[USER=991]@YJJPWrangler[/USER] very rare to find honeybees in the wild like that nowadays! Those make the best hives, if they can survive unattended in a tree they probably have superior genetics.
I maintain 2-4 hives primarily for pollination of our garden, but we also harvest a modest amount of honey. I do very little management, I go in the hives maybe twice a year and I will treat for Varroa in the spring and fall, but that's it. This year I've had one hive vanish, it was a swarm I caught earlier in the spring and it never seemed to flourish. Currently have 2 hives going strong and I got about 40lbs of honey off one of the hives this year.
