> The singles in question were one story Dadant hives, much bigger than Langstroth/Root hives

Back in the early seventies I inspected such colonies in similar wood and chip four packs in near London ON in March.  The boxes were Jumbos, though, so had only ten frames, but they were chock full of bees and before I picked them up a few weeks later, they had to be put into doubles. 

I took them west and split them and still made a Farrar super of honey on each split *on foundation* in early May.  They would have swarmed before May for sure if left in the packs on location.

I also packed doubles in four packs, and one year I did not unwrap one yard until the second week of May, and by then there were swarms.

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