I would like to understand more about mating swarms. The internet does not reveal much (unless my search criteria are particularly poor). I found only a couple of You-tube videos and a scholarly article I can't access.
 - do the bees swarm every time a virgin queen is going on a mating flight?
- if the swarm clusters in a nearby tree (or wherever) is the queen present there for a while like in a real swarm (i.e. where the old queen and half the bees leave to set up elsewhere)?
- is the mating swarm part of the process of forcing the queen out?
- apart from seeing the bees return from a mating swarm, is there a way f differentiating a mating swarm from a real swarm
Would appreciate any answers and/or pointers to where I can find more info.
Thanks,
John
Hitchin, UK

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