Firstly, a test framenever even proved there is a queen present.
Secondly, the queen, if present may have stopped laying for one of a few reasons. One is that she is nosemic.
Thirdly, finding a queen is not rocket science.
Maybe a 'sticky' is required for finding a queen - for those of us who have difficulty in spotting her.
Marking queens, at some appropriate point (not when queen loss might seriously compromise the colony survival), is the obvious beekeeper aid (and there are other advantages of marking).
Being confident that she is in the brood box is one oft overlooked, by inexperienced beeks, who have small scrubby queens, faulty Q/Es or have made mistakes in manipulations. So look for brood in any supers is the first thing to do if she is not found in the brood box!
Not smoking the bees heavily is often important fa tof in keeping her where you would expect her to be.
Simply searching by eye is the first obvious ploy for most of us.
Failing that, splitting the brood into two boxes and discerning which half is queenless (roaring, running around the frames, etc) compared with the calm half. Splitting again or further searching is perhaps then easier.
If two brood boxes, inserting a Q/E between the boxes and waiting a couple days before going back will make finding the queen only half as difficult, if she is a laying queen.
If she is is only in one box (or even two) brood frames can be spread into pairs and left for a while with light entering the box. The queen will almost always be found on an inner surface of one of the pairs where it is dark.
Sieving is a ploy which can be resorted to, as long as she is a large queen. Small queens can become trapped while attempting to get through the excluder. Not important if she is for tbe 'chop'.
The ultimate, IMO, is to separate all brood nest bees into a box with only a couple of frames with open brood. Covered with a Q/E and with the brood box, empty of bees placed over, left for a day (or less) will simply result in the brood bees returning to the brood above leaving the queen and some nurse bees in the bottom box. Moving the bottom box away and leaving it in the light will almost certainly result in the queen being found between those two frames (flying bees will have left, as an advantage, after about half an hour, provided the bees are flying that day!).
Other ploys might be to run bees back into a fresh box up a ramp covered in a white (preferably) cloth, while the beekeeper hunts for the queen as they crawl back towards the hive. Slow and steady, perhaps one frame at a time.
Knowing where to look and how to recognise her is a distinct advantage. Being slightly more raised on the frame, having nurse/feeder bees grouped around, etc, etc. Knowing whether your strain is 'steady' on the frames or a 'runner' helps and changing the strain to a 'steadier on the frame' type most certainly helps in finding and catching her!
Hope that lot helps. Not totally exhaustive but plenty of ideas for you to consider.
