So from what i know considering how you get wild bees to populate the first skep - the process doesnt need the chunk to be loaded. Many times ive encountered wild beehives a looooong way from my base and i planted the flowers around it left a skep and when i came back after a day or 2 they populated the skep no problem. What i would ask is there a long distance between Your A and B meadows - and also is there a difference in hight above sea lvl - what i mean by that is it a lot colder in of the meadows then the other. As if the temp drops to 0C or below bees stop producing or swarming.