Why are they creating queen cells in this situation?

[Acebird]

I had split the swarming hive into 4 separate hives.

When? It takes over a month for a hive to reestablish laying from a new queen.  It is getting late.

What's some possibilities of what happened?  I suppose one is that I accidentally killed her.

To which one of the four splits?  Cells in the middle of a frame might suggest a supercedure.

[GSF]

...or the bees killed her because she was a fluke.

[Duane]

I had split the swarming hive into 4 separate hives.

When? It takes over a month for a hive to reestablish laying from a new queen.  It is getting late.

May 23.  About a month later, there were eggs.  End of last week no eggs but queen cells.

What's some possibilities of what happened?  I suppose one is that I accidentally killed her.

To which one of the four splits?  Cells in the middle of a frame might suggest a supercedure.

Not sure what you're asking.  The second one?

[Duane]

...or the bees killed her because she was a fluke.

So they actually kill her as in sting her or just starve her to death?  And they'd do that before the new queen hatches out?  I hear some cases where there are two queens at once when the old one is failing.

[GSF]

Duane, it could be one way or the other or both. I've read and heard folks say before - that the new queen went missing not long (weeks) after she started laying. Number of reasons this happens. I've found two queens several times in one hive. Neither looked to be skinny either.