>The thing I found quite fascinating was that ZERO hives with capped queen cells had the old queen still in them. I didn't think the swarmed until virgins were about to hatch or just hatching.  Apparently that’s not correct!

Surprising lack of knowledge here!  The swarm will issue as soon as the first queen cell is sealed - given suitable weather.

What has not been mentioned is whether queens are clipped or not.  If clipped then swarms will issue but then return when they find that the queen is not with them.  Clipped queens will try to fly, but often wander out into the long grass from which they may find their way back into the hive - or not.  If not, then there may be a small ball of bees that find them and stay with the queen.  If you find queens like this then you can try to do an artificial swarm, but in my experience these often fail.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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