Is it bad to tip frames with eggs upside down during inspection?

[Queenie]

I know to be careful to keep frames with queen cells upright, but are regular brood sensitive too? Thanks!

[jrbbees]

They are but they are not as critical a the queen.

[Beeslave]

I don't worry about it.

[AmericasBeekeeper]

So queen cells have the larva stuck in a bed of jelly hanging vertically and you are thinking worker eggs/larva in royal jelly also may slip out?
Please worry about something realistic like Varroa or SHB.

[hilreal]

Why would you tip them upside down?

[RABray]

I am thinking that if I hold a frame of brood flat and look into the cells to inspect them then the other side of the frame would be upside down. Am I missing something?

[Acebird]

You are not missing anything. My only concern would be tipping frames to where fresh nectar would be running out but I don't think they put nectar next to brood only honey.

[Keefis]

I believe that the queen lays eggs into empty cells --THEN -- the bees put in the royal jelly.. If this is precise then the eggs could fall out if you inspected inbetween those two steps.
I personally did a split recently and one of the hives, (the new one ) did not produce any queen cells at first. I had to add another bar of eggs.
Point is when I was inspecting the bars I was going to move to the new hive, I must have dropped the freshest eggs out.

[MJuric]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but when the queen lays the eggs they are sitting upright in the cell. Vertical, in the frame horizontal in the hive. They are positioned in the center of the hive not touching anything else.

The only way this is possible is if, like many other insects, the eggs are "Glued" in place when laid. Try scraping some bug eggs off your garden plants. They don't "Fall off" and I doubt that the queens eggs are going anywhere either because of this.

I've pulled frames, shaken the bees off and been rather rough with them and have never seen an egg even move. I'm sure it happens to a few of them but they aren't going to just fall out. If they did they couldn't stick straight out from the frame.

~Matt

[gmcharlie]

I believe that the queen lays eggs into empty cells --THEN -- the bees put in the royal jelly.. If this is precise then the eggs could fall out if you inspected inbetween those two steps.
I personally did a split recently and one of the hives, (the new one ) did not produce any queen cells at first. I had to add another bar of eggs.
Point is when I was inspecting the bars I was going to move to the new hive, I must have dropped the freshest eggs out.

They won't drop tip or otherwise roll, you can usually even shake a frame (depends on vigor, and not cause problems. The egg stands upright when its laid, and when it lays down it hatches, then they add the royal jelly. Its so sticky and Molecular adhesion is so great, it doesn't move...... Relax.... if that were a probelm every time we did a full inspetion we would destroy all the eggs and brood.

[scorpionmain]

I have learned not to turn the frames flat to inspect. The comb ripped on me once because it was so heavily lading. If you hold the frame like it hangs in the hive, you won't have to worry about either these issues.

[Lburou]

You are not missing anything. My only concern would be tipping frames to where fresh nectar would be running out but I don't think they put nectar next to brood only honey.

Agreed Ace, this week I did see a couple drops of nectar from a brood frame, was surprised and happy to see evidence of a small honey flow right now.

Queenie, after a while you will get a handle on the things you need to worry about....like small hive beetle and wax moth. Don't worry too much about mistakes, my bees are fine and I made a half dozen mistakes just last week

[Corvair68]

So queen cells have the larva stuck in a bed of jelly hanging vertically and you are thinking worker eggs/larva in royal jelly also may slip out?
Please worry about something realistic like Varroa or SHB.

Americas Beekeeper is right. Whether it is a queen cell or not, turning the frame upside down briefly during an inspection it not really going to affect the development of the bee. But he fails to remember that many people are new to beekeeping, and have questions that may seem foolish to someone who already knows everything.

[RABray]

I concur Corvair68. Most of the time answers here are kind and new-bee friendly but occasionally they seem harsh. I just like to remind everyone, including me, none of us were born with our bee knowledge we were given it by others most of the time. So while we may have gained our bee knowledge before someone else; they may have been gaining knowledge on other things which we have no clue about....yet.

[Acebird]

they may have been gaining knowledge on other things which we have no clue about....yet.

Well said.