I would like to pick up on a topic I spotted on another forum.
It’s aimed at those who don’t use varroicides in their hives so basically UK and USA really.
How much honey are you getting per hive every year on average?
For the Midwest United States, a healthy Colony that overwintered well and has a good Queen could be expected to produce over 150 lbs of Honey. I know folks that overwinter in Three deeps, are treatment and feed free, and expect to get at least 100 lbs of honey off of their “production colonies”. There are so many variable in this question though…it’s going to be different for every region and beekeeper. I will say this though: So long as there is a good nectar flow on a given year, a good colony would have to produce at least 75 lbs of harvestable honey. If not, then it’s either time to re-queen or the beekeeper is making mistakes in management.
When managing for honey I typically get the average yield for the state. Most years that’s around 40lbs per hive. Some years I have had as much as 200lbs per hive. Some years you feed the bees 60 pounds of sugar and get nothing. It varies a lot from year to year but averages out to about 40lbs. When managing for queen rearing I usually don’t harvest much.
1 Like
wow nice point man good to know know that