A very tall hive is probably strong, but don't rely on external appearances. Strong colony with large population. In colonies with small populations, bees do not well up so dramatically. There should be at least five combs with brood. When brood is young, you can see glistening white larvae in their cells, but older brood are covered with cardboard-looking wax cappings.
Bees are best motivated to collect pollen when they have young, uncapped brood.
Strong colonies with large populations and plenty of brood are superior pollinators, and the beekeeper should get a higher rental fee. Moving Hives Bee hives are almost always moved at night when bees are not flying and temperatures are cooler. Smaller beekeepers may screen hive entrances individually and manually load hives on and off a pickup truck. In either case, be prepared for nighttime arrival and arrange details in advance with the beekeeper about field access and hive placement. Timing Move hives into the crop after some flowering has already begun.