Is this a dead queen?

I've been desperately trying to re-queen a hive of Italian bees. Today I inspected the new Queen cage and found these four dead bees and the candy plug gone. Is the big one a queen? Thanks in advance for your help

I am almost 100% sure.
On the photos shown you have a dead Drone in-between no Queen Bee.

The Queen Bee should have a more elongated Abdomen and the Rings are more equal in color and by a Drone they are similar black/red to worker bees which have a shorter Abdomen but much bigger as in your Picture.

I think See Hes is correct. I took a peek and found this comparison photo:


From here.

Disclaimer: I did not research what type of practices that website uses. The use of the picture does not imply endorsement.

If you open the hives for inspection, one way to find your queen is to locate the one bee that always has a bunch of groupies around her. The Queen usually has a bunch of workers facing her.

My work involves bees, and yes, that's definitely your queen! You'll need to try again, I'm afraid! Hopefully you'll get a taker next time. How long had it been since you inserted the queen cage? If the hive is a bit stroppy, they may have gotten through and killed her, in which case you might want to try giving them a bit of a supplemental feed if you don't have good nectar flow at the moment (might be in your 'June gap').

Best of luck trying again!

M Broussard wrote:My work involves bees, and yes, that's definitely your queen! You'll need to try again, I'm afraid! Hopefully you'll get a taker next time. How long had it been since you inserted the queen cage? If the hive is a bit stroppy, they may have gotten through and killed her, in which case you might want to try giving them a bit of a supplemental feed if you don't have good nectar flow at the moment (might be in your 'June gap').

Best of luck trying again!

Outch, the big eyes of a Drone which the picture not shows.
I guess I need to go back to school..

Thank you friends, I will try again

It might be wise to check for uncapped eggs before replacing the queen. That first pic looks like a dead drone to me. Adding a 2nd queen into the hive could seriously complicate things.

I will and report back.

See Hes wrote:

M Broussard wrote:My work involves bees, and yes, that's definitely your queen! You'll need to try again, I'm afraid! Hopefully you'll get a taker next time. How long had it been since you inserted the queen cage? If the hive is a bit stroppy, they may have gotten through and killed her, in which case you might want to try giving them a bit of a supplemental feed if you don't have good nectar flow at the moment (might be in your 'June gap').

Best of luck trying again!

Outch, the big eyes of a Drone which the picture not shows.
I guess I need to go back to school..

Sue--it can take a bit to get the gestalt for who's who in the hive! There are two telltale differences between drones and queens/workers:
1) The drone's eyes nearly touch at the top of their head.
2) The drone's abdomen is blunt-tipped, whereas the queen's (and workers') abdomens end in a pointy sting

I've made a helpful diagram for those of you interested in the fine differences in a more visual format (plus an enhanced picture from the OP for comparison).

Excellent points M. I've always had trouble telling from pix alone but those additions help.

I reckon that what I have learned 45 years ago as my Granddad had 30-60 hives depending of the season is like riding a bicycle.

But it seems that my Granddad taught me well as a 12 year old boy and my age has deleted some of his words in my mind.
I was fully involved in that time and even abused the bees as my bodyguards and for pranks.

When once neighbors son was chasing me (and he was a real mean bully) I made it just to Grandpa's bee shelter. Knocked on one of the Straw hives and enjoyed every sting.
Actually more the screams of the bully trying to make an escape but couldn't get through the wire fence around the shelter.

Another day he wanted to make friends, so I caught a drone and hold it in my closed hand, telling him if you hold bees carefully they do not sting.
Well, obviously he was not careful enough *outch* or at least he could not see the difference between a drone and a worker bee..

By end of the Year (if the covid situation eases) my wife and I starting a farm as our retirement project and one this is sure, that we will have Bees again like in the Times as Grandfather was still with me.

If I would have known, I would have gotten a better shot of the head.

..and abdomen. Well new Queen on the way. I think this time I will put the queen cage in brood box. What I didn't mention is this was a hive I re-populated from a loss over the winter. Lots of honey in super.  The reason I put the Queen cage in the super was the first queen died after I put her in The brood box and they failed to even get her out because so few bees go into the brood box.

This is a lovely story I wish you well on starting your new Farm and hopefully there will be no bullies on it.