Ok,
I know counting them is not an option. :-D
I also know that it's widely report that a three pound package contains 10,000 - 12,000 bees.
But once you have your bees in a hive, how do you go about accurately estimating their population, or is it even possible? Is their some "guesstimate" to how many bees occupy either a medium or deep frame?
For example, I took a look at my Nucs this weekend....They're 6 frames mediums. As you can see in the picture most frames are pretty well covered, the new frame at the bottom which I pulled to take a look at is being drawn out slowly and had "some" bees on it. I actually had to slid the cover back on slowly and was plowing some bees out the way. Of course, when I show someone this picture, the first question is....HOW MANY BEES IS THAT?
Truth is, I don't have a clue. LOL! So, I guess my question is, does anybody? and if so, what is it based on?