> On the other hand, some beekeepers report high turnover of introduced queens during the first few months after introduction.  This is an entirely different subject.

This is the subject we are discussing. But you can't discuss supersedure without referencing the potential lifespan of the queen. We ask if  she is being replaced prematurely by the bees, or if she is failing in some other way, such as sperm depletion, disease, or inability to maintain control over the workers due to low pheromone quantity or quality. Like I said before, there is a lot we don't know about queen supersedure. People like Drs. Rangel, Tarpy, Delaney, Barron, etc. are trying to push the knowledge further. This from Colin Butler:

> It seems to be generally believed that the eggs found in such queen cell cups have been placed therein by the old queen herself (e.g. SNELGROVE, 1946) but in the case of supersedure this belief appears to be based more on supposition than upon observation.

This topic seems to me to be dominated by supposition rather than observation.

PLB

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