> In  MT, and in many  other areas of the US, I've consistently seen bees stop  gathering 
pollen as soon as there is no longer any open brood.  This is so  much the norm 
here, we walk through yards looking for those colonies that are  not 
bringing in pollen -  far quicker than opening the hive to see if a  laying queen 
is present.

That's how I look for queenless colonies, no pollen gathering. Also, my observations are that queenless colonies will not use pollen supplements.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm