The bees were packed solid and croweded on the left (or West) side of the box, but their was little or no activity on the right (or East) side of the box. I sprayed sugar water on the empty frames to try to lure them to that side of the box.
You have it backwards. It is too cold. Or was when they started...
Many hives start building on the "warm" side of the box. Which generally speaking, is the south, southeast, south, or southwest side of the box. New packages will take advantage of the sun's warmth and build where the bees will benefit most. Then what happens, they get stuck to the one side with a honey barrier preventing them from moving all the way across.
Of course you are finding out some things that bees do naturally. And understanding these tendencies can make you a better beekeeper. Years ago, all you heard was "Bees only warm the cluster, they do not warm the hive". This of course discounted the fact that bees do naturally work to the top of the hive through winter and raise early winter/spring brood near the top, taking advantage of trapped heat within the hive. Bees if given a choice, naturally do not select feral locations with top entrances. They not only want to start on the warm side of the cavity, but also want to start brood rearing at the top of the cavity (as MB said, they start at the top and build down), benefitting from the trapped heat and thereby using less resources to operate. They are very proficient. This is why the whole "top entrance" promotion by some is way off the mark. If beekeepers would stop pumping their hives full of high moisture syrup, there would be little if any moisture concerns in the hives.
You can take two frame out and slide the brood chamber to the other side and put in two frame on the warm side. We are past the point of worrying about warm side, cold side, etc.
