diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx
index 0bdca539..8f850528 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/ComponentsPage.tsx
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ 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';
@@ -81,11 +80,6 @@ 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">
@@ -101,14 +95,6 @@ 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">
@@ -141,12 +127,6 @@ 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 7149e62f..f2f5550c 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/HivesPage.tsx
@@ -7,21 +7,11 @@
 // 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.
-//
-// 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 { useEffect, 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';
 
@@ -85,19 +75,11 @@ 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);
 
-  useRefreshInterval(intervalMs, () => {
+  useEffect(() => {
     (async () => {
       const r = await fetch('/api/hives/status');
       if (!r.ok) {
@@ -105,18 +87,11 @@ 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"
-      actions={<RefreshIntervalPicker id="hives-refresh" value={intervalMs} onChange={setIntervalMs} />}
-    >
+    <Panel title="hives">
       {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 0132d514..23a40980 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.css
@@ -3,26 +3,12 @@
   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;
-}
-/* `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;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
 }
 .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 eea69b56..de8f88db 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/panel/Panel.tsx
@@ -2,35 +2,13 @@
 // 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,
-  actions,
-  children,
-}: {
-  title?: string;
-  actions?: ComponentChildren;
-  children: ComponentChildren;
-}) {
+export function Panel({ title, children }: { title?: string; children: ComponentChildren }) {
   return (
     <section class="ui-panel">
-      {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}
+      {title ? <h2 class="ui-panel-title">{title}</h2> : 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
deleted file mode 100644
index 0e1a134d..00000000
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.css
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-/* 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
deleted file mode 100644
index 5a0979bd..00000000
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/ui/refresh-interval/RefreshInterval.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,131 +0,0 @@
-// <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]);
-}