Don't despair, there is no reason for a knee replacement to make beekeeping
difficult for an otherwise able-bodied person.  Hip replacements are the
only events that can call a halt to some physical activities.

The knee replacement is made from alloys much stronger than bone, and any
plastic bearing surfaces are much stronger than cartilage.  If installed
correctly, you have a joint that will be pain-free, and far stronger than
the knee replaced.  The problem most people face is that Physical Therapy
will really, really hurt every day for about 8 weeks, and follow-on workouts
require a commitment of time, so they skimp on the PT, and don't exercise
the knee at all, and end up with very weak muscles around the knee, and
never "fully recover".  

My wife has been a private trainer specializing in the very minor problems
of the extremely wealthy for 16 years, and when I asked her about this, she
pointed out that most medical plans don't pay for enough PT sessions, so the
PTs do their best to teach the patient in the sessions covered by insurance,
and hand out cartoons of the exercises for follow-up work.  The patient MUST
follow these "doctor's orders" to the letter, which means really doing the
exercises as instructed from the start, usually every single day.

She observed that most patients don't follow through on any of this.  They
don't do the exercises with proper form, and they don't do them daily
without fail.  A spouse can help, or one can go to an ACE/ACSM
board-certified trainer, which will be much cheaper than PT.   If you can't
find a certified trainer who does "rehab work", look for one that does
pre-natal work.  Being pregnant puts a lot of strain on knees.
http://personaltrainer.com is a good place to look, as qualified trainers do
not work for what gyms pay.  Stay away from "Crosstraining", "Spin Class"
and "Bootcamp", as these programs will scoff at your surgery, and will
injure you very badly with their cultish nonsense.  You want to simply keep
doing what the PT ordered, slowly adding some weights in to add resistance.
A good trainer will also teach you proper bee-box lifting form and morning
stretching, "occupational therapy".

Another point I'll make myself:  Since PT is gonna hurt bad, push very hard
for at least 30 days of the same powerful codeine-included pain killer
prescribed for your post-surgical pain.  If he won't do it, go to your GP,
and tell him you need a month's supply to get through the PT. Don't accept a
prescription for wimpy stuff like Tramadol or Motrin, get the real codeine.
Doctors are afraid of creating addicts, so you have to be a little
insistent, perhaps even pushy.  Mr. Codeine is your best buddy, and will
help you get you up to the gym every day.  You have a right to be pain-free.

Often, there are other issues beyond the knee being replaced, so every case
is different.  As a benchmark, I had a very tiny tear in the edge of the
meniscus of my knee, and a surgeon removed the torn cartilage.  It was more
than a year before my 50-meter sprint-for-the-bus time was back down to a
respectable bus-catching number, and during that entire year, it both hurt,
and I limped quickly rather than ran.  I had the advantage of a live-in
trainer, so I am describing a "best case scenario" for an over-50 beekeeper.
In baseball, players tear a meniscus, and are often back in the lineup
within a week or so.  No idea how they do it.  

That said, I've often intoned "Friends don't let friends lift deeps".  No
time like the present to start converting to mediums.

Getting old is not easy, but it's wonderful when you consider the
alternative!

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