Dick, we have in most years one nectar flow, the blackberries in early June. Sometimes we get a good flow off the Oregon Maple, but that is chancy, and very early (so colonies are often too small coming out of winter to store honey on the maple...they just grow on it).

You don't have to make equal splits. And with some planning, you don't have to make queenless splits either. 

I rarely, rarely lose bees to swarms in spite of the fact they all will go into swarm mode by May at the latest. And I consistently make more honey than average for my area, by making uneven splits and/or combines to keep the honey hives large enough to capitalize on the flow. It does take frequent inspections and frame management, so for big commercial operations may not be practical. 

FWIW I find strong 10 frame singles do nearly as well at the honey harvest as the crazy big doubles. And that anecdotal observation was bourne out by a study at Beaverlodge a couple of years ago, where they found strong singles make nearly as much honey as strong doubles, and bring in tons more pollen. 

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