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New colony swarming. Refuses to stay in hive.

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Sagan:
Good evening everyone!

I've been beekeeping for about 3 years now and have a few hives. Late November I purchased a nuc that was fully drawn out on all 5 frames and was very full. I let them settle for a week or so and then moved them into a larger 8-frame box.

Weather wasn't great after that but I managed to check up on them around mid to late December. They had drawn comb on all the frames and were filling them up fairly quickly (even up into the lid) so I cleaned up the comb and chucked another box on them to give them some room to move up.

I checked on them just before Christmas and didn't see a lot of movement in the top box, but it was absolutely packed down below so I let them be.

Fast forward to Sunday I get home from being out to see hundreds of bees swarming up in the tree just above the hive with a massive cluster just hanging up there. I opened the hive up and there was nothing left in there, barely a bee in sight. Just a few wandering around the old comb, no sign of a queen; nor could I see any queen cells. Also not a single bit of drawn comb in the top box either.

I took the swarm down, put them back into the hive and provided them with some sugar water. My assumption being that they had stopped building comb because nectar may have dried up in the area.

Well Monday afternoon comes, I get home from work to once again the swarm up in the tree. They took the sugar water with them it seems as well because it was mostly all gone. Same deal on Tuesday, and today they are swarming again above the hive They just will not stay put.

I'm at a loss as to what to do now. I've never dealt with any of my hives swarming before, I split them to prevent it. But this is a new colony. I didn't even think they had the numbers to swarm at this point. I've considered putting the swarm back into the hive, closing it up and moving it to another location entirely. Good idea, bad idea?

eltalia:
G'day,
This is reading more as an abscond happening rather than a swarm as such.
You're lucky in that they 'roosting' nearby as usually they ping off as soon as
the queen flys.
You can force them to stay in fitting a queen restrictor - some examples attached.
4.5mm is the magic number for the gap. Be aware you may well hear the queen
screeching in frustration from time to time.
Absconds are often the results of environmental change within the hivebody.
Have a look around for the obvious, mold/pests/ventilation.

Cheers.

Bill

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BeeMaster2:
Welcome to Beemaster.
What eltalia said plus you might want to put them in a new hive with no drawn comb in a new location. Take a good look at the comb in that hive. Take some pictures of the brood area and post them for us to look at. Try to get real clear pictures that look into the cells. If you cannot post them, send them to me and I will post them for you.
Jim

Acebird:
My line of thinking is you are fueling the flight.  Stop feeding them.  You are just making it easier for them to leave.
The frustration of a beekeeper is bees make decisions that we don't like.  To make matters worse they sometimes make these decisions far in advance of our knowledge until the bad thing happens.  Then, changing their decision is not easy once they have made it.
The only thought I have it to try to force a manufactured swarm.  Lock them up for a couple of days in a box with very little resources and a good amount of room.  Once their bellies are not full they will have to go back to foraging and drawing comb.
In the future if you find a hive that is full and they don't use a new box that you gave them you have to force them to use it or you will lose them one way or another.

SiWolKe:
Lock them up for 2 days and nights in a cool and dark room and provide some ventilation. Food inside is ok.
After that they are disorientated and you might place them outside again.
Good luck!

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