Bently,
 
   If you have bees now, you probably have a queen.  They woulda left, or
raised another if there were any eggs.  She stops laying about october,
and starts again in january (around here in northern Illinois, at least.)
 I bet if you checked them now, you'd see lots of young (littler) bees,
as well as brood.  Don't be scared to get in there and look, even when it
is cool, if you aren't sure.  (Just don't keep them out long if they
aren't covered with bees, just long enough to see the brood.)
 
  BWT, I not am lysdexic!  (I think am I!)  ;-)
 
Gerry and the other Visels at
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Winnebago, Illinois, USA