems start. But if your hive shows one or more of these signs, it’s time:

     •  Aggression: They follow you and are overly agitated after inspections (and not just on hot days).
     •    Spotty brood throughout all frames, not just here and there.
     •    No growth or population is dwindling, despite feeding and low mite counts.
     •    Scattered drone brood mixed with worker brood—indicates a queen running out of sperm.
     •    No eggs, larvae, or capped brood—likely queenless hive.

Final Tip

Requeening isn’t always the answer—but when the signs add up, it’s better to act than wait. Healthy queens are the foundation of strong hives, and summer is a perfect time to boost genetics before fall rolls in.