> > Raising queens from swarm cells has one big drawback. Like begetts
> > like.... Raise queens from colonies that swarm, and you get colonies
> >  that swarm.

>     I'm pretty skeptical of that last statement. ...  Bees that are >
strong enough to swarm (under the right conditions) are the ones I want. >
I sure don't want weak bees.

I think there is something to be said for both points of view.  I suppose
that, over long periods of time, bees could tend to become very quick to
swarm if bred carelessly, or under a system that rewards early swarming,
however, I think the risk is somewhat over-rated in today's bee
environment.

In Dave's case, and that of many beekeepers, the bees are swarming due to
provocation: they have run out of space due to their superior
characteristics and have no other recourse except to stagnate.  Dave
specifies that he uses cells from such colonies, not poor colonies that
are about to swarm.  The bees they choose are not 'swarmy' bees IMO, they
are up-and-at-em bees that happen to have earned the right to swarm
honestly.

The whole question of swarmy vs. non-swarmy bees is IMO another of those
carry-overs from the time when bees were first kept in modern hives.
before that, bees were kept in skeps and gums and swarming was a good
thing.  Even today. writers of bee books tend to look back over the
literature and incorporate the ideas of previous writers, often without
personal experience or deep critical thought on all the many diverse and
complex  subjects that such a book must cover.  Old truths get passed
along, even when they are less true.

Todays bees in most civilized areas have been long selected for keeping in
modern hives and with reasonable care taken in use of swarm cells, should
not revert too much to early and frivolous swarming, unless perhaps,
africanized stock comes into and area, and the beekeeper uses swarm cells
from hives that are not superior in terms of filling the hive before going
on to build cells.

allen
http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/