I think my queen is dead

[stinger27]

Hi guys,
   Im new to beekeeping.  I recently had a hive of bees given to me because they were attacked by a bear.  Due to the bear population in my Uncles area he gave me the hive.  I am afraid that my queen might have been killed in the attack.  The bees are still going in and out, working like crazy.  But they are carrying nothing in thier baskets.  There is a good goldenrod flow in right now.  My uncle said if they are carrying no visible pollen, then the queen could be dead.  I added a surplus super to the hive as soon as I recieved it. That was a month ago and the bees haven't build any comb in it either.  Could this be a sign that my queen is dead?  They had successfully filled one super when the bear attacked and ate it.  So I wonder why they haven't even begun to build comb in mine in a months time??  I plan on checking the brood box tomarrow.  What should I look for to find out if my Queen is dead?  Also if they have reared a new queen shouldn't she be laying by now?

[amymcg]

Not sure that this means you have no queen.  

First, look for the queen, if you can't find her, look for eggs, larvae and capped brood. If you find any of those, then you have a queen in there somewhere.

If you don't see any of that, and you think they might have raised their own queen, she should be laying pretty soon.  Michael Bush or one of the other guys can tell you exactly how many days. . etc. . .

They might not be drawing comb because there is no nectar flow. . .If there's nothing to store, then they won't draw anything to store it in.  You could try feeding. . .

[Michael Bush]

Assuming the queen was killed I would not expect to see eggs from a new queen for 25 days after that.  It typically takes 28 days from an egg to a laying queen.

[leominsterbeeman]

0. Look at all the pictures on the beemaster site and get familiar with them.

1.  look for a queen.  Don't be confused by drones.  Must newbees see a drone and think that he's a queen.  A drone will have very large eyes on the side and top of his head.

2. Look for eggs are hard to see for new beekeepers.  Look into the cells with the sun behind you and look for little white grains of rice that are shrunken to 1/10 their size.  

3.  Look for larve.  These are much easier to see.  They will be little worm like critters curled up in the cells.

4. Look for queen cells - this would mean that your queen is dead or hurt or old and the bees are making a new queen to replace.   A queen will emerge from one of these cells, hopefully mate with some drones and start laying eggs.  Do not confuse queen cells with drone cells.  Queen cells are peanut shaped and hang from the comb.  Drone cells are capped in a bullet shape.

If it's been a month since the bear attack, and you don't see any of these,  I'd assume the queen is dead -- your hive is doomed.  Order a new queen quickly if you want to have this colony survive.