I've been reading Edward O. Wilson's book "Journey to the Ant" and in it he
talks about mating flights of virgin queens.  Large numbers of males and virgin
queens fly off when the conditions are right to mate and attempt to start new
colonies.
 
Being that bees are social (colonial?) insects, I was wondering why honeybees do
not have more of a tendency to swarm.  While the queen keeps laying eggs she is
passing on her genes, but if the hive was to swarm and split, then there would
be a greater chance of passing them on.  But swarming isn't as common an
occurence as I would expect.
 
Is this because swarming isn't seen as a desirable trait and has been "bred
out"?  Do bees have a different strategy?  Or is it that beekeepers affect the
bees by constantly "fiddling around" with the hives?
 
Chris Conroy