Number of bees per hive

Hi; Looking at buying one flow hive, 6 frame. How many bees would I need to order to start or fill the hive? Thanks in advance for any and all replies. Jim

Hi @ez2cy.

1-1.5kg of bees + queen is a good start.

6 :rofl::rofl::honeybee::honeybee::honeybee::honeybee::honeybee::honeybee:

Go online and research some more.

One package of bees or one nuc Jim, that’s all you will need for one hive…
Maybe join your local bee group and get involved where members might be doing splits and nucs for sale. At least get to know the basics of caring for your bees and you will appreciate them so much more.
Cheers

To start the hive as a beginner, at least 10,000 bees and one mated queen (also known as a package), or a 5 frame “nucleus” from another beekeeper, with at least 2 frames of brood, 1.5 frames of food and 1.5 empty frames. A four frame nucleus can work, but at this time of year in Canada, you need a good start, and anything less than that would be a challenge.

You could start with a swarm too, if you can catch one, but I wouldn’t recommend that for a beginner.

:wink:

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