I just looked back at the the start of this thread and Raymond is quite correct: the question was swarm prevention in absentia. The original question concerned bees in the Czech Republic and timings are likely to be different from those in my part of the UK but I think its quite likely that the bees in question have already swarmed, assuming the're going to do so. Certainly my bees have all tried it (and one lot got away!) For me it's always the second week of May, as regular as clockwork. -- Malcolm Roe Phone : +44 442 230000 ext 5104 Crosfield Electronics Ltd Fax : +44 442 232301 Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7RH, UK E-mail : [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------------------------------