diff --git a/packages/ingest/src/crawl.js b/packages/ingest/src/crawl.js
index 4def9bc..e91a7ac 100644
--- a/packages/ingest/src/crawl.js
+++ b/packages/ingest/src/crawl.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { resolveFeed, scrapeFeed, feedTopics } from '@rssamplifier/feed';
 import { q, authors } from '@rssamplifier/db';
 import { fetchSocialSource, floorMinutesFor, isCollected, needsRuntime } from '@rssamplifier/social';
+import { tierFor } from '@profullstack/scraper-daemon/cadence';
 
 import { prepareCredits } from './enrich.js';
 import {
@@ -641,6 +642,41 @@ const OVERREAD = 3;
  * @param {number} [perHost]
  * @returns {object[]}
  */
+/**
+ * Mix the due pool across tiers before the batch is cut from its front.
+ *
+ * `dueFeeds` returns the pool tier by tier (hot, active, slow, dormant,
+ * archived, each its quota times OVERREAD), and `spreadHosts` takes the first
+ * `batchSize`. Uninterleaved, the hot tier alone filled the batch and every
+ * other tier starved: on 2026-11-09 a subreddit queued at the front of the
+ * active tier sat at position 1,081 of 2,700 against a batch of 900 and was
+ * never read. Ordering by each row's fractional position within its own tier
+ * keeps the quota proportions in any prefix, and the rows first within their
+ * tier (express submissions, oldest due) stay first.
+ *
+ * @template {{ status?: string, fetch_interval_minutes?: number }} T
+ * @param {T[]} feeds
+ * @returns {T[]}
+ */
+export function interleaveTiers(feeds) {
+  const groups = new Map();
+  const keyOf = (feed) => (feed?.status === 'dead' ? 'recheck' : tierFor(feed?.fetch_interval_minutes));
+  for (const feed of feeds) {
+    const key = keyOf(feed);
+    groups.set(key, (groups.get(key) ?? 0) + 1);
+  }
+  const seenIn = new Map();
+  return feeds
+    .map((feed, index) => {
+      const key = keyOf(feed);
+      const i = seenIn.get(key) ?? 0;
+      seenIn.set(key, i + 1);
+      return { feed, index, at: (i + 0.5) / groups.get(key) };
+    })
+    .sort((a, b) => a.at - b.at || a.index - b.index)
+    .map((entry) => entry.feed);
+}
+
 export function spreadHosts(feeds, batchSize, perHost = PER_HOST_DEFAULT) {
   if (batchSize <= 0) return [];
 
@@ -730,7 +766,7 @@ export async function crawlDue(db, batchSize = 25, concurrency = 8, onEvent = nu
   const pool = await q.dueFeeds(db, batchSize * OVERREAD);
   if (pool.length === 0) return { crawled: 0, failed: 0, items: 0, hosts: 0 };
 
-  const due = spreadHosts(pool, batchSize, perHost);
+  const due = spreadHosts(interleaveTiers(pool), batchSize, perHost);
 
   // Longest queue first. Whichever host is heaviest in this batch is the one
   // that decides when the batch ends, so it must start at the beginning of it.
diff --git a/packages/ingest/test/interleave-tiers.test.js b/packages/ingest/test/interleave-tiers.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b64d1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ingest/test/interleave-tiers.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+
+import { interleaveTiers, spreadHosts } from '../src/crawl.js';
+
+test('a batch cut from the front of the pool keeps every tier, not just hot', () => {
+  // The pool as dueFeeds returns it: tier by tier, each its quota times three.
+  const rows = (tier, n, interval) =>
+    Array.from({ length: n }, (_, i) => ({ slug: `${tier}-${i}`, feed_url: `https://${tier}${i}.example/f`, fetch_interval_minutes: interval }));
+  const pool = [...rows('hot', 108, 60), ...rows('active', 81, 380), ...rows('slow', 48, 3000), ...rows('dormant', 27, 10080), ...rows('archived', 6, 20000)];
+
+  const before = spreadHosts(pool, 90, 8);
+  assert.ok(before.every((r) => r.slug.startsWith('hot-')), 'the bug: hot alone filled the batch');
+
+  const batch = spreadHosts(interleaveTiers(pool), 90, 8);
+  const count = (t) => batch.filter((r) => r.slug.startsWith(`${t}-`)).length;
+  assert.equal(count('hot'), 36);
+  assert.equal(count('active'), 27);
+  assert.ok(count('slow') >= 15 && count('dormant') >= 8 && count('archived') >= 1);
+  assert.equal(batch.find((r) => r.slug.startsWith('active-')).slug, 'active-0', 'oldest due first within a tier');
+});