Until last year, I kept 1 hive on a small urban lot of about 30' x 40'. I
now have 2 hives on this lot. This is how the 2nd came about.
 
In January and February of '98, the central valley of California was
experiencing the effects of El Nino. Temperatures were very warm that would
have been normal for mid-spring. Pollen was coming in huge quantities. My
Italian bees figured this was their queue and built up very rapidly. I had
been traveling a lot and really was not around to notice what was
happening. March 1 was to be the day that I began some swarm control
measures. February 28th was the day the bees choose to express their
instinct.
 
The huge mass of bees settled about 10' away across the fence in the
neighbors yard. As he patiently watched, I hived the swarm and apologized
to him explaining that it was a bit early for the bees to be swarming.
 
Like deja vu, over the next 15 days we would repeat this scenario 6 times.
Each time at about the same time in the afternoon, a new swarm would issue
from the original hive and settle in the same place. I combined all of
these swarms into 1 hive. I am sure my neighbor thought I didn't know the
first thing about beekeeping but enjoys the honey.
 
I learned an important lesson last year. Bees are not driven by the
Gregorian calendar and neither should the beekeeper.