My Queen is dead! Help me understand this...

[Drone]

I had a bad greeting at the hive today. I was just watching the bees do their thing, flying in and out, bringing in a little pollen, then I noticed a dead queen laying on the ground in front of the hive.

OK - time for an inspection...

The good news is, I saw another queen in the hive (woo-hoo!). But I can't make sense of this murder mystery. Here's what I saw when I went in...

No signs of supercedure cells
One capped swarm cell - no sign of any other swarm cells
Very spotty brood pattern
A few eggs, but a lot less than I would expect (Raleigh, NC - lots of blooming going on)
Lots of drones
Not as many bees as I expected to see, but I'm still pretty new at this (2nd year)

I'm guessing the the dead queen was the old one, and the new queen is the one I spotted in the hive. Looking at the brood, I also suspect that the queen was not performing well. I was expecting to see supercedure cells - could they have been completely removed already?

Also, could a swarm have occured and the dead queen been an unmated baby - she was awfully big, as was the one I spotted. If a swarm occured, wouldn't there be evidence, like old swarm cells?

I left the capped queen cell in the hive since I really don't understand what happened here. The bees seem to have a better idea of what's going on than I do.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm really scratching my head over this one. :?

Thanks!

-John

[Moonshae]

If the dead queen is the old one, you may have missed the supercedure cells...the dominant queen in the hive would have killed her rivals upon hatching from her own cell. If she's just started laying, that could account for a low amount of brood in the hive. Just keep an eye on things, and be ready to buy a replacement if the queen there isn't up to snuff.

[Drone]

Well, now I'm not so sure the dead queen was the old one. I took another look and her thorax is pretty hairy. I'm starting to think that maybe this hive swarmed and I didn't even notice.

Does a hairy thorax indicate a freshly emerged queen? This would explain why there was a swam cell in the hive. I checked this hive two weeks ago and saw no signs of swarming. Maybe I need to have a look more often.

[bassman1977]

Does a hairy thorax indicate a freshly emerged queen? This would explain why there was a swam cell in the hive. I checked this hive two weeks ago and saw no signs of swarming. Maybe I need to have a look more often.

Yes.  Not just the queen but all of the new bees.  The more she gets groomed and aged, she'll lose the hair.  Kinda like a human male.   :(