dave said:I don't monitor my hives, although I know I should, and eventually I'll run into a problem that I could have caught early but didn't. Generally I only open my hives a few times a year. I check them every 6 weeks or so during the growing season. It's not ideal but it has worked for a long time for us. I feel like in your case if you went a very long time (several months) without checking the hives they'd probably be okay.
Toni said: @crittergarden
I just now saw this thread ~ not that I can give you any guidance, but I sure think I can give you encouragement. I absolutely LOVE having my honeybees. I don’t interfere much at all with my honeybees. They are almost completely left to live their life on their own. I do go out my back door almost everyday and watch them for a few minutes, just because I love it. My goal here is to do things naturally, no chemicals, and only slight intervention. I remind myself that bees have survived for thousands of years all on their own. So, if I provide them with a safe house, water and food sources they will take care of the rest. So far it has worked for me.
They are truly amazing creatures.