I know it is possible to restart a mini mating nuc with a cup of bees on drawn comb without brood. I had planned have brood in drawn shallows which I had inserted between deep brood frames. Bees have not cooperated with me and I will have more queen cells than brood in frames.

Will a cup of bees on four shallow drawn frames work as a mating nuc or will they spread too thin in a larger space? I plan to stock well what I can and just see if a cupful might work as a gamble with the extras.

I am trying to move from making splits with deeps. I will probably end up using mediums but I have shallows on hand.