I suspect that clipped wings is only a marginal guarantee against swarming:
if the queen can still fly, even badly, she may leave.  I say this because
I obtained a swarm that had a queen with a clipped wing, and you will notice
it didn't stop her from leaving, even though she was an imperfect flier.  I
suspect it would require a *radical* clipping job to prevent a swarmy queen
from leaving, and there would be other considerations, such as the tendency
of the workers to starve the queen in an attempt to get her to leave.
 
Good hive management is a much better tool, in my opinion.
 
Just a word to the wise.
 
Jane B.  [[log in to unmask]]