how can I tell if the queen is dead-what do I do now?

[dusty]

I may have accidentally killed the queen.
In the past, I have looked for the queen and could not find her, but I did find brood comb.

I took the bee feeder out and did not replace it with a frame. I meant to fill it and put it back, but illness prevented me.

The bees drew down a comb from the inner lid and when I added a second story, the comb full of bees fell.

So, looking for a queen and not finding her does not mean she is not alive and well.

I figured I had done enough damage, so I closed up the hive because looking for the queen again would not help the hive.

What should I do, now?
Get a new queen and let the hive figure things out??

[Lori McAllister]

I would wait a few days and then check again. If you see eggs then you have a queen. If you see no new eggs and find queen cells then the old queen has died and they are making a new one. Then you can decide if you want to order a new queen or just let them raise a new one.
For what ever it is worth,
Lori

[Michael Bush]

You often don't find the queen. It does not mean she is not there. Are there eggs? If so, as Lori says, there is a queen. As far as the comb that fell, I'd tie it into an empty frame and put it back.

[power napper]

Last week I worked all eight hives in my home yard, I did not get to see a single queen while working with the bees. Mostly I always see the queen.

[Robert Brenchley]

Are there eggs in the hive? If so, there's been a laying queen in there during the last three days, and she's probably still there.

[Hook]

I would not worry about the comb that fell. Bees are pretty tough, including the queen. Like everybody has said, wait a few days and look for eggs. If you see eggs, there is a queen. If you don't, start looking for an emergency queen cell. But I'll bet you see eggs.

Now, to find the queen, I suspect you are using way to much smoke on your hive. You only need a puff or two, to keep the bes down while you work them. If you know where you saw brood last, pull that frame. Start looking for the queen on that frame, and adjacent frames first. Once you find her, I suggest you mark her. If she is a darker race of bee, she will be harder to find. Normally she will stick with her "kids", unless she is driven away.