Preferred criteria for new bee colony location
According to Thomas Seeley, in his book, Honeybee Democracy, he gives the following as important criteria for honeybees when selecting a nest site when a bee colony moves to swarm:


Larger volume (the minimum nesting capacity was found to be around 14 liters with more preference to nests with a capacity of approximately 30 to less than 100 liters)
Relatively small entrance (10 to 30 centimeters squared)
Nest with the entrance located near the floor of a tree cavity
Direction of the nest entrance (south facing for thermoregulation during the winter)
Nest height (preference given to higher nests for colony defense)
Remnants of previous honeycombs (saves work and energy in building the nest structure)


Interestingly enough, bees did not necessarily display a preference for the shape of the entrance, the shape of the nest, the draftiness or dryness of the nest cavity (they are able to plug and waterproof nests).

Flower/nectar/food availability is not necessarily a direct factor as this changes quite frequently throughout the seasons and honeybees are not able to leave their honey stores (which are necessary to sustain the colony throughout the winter) or take them with them every time the colony has trouble finding food. Honeybees have a complex and efficient system for optimized location and sharing of food sources, therefore distance is not as large a factor.