So far I have managed to keep my two colonies alive since I got them as nucs this spring. I was worried I was going to have to reduce one of the hives to a single deep as they hadn't built out any frames in their second deep, but with the goldenrod flow they ramped up quick and built out and filled four frames last I checked. Feeling better that both colonies will be in good shape going into winter.
I have however done two things I didn't want/intend to do: feed syrup (since mid-july) and treat for mites. Felt the feeding was necessary to get them to build out enough frames to store enough food for winter, and rationalized treating for mites to give them a clean/fresh start since I don't know what condition they were in when I got the nuc.
We'll see if they survive the winter and how I feel come spring. It's definitely an interesting hobby, and maybe next year I'll get to try some of my own honey. Bought and cleaned up a used extractor this summer.
Still thinking about building a layens hive and some swarm traps over the winter.
