I sheepishly admitted that they were most likely from our hive, but that we hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Apparently there was another, small swarm that took up temporary residence for half an hour a few feet away from this swarm, but they had found somewhere to go. Since we found three queen cells in the hive, I assume the victor remained behind to take over.
When we found the queen cells, I started doing some last-minute research. I've been waiting for a response from a local ad for top bar hives built from the same specifications as our current hive, but no luck. Early season chores and time away from home meant that we didn't 'get around' to building ourselves a secondary hive in case it was needed. From much of what I have read, colonies newly hived in a top bar hive often don't swarm in their first year, and we've possibly had three already, just two months after dropping these bees in an empty box.
So... we're learning some important lessons in beekeeping; be prepared! I don't want to disturb the existing hive, but I am a bit curious as to how many bees remained behind. The foragers who went out before the swarm will return, and there is activity at the entrances, so I suppose we will need to do an inspection fairly soon, and see where we are. They might be a bit touchy about being bothered right now. Fingers crossed that we have a strong new queen in residence.
I've called an eager beekeeper I found online to come and collect the swarm asap - it's heartbreaking to see just how easy this new colony would have been to collect, hanging as they are on one branch of grapevine just two feet off the ground. Luckily, my neighbour is unconcerned about his temporary guests, and alerted me to the situation.
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