It's been a week since I removed the queen excluder ....... I checked all the frames but didn't find the queen. Just like last time, I didn't get into the lower hive body
It is also possible that they carry so much honey that queen is laying eggs in the lowest super and she has too little space... but I do not believe this, but it is possible. If so, keep hurry and give a new super.
The frames seem a mess to me. The frames full of honey are slightly overdrawn, and the frames with honey and brood are overdrawn where there is honey. I think this is a result of my earlier attempt at "checkerboarding" drawn comb with foundation. The overdrawn comb leaves little room for movement between the tops of many of the frames.
Bees have many habits. Do not worry about mess.
When/If hive has no egg laying queen, it is unnecessary arrange frames. Let them carry honey and fill combs. They make their routes between frames. Do not worry about this. When you took honey you cut capping and you can straighten the frames
I did find what looked like a queen cell hanging from the bottom of one frame in the upper brood box, but it was small and empty. There's no evidence that the colony swarmed,
It takes one week that open brood will be capped . You said that you handled a week ago hive. Two possibilities:
1) In handling queen violated. --> there must be "emergengy queen cells".
2) They have changed the queen silently: a new queen had emerged and it has killed the old one. ---> A new starts egg laying after 10 days. Soon you should have egg there.
at least not that I can tell. Both boxes seem quite full of bees -- and the honey super seems well populated, too.
When you search the lowest super, give them one super more and put it lowest.
Is it possible that the hive is honeybound, particularly upstairs, trapping the queen in the bottom box?
What means honeybound? ....It is used here many times...Trapping : bees do not do that , why?
Finally:
1) Should I remove the capped honey frames to the top so I can harvest honey soon.
2) Then I return the super for new honey.
3) If they are working good, do not disturb them; only the minimun
4) when you find that they have queen, let them work and give more space for honey and eggs.
It seems that they do their work very well. Those queen cases happens often.