new to keeping, got a swarm seems to be getting smaller!!!!

[jelder]

hi everyone, this is my first time here so any comments greatly recieved.

i am new to bee keeping, i have captured my first swarm and located it into a hive consisting of one brood box and one ideal super (8 frames), the swarm was captured three weeks ago.  my concern is that since then the number of bees ( in my opinion) has decreased, not a great deal but i am pretty sure there are less not than when i first introduced them to the hive.  i have not seen the queen yet, and they only seem to be drawing comb on two of the outer frames.  the person on whos land the hive is situated says he has seen bees comming and going quiet frequently.  i have only checked on the hive in the evenings because of other commitments but i should get to it during the daytime this week. 

any comments to help reassure a nervous 'newbee' would be greatly appreciated.

cheers
jelder

[Vance G]

Welcome!  You need to look inside and see if you have any brood.  It is normal for a swarm numbers to dwindle as older bees die off, but unless you have a queen laying and replacements being raised the situation is hopeless.  When I was a boy, I captured a swarm and that very thing happened.  All I got was some trophy comb drawn before the end came.  If you have a queen laying, your numbers will soon start going up.  Let us know what happens.

[buzzbee]

When a swarm is captured it is normal for the numbers to decline slowly until brood is raised and the numbers start back on the increase. If you had a virgin queen,it may take a few days for her to get mated and a while longer until she is laying.
I would keep the bees in just the main brood box until they have 80 percent of the brood frames drawn unless there are  too many bees to keep in one box.
I would also not peek in everyday and let them settle in.
Are the bees carrying in pollen? that is  one indicator of a brood prep.
And is there a chance someone would give you a frame with brood on it too give these bees a little boost with some young bees?

[buzzbee]

Are you feeding these bees at all? they may need it depending on the weather.