code: public int countColumns(K key, SN start, SN end, int max) {
      SuperCountQuery<K, SN> query = HFactory.createSuperCountQuery(keyspace,
          keySerializer, topSerializer);
      query.setKey(key);
      query.setColumnFamily(columnFamily);
      query.setRange(start, end, max);
      return query.execute().get();
    }
docs: Counts columns in the specified range of a super column family
  
  @param key
  @param start
  @param end
  @param max
  @return