In the great new book "Honeybee Democracy" by Thomas Seely the author says: " . when a swarm leaves on its journey to a new home approximately one third of its weight is a food reserve. The bloating of the workers is not their only conspicuous adjustment in anticipation of swarming. The wax glands .become hypertrophied in preparation for the intense wax secretion needed for comb building at the new nest site." Wouldn't this preswarming time be the optimal time to split a hive for the beekeeper who wants or needs to get a lot of new comb drawn in a hurry? Jeff Hills *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm