building colony size

[CaribBeeman]

I have a very small swarm in a nuc box that we caught about 3 weeks ago. they have made comb in the corners of 2 frames. the combs are not more than 5 inches in the largest dimension. I think one of them is mostly capped brood?
I have been told that the main flows in this area are at the end of April. will a hive this size be able to produce honey? Is there a way of helping a small colony to grow in numbers to increase the chance of having a honey harvest?

[LKBruns]

Last year I caught a small swarm (2 medium frames of bees).  They grew very slowly.  The population has to divide duties between foragers, nurse bees, guard bees, Ect.

I kept feed on them from May until October.  By mid October after the fall Texas flow.  I had two 8 frame boxes of comb, brood and maybe 3 frames of honey.  I fed fondant during January and February. (About 8 pounds)

They made it through the winter and during a mid March inspection the hive population was very strong.  I was worried and made multiple post about how slow they were growing.  Most suggested because of the small number of bees they would grow slow and to be patient.  They were correct.

The smaller number of bees makes it hard for them to forage pollen, raise brood and build comb. 

Things just went slow for me.

LB

[GSF]

Along the lines of what LB was saying; Each hatching produces more bees thus the nest/comb expands. One bee can cover 3 cells. So if you have 5 inches of brood next hatching you'll see more bees. The number of bees on frames may not hold up to that during a flow. Just remember each hatching X number of days has to pass. After a while you'll be in the summer dearth and they'll put the brakes on. You can somewhat manipulate this by feeding. You could also put another frame of eggs and nurse bees in there with them to give them a jump. Good Luck