I said:
>We try to feed only enough so the bees have only got a couple frames of
>honey left at the spring rework so hefting hives is easier.
>At times we bring frames of honey to add .

Mike replied:
If I leave them too close on stores, and the weather is bad for a couple
weeks, the queens shut down. With plenty of stores they don't. I would
rather have a little extra in the hive, than have to go around adding more.

My partner likes Mike's method. I prefer to monitor and feed as neccessary
in spring and stimulate feed after my spring work is done if possible.

There are many ways to keep bees and all work so each beekeeper has to
decide which method works best for his/her location. I find it very
interesting to see the many different ways beekeepers work their bees. As
Mike points out his method certainly works for him as shown by his honey
production average per year!

I said;
>You want to start when the queen is only on a couple frames of eggs/larva
so she is easy to find.

Mike replied:
What would be the point? I don't search for my queens anyway.

It is important to me to find and evaluate each queen when I do the spring
overhaul. If the queen has been superceded I mark her and note she has been
superceded. I do not requeen at this time but mark hives those needing a new
queen.

Many beekeepers ordering queens from a queen producer do not realize the
normal queens are shipped only if eggs are seen as an indication of mating.
You can get queens which are evaluated and shipped after a couple frames of
eggs have been layed *but at extra cost*. When we raise queens we wait till
a frame or so of eggs has been layed before caging to make sure we get the
best queens. We cull the rest . We found the above helpful especially when
we were raising SMR breeder queen daughters.

I check EVERY frame for foulbrood. I arrange the hive in the center of one
box with the brood nest in the center. I pull extra brood. I leave a frame
of pollen and hopefully a couple frames of honey.  I cull inferior frames. I
cull boxes with problems! I remove frames with what I consider too much
brood comb. If time permits I take the MT box in for evaluation and repair
and return later. If time does not permit I place the MT box on top of the
rebuilt hive.

The only beekeeper which does such a labor intensive spring rework I have
talked to has been David Hackenburg while wintering in Florida.

Mike said:
This is how I handle my bees here in my area. I know it's not what you do,
Bob, but it works well for me. I am a honey producer, not a pollinator.
..hoping you'll try to understand my methods...on the 45th...and not compare
them to yours...considerably south of there.

With the information included in the last post I intend to set aside a yard
and try your methods to see the  difference naxt year. I in fact kept bees
by your method about 20 years ago and did harvest the early Locust and
dandelion nectar. Perhaps your method might work better for honey production
in our area. I had supers on a month earlier by your method but had a great
deal of swarming which I see very little of with mine.Thanks for sharing
your methods. For those hobby beekeepers on BEE-L reading about both mine
and Mikes methods realize we have only given a rough plan. It would take
many pages of emails to fill in all the details. I would suggest maybe to
only use a hive or two to experiment with at first if planning on trying
either plan. Like Murray says most longtime beekeepers can evaluate a hive
in minutes and little escapes our eyes.

Bob

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