I envy you the hives. One of my neighbors yrs ago had 7 or 8 hives and we had fresh hunny all the time. Nothing like fresh home made cathead bisquits, fresh butter(another neighbor had a small dairy) and good wildwood honey. When I was in college I worked for a pest control friend. We got a call from a homeowner and went to a place with a full wall full. Drill a hole, spray some pyrethian(wrong spelling I know) and spray as they came out. I just about quit over that. I love bees too. A 36'' wide about 6 ft wall full of honey. They tore open the wall and replaced it. I looked out my window a week ago and thought the leaves were falling. We had a hive in the catalpa tree in the front yard and they swarmed in my front yard. They settled on a tree fork next to my front door. Wish I had gotten pics. I called some bee keepers in my area and one was coming out to get them. They are usually pretty tame when swarming unless you make the queen squeal.haha. They tornadoed that afternoon and just left. Boy was I hoping they werent africanized. Nasty little buggers. My neighbor used to just scrap them off a limb into a hive shell and set them up. Glad to see you and your wife getting involved. Honey bees have had a hard time of it lately. That is why honey is so expensive now.
