This should get a comment from Andy.
 
Ok, I learned my beekeeping from commercial beekeepers.  And each does it
his/her own way.  Some list members have asked me how anyone can inspect a
yard with 50-100 bees in a very short time.
 
The basic steps are:
 
1.  They keep their smokers going and usually only need to flip their veil
up when they get out of the truck - no dressing/undressing in the yard.
 
2.  They visually scan the yard as they walk up to it.  An experienced
beekeeper immediately looks at flight activity, whether bees are bringing
in pollen, etc.  Any suspect colonies are noted and will get further
attention.
They also use their sense of smell and look for things like skunk or bear
droppings, digging, or scratches on the hive.  All of this happens before
the first hive is opened and takes very little time.
 
3.  A bit of smoke, pop the cover, pull a frame from the outside to get
some room, slide frames over, then pull a frame that should have brood.  No
brood, pull another.  Find a brood frame, take a quick look for brood
(eggs, larvae, pupae), signs of disease or mites (varroa), and presence of
pollen stores and nectar or honey.  If there are single eggs in the center
of cells, no signs of disease, and pollen and nectar/honey stores, the
frame(s) are replaced and the hive is closed.  DON'T WASTE TIME LOOKING FOR
THE QUEEN.  Healthy brood and eggs, she is present and laying (or at least
was within the last day or so).
 
 
4.  Queen cells -- During swarm season.  Tip back the main brood box and
look at the bottom bars for signs of queen cells.  Strong colonies, tip
back each of the brood boxes and look for queen cells.  If queen cells are
present, a decision is made about  the next step (swarm prevention, add
boxes, cut cells, etc. depending on the colony, size, etc.)
 
5.  Early- to mid- summer, place queen excluder between first and second
brood box.  Don't WASTE TIME LOOKING FOR THE QUEEN.  On the next trip, look
for brood, put the box with brood on the bottom under the queen excluder.
 
6.  Mid-summer, fall (or during nectar flows).  Add and take off boxes.  No
hive inspection unless colony shows signs of failure.  If a queen is lost
mid-season, most let the colony re-queen itself.
 
7.  Medication is usually applied in the spring when the hives are
re-queened, and/or just after the honey crop is removed.  Migratory
beekeepers often pull colonies into stockpile areas for loading onto large
trucks - medicate, inspect, etc. at that time.
 
Ok, Andy, now you can tell us how you did it.
 
Cheers, Jerry