> So, that's my math.  YMMV.  Have fun shooting it down.

No argument from me.  Nice analysis.

Your figures fit with what I have seen and read.  Obviously, from your 
post and Pete's the observed and confirmed peak population number is not 
a specific count, but a fairly wide range.

I recall that Larry says in one of his (excellent) books that 1,200 eggs 
a day is a reasonable sustained number (averaged over days or weeks) to 
expect from a good queen.

I spent some time investigating this question a while back when people 
were claiming 12 or 14 frames of brood in a colony.  12 or 14 frames 
_with_ brood is not unusual, but in practice 4-1/2 frames _entirely 
full_ of brood is the limit for most queens under normal conditions. Of 
course, we seldom see many frames that do not have a 1" border of cells 
that do not contain brood.  A frame with just a 1" border of non-brood, 
but otherwise full is only about 2/3 full of brood! And, if the shape is 
an oval inside that rectangle, the actual area is less.

--- begin off-topic comments ---

The type of standard frame and the size of cell will affect the number 
of frames required to accommodate a queen, since some foundation/frame 
combinations have as many as 50% more cells than others of the same 
size. Obviously frames with more top, bottom and side bar area and 
foundation larger cells have fewer cells.

I also have been using both Western Bee wood frames with Permadent and 
Mann Lake PF100s in the same hives and am discovering that the PF100s 
with their 5.0 mm cells seem to be reasonably well accepted.  I have 
been mixing them in the same hives and will have more conclusive 
observations after they have all been in use for a few years, but so 
far, most colonies seem to accept them.  A few do not.

  I discuss and illustrate these matters in detail at various places in 
my diary at http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary and under "Selected 
Topics" at the same site and will not burden this list further now.

--- back to the topic ---

100,000 or even 80,000 bees in a hive is at the extreme tail of the 
probable range and, given the time of year (off peak) under discussion, 
not even close to a "conservative" estimate.  80,000 is around double a 
reasonable median estimate for peak population.

I would think that a conservative estimate would be in the region of 
40,000 bees and few IMO would argue.

Thanks.  Glad you took the time.

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