Wademar asks:
As I did my fall preparations and recorded some hive stats, I wondered how
commercial beekeepers running hundreds or thousands of colonies do it.  It
would seem quite time consuming.  Perhaps Bob or other large beekeepers can
shed some light?

I keep a large note book in each truck and keep careful notes (which might
need my interpretation). I take notes everytime I *enter* and *leave* a bee
yard. I also many  times take the notebooks in the house at night to look
over again to plan the next day. At time I use the notebooks to rest my head
on and place my feet out the window when getting a little shut eye at a bee
location which accounts for the rough shape they are in. I do write all over
my hives with a magic marker (using several colors).
Magic marker marks are gone the second season but work to remind me of
observations in early spring without going to the truck to look at the
notebook. I have got decades of notebooks.
I use a label maker to mark certain hives with coded data.( queen type ,
year , source & linage)  I push the label into the lid with a  big tack.
I have also used cans of cheap spray paint to mark ( simple dot of a certain
color) certain hives which are involved in testing such as SMR.(crude but
effective)
I dislike (although have got quite a bit of hands on experience) going
through a semi load of bees from many different queen breeders and no way of
telling when they were last requeened. Let alone last fed or medicated!
Hives which had problems are not marked.
 I could not keep bees without a record system . I agree mine is not the
best but is better than bricks in a certain arrangement in my opinion.
My hives are many different colors and branded with many different brands
(beekeepers I bought out)  besides my own brand. I buy miss match paint (
only high quality)  to save money but only buy pastel colors. If a miss
match darker color of a good exterior paint comes along (reasonable) I will
sometimes buy and cut with a white paint. Paint is expensive and I keep the
paint up on my hives. I would guess I have got a few boxes with three year
old paint but most get a coat of paint every two years.  Paint covers up all
my magic marker  marks until the next season.
My supers could use a coat of paint but would need to be painted outside, is
a hassle,  and robbing is an issue. Maybe next year but not a priority as
they have got enough paint to protect. As soon as extracted the supers are
placed on special skids (7 high & 6 to the skid) , shrink wrapped and placed
in a 40 foot sea going cargo container (which will hold 20 skids ) to
protect from wax moth damage.
The next time they are picked up they are placed on the truck for the bee
yards and the shrink wrap keeps the mt supers from shifting around.

>Also, do commercial beekeepers routinely transpose strong and weak colonies
to equalize their hives?
 I do at times in early spring but for the most part i do not have time to
pamper weak *production hives*. In most cases "dinks" are shook out and
equipment returned to shop. It is not cost effective to drive 25 miles with
a truck which stops at every gas station to check to see if a queen has been
released or feed one hive let alone spend the time.

Bob

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-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
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