A honeybee colony rarely collapses without warning. In the weeks before a hive dies out or swarms itself into weakness, its population growth curve bends the wrong way, its brood pattern turns patchy and spotty instead of solid, and dead or crawling bees start to accumulate at the entrance. This simulation models those signals together: a live population count, a brood-pattern comb texture, and an instanced swarm of bees whose density, colour and behaviour all respond to the stress you dial in.
Beekeeping surveys in the UK and US regularly report annual colony losses in the 20–40% range, and Varroa mites (combined with the viruses they vector) are consistently cited as the single biggest contributor — which is why routine mite monitoring and timely treatment are central to modern colony management.
A live model of a honeybee colony's population, brood pattern and hive-floor mortality, driven by mite load, forage/feeding level, season and the two recovery actions beekeepers actually reach for: requeening and mite treatment.
Population growth, a patchy vs. solid brood pattern on the comb, bee colour/agitation, and a pile of fallen bees all shift together as mite pressure, nutrition, season and queen condition change — the same warning signs beekeepers read in a real hive.
Raise the mite slider and watch the comb turn spotty and the strength bar slide toward red; lower feeding in winter to trigger cluster loss. Then hit Treat mites or Requeen and watch the colony climb back — requeening causes a short brood gap before the payoff.
A newly requeened colony often looks weaker for two to three weeks — there's a real gap between the old queen's last eggs and the new queen's first — before her higher-quality pheromones and younger fecundity drive faster growth than before.