# No brood no honey **URL:** \ **Category:** Beekeeping - Basics\ **Created:** [August 10, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295 "2017-08-10T13:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bunnyl99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@Bunnyl99](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Bunnyl99)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/1 "2017-08-10T13:51:21Z")
Any advice? I have next to no brood and no honey. I established the hive from a nuc in April. Thanks in advance for your help ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/2 "2017-08-10T15:55:16Z")
Could they have swarmed on you? That would be the most likely. How often do you inspect the hive? If you have photos of the frames from an inspection, we might be able to give you a better idea. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/michaeld/32/10479_2.png) [@MichaelD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/MichaelD)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/3 "2017-08-10T16:15:59Z")
@Dawn_SD asked a pertinent question: When did you last inspect your hive, and how often do you normally do so? Did your population suddenly decline? Any signs of swarm cells on your frames? Then you likely experienced a midnight move out (swarm). The timeline from there is well laid out – you have to let the new queen hatch (if one was there and viable), THEN it takes a couple weeks to mate… IFF it made it back from its mating flight, it will start fattening up and laying eggs after several days. It is a frustrating 2-3 weeks to wait! Now, if for some reason your queen is dead, you still need to look for queen cells. Failing finding any (or any signs of a laying queen) you may need to re-queen. As @Dawn_SD said – pics of your frames will help us help you. -M ---
**Author:** ![Anon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@Anon](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Anon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/4 "2017-08-10T21:26:58Z")
August through November is mite crash time in these parts of the woods. What were your mite counts like? ---
**Author:** ![Bunnyl99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@Bunnyl99](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Bunnyl99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/5 "2017-08-21T16:00:43Z")
I check every two weeks and have no mites ---
**Author:** ![Bunnyl99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@Bunnyl99](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Bunnyl99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/6 "2017-08-21T16:01:42Z")
I dont have photos. I check my bees every week but don’t take it completely apart. What do swarm cells look like? ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/7 "2017-08-21T16:02:34Z")
> [@Bunnyl99](#): > > I check every two weeks How do you check for mites? There are only a couple of ways which are accurate. In the US, it is highly unlikely that you have no mites. 😊 Swarm cells look like a row of shell-on peanuts on the bottom of a frame of brood. This is quite a good photo of several of them. They can be hard to see unless you are deliberately looking: > [@Lost most of my hive while out of town](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/lost-most-of-my-hive-while-out-of-town/12398/3): > ---
**Author:** ![Anon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@Anon](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Anon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/8 "2017-08-21T16:54:06Z")
If you keep honey bees in America, you have mites. ---
**Author:** ![Bunnyl99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@Bunnyl99](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Bunnyl99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/9 "2017-08-21T17:03:57Z")
I have checked with the powder sugar method and inspected with a magnifying glass and have seen nothing? Am I doing something wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Anon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@Anon](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Anon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/10 "2017-08-21T17:11:35Z")
Powdered sugar is unreliable compared to alcohol. If you have humidity like we have here in New Jersey, it will skew the results. Alcohol wash isn’t affected by humidity levels. ---
**Author:** ![Bunnyl99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@Bunnyl99](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Bunnyl99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/11 "2017-08-21T17:16:03Z")
Where can I get accurate information on that? It is humid here in PA ---
**Author:** ![Anon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@Anon](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Anon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/no-brood-no-honey/12295/12 "2017-08-21T17:43:05Z")
I got it watching a live demonstration by our state apiarist.