>Does anyone know of any research in which the investigator manipulated
drone presence to prevent swarming?

No, I don't know of any such research, but your question does raise a few more questions.  (Well, beekeepers did use to put drone traps over hive entrances to manipulate drone numbers...I've seen a few of them with antique beekeeping equipment, but I have never seen a drone trap in use on a hive entrance.  That anecdotal evidence should tell you something.)

Literature suggests that queens will fly farther than drones from her own hive, but it is uncertain exactly how far a queen will fly to get mated.  How exactly do you propose an investigator manipulate drone presence?  Place a single hive out on an island?  Build a wall 500 feet tall to confine the bees from a hive?  Locate every managed and wild hive within X radius and cover all the entrances with queen excluders to ensure no drones can exit?  Or are you suggesting to remove all drone brood every 3 days in X hives in Y radius and see if it prevents swarming?

It seems like mighty costly research to satisfy "curiosity".  How do you propose the resulting information be used to recoup the costs of the research?  My impression is that an economic feasibility study would find that such research was not "worth' the cost involved.

But when folks are still curious after an economic feasibility study doesn't support the investment, they always have the option of putting their money where their mouth is and doing the research on their own dime.

Personally, I could care less about how drone presence might affect swarming.  I would much rather take responsibility for swarm control of my hives.  If I lose a few swarms, I hope that there are enough drones in the area for the virgin queen to get well mated.  It seems counterproductive to try to minimize drone presence to control swarming - I'd be afraid the unintended consequences would come back and bite me.

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