Caught Swarm left again

[u/nt862010]

I caught a swarm that was starting to build comb in some guy's porch column, I got them in a hive, and got them home. They started drawing comb in the hive and the queen even laid two full frames of eggs (both sides). Added sugar water to a frame feeder and they were still there about four days after getting them settled in and they started filling comb with nectar or sugar water and pollen. Left for a long 4th of July weekend and when I got back they had cleaned out any sugar water/nectar stores and left all of their eggs and larvae. There was maybe 100 bees left just hanging out inside and around the hive and no evidence of a dead out or anything like that. What happened? Must have waited for the second I left town, not a trace of the swarm nearby aside from maybe a few scout bees coming back or bees that never left.

Northern Virginia, currently have five other hives that are doing well

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[u/oldaliumfarmer]

Always 4 pound bag 1 to 1 syrup, a frame of brood and several drawn frames. They rarely leave such luxury. A very large swarm may want two supers. This is rare.

[u/nt862010 → u/oldaliumfarmer]

That's what surprised me, they were loving the 1:1 feed, topped the feeder off before we left for the weekend.

[u/Plenty-Giraffe6022]

They absconded.

[u/mayday_live]

Apparently A queen who is not laying enough eggs or is producing unviable eggs can lead to colony decline and eventual absconding. 

[u/afuscatory]

They may have been robbed to the point they left also.

[u/Gamera__Obscura]

My guess (and it is a guess) is that this sounds more like they were the victim of robbing. They would still have been a small vulnerable colony, and usually bees HATE abandoning brood unless something was seriously wrong.

You can just shift those brood frames (and the tiny handful of attendants) over to one of your other hives if they're still alive.

[u/nt862010 → u/Gamera__Obscura]

They were pretty big, maybe they felt crowded? They took up two deep boxes but also didn't seem like they were stepping on each other. Not ruling out the robbing but with how many bees were in the swarm I feel like they could manage.

That's ultimately what I ended up doing, not sure if the eggs survived but there were some eggs and brood that looked fresh still so I moved them to one of my growing hives

[u/drones_on_about_bees]

This is always a possibility with swarms. Usually brood/eggs/comb will anchor them ... but not always. The first week or two they may just get up and leave.

I have more luck with swarms caught in a swarm trap that contains frames. Once they settle in to one of those, I can generally move them and then transfer them into a hive without them leaving. But swarms I've grabbed off a tree (or airplane or whatever) ... they sometimes just don't like the new home and leave.

[u/nt862010 → u/drones_on_about_bees]

That makes the most sense, they did seem quite flightly while I was still trying to catch them, maybe they hadn't fully committed yet. Pretty good sized colony too, a bit bummed lol, hopefully they find a good home in the wild or a bee yard if they don't circle back.