What do you mean by beads?
Do you mean the metal beads(copper,silver,gold and black) for bead head nymphs etc or small glass beads for bodies.
As for sizes, it is all in the eye, a lot of bead heads I've seen have had over large beads to my eye. The best is to get a selection, have a look at some pattern pictures and try the beads on the same size hooks shown in the pictures.
There are, I believe, some charts out there but I haven't used any. No doubt someone will give you a site.
If you are interested in glass beads, try the Mill Hill site (or it may be Millhill).
The best are the 'seed' and 'petite' beads.
I use their gold beads for very small bead head patterns.
Here is the Mill Hill site [url=http://www.millhillbeads.com:46698]www.millhillbeads.com[/url:46698]


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Donald/Scotland



[This message has been edited by Donald Nicolson (edited 12 March 2005).]