At 06:00 PM 5/14/96 +0000, you wrote:
>On Sat, 11 May 1996, Laura A. Downey wrote:
>
>> Busyknight wrote:
>
>> >During the peak swarming season; you need to get into your hive
>> >every 7-10 days to kill swarm cells.  This is the only way to
>> >stop swarming and retain your large field forger work force so
>> >that you can get a really large honey corp from your hive.  Two
>> >weeks (i.e., 14 days) is too long to go between killing swarm
>> >cells for a colony that is 'bent' on swarming.
>
My experience has been that cutting swarm cells is a futile exercise.  Once
swarm preparations are underway the colony will swarm unless drastic
measures are taken.  If you cut cells they will swarm with the old queen and
leave an unsealed queen cell behind.  This will usually be a runt that was
missed  by the beekeeper or worse the beekeeper may cut cells again and end
up with a queenless hive.  If things have progressed to the point of cell
building, make a split.  Let the split raise a new queen and get her mated.
Then, after the swarm urge has passed, remove the old queen from the
original hive and recombine.  Put 3 or 4 suppers on to give extra room.  You
now have a strong colony with young mated queen and they are not likely to
swarm.
 
Frank Humphrey
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