At the last club meeting several members, including the author, described losing queens during the course of the summer. In order to take corrective action the beekeeper must first recognize the loss. The best remedy here is to conduct bi-weekly inspections for eggs and brood. Early intervention is the required if the beekeeper wants the hive to produce a honey crop and also store enough honey to survive the winter. Many times the queen may still be present, but just not performing; ie. laying enough eggs and of the right type (95% worker/ 5% drone). A queen can go bad for a number of reasons including old age, poor mating, pesticide poisoning, etc. It can't be avoided and actually seems to be on the rise. The following article gives a few pointers on recognizing the problem.
http://keepingbackyardbees.com/when-its-time-to-squish-a-queen/
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