In my winter reading I learned that Russian bees maintain active queen cells through out the brood-rearing season. In Italian colonies, the presence of queen cells is interpreted by beekeepers as an attempt to swarm (reduce overcrowding by establishing a new colony) or to supersede (kill and replace) the resident queen. This is not the case with Russian colonies, as the workers often destroy the extra queen cells before they fully develop. As you can see here, I have four queen cells.
As you recall, I'm using three medium supers instead of two deeps for the brood boxes. In these three, I have some frames not yet drawn out (from where I pulled frames and made the split) as well as frames drawn but not yet utilized. I spotted the queen, seen here in the photo. She's a wonderful dark Russian bee! I am not so much worried about a swarm in this hive but will monitor and learn from them.
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