How much honey this year?

[arthur]

Finally, fingers crossed, in my 3rd season with this hive, I am expecting to get some honey.

Currently I have a medium on top of a medium on top of a shallow on top of a deep. Bees fill up the deep, the shallow, and most of the first medium. There is honey as well as some brood in that medium. The medium on top is drawn out comb, ready to fill up.

Do plan to extract.

Season 1 from package: nada
Season 2: one gallon cut comb (I had my queen on wrong side of excluder, oops)

So how much honey, can I get, if all things go well?

[BeeAware]

It all depends upon the forage available, weather fit for foraging and competition from nearby colonies etc. I have gotten anywhere from 0 surplus honey to as much as 90 pounds per colony. I am not in a particularly great honey producing area. Some friends of mine who are in a better honey producing area often get 200 lbs from their best colonies.

Good luck.

[Fred Bee]

Most folks around here got about 30-60 lbs surplus last year per hive.

[tecumseh]

unless we get a real alteration in the weather pattern I would not get my hopes too elevated in regards to capturing a substanial honey crop this year in almost any physical location within the state of texas (black land and brush country may be the exception).

casually (most of these kinds of things we only know about after the fact) it does appear that we have been in a developing long term drought situation for approximately 3 years. the past couple of years of surplus (at least here) have been steadily declining. we (that being the folks of the state of texas) may be looking ahead at a drought similar to the one that occurred in the 1950's. if yes????, just keeping hives alive is a real challange.

[Grant]

In Southeast Missouri, my honey harvest is much more a product of my management decisions as opposed to weather patterns.

The two actions that will yield the greatest return of honey is to prevent swarming and to give the bees ample super space to store the ripening nectar. And coincidentally, if you give ample room, it will (in part) diminish the swarming impulse.

Third on my list is to harvest early and often and keep empty frames in front of the bees. I'll pull frames of capped honey rather than wait for the bees to cap off the entire super. Then, by returning empty frames and supers to the hive, the bees think they need to keep working rather than kick back and relax.

Along these lines, I like to "bottom super," that is, add my new or empty super under the existing supers of ripening nectar. Yeah, it's a little more work and takes a little more time, but it works.

Fourth, keep your bees healthy and happy with a good mite program and a young, productive queen. My mite program and requeening happens in August in preparation for the next season.

Lastly, this piece of advice is good for beekeepers who want a good honey harvest: Procrastination is a killer of hopes and dreams. Take care of the variables within your control and the bees will make the best of your good management decisions.

When I share these ideals, 90% of the beekeepers look and me and lament, "But I didn't think beekeeping was this much work."

It doesn't have to be, but if you don't want to put in the appropriate effort, then scale down your expectations. You sound like an astute young man. More power to ya! I hope you have a great year and an abundant harvest. You will reap what you sow.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[brooksbeefarm]

Grant, good post. Like most things in life, you only get out of it what you put into it. Beekeepers on the other hand sometimes put more into it than we get out of it. You have to love those girls or you wouldn't do it. Jack

[arthur]

Yeah, procrastination. I had a shallow full of capped honey. So a week or two later, I go to extract, and it is all brood!!!

[kopeck]

Seems like there's so many variables in play I'm not sure how one would make a prediction.

Last year bought two Nucs and one package. The package was a last minute thing, I just wanted to try to get one more colony into play.

The two (expensive) Nucs didn't produce a drop of surplus, the package produced 60 pounds. I could have pulled another super too but I left an extra just to make sure they would be set for the winter.

It's the bee and it's to forage.

K

[schmism]

I'll pull frames of capped honey rather than wait for the bees to cap off the entire super. Then, by returning empty frames and supers to the hive, the bees think they need to keep working rather than kick back and relax.

I like the thinking.

the question i have is what do you do with ones and twoies of capped honey? were do you store them till your ready to extract? (i assume your storeing them and waiting till you have a 10+ frames to extract all at once)

[Nate Ellis]

I think hes saying just extract whatever is capped even if its only a couple frames and return them asap to the hive so they can fill them again.

[Anthony Ritenour]

I am pretty much a new beekeeper myself. In November 2007 I bought five established hives. Throughout 2008 I took off more than 300 pounds of honey and successfully made three splits; I unsuccessfully screwed up two others. From two of my splits which occurred in June 2008 I am about to remove a super from each already. From the third split which occurred in September 2008, I will not likely have any honey until this summer. I live in south central Florida and right now the orange blossoms are starting, and my bees are going crazy on them. I am expecting an average of 70 pounds per colony for 7 hives, and I don't know about the 8th hive.

[Brent Bean]

The world record is over 620 pounds of surplus honey from a single hive. Keep your fingers crossed.