This subject arose on the list some time back and is probably in the
archives. Perhaps the following will interest newcomers to the list.
The banging of pots and pans to bring down a swarm is a very old
superstition and was accepted as false by sensible beekeepers well over a
hundred years ago.
In England it was known as tanging and bees were kept in small straw skeps.
Swarming was encouraged and so frequent.  When a swarm emerged the owner or
his wife or family would announce the fact to all and sundry by making a
noise and following it to claim ownership. Since most swarms settle near
the hives they came from it was easy to assume that the noise brought them
down.
Here is a quotation from an American beekeeper writing in 1849. "When a
swarm issues no jangling of bells or rattling of  pans should be indulged
in. This custom originated from the cottagers of Europe thumping on tin
pans when a swarm issued so as to let all know who the owner was since
swarms from one cottager's garden might settle in the garden of another".
And from Alfred Neighbour, a well known English beekeeper in his day,
writing in 1866.
"In many country districts it is a time honoured custom for the good folk
of the village to commence a terrible noise of tanging with frying pan and
key. This is done with the absurd notion that the bees are charmed by the
din and will quickly settle. This is quite a mistake. Tanging was
originally adopted for a different and far more sensible object, that the
owner was anxious to claim the right of following even though it should it
alight in a neighbour's garden".
He goes on. "A few handfuls of sand or loose soil may be thrown into the
air to fall among the winged throng. They mistake this for rain and settle
quickly".  He then suggests a rather more bizarre idea of using a mirror to
reflect the sun's rays into the swarm as this "bewilders the bees and
checks their flight".
Finally a quotation from the well known ABC of Bee Culture by Root, 1905,
and probably in earlier editions.
"In the old fashioned box hive days the ringing of bells and the tanging of
tin pans was considered essential to cause a swarm to settle -----------at
one time this old custom was supposed to be a relic of an old superstition
but it is now known that one of the old kings of England passed an edict
that whenever a swarm came forth the owner was to ring bells or drum on tin
pans to give notice that his bees were out, thus preventing anyone else
from claiming them. What was once an old law for an entirely different
purpose had crept down through the ages until the old significance is
lost".
So much for the old timers. In more modern times I believe tests have been
carried out which show that bees on the wing are either deaf to man-made
noise or if not deaf completely ignore it.
Sid P.