With our short cool climate, and meaningful overwintering still a
     dream (in spite of some minor successes), I find breaking up a hive to
     be impractical.  When I spot queen cells, almost exclusively in first
     year queens-since that is what we have, I simply take the queen and a
     couple frames of brood to make a nuc.  I save one or two of the best
     looking cells and cut all the rest I can find.  This gives me a sound
     new queen and a nuc for what ever need I may find, and it eliminates
     the urge to swarm (at least it has for the last 13 or 14 years).
 
     Your question brings one to my mind.  Each summer many of our new
     package colonies swarm about the first of July (unless appropriate
     measures taken).  I have never kept bees anywhere but Alaska
     (Anchorage area), but my reading says these new colonies should seldom
     swarm.  We do have a short season, and perhaps environmental factors
     involved in swarming, especially the extremes of the sun light
     duration, may influence things.  Anyone else out there have such
     frequent swarming from new queens?  We do get pretty good build up by
     mid june (nectar flow runs about from first week in june until the end
     of july), but temperatures never get extreme (70s F. are the max).
     Any thoughts or experiences?