The books / Commercial Beekeeping / chapter 1 of 5

Systems, not hives

All chapters
  1. Systems, not hives
  2. Calendar treatment
  3. Pollination
  4. Migratory beekeeping
  5. Losses as a line item

At a few hundred colonies nobody inspects every frame. Commercial operators work yards, not hives: a crew moves down a row, boxes up, feeds, treats, and moves on. Mite control goes on a calendar rather than on counts. It is less precise, it costs some colonies, and it is the only way the numbers work.