> No heavy lifting, no awkward bending.  If your shed has wheels and a  tow
> bar you might even want to take your bees on a paid holiday.

I think the best solution for the elderly or perhaps a bigger hurdle *out of
shape* would be to find a young helper wanting to learn beekeeping from you.

The small beekeeper certainly has the time to teach in exchange for the
labor a young physically fit helper can provide. If I only had a handful of
bee hives I could find more than enough such  helpers.

The problem in a commercial setting is at times there is a huge amount of
labor involved in exchange for a small amount of learning. However the
experience is a real eye opener for most hobby beekeepers willing to spend
the time. Many aspiring commercial beekeepers drop their ambitions after
such an outing.

I would mentor if retired to a few hives. A hive or two is all that is
needed to teach.

When a couple commercial beekeepers are checking a yard together they
usually glance at all the hives and heft a few and then if the need felt
completely tear down a couple. Usually the worst and maybe the best. Time is
important this time of year so I really pay little attention to the "Dinks"
( which most yards have at least one) but will deal with those when the
supers are pulled.

Yards which are in singles we will use the "dinks" after dispatching the
queens to become second hive bodies. I have little time for nursing hives
with problems. As fall arrives we will evaluate all hives and only winter
the best.

bob

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