> Keeping bees in small hives and encouraging swarming (suggested by Seeley), narrowing the genetic base (as suggested by the local bee breeding crowd), etc.

While this may sound like an anathema to any Bee-L subscriber, we are extreme outliers.  Most beekeepers are hobbyists, they keep a few hives, and they quit the hobby in less than 5 years.

No less a luminary than Kim Flottum (former editor of Bee Culture Magazine) asked me to design a "disposable honey super" back in the mid 2000s.  At the time I recoiled in horror, and refused to participate in such a outrage.  But Kim's point was apt - many hobby beekeepers want to keep bees, but do not want to mess with the honey.  They consider it a burden, and do not want to spend any time or money on getting it out of the hives, and into jars to sell.  Or they sell a few jars, and do the math, and realize that their time is better spent on other pursuits, again declaring the honey crop a losing proposition.  

In a high-density urban setting, one needs a vehicle to transport honey supers, enough space to set up at least a temporary uncap/extract setup, and the space to store the equipment for the 10 to 11 months of the year when it sits idle.  Many urbanites own no car, live in small spaces, and don't have the budget for all this stainless steel gear.  I joke that my profits from honey sales just about cover the cost of parking DeVolvo in the garage, which is not at all an exaggeration.

So, smaller colonies that are less productive would be less intimidating, and "easier to work with" for someone who lacks the decades of experience that endow one with style and panache when working bees.

This sort of "bee bred for the hobbyist" is not a new idea - I have been so far unsuccessful in my own attempts to cross honey bees with fireflies to meet the needs of beekeepers who work long hours, and want to inspect their bees after dinner, when it is dark.

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