I was very lucky this year. After having been out of bees for a number of years, I was offered a "hot" hive by someone looking to unload them. About 6 weeks later, I got a call from the same guy, asking if I wanted 2 more colonies. Picked em right up. After skiming it, and bottling it, I ended up with 170 lbs of honey from the 3 colonys. Not a windfall, but I have 10 deeps worth of comb, 3 healthy colonies, and 2 commitments for placing some colonys next year. I can hardly wait.