Keith said:
 Now I am not sure what the
etc. means but I would guess it is the real secret.

Those considering beekeeping for a living need to spend time with a full
time  beekeeper and you will see a big difference between beekeeping books
methods and the way we actually keep bees.

General methods:

If you know approx. when a honey flow is to take place you need  to plan on
having your hives at maximum strength at the start of the honey flow.

Figure wrong (happens) and you have got a yard full of swarms hanging in the
trees. I saw two yards  of those I speak last year but luckily they were not
my yards. ( 38 & 12 swarms in a single afternoon in those two yards)

Over feeding causes many swarms  especially for new beekeepers.

We do drastic hive manipulations which cause queens to increase laying and
to keep all hives in a yard as close in population to one another as
possible so the strong does not rob the  weak and all hives need a super at
approx. the same time.

I have spoke of these things before on BEE-L and most consider the
manipulations to labor consuming and will cause the spread of disease. I
agree with the labor consuming but do not see the spread of disease part as
the frames and equipment come from my own operation and I consider each yard
as one big living hive with drones moving freely between all hives
(happens). The two most outer hives are always the strongest because of
worker drifting.

The etc. would take  many posts to discuss but hope I have helped shed some
light on the general methods many beekeepers which keep bees for honey
production follow.

Bob

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