> I also agree that estimates of 30-40,000 bees in a colony are commonly reported, but that's a normal, not a strong colony for my area - based on years of weighing bees, counting frames of bees, etc.

* Right. Many people have never seen a massive colony such as what are seen in the northern states and Canada. Szabo wrote:

> After the main nectar flow from 11 August to 19 September 1975, 12 Italian and 12 Cauc-asian colonies were chosen randomly from honey-producing colonies of Apis mellifera. Their hives were replaced by (Langstroth) hives consisting of two 10-frame deep boxes. The upper box had 10 frames of foundation, and the lower box 9; one brood frame from the colony was placed in the centre of these foundation frames. Then the bees of the colony were shaken into the entrance of the new hive. The new hive was weighed to the nearest 250 g before, and again 24 hours after, the shaking of the bees.

* The bees in these colonies weighed from 2 to 8 kg. -- That's about 4.5 to 17.5 pounds, or 15,000+ to 60,000+ bees.

Tibor I. Szabo (1977) Effect of Colony Size and Ambient Temperature on Comb Building and Sugar Consumption by Honeybees, Journal of Apicultural Research, 16:4, 174-183, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.1977.11099884

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