I am a brand new beekeeper in Northern Michigan. Got two active hives last year mid-summer from friends who were moving. The hives had not been tended in well over a year so I had no idea about where queens were/how old they were, etc...
Neither hive made it through the winter. Pretty sure one was invaded by a mouse, despite my best efforts to put adequate screening over the opening. Not sure what happened to the other hive...
Anyway...I am preparing to get new bees from a local source and want to prepare their home properly. There is still a lot of honey left in the hives from last year-how much should I leave for the new bees? Is it worth extracting any of it?