Written while building Combworth, mostly about the money side nobody else covers.
Per-hive production usually means weighing supers hive by hive, which nobody does. Counting frames as you pull them, and letting the scale at the end supply the pounds, gets the same answer with a weighted average — and the arithmetic explains why the usual "5 lb a frame" rule of thumb stops mattering.
If the IRS treats your bees as a hobby, the $6,000 you spent on them is not deductible — you are taxed on the whole $8,000 you took in. A worked example, and the nine questions that decide which side of the line you are on.