this will be heralded as the dumbest newbie question in ages, but...
What is generall accepted as the minimum number of frames of
1. capped brood;
2. eggs/larvae
3. newly emerged nurse bees
required to start a new hive, say, in the middle of nectar flow, when pollen is plentiful? I realize the correct answer would be a range (from x to y frames of Z)
Any research on the topic someone could direct me to?
thanks
Try the Tennessee Beekeepers Association Page or some of the articles in Georges pink pages,these can be helpful.You can find these by going to theGoogle Search Engine
I set up many two frame medium nucs in a two frame box with one frame of brood and a queen and one frame of honey and shake in one frame of bees off of some brood. It's not that I'm trying to start a hive, but I'm trying to bank a queen. But if you let them they will flourish in that size of a box and then you can move them into a three, or four frame box and then a five frame box and then an eight frame box and then a ten frame box.
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/AssortedWidths.JPG