diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx
index 8f850528..0bdca539 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { useState } from 'preact/hooks';
 import type { ComponentChildren } from 'preact';
 import { Panel } from '../ui/panel/Panel.js';
 import { RelativeTime } from '../ui/relative-time/RelativeTime.js';
+import { RefreshIntervalPicker, type RefreshIntervalMs } from '../ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.js';
 import { StatusChip, type ChipTone } from '../ui/status-chip/StatusChip.js';
 import { Table, type TableColumn } from '../ui/table/Table.js';
 import { TextField } from '../ui/text-field/TextField.js';
@@ -80,6 +81,11 @@ function SelectFieldSample() {
   );
 }
 
+function RefreshIntervalPickerSample() {
+  const [value, setValue] = useState<RefreshIntervalMs>(30_000);
+  return <RefreshIntervalPicker id="sample-refresh-interval" value={value} onChange={setValue} />;
+}
+
 export function ComponentsPage() {
   return (
     <Panel title="components">
@@ -95,6 +101,14 @@ export function ComponentsPage() {
         <Sample label="without title">
           <Panel>panel body content, no title</Panel>
         </Sample>
+        <Sample label="with actions (e.g. HivesPage's refresh picker)">
+          <Panel
+            title="example title"
+            actions={<RefreshIntervalPicker id="sample-panel-actions" value={30_000} onChange={() => {}} />}
+          >
+            panel body content
+          </Panel>
+        </Sample>
       </Section>
 
       <Section title="StatusChip">
@@ -127,6 +141,12 @@ export function ComponentsPage() {
         </div>
       </Section>
 
+      <Section title="RefreshIntervalPicker">
+        <Sample label="editable">
+          <RefreshIntervalPickerSample />
+        </Sample>
+      </Section>
+
       <Section title="TextField">
         <Sample label="editable">
           <TextFieldSample />
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
index f2f5550c..7149e62f 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
@@ -7,11 +7,21 @@
 // that placeholder's comment laid out. Its own component/file rather
 // than living in `App.tsx`, matching `JobsPage`'s shape: `App.tsx` is
 // routing, a page owns its own fetch + render.
-import { useEffect, useState } from 'preact/hooks';
+//
+// Polls on a `RefreshIntervalPicker` cadence rather than fetching once
+// at mount — no inputs on this page, so a re-fetch clobbering an
+// in-progress edit (the hook's stated caller obligation) isn't a live
+// concern here.
+import { useState } from 'preact/hooks';
 import { ApiErrorPanel } from '@hive/shared/api-error-panel.js';
 import { readApiError, type ProblemDetails } from '@hive/shared/api-error.js';
 import { Panel } from '../ui/panel/Panel.js';
 import { RelativeTime } from '../ui/relative-time/RelativeTime.js';
+import {
+  RefreshIntervalPicker,
+  useRefreshInterval,
+  type RefreshIntervalMs,
+} from '../ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.js';
 import { StatusChip, type ChipTone } from '../ui/status-chip/StatusChip.js';
 import { Table, type TableColumn } from '../ui/table/Table.js';
 
@@ -75,11 +85,19 @@ const COLUMNS: TableColumn<HiveStatus>[] = [
   },
 ];
 
+// 30s default: this page has no inputs to interrupt, and the whole
+// point of a refresh-interval control is "no manual reload needed" — an
+// operator who wants it off still can, but the out-of-the-box behaviour
+// should actually solve the staleness problem rather than require an
+// opt-in every visit.
+const DEFAULT_INTERVAL_MS: RefreshIntervalMs = 30_000;
+
 export function HivesPage() {
   const [hives, setHives] = useState<HiveStatus[] | null>(null);
   const [error, setError] = useState<ProblemDetails | null>(null);
+  const [intervalMs, setIntervalMs] = useState<RefreshIntervalMs>(DEFAULT_INTERVAL_MS);
 
-  useEffect(() => {
+  useRefreshInterval(intervalMs, () => {
     (async () => {
       const r = await fetch('/api/hives/status');
       if (!r.ok) {
@@ -87,11 +105,18 @@ export function HivesPage() {
         return;
       }
       setHives((await r.json()) as HiveStatus[]);
+      // A refresh that succeeds clears a previous failure — otherwise a
+      // transient error would sit on screen forever after the data
+      // itself has recovered.
+      setError(null);
     })().catch((e: unknown) => setError({ detail: String(e) }));
-  }, []);
+  });
 
   return (
-    <Panel title="hives">
+    <Panel
+      title="hives"
+      actions={<RefreshIntervalPicker id="hives-refresh" value={intervalMs} onChange={setIntervalMs} />}
+    >
       {error ? <ApiErrorPanel context="failed to load the hive roster" problem={error} /> : null}
       {!error && hives === null ? <p>loading…</p> : null}
       {hives ? <Table columns={COLUMNS} rows={hives} rowKey={(h) => h.name} /> : null}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
index 23a40980..0132d514 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
@@ -3,12 +3,26 @@
   border-radius: 0.5em;
   background: var(--bg-elev);
 }
+.ui-panel-header {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 1em;
+  padding: 0.75em 1em;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+}
 .ui-panel-title {
   margin: 0;
-  padding: 0.75em 1em;
   font-size: 1em;
   font-weight: 600;
-  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+}
+/* `margin-left: auto` (not `justify-content: space-between` on the
+   header) so actions still land at the right edge even on the rare
+   panel that has actions but no title. */
+.ui-panel-actions {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.5em;
+  margin-left: auto;
 }
 .ui-panel-body {
   padding: 1em;
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
index de8f88db..eea69b56 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
@@ -2,13 +2,35 @@
 // bordered surface with an optional title, no other opinions. Not a
 // card-with-actions/footer/whatever kit — those get added the first
 // time a real page actually needs one, not speculatively ahead of it.
+//
+// `actions` is that one addition: a slot in the title row, right-
+// aligned, for a control that belongs next to the panel's own heading
+// rather than its own row inside the body (design guide: "a control
+// belongs next to the thing it affects, not tucked into a catch-all
+// menu" — and per mara's review on the refresh-interval PR, not a
+// dedicated row stealing vertical space from the panel's actual
+// content either). `HivesPage`'s refresh-interval picker is the
+// motivating caller.
 import type { ComponentChildren } from 'preact';
 import './Panel.css';
 
-export function Panel({ title, children }: { title?: string; children: ComponentChildren }) {
+export function Panel({
+  title,
+  actions,
+  children,
+}: {
+  title?: string;
+  actions?: ComponentChildren;
+  children: ComponentChildren;
+}) {
   return (
     <section class="ui-panel">
-      {title ? <h2 class="ui-panel-title">{title}</h2> : null}
+      {title || actions ? (
+        <div class="ui-panel-header">
+          {title ? <h2 class="ui-panel-title">{title}</h2> : null}
+          {actions ? <div class="ui-panel-actions">{actions}</div> : null}
+        </div>
+      ) : null}
       <div class="ui-panel-body">{children}</div>
     </section>
   );
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e1a134d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.css
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/* Compact "clock icon · value · chevron" control — see RefreshInterval.tsx
+   for why this isn't `SelectField`'s label+bordered-control chrome. Quiet
+   until interacted with (no border/fill at rest), matching LinksMenu's
+   header-button treatment so it reads as chrome, not a form. */
+.ui-refresh-picker {
+  position: relative;
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.35em;
+  min-height: 2.75em;
+  padding: 0 0.6em;
+  border: 1px solid transparent;
+  border-radius: 0.4em;
+  color: var(--muted);
+  font-size: 0.9em;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+.ui-refresh-picker:hover,
+.ui-refresh-picker:focus-within {
+  border-color: var(--border);
+  background: var(--bg);
+  color: var(--fg);
+}
+/* The select drives the interaction (native listbox, keyboard, a11y) but
+   contributes no chrome of its own — its own box is invisible, sized to
+   just its selected option's text, and its default arrow is stripped
+   since the chevron span stands in for it. */
+.ui-refresh-picker-select {
+  appearance: none;
+  border: none;
+  background: none;
+  color: inherit;
+  font: inherit;
+  padding: 0;
+  margin: 0;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+.ui-refresh-picker-icon,
+.ui-refresh-picker-chevron {
+  font-size: 0.85em;
+  line-height: 1;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5a0979bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+// <RefreshIntervalPicker> + `useRefreshInterval` — the shared "grafana-
+// like" polling pattern from the design-language discussion: the
+// operator picks a cadence, the page re-fetches on it, and the timer
+// pauses while the tab is backgrounded rather than burning requests for
+// no visible benefit. Deliberately small (per mara: "component should
+// not be too big") — a preset cadence list and a pause-on-hidden timer,
+// nothing more. The UI (picker) and the behaviour (hook) live in one
+// file since neither is useful without the other and splitting them
+// would be two files for one concern.
+//
+// The picker itself is a compact "clock icon · value · chevron" inline
+// control, not a labelled `SelectField` — per mara's review, a full
+// label+bordered-control form field reads as way too heavy for a
+// passive-until-touched setting that lives in a panel's title row
+// (`Panel`'s `actions` slot), not a form. Visually quiet (no border/
+// fill until hovered/focused) the same way `LinksMenu`'s header button
+// is, so it reads as chrome rather than another input to fill in. A
+// native `<select>` still drives it (no custom dropdown/listbox to
+// reinvent) — `appearance: none` strips its default arrow so the
+// chevron span can stand in for it, and the visible "value" text is
+// just whichever `<option>` the browser is already rendering as
+// selected, not a second copy of the label kept in sync by hand.
+//
+// The hook, not the picker, owns re-fetch safety: a caller passes its
+// own fetch callback, and it's the CALLER's job to make sure that
+// callback doesn't clobber an input the operator is mid-edit on — this
+// hook only decides *when* to call it.
+import { useEffect, useRef } from 'preact/hooks';
+import './RefreshInterval.css';
+
+// `null` means "off" throughout this module — no separate boolean, so
+// there's exactly one way to represent "not polling".
+export type RefreshIntervalMs = number | null;
+
+const PRESETS: { value: RefreshIntervalMs; label: string }[] = [
+  { value: null, label: 'off' },
+  { value: 10_000, label: '10s' },
+  { value: 30_000, label: '30s' },
+  { value: 60_000, label: '1m' },
+];
+
+export function RefreshIntervalPicker({
+  id,
+  value,
+  onChange,
+}: {
+  id: string;
+  value: RefreshIntervalMs;
+  onChange: (value: RefreshIntervalMs) => void;
+}) {
+  const current = PRESETS.find((p) => p.value === value) ?? PRESETS[0];
+  return (
+    // A `<label>` wrapper (not a bare `<span>`) so the icon/chevron
+    // padding is part of the click/tap target too, not just the native
+    // select box itself — same touch-target-floor reasoning as the rest
+    // of the kit, just without a visible label string to hang it off
+    // of (hence the `aria-label` on the `<select>` for the accessible
+    // name a sighted-only icon+chevron can't supply).
+    <label class="ui-refresh-picker" for={id}>
+      <span class="ui-refresh-picker-icon" aria-hidden="true">
+        🕐
+      </span>
+      <select
+        id={id}
+        class="ui-refresh-picker-select"
+        aria-label="refresh interval"
+        value={current.label}
+        onChange={(e) => {
+          const label = (e.target as HTMLSelectElement).value;
+          const preset = PRESETS.find((p) => p.label === label);
+          if (preset) onChange(preset.value);
+        }}
+      >
+        {PRESETS.map((p) => (
+          <option key={p.label} value={p.label}>
+            {p.label}
+          </option>
+        ))}
+      </select>
+      <span class="ui-refresh-picker-chevron" aria-hidden="true">
+        ⌄
+      </span>
+    </label>
+  );
+}
+
+// Calls `onTick` immediately and then every `intervalMs`, paused while
+// the document is hidden and resynced (an immediate call, not a stale
+// leftover wait) on becoming visible again — same pattern
+// `RelativeTime` already uses for the same reason. `intervalMs = null`
+// means "off": no calls at all, not even the initial one — a caller
+// that wants data on mount regardless of the picker's starting value
+// should default its own `intervalMs` state to a real cadence, not
+// `null`, and add a separate mount effect only if it genuinely wants
+// "off" to still mean "load once."
+export function useRefreshInterval(intervalMs: RefreshIntervalMs, onTick: () => void) {
+  // Always-current via a ref rather than a `useEffect` dependency:
+  // callers pass an inline closure that's a new value every render, and
+  // depending on it directly would re-arm the timer (losing whatever's
+  // left of the current interval) on every render instead of only when
+  // the cadence itself changes. The ref keeps the *timer* stable while
+  // still calling the *latest* callback, not a stale one captured at
+  // mount.
+  const onTickRef = useRef(onTick);
+  onTickRef.current = onTick;
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (intervalMs === null) return;
+    let id: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | undefined;
+
+    const start = () => {
+      onTickRef.current();
+      id = setInterval(() => onTickRef.current(), intervalMs);
+    };
+    const stop = () => {
+      if (id !== undefined) clearInterval(id);
+      id = undefined;
+    };
+
+    if (document.visibilityState === 'visible') start();
+    const onVisibility = () => {
+      if (document.visibilityState === 'visible') start();
+      else stop();
+    };
+    document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', onVisibility);
+    return () => {
+      stop();
+      document.removeEventListener('visibilitychange', onVisibility);
+    };
+  }, [intervalMs]);
+}