<We have frames that are absolutely packed full
with pollen in  these queenless colonies.>Trevor Weatherhead
Interesting, just again shows the uniqueness of location.  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.
I've years of research projects where we profile everything inside  the 
hive - and our most reliable indicator of a queen problem is this simple  
foraging act.  Jerry

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