Subject 1: 'clipped' queens.
 A. Can a queen that's been clipped fly in order to swarm?
********************
     No.
*************
 B. Will she lay queen cell eggs as though she will be leaving?
******************
  Yes, she doesn't know that she cannot fly.  Workers will see to it that a
new queen is raised.
*******************
 C. If she gets outside by walking or attempting to fly, will putting her
back
    in the hive assuage her urge to leave?
****************
     No.
*****************
 D. Do worker bees still recognize and respect a clipped and marked queen or
do
    they try to replace her because of the alterations?
******************
       This is a good question and should generate a mix of answers.  If the
answer were a clear no, then no one would clip or mark a queen.
******************
Subject 2: feeding of syrup.
 A. Does feeding sugar syrup to the bees into May (in order to help with wax
    production on a package hive) have a tendency to bring on a swarm?
**************
  Feeding an established colony too much syrup in early spring may stimulate
the colony to build up in numbers too soon and can lead to swarming.  Feeding
just the right amount of syrup will help the colony build up for the honey
flow and not stimulate the bees to swarm.  How much is too much?
     Feeding syrup to a package or to a captured swarm should not encourage
them to swarm.  They use the syrup to make combs.
Tim
Tim Sterrett
Westtown, (Southeastern) Pennsylvania, USA
[log in to unmask]