Swarmy swarmy swarm won't settle down

[TwoHoneys]

I collected a nice-sized swarm today and hived them in a top-bar hive, and they seemed settled. Then they all left the hive, filled the air, and settled back onto the exterior of the hive. I added a bar containing capped and open brood to the TBH, scooped a lot of bees into the hive...and the others followed.

Two hours later, they absconded and hung on branch too high for me to reach.

Then they left that branch, filled the air, and landed on another branch.  

All afternoon they've filled the air in my backyard. I mean, they filled the air. They'd settle, then they'd all fly. Then they'd settle, then they'd fly. Some of them are still flirting with the TBH and the brood they previously abandoned.

Thunder and rain have just moved in, and I imagine that has something to do with their shiftless ways.

Any ideas about why this swarm is so unsettled? And any suggestions for how to get them to stay in the box?!

-Liz

[duck]

use a lang box.  excluder between the box and bottom board.  lock her down. feed sugar syrup. LGO in box.

[AllenF]

Find the queen and cage her.   They will not leave her.   

[TwoHoneys]

Okay. If I can collect them again, they're going in a Lang with LGO and a queen excluder at the hive entrance. I forgot all about that strategy! Thanks, duck.

And, AllenF, if I can, I'll find the queen...though, for me, that's easier said than done because there's no comb to look on...I don't do so well at finding the queen in a freeform mess of bees.

-Liz