[cdanderson]

Many fishermen dont like to really tell the truth about their trip to the lake.. how good the fish really were biting...or how big that bass really was... I think they like to embellish a bit..

Are beekeepers the same way when it comes to honey harvest...I dont have many years of experience but here in upstate SC.. I dont think my bees seem to have made as much honey as I thought they would. Yet, I hear some local people (more so newer beekeepers) saying... "I'm adding my 3rd honey super." A few of my hives are having trouble getting 1 filled and capped. Though it looks like most will end up with 2.

I have studied and I know all the variables that go into making or "not" making a honey crop. I just wonder if its is ever possible to get a decent estimate of the true crop and are these other folks just lucky or full of "poop" !

charlotte

 

[Brenda]

Lucky, I think. A lot depends on the weather in your area.
My first year with bees, I started from a package and they made 3 supers of honey, but they didn't make it through the winter.
Second year, new package and no honey all summer, same location but much rain. This year same bees and they are making honey but not like the bees did my first year.

 

[justin]

they just don't talk about the bad years, and they never forget the good ones. it's the same with hunting too. i can say i was back to the truck by 9:30 am with this buck. i wont mention the 6 days before that when i did not see a thing, and by the next year i can't remember the 6 days before. or i could say "last year i got a really good honey crop, better than all my neighbors...then they all died of something this winter."

 

[PeteS]

I think people's expectations are too high when they first start out. I thought that the first thing should be for the benefit of the bees not to take off so much honey that they don't make it through the winter. After the colony establishes itself then maybe there is enough to take some honey for yourself. After reading a bunch of these treads I get the feeling it is only about the honey and forget about the welfare of the bees. i'm in it for the hobby not to brag about how much honey i get.
Regards,
Pete

 

[jeff123fish]

So many variables, I have a yard with 17 hives 1 hive has already filled and capped 3 shallows of which i removed. Then they filled 2 more shallows and capped i have since added a deep super with undrawn foundation they drew that out and have since filled it with nectar and are begining to cap that. all that to say only 4 other hives have honey at all and none more than 2 supers. too many factors and then alot of it is still luck.

 

[honeydreams]

I will be glad to see my bees get enough honey for themselfs this year let alone enough for me. the weather has down right never left winter.

 

[Countryboy]

There is a big difference between adding empty supers and pulling full ones. Bees need more comb space to cure nectar down than they do space to actually store the honey.

I recently split some hives. I am running these splits in a single deep with an excluder on it. I put the 5th medium super on them today.

The bees are just starting to work in the very first super. They have plenty of room if they want/need it though. And just because I have put on 5 supers now doesn't mean I will be pulling 5 supers full of honey later.

 

[Hambone]

When I have someone taking pics of the bees and I. I hold the frames straight out in front of me to make my bees look bigger.

 

[PeteS]

Bigger bees mean more honey!:lpf:

 

[rocky1]

Yup... I think hambone has it figured out!


Uhmmm... I've often wondered that about many commercial beekeepers, and I know it does hold true in some cases, it's not a symptom limited to hobbyists only dude!!

 

[Buffalolick]

My first 3 years I got no honey..got no bees to make it through winter either. Last year was better, a little over 50 pounds from 2 hives and we made it through winter. Up to a dozen hives now and can see that honey production varys greatly between hives even in the same yard.

 

[sqkcrk]

Honey crops in Upstate NY are so poor it's a wonder we continue trying.

(there, that'll keep them away.)

Sure, beekeepers and fishermen want to keep the best locations to themselves and the size of their catch can be discribed in various ways depending on whether one is seeking envy or sympathy or you just don't want someone else to know. Human nature. Nothing special about beekeepers or fishermen (or is that fisherpersons?).

 

[ickyfritz]

I think there's a biblical and cultural connection there somewhere. I think if you're fishing and beekeeping, you're enjoying life and all the good things about life. If you're successful, its like icing on the cake. Perhaps, even a deep seated psychological optimism. I'm no psychologist and I'm no theologian and only kept bees less than a year and fished purely for recreation. I have to say, simply doing either activity whether I'm successful or not almost always makes me feel good.

If its an addiction.... I don't wanna be cured.

 

[jdesq]

I think there's a biblical and cultural connection there somewhere. I think if you're fishing and beekeeping, you're enjoying life and all the good things about life. If you're successful, its like icing on the cake. Perhaps, even a deep seated psychological optimism. I'm no psychologist and I'm no theologian and only kept bees less than a year and fished purely for recreation. I have to say, simply doing either activity whether I'm successful or not almost always makes me feel good.

If its an addiction.... I don't wanna be cured.

Preaching to the choir:applause:

 

[cdanderson]

I love that Hambone... if it wasnt so hot here I could go up to the beeyard and stack 5 or 6 supers on a couple of my hives and have my pic took !

 

[Batman]

I'm sure it's that way with everything and anything. Cars, money, houses, why not bees? I am absolutely beside myself with the amount of bees I have seen this year, with swarms and cut outs. Truthfully if it were stories from someone else, I might not believe it. Then there's the run in with hookers, getting shot at and being in the middle of a police man hunt in South Sacramento last night. I can hardly wait to see what he next adventure brings for excitement.

Craig