a bumper honey crop 2013!!!

[local_beekeeper]

Best honey crop, average so far 110lbs

 

[Winker]

Best honey crop, average so far 110lbs

324lb of OSR and now 9 supers full of field been

 

[itma]

324lb of OSR and now 9 supers full of field been

I can't believe that is an average per hive ...

 

[Rosti]

Not the best, but pleasing (40lb per hive x3 so far with the supers back on) - given that 3 months ago my bees were all very proudly receiving their 25m breast stroke awards and water-logged crops were getting ploughed back in around me, it could have been much worse. At that time, to have held on to my colonies was probably yield enough!

Well done to those of you who have got some big numbers, nice one!

 

[TOBY-3652]

my average up 2 now is about 70 pound per hive and balsom 2 come,, but the beans have nearly finished around here

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have two colonies ...out of the three and a half.....with three supers on
One with two
And even the small job has one super
NOBODY is capping anything

 

[peteinwilts]

I do not average as i have colonys of all shapes and sizes

No rape (although two hives found some!)

Many hives on their second super. Best hive on its 4th. Last week collected 150lb from 5 hives.

3 weeks ago they were collecting blossoms, odds and sods with not a lot to show for it. They are now hitting the clover, bramble and rosebay.

If we get a drenching of rain, then we will see the honey flood in!

 

[enrico]

I have two colonies ...out of the three and a half.....with three supers on
One with two
And even the small job has one super
NOBODY is capping anything

I have a similar problem, all supers full but none capped, took some off to free up for lime but water content at danger level so am using it on and in everything! Giving it away for immediate use! Not complaining though.....honest!
E

 

[Finman]

.
My balance hive doe not have laying queen or larvae now. It has brough 20 kg in last 3 days. It is mostly from fireweed. I have taken away 50 kg capped honey from it.

 

[Winker]

324lb of OSR and now 9 supers full of field been

No that was from 6 hives, didn't do average

 

[Erichalfbee]

.
It is mostly from fireweed. I have taken away 50 kg capped honey from it.

Nearby...but alas just too far for my bees...a substantial area of forestry has been cut down and it is smothered in Rosebay....sigh!

 

[mbc]

no that was from 6 hives, didn't do average

324/6=54

 

[Tom Bick]

I have two colonies ...out of the three and a half.....with three supers on
One with two
And even the small job has one super
NOBODY is capping anything

I have this in my hives 13 supers and only a few fully capped. I put this down to the stop go season this year. I am gambling on holding back on more supers to try and force them to finish off the ones on the hive.

Perhaps this is the year I invest in a refractometer.

 

[Finman]

on holding back on more supers to try and force them to finish off the ones on the hive.

.

Forcing does not help. They do what they do. Late summer is another thing.

They need much space to dry up the nectar. When I open the cover, air from the hive is like cow's breath: moist and warm.

I wonder how much they carry nectar into the hive when they get 5 kg honey in a day.

 

[Finman]

Nearby...but alas just too far for my bees...a substantial area of forestry has been cut down and it is smothered in Rosebay....sigh!

I can see from google earth that there are hundreds of hectares foreweed areas inside radius of 1 mile. Some are too dry cliffy and sandy areas but some have bog like caly soil. But however, they get it.

1 km radius circle has area 300 hectares. One mile radius circle has 700 hectares.

 

[Suzi Q]

TB my refractometer will be coming from China, soon I hope! Is that the best thing to do then, not to give them any new supers, until they have capped the existing ones? What if they become short of space for incoming nectar? Maybe with a nectar flow there are more bees recruited to foraging than there are bees staying at home to.... what do they do to convert nectar to honey, fan?
I am impatient for them to cap, so I can get the stickies put back on, so they can fill them up again.

 

[richardbees]

Even though the Lime's going great guns it's unlikely to be a bumper year for me as the bees totally lost out on the usual Spring harvest from all the local Urban street trees -flowering cherries etc which tende to account for 30-40% of my annual honey crop.

 

[Finman]

Is that the best thing to do then, not to give them any new supers,.until they have capped the existing ones?

That is worst thing what yiou can do. One capped box needs 2 more boxes where they dry up nectar. If they must put nectar into brood frames, soon you have swarming and bees stop working.


It goes aboput that way that you take off 2 capped boxes and you have 5 boxes where are nectar.


.

I am impatient for them to cap, so I can get the stickies put back on, so they can fill them up again.

It does not help. They do their job and you do your job: You extract and return new space to the hive.

Good flow is rare delicates. Don't even try to spoil it when you have waited it the whole year around.

.

 

[Finman]

Even though the Lime's going great guns it's unlikely to be a bumper year for me as the bees totally lost out on the usual Spring harvest from all the local Urban street trees -flowering cherries etc which tende to account for 30-40% of my annual honey crop.

It helps if you move the hives to outer pastures.

Some hives I have moved this summer allready 2 times.

 

[Tom Bick]

TB my refractometer will be coming from China, soon I hope! Is that the best thing to do then, not to give them any new supers, until they have capped the existing ones? What if they become short of space for incoming nectar? Maybe with a nectar flow there are more bees recruited to foraging than there are bees staying at home to.... what do they do to convert nectar to honey, fan?
I am impatient for them to cap, so I can get the stickies put back on, so they can fill them up again.

Hi suzi no its perhaps not the best thing to do a bit of a gamble the risk is blocking the brood nest. The thing is previous years I get supers capped reasonably fast and able to remove and extract but not this year.

I don’t enjoy extracting and the thought of having to do them all at once is not a great one for me.