Some bees have established a home in a not so good place on my Southern California property. How do I get them moved to a better place? A local commercial beekeeper offered to to it for $250. Would it be realistic to hope for another (amateur?) beekeeper to be interested in taking the colony for free? If so, any suggestions on how to find such a person?

@beekeeping A family friend is a local farmer and he mentioned that his beekeeper has retired and wanted to know if I would be interested. I don't have enough hives to jump right in next year - I would need to capture a couple swarms and then probably make a couple of splits from my own apiary to have enough (he farms ~20 acres). This wouldn't be migratory work - more just managing colonies on his property.

Anyone doing this? What kinds of expectations are realistic starting from scratch?

@beekeeping When is the latest you would consider a walk away split (no queen to introduce) in the season?

I'm Zone 6A and I have a single brood chamber colony filling honey boxes (one with wax being built) and still keeping stores below on what would otherwise be brood nest. They're not bound, but it's definitely not as organized as I'd like.

I prefer single brood, but if it's too late, I can throw another deep with waxed frames on top to let the queen really go for it.