So, I did my first post-heat-wave inspection of my one hive (from a TVBA nuc this spring).
The heat wave we had caused a the comb on a few of my foundationless frames to collapse. I wonder whether, during this structural damage event, the queen was killed. I'm not very good at spotting the queen. I saw her (I think) for the first and only time in early June. I didn't see her this inspection.
I went through my two 8 frame deep boxes and there was not very much capped brood at all and the pattern was very spotty. There might have been a few larva. I can never see eggs (just too small) and I didn't see any this time either. But I normally see a lot of larva and capped brood and there just wasn't much this time.
There were a hefty number of dead bees and pupa on the ground in front of the hive from those really hot days. I'm not sure if that's related to the heat or the comb collapse or both.
There was a lot of what I think is uncapped nectar (liquid but it didn't fall out like water). I've read that this can be a sign of a queenless hive. I've also heard that queenless hives are more "flighty" and have a higher pitched normal hum. I saw a number of bees take flight from the frames as I was inspecting them. Enough flying away from the frame that I noted it. And the hum of the hive seemed more strained than usual.
I was doing a lot of reconstruction work because of the collapsed comb, so I was being pretty "invasive". Maybe that's why they were "louder" than normal?
Any other tricks for determining my hive is queenless? Are these signs enough to be pretty confident there's no queen?
What should my next step be? Should I just order a queen and see if she's accepted? I guess worst case scenario is I'm out $40-ish.
This was a really strong hive before the heat wave.
Thanks in advance.