Last year I didn’t harvest any honey off the hive at my house, during an inspection in the middle of April, the hive was packed full of honey on my 3rd box. Since I didn’t have time to remove the frames of comb honey, I just added one of my Flow supers. By the middle of May it was nearly full https://youtu.be/_mrw_52ap4k
If the flow slows down I plan to do a split on this hive as they are very effective at controlling hive beetles and mites. I haven’t needed to do much during my inspection, I only crack the boxes apart and just do a quick visual.
Bruce, that’s so exciting!! Congrats I’m guessing you’re in the US or maybe EU since you mentioned mites. If you like you can update your profile with that info
You guessed right. If memory serves, I think @Bruce_Choate is in the Los Angeles area. I think he has 2 apiary locations, one rural and one very urban. He always gets more honey than me, but LA seems to get more rain than San Diego, so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.
Yes Los Angeles area, This hive is located in Granada Hills CA, north end of the San Fernando Valley. It usually doesn’t do too well during the summer months because of the heat, but this year has been cooler and lots of moisture, so the flowers keep blooming. My second hive was located in the urban environment of Los Angeles city on an apartment rooftop, but it had to be re-located due to insurance liability. I moved that hive last year to a new location where the hive absconded a few weeks after moving. I had a second hive next to my current one, but the colony wasn’t as hearty, and I was constantly fighting the hive beetle population. That hive died off during the winter.
The approach I take is, I’m looking for a strong feral colony of local bees and I finally found one that is doing exceptional. from this colony I’ll take splits to create another colony later this summer, depending on the weather. For now the hive is doing too well to touch and will leave the 3rd box alone that is honey bound for when I get around to splitting. If I see queen cups during my quick inspections, that may be the determining factor.
As for my inspections, I remove the honey supers, then split the brood boxes apart and look at the underside, if all looks good then I just put it back in place, no need to disturb them. This hive has amazed me on how few beetles there are, the ladies are great housekeepers. On my rooftop hive I never saw any hive beetles as comparison.
It depends on the strength of the colony, this particular hive is very strong and rarely needs to be opened for inspection. I have hives that need constant attention and even treatment, like adding beetle traps and dusting for mites.
ah ok. like min once a month, max once a week? I don’t have a gauge at all. If you have some time in the next couple weeks ill feed you some beer and tacos in exchange for a look at my hive setup and some info
I am south of you in San Diego, i.e. similar climate. I would only leave it as long as a month in winter, when there is little or no nectar flow. Even then, I think Bruce’s urban hives produced a surprise harvest last winter. You also need to keep an eye on food stores and feed if needed, which is much more common than a surprise harvest.
From February to July, I try to inspect every one to two weeks. You have to do it that often for swarm prevention. I also do Varroa mite counts approximately every 2 months, using a sugar roll test, or an accelerated mite drop. Last year I had to treat about 4 times (4 full courses of treatment), which is a lot more than usual, but last year was exceptionally bad for mites.
I’m guessing you’re in the US or maybe EU since you mentioned mites. If you like you can update your profile with that info 
Nice to meet you!
