I my queen alive?

[llgoddj]

Dear All,

I definitely have a dwindling of my worker population as I have noticed numerous dead bees being carried out and left at the doorstep of my TBH. But I am also worried that I may not have a queen surviving. Without physically making an observation of my combs (not about to do that in the throes of winter), can I safely make the assumption that my queen is alive just because I still have workers alive in January?

Thanks for any input.

Larry

[Rader Sidetrack]

... can I safely make the assumption that my queen is alive just because I still have workers alive in January?

No. All it tells you is that you have workers alive. Some bees do die in the winter no matter what you do, they have a limited lifetime.

From my perspective, at this point, based on your words above, you have no reason to believe that your queen is dead.

[KQ6AR]

I agree, the best thing you can do is leave them alone. Don't open the hive.