Hi Randy

I cannot disagree with anything that you have written, but you have ignored 
one factor - the genetic inclination to swarm rather than to supersede.

Here in the UK, many of us are trying to breed native bees (A.m.m.) which do 
just that.  This spring I was sad to see that my best breeder queen was no 
longer with us after four years of producing excellent crops from a single 
British National brood box with bees that could be handled easily without 
smoke, even under adverse weather conditions.  The colony had never tried to 
swarm, but late last autumn - after my final inspection - they superseded 
her and I found her daughter in charge this spring.

How I wish that all my colonies were like that one. 

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