>The absconds I've seen have occurred in nucleus colonies that got too 
hot. They leave the hive quickly and don't fly about the apiary in a 
circle as do swarms. Instead they're over the trees and gone...

Absconds is a cool topic at this time, because 
I was previously researching the many types 
and causes of absconding, for my project;
-'how to encourage a newly hived swarm to abscond'.

Mike, if the nuc was too hot, there must have 
been a number of bees clustered on the 
outside of the hive.  In these absconding nucs,
have you noticed dancing on the surface of 
these clustered bees near the entrance prior to
an absconding?  This would allow the colony to 
negate the necessities of forming a swarm in 
bivouac as typically observed in 'reproductive 
swarming' and absconding events which occur 
rapidly, and without time to prepare, such as 
the case may be in the type of absconding known 
as 'disturbance absconding'.

The type of absconding you are describing where
the bees leave the colony directly to their destination,
best fits the absconding described previously as; 
'prepared absconding',  which may eliminate the need 
to swarm, organize and form bivouac. 
 
I would hold highly unlikely that a colony being 
robed, and in a declining state as described by 
the original poster, would be capable of successfully 
organizing a 'prepared absconding', therefore, it is 
likely they would need to bivouac OR it was not
an absconding at all but a depopulation event 
occurring over a period of days, and not associated 
with absconding, as the term has been defined. 

Best Wishes,
J. Waggle
 

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