The queen in my hive is approximately two years old- a time when the queen's productivity will often begin to drop off. I spoke with a friend yesterday who's queen had started laying only drones; another sign of an aging queen is poor brood pattern (patchy).
My plan was to replace the queen this year by letting the workers raise a new one from a 'queen cup' during swarm season, but I was pleasantly surprised by the solid brood pattern I saw on a number of frames today. I'll need to check with Chip about whether to let her stay in charge for another season!
This photo shows a very solid brood pattern on a frame in box 2- notice the larvae in the uncapped cells. The arc pattern of the brood (w/ some honey cells at upper right) is typical.
