We are new to beekeeping. We transferred a five frame nuc to a hive last week and fed with sugar syrup (1 to 1). When we inspected today all the syrup was gone but the bees had not started to draw out any of the new foundation. ...
Plymouth? Is it warm? (Its ruddy chilly on my bit of Channel coast...)
Making wax, and thus comb, needs the bees to be warm.
Right now, the bees are trying to keep as much brood as possible, warm enough to survive. The amount of brood is probably being limited by the number of bees available in the nuc to keep the brood from chilling.
Wax is a bit of a luxury commodity, which is why the bees don't make any more than strictly necessary - it takes something like 6 or 7 pounds of honey (even more syrup) to produce just one pound of wax. Their priority is brood rather than making more wax.
It'll be easier soon, with warmer weather and more beepower available.
Patience!
How many frames of foundation did you provide?
Ted Hooper suggests giving just three frames initially, and using two dummy boards to bookend the colony. Dummy/Nuc/3foundation/Dummy.
I interpret that as being to keep the little colony as warm as possible, and to concentrate comb-building in one site, rather than two sites, both sides of the nuc.
Seems sensible this early in the season.
Incidentally, Hooper shares my enthusiasm for clear crownboards! He thinks they are great for beginners to keep an eye on their nuc without disturbing them.