How to take care of Queens The main things to having producing colonies is to always have vigorous queens in disease- and mite-free colonies. Young queens are productive egg laying capacity and are much less likely to swarm tendency. It’s a good idea to check all of your hives at least every 10 days, but you should at least check them during dearth periods, like early spring, just after harvest when treating for mites, and before winter season. You have to make sure there are eggs and a good laying pattern — lots of brood in the combs, not a scattered brood pattern in the colony. Re-queening once a year will insure that you always have young queens. Many of beekeepers leave the queen in…