Coleene,
Although most will not admit it, "assuming" anything about bees is WRONG more
than 50% of the time.  This is because humans are naturally anthropomorphic
and
hence "assume" is if bees thought like humans.  Further, humans tend to remain
anthropomorphic because they are "too damn lazy to study and learn more about
BEE BEHAVIOR".  I strongly suggest that they STUDY Chapter 8, by Dr. Norman
Gary in the 1992 EXTENSIVELY REVISED Edition of the Hive and Honey Bee.

That swarm MIGHT have a laying queen (which I doubt), might have a virgin
queen, or might have been queenless (which I doubt).  Whichever it might be,
"assuming" is
dangerous.  Suppose there is a virgin queen, and you put this small group of
bees back in the parent hive, and maybe this younger virgin queen kills the
old colony queen, or the new queen that has taken over the parent hive.  WHAT
have you got
then? A mess!

If this small group is really small, e.g., less than a pound, 3,500 bees, why
keep it?
They only have less than a month to live anyhow, and brood laid by a new
queen with
them could never increase in population size to get through the winter.  You
are NOT
God, so don't try to be charitable.

I am reminded that you said in a previous posting that "swarming" is NEW to
you.
Swarming is extremely important, and a very vital part of the life of a bee.
Just
because you don't want your bees to swarm (neither do I), you should intently
study and learn all about swarming so that you can update yourself from
beeHAVER to
beeKEEPER; and thereby have excess bees to SELL or give away rather than you
having to purchase new bees to replace those lost.

Another point that you should know about BEE BEHAVIOR and swarms.  As soon as
a swarm of bees collects near the parent colony from which it issued, finds a
queen with the cluster, their minds are RE-programed right then, and they
forget their old home, and you can hive them and put that hive ANYWHERE you
want (even next-door
to the parent colony) and they will stay where you put them.  You do not have
to put them in another apiary 2 miles away.  MOVING a hive of bees is
definitely not the same as placing a swarm in a new site in the same apiary!
The act of swarming causes a RE-programing of the bees mind, whereas moving a
colony of bees does NOT and their minds only remember the location that they
were moved FROM.  Heck of a
difference.

I hope that I have helped.

George Imirie