Late last summer a NY commercial beekeeper wryly commented to me, "You
know, I think I've got it -- I think I've figured out how to make honey!"
He was grinning as we continued along, harvesting yet another yard's worth
of heavy supers.
 
At first I wasn't sure just what he meant.  "How to make honey??"  He went
on to explain that just what he was referring to was how the colonies are
prepared in the spring.  Divisions made early in the season would build up
just right and in time for the main nectar flows, resulting in large crops
and very little swarming.
 
He had come to the conclusion that a 6-frame spring division (or
thereabouts) was ideal, and the most profitable, at least in this part of
the country.  THe size of the initial colony is the KEY.  Such a unit is
strong enough to maintain itself and thrive, can build up quickly in time
for the honey-flows, and isn't likely to swarm in the meantime.  The result
has been very large per-colony yields, with minimum labor.  ("Minimum
labor", in a manner of speaking -- after loading and unloading load after
load of full supers, my back and I can attest to that.)
 
The guy has been running between 600 and 1000 colonies for many years, and
over the past several seasons has come to this conclusion.  He now has the
"formula."  The practice apparently has been paying off nicely.
 
So... I wonder if anyone else has noticed similar results, or has
determined what comprises their <<optimum>> colony at the beginning of the
season.
 
I had noticed before that ~6-comb divisions of my own, made in early May
and kept on 1 to 1-1/2 brood-chambers would do a tremendous job, sometimes
filling more honey-supers than overwintered colonies that were full
strength right along.  Perhaps colonies like this are kept in
"growing-mode" through the swarm period (not shutting down like bigger
colonies that become congested) and once the main flows hit, they are all
set to go like gangbusters.  The term "colony morale" comes to mind.
 
thanks for any comments on this...
JWG