> HORSEFEATHERS!

???

The idea in the original post seemed a bit simplistic, but when a hive goes
into swarming mode, particularly due to lack of storage space, the bees do
act differently.  I am planning to consider this idea a bit more when I am
out this week (swarming season has begun here) before I reject it.  I know
the phenomenon being reported; I just don't know its significance, if any.

I know there is some visual cue that tips us old timers to suspect
something, because when we open and 'read' a hive, we sometimes just _know_
there are cells.

Usually we just know and don't think about what we saw that told us that --
unless we are trying to explain to a novice who is watching us examine a
yard.  We move smoothly and deliberately, often passing by hives that 'seem
right', sometimes lifting and replacing lids, then suddenly zeroing in a
hive that looks to him like all the others and finding something in
progress.  We then make instant changes and proceed, the entire intervention
having taken only a moment.  We cannot put what we do into words.   There
are signs we are reading, and many are very subtle.

I hope others won't be discouraged from posting weird and wonderful ideas
because some dismiss them out of hand.

Some of us enjoy new ideas and we'll soon enough decide if they have merit.

allen