Bob writes: The lab reported take overs common and on the rise in their yards Reply: Bull. In the center of Tucson and over a million people? Also in Avra Valley with population growth the same...sure.Funny few others see such common reported experiences as by the lab, and yet others in the area like us, work with bees daily. However in saying this, during spring buildup and fall, secondary swarms are around like they always have been, and do and always have go into hives that need queens (failing queen or one that lost queens during splits). Another thing, you can go into the journals, both ABJ and Bee Culture, and see articles going back over the years, on swarms pictured with multiple queens occurring. This is nothing new.......except the perception of some looking to write in a new direction. Think the highest counted number of queens in a swarm in one of those magazines was around 10-11 queens even if my memory is right, and that wasn't even in our area also (too bad). Respectfully submitted, Dee A. Lusby Small Cell Commercial Beekeeper Moyza, Arizona http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organicbeekeepers/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---