Tom Barrett wrote:
> ...  and if they were swarm cells, the swarm would normally be gone when
> the first queen cell was sealed.

Similar statements have been made in the recent past here on BEE-L, the
comments went unchallanged and now seem to be accepted as "truth".  Not wanting
to start a rukus, but not willing to accept such a general blanket statement, I
have to challange the assertion that swarms usually issue when the first queen
cell is capped.  I have not found this to be so.

It's the height of swarm season here in upstate New York.  Since I've produced
more honey in the past few years than I am able to sell (remember, $1 per pound
wholesale, $2 retail or I'll stockpile it) I'm less concerned with swarming
than I have been in the past.  I still check my hives for signs of impending
swarms, but now when I find hives in imminent swarm condition I don't bother to
attempt to keep the bees at home, rather, I split the hive into as many nucs as
I am able to make up using the swarm cells at hand.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm breeding swarmy bees.  I prefer to look at it as I'm
propagating stock that builds up to large populations, I'm not concerned about
that.  My point is, many times I come across hives with sealed swarm cells
(some with quite developed queens) which have not yet swarmed, the original
queen is still present.  I do not think one can make and accept such a general
statement that a swarm usually issues as soon as the first swarm cell is
sealed.  I'll be happy to read where authors have written this statement to see
if it's backed up by studies and/or experiments if anyone can provide
references, but even then I'll stick to my assertion that it ain't necessarily
so, at least not in my beeyards.

Aaron Morris - thinking it ain't necessarily so!