Backyard Beekeeping Questions and Answers Episode 174, end of season issues, are you being robbed?

Welcome to another episode of backyard beekeeping topics. Today the emphasis seems to be on losing queens, or late season swarming risks. Listen to any of these episodes via Podbean: https://frederickdunn.podbean.com/ To submit your own question for consideration: https://www.fredsfinefowl.com/thewaytobee.html All topics are submitted by viewers and have been sent in within the past week. Today's topics are as follows: 1) Question concerning Hive Gates, I plan to reduce to a single hive-gate for winter, when should I do that? Learn more about the Hive-Gate here: https://www.fredsfinefowl.com/hyfegatetestingprogress.html 2) Is there a smell that a beekeeper should avoid? 3) Since a queen could mate with multiple drones, could this explain why a colony may suddenly have a change in temperment? 4) I've installed BeeSmart Inner Covers, my question is regarding winter preparations. Which outer covers are you using? Can I put Hive Alive fondant just under my telescoping cover and directly on the inner insulated cover? Learn more about Hive Alive here: https://www.fredsfinefowl.com/hivealiveworks.html Double Bubble Insulation is available at most do-it-yourself stores, it's also available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qxas4A 5) There are capped queen cells, should I go ahead and make a split even though it's so late in the season? 6) I thought bees are not defensive when gathering resources, but I've seen them bite each other. The answer may be complicated: "2-heptanone (2H) is an alarm substance released by the mandibular glands, which exerts a repellent action on intruders and robbers from other hives15, 16, but which has been also suggested as a deterrent signal during foraging to mark visited and depleted flowers" For those who may wish to delve deeper, here is an excellent study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10113-7 7) Is it possible that a swarm flew out without the queen and then returned because she remained in the hive? Not sure what to do in order to insure the hive will be queen-rite for winter. 8) I caged my queen to prevent her from swarming away as there are queen cells. Then the queen cells were chewed. Did I get lucky and the colony decided to stay? 9) When foragers and workers from other colonies join another colony, do they modify their pheromone scent? Isn't part of the activity prior to swarming, to do a direction dance to the bivouac location? 10) Should I organize my resources in my 10-Frame Hive for better use, or should I add a super with undrawn comb? I don't want them to swarm. 11) I have several nucleus resource hives, I want to use one to re-queen one of my hives. Can I just direct release the replacement queen with some brood? The Robbing Screens by Ceracell are available here: https://www.pierco.com/products/the-beast-blocker-entrance-protector-reducer?fbclid=IwAR2lPfV96AEgFZq0h5FlyK1Gj1ppimOfNVoMexLBB60A4MAmW1dzF05A8qc (I receive no compensation for promoting them). Today's Shout-out: Today's shout-out goes to Eric as he explains how he's managing his agricultural land with pollinator strips. Please don't forget to say that Frederick Dunn sent you, and let him know what you think of his channel/presentation. :) https://youtu.be/Zn49LZAHQRw If any of the links above have "amzn" in them, those are affiliate links and I may earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.