A beekeeper friend, who is largely responsible for getting me into this
hobby, has had something happen to him this year that has only happened
to him once before.  In eight years of beekeeping he has had only one
swarm that he has hived abscond a few days later.  This year he has had
three hived swarms abscond within a few days of hiving.
 
He's doing something different this year and I'm wondering if it's the
cause.  He has a hive body that was drawn and filled with honey in an
established hive last year.  He has attempted to use this body with
drawn comb to hive his swarms and they've absconded.  Has anyone tried
this before?  Is this a bad idea?  Would it be better to use the newly
hived bee's propensity to build comb and not try to give them drawn
comb?  Would it be better to give them one frame of drawn comb so the
queen can start laying and let them draw out the other nine?
 
Ted Wout
Red Oak, TX  2nd year beekeeper, 8 hives