Do you think a test frame, here in Aberdeenshire, in late September, will give a true result? Is it worth searching in other colonies for a frame of brood with young larvae to introduce to a possible queenless colony?

A colony might be queenless, but they realise that there aren't any drones about - so, they don't bother drawing out a queen cell, and then we come to the wrong conclusion.

Kitta