Note from Dad...There are several possibilities for why they absconded (abandoned the hive). It is not likely that it is CCD because THAT is typically a commercial bee keepers phenomenon. It probably was not caused by CCD.

Another possibility is that some races of honey bees abscond more readily than others. For example, the Italian's and the Caucasian races swarm at a much lower rate than the African Bee. The African Bee absconds more easily than any other race. It was probably not because of the race of the bee that I was working with because I have Italian's (most popular and easily managed).

It was likely due to the way in which I was attempting to start my colony (a package of bees). The makeup of a package of bees is such that, all the bees and the queen in the package were gathered from a number of different colonies in the suppliers apiary. Because the bees didn't know each other, and the queen pheromone (chemical substance used to create harmony in the hive) did not have enough time to unite the bees into a cohesive colony, they left to find their original colony. This happens from time to time when one tries to start a colony from a package of bees, it's part of the risks associated with starting a hive in this manner.