Combining Hive Question

[Jacobs]

I have had one hive, a swarm that never thrived, die out. The bees Wally and I got out of a downed tree are in the fatal dwindle stage with far less than a full frame of bees the last time I looked. I would like to get an idea of what others think--how many bees need to be in the failing hive to make it worthwhile to disrupt the receiving hive by doing a newspaper combination? At what size would you just let the dwindling hive go out without taking any action?

[Wally]

With one frame of bees, I would do neither. I would dispose of the queen, wait a couple of hours, and shake them out in front of the receiving hive.

[Jacobs]

That's a reasonable course of action for this hive. I'm trying to get a feel for what other folks think is a minimum sized hive to try and overwinter and the smallest hive people have found worthwhile combining.