After last week’s speculation on whether or not Ramona’s hive was building a supersedure cell, there is no doubt whatsoever what the picture below is.
Interestingly enough, I found Ramona on the next frame over on a good section of capped brood.
I did observe while Ramona was walking around on the frame that her front right leg appears damaged so she only has 5 functioning legs. I’m not sure if she came like this or had an accident during the installation. In either case, I’m just going to let things play out. She is still able to lay as I saw plenty of eggs on frames so we’ll see what happens.
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 
Wow, Karl, this is fascinating. I guess you’ll know when you find her body thrown off the front porch? And the new queen will not have a paint dot on her? I agree that you should just let it take its course– the Wisdom of The Hive at work. I just did my first inspection yesterday and it was very fun and interesting. Two pieces of advice you gave me were REALLY valuable: 1) Having two hives is a great idea to compare and contrast. Absolutely true. And 2) using the black foundation so you can see the eggs better. Wow, that was so great!
That’s a lovely looking cell they’ve built there. And beautiful yellow comb.
Think the forelegs are important to a queen as she uses them to determine the cell size and judge whether to lay a fertilised or unfertilised egg. So the ladies probably have good reasons for replacing her!
Great post! I’ve heard also that a dysfunctional leg is grounds for overthrow but have never seen this in action. Keep us posted as the saga unfolds.
I’ve decided to stick with BeeWeaver queens after lots of thought around this type of action . I’m afraid that a home grown queen will mate with drones that are more aggressive (think feral africanized bees).