> Normally when a virgin queen goes to mate, of course the hive bees do not follow her. In my opinion, after a hive swarms there may still be bees that are in the swarming mood, so when a queen goes out, some of them may "think" they are swarming, even though there aren't enough of them. So to me, the phenomenon of small so-called virgin swarms is a product of the fuzzy logic that bees use to make decisions. -- Borst, P<



Thanks, Pete, that is a reasonable explanation for why there can be mating swarms. I'm still wondering what the behaviour of that swarm would be. Does it land nearby and cluster for a bit like a real swarm or if I see a swarm clustering nearby does it mean a real swarm has occurred? 



John,

Hitchin, UK



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