[IAmTheWaterbug]

I get this question all the time when I arrive to collect a swarm, "How many bees are in there?"

And I usually just say, "Oh, a few thousand," but without actually knowing.

So how many bees would y'all all guess are in the following swarms?

 

[Fivej]

Oh, like a "how many jellybeans are in the jar" contest. I will offer a guess based upon my jellybean jar success, but only if you have counted the bees and if there is a prize. In other words: no idea. The only way I know how to estimate is based on 300 bees in a mite test. J

 

[fieldsofnaturalhoney]

I usually answer that question, by first estimating how many pounds of bees are in the swarm/weight of the container. Then multiple that by 2,500 for an estimate

 

[elmer_fud]

How does the size compare to a package? A 3 lb package is about 10k bees so this will give you a starting poing.

 

[kilocharlie]

A full standard 9-11/16ths inch brood box with 10 frames packed with bees should be about 30,000 bees, so 3,000 to a frame, 1,500 to a side, but this is often an over-estimate because the are more spread out than when the whole box is packed tight.

So put the swarm in a box of frames and fudge your estimate on the light side, numerically. I will often give a SWAG at about 1,000 bees per frame side if the population is low, even less if the frame is not entirely covered.

 

[2Sox]

Doing a Google search, I found there are 3-4k bees per pound. Basketball size is maybe 5-6 pounds. Go from there.

 

[donniealvarad]

I get this question all the time when I arrive to collect a swarm, "How many bees are in there?"

And I usually just say, "Oh, a few thousand," but without actually knowing.

So how many bees would y'all all guess are in the following swarms?

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Oh, like a contest to see how many jellybeans are in the jar. I'll make an estimate based on the success of my jellybean jar, but only if you've counted the bees and there's a prize. To put it another way, I have no notion. I can only estimate based on 300 bees in a mite test, which is the only method I know how to do so. I'm searching the internet web for an answer, and I'm having trouble finding it.

 

[gator75]

More than you think would be my answer. I remember looking at my first swarm catch. Thinking my 10 frame deep was way to big for the few frames of bees I was acquiring. The deep box was overflowing when I was done.

 

[IAmTheWaterbug]

How does the size compare to a package? A 3 lb package is about 10k bees so this will give you a starting poing.

My recorded swarm capture in 2021 was right around 80 oz:

which should be around 16,667 bees. Anyone want to count and verify?

 

[joebeewhisperer]

Great question.