dead queen?

[Spear]

Found a lot of dead bees outside my hive this morning. Many were workers, a few drones - some even pulled from their cells - and 1 that could be a queen. Here is a pic of 2 drones, a worker and the queen? - If it is a queen why would they kick her out this time of year?

[10framer]

can't tell.  take a picture under better lighting or use a flash.

[rwlaw]

The queen generally won't have markings on the back of the abdomen, take a good look. IMO it looks like a larger worker. The far left and right are drone pupae, common in the fall.
You can do a inspection in three days and look for eggs or wait for seven and look for eggs/queen cells.
Maybe take a pic of the bees from the topside and post.

[Bees In Miami]

Can't tell for sure from the pic.  Too small, and too dark.  Do you have other hives?  Are you sure it wasn't a pesticide kill?  What is left in the hive for bee population?

[Spear]

 I have 12 hives - 2 on my garden & 10 on my moms garden. The dead bees are from one of my garden hives. I don't think it is a pesticide kill because the population in the hive with the most dead in front of it is very strong - it has always been stronger than the other hive. I'm not concerned about the drone pupae since it is the time of year the poor drones get the boot. I was just very surprised to see what looks like a dead queen on the landing board. My 1st thought was that they made a new queen then kicked her out with the drones but that makes no sense so I'm hoping that it is just a long worker and nothing to worry about. I has been raining all day today so there was no way I could get into the hive for a look & the weather is getting cold so I don't think I'll get a chance to look until the weather warms up again...
I'll preserve the bodies & take them to the bee club meeting next friday & see what they have to say about it.