Chris Slade:
Roughly how long typically elapses  between taking the lid
off a hive and putting it back on?

Reply:
Depends upon time of year and mode of work required. As you
learn to do spring work-up runs, then equalizing, then
honey getting, and then work-down runs. You also learn to
run yards together for days work agenda when you can to
gain time, and/or individually, when the real honey getting
starts. 

Worse case scenario averages about 4 hives per hour, but
these are then normally 5 deeps or more also on good
locations, and you certainly want two beekeepers to a yard
working to gain time if you can. If not then, with large
yards past year or so have learned to simply work yards
back to back two days in row and roll with the punches
doing what I had to do. But normally you can average
between 6-8 hives an hour depending upon work needed, but
it is not a slow pace once started. You learn to eyeball
bees and boxes and roll. Also you go sun-up to sun-down
too!coverning as much territory as possible yard wise.
Working and extracting at heaviest part of season with main
flows is the worst like I said above, for a couple of
rounds to the field/days,then extracting, and then crashing
for a day to rest, prior to repeating, with no actual
stopping until done. But let me add here, last two years
haven't been that heavy for all yards, but enough to do
what had to, to keep bees and local accounts while
wrestling with climatic problems and other happenings. With
luck this year will be different (fingers crossed). So far
so good. At least I got bees to work with starting spring
pretty much with what I went into winter with.

Regards,


Dee 



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