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