Foraging ability.

[Curly green fingers]

The foraging ability of a honey bee colony.

I've found this very interesting to read in
A buzz about bees.

- a single forager transports 20-40mg in her crop.
-a single forager completes between three and ten flights per day.
-a single forager collects over a period of 10 to 20 days.
-a single colony deploys between 100,000 and 200,000 forager's per year.

From the above we can calculate the minimum and maximum values of expected nectar collection.

Min value 20mg X three flights per day for 10daysx100,000 bees would produce 60kg of nectar.
Max value 40mgx10 flights per day for 20 days X 200,000 bees would produce 1,600kg of nectar.

Conversion of a single unit of nectar into honey reduces the amount to about half, so that one could expect between 30 and 800kg of honey per colony each year.
The minimum amount calculated here is probably to low and the maximum to high, but the values show the range in which the real levels of nectar collection and honey production must lie .

A medium sized colony will collect about 30kg of pollen each year .this is an astounding quantity considering the "weightless" nature of pollen..

I'm finding this book a damn good read and would suggest it to anyone.
Cheers mark.

 

[enrico]

Which book?
Or is it the first line of the post!
Sorry early in the morning!

 

[citrus]

this one no ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Buzz-about-Bees-Biology-Superorganism/dp/3540787275

 

[Curly green fingers]

this one no ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Buzz-about-Bees-Biology-Superorganism/dp/3540787275

That's the book , cheers for putting the link up.
This is my first book on bee biology .

 

[mintmoth]

The foraging ability of a honey bee colony...
A medium sized colony will collect about 30kg of pollen each year .this is an astounding quantity considering the "weightless" nature of pollen..

It's not really that much per bee, though. A bee can carry 25% - 30% of her body weight in pollen so if a bee typically weighs 280mg, then she can carry about 70mg pollen each trip, 3 trips a day, and if she collects for 10 days that's about 2g pollen. So it will only take 15,000 bees to collect 30kg.

That's not many bees at all. Is my maths right?

 

[Finman]

if a bee typically weighs 280mg, then she can ....

Is my maths right?

A bee's weight is 100-120 mg.
When its belly is full, it has 40% honey load from the pasture, but how much it spend fuel during the trip. Average foraging distance is 2 km and the bee consumes over half as a fuel on 4 km trip..
Water content if nectar rules too, how much Sugar bees carry to home.
Swarm bee is full of honey. Bees weigh is then 160 mg.

Pollen loads are very different size. 30% of granule's weight is honey, which the bee mix to pollen, that it can make on solid load.
.

 

[Finman]

Min value 20mg X three flights per day for 10daysx100,000 bees would produce 60kg of nectar.
Max value 40mgx10 flights per day for 20 days X 200,000 bees would produce 1,600kg of nectar.
.

A hive does not have 100 000 foragers. Half of bees do home works during their first 3 weeks.

1600 bees occupy one Langstroth box = 2 kg swarm bees, which belly is full of honey.

 

[mintmoth]

A hive does not have 100 000 foragers.

Sure it does. Just not all in one go.

If a queen lays 1000 eggs every day for 100 days of summer, then in total that's 100,000 bees over the summer period.

 

[Finman]

Sure it does. Just not all in one go.

If a queen lays 1000 eggs every day for 100 days of summer, then in total that's 100,000 bees over the summer period.

You can keep your wisdom, and I keep mine

And all 100 days are as good foraging days????

You can only measure the foraging with balance hive, how much bees add weight during day and during total week or so. There are windy days, cloudy, rainy and chilly days.

If yield summer is 100 days, like I have, minimum flow weeks are 2 and maximum 6 weeks.

You cannot calculate the yield assumption x assumption x assumption...

As you see, basic facts like bees' weight is wrong.
.

And I have found that working hours rules on foraging, not days. When day temp rises to 18C, effective foraging hours are 3. If day temps rises to 30C, effective foraging hours may be 12 .

.
In best days my mega hives have brought 50 kg honey in 7 days. It was same weight in each day, 7 kg. Foraging hours were 12 h/day. That amount is maximum what I have met in my hives. But total yield was 170 kg in 6 weeks.

 

[Finman]

Sure it does. Just not all in one go.

If a queen lays 1000 eggs every day for 100 days of summer, then in total that's 100,000 bees over the summer period.

100 days is 14 weeks, and on average bees foraging life span is 3 weeks. At same time only 2000 foragers can bee alive.

The last 6 weeks's laying does not forage. 3 weeks' laying is brood and 3 weeks' bees are home bees.

Average life time of bees is 6 weeks.

If the hive swarms 2 times, foraging stops, and a new queen starts to lay after 3 weeks and its bees starts foraging after 6 weeks.

 

[Finman]

Sure it does. Just not all in one go.

If a queen lays 1000 eggs every day for 100 days of summer, then in total that's 100,000 bees over the summer period.

Bees live on average 6 weeks. 3 weeks as home bee and 3 weeks as forager. And 3 weeks as brood.

When 9 weeks has gone, first brood cycle is statistically dead. They do not forage. Hive has 20 000 homebees and 20 000 foragers.

So, at same time the hive has only 20 000 foragers and they forage when days are good.

 

[oliver90owner]

That's not many bees at all. Is my maths right?

Maths is right. Reasoning and assumptions leave a lot to be desired.

As Finny, I suppose. Not all of the bees return with a full load of pollen. Basically, they only need to collect enough pollen for brooding purposes. More to it than simple maths.

 

[Finman]

[

. Basically, they only need to collect enough pollen for brooding purposes. More to it than simple maths.

That is true. Bees could fill easily the brood area with pollen. They really fill brood combs with nectar too, and then they swarm.

.

 

[Popparand]

The foraging ability of a honey bee colony.

I've found this very interesting to read in
A buzz about bees.

- a single forager transports 20-40mg in her crop.
-a single forager completes between three and ten flights per day.
-a single forager collects over a period of 10 to 20 days.
-a single colony deploys between 100,000 and 200,000 forager's per year.

From the above we can calculate the minimum and maximum values of expected nectar collection.

Min value 20mg X three flights per day for 10daysx100,000 bees would produce 60kg of nectar.
Max value 40mgx10 flights per day for 20 days X 200,000 bees would produce 1,600kg of nectar.

Conversion of a single unit of nectar into honey reduces the amount to about half, so that one could expect between 30 and 800kg of honey per colony each year.
The minimum amount calculated here is probably to low and the maximum to high, but the values show the range in which the real levels of nectar collection and honey production must lie .

A medium sized colony will collect about 30kg of pollen each year .this is an astounding quantity considering the "weightless" nature of pollen..

I'm finding this book a damn good read and would suggest it to anyone.
Cheers mark.

All good stuff, but the statistical range of the underlying data elements mean that any conclusions may be arithmetically correct but for practical purposes meaningless. Add to that the unpredictables of wind, temperature, rainfall etc and the only way of predicting yields is on the basis of previous experience. Not accurate but the rest is in the hands of God and the bees.

 

[Curly green fingers]

A hive does not have 100 000 foragers. Half of bees do home works during their first 3 weeks.

1600 bees occupy one Langstroth box = 2 kg swarm bees, which belly is full of honey.

This is over a year 100,000

 

[Finman]

This is over a year 100,000

How? Via what Formula? However, basic data is wrong.that year calculation too. Bees do not forage year around.

 

[Fusion_power]

both right. both wrong.

A good queen will lay an average of about 2000 eggs daily during the buildup to the spring flow. That translates to about 40,000 bees that can forage on any give day if the planets align, the bees don't swarm, and nectar flows freely.

What is missing? The bees have to collect enough nectar (and pollen) for daily maintenance plus enough to store as honey for winter. Daily maintenance has been estimated as two to four times as much as must be collected and stored for winter. This suggests a colony that produces 150 kg surplus consumed 300 to 600 kg. Do your own math to figure this out.

At peak population, a colony can have about 72,000 bees. This is based on 2000 eggs laid daily and a life span of 36 days. In rare instances, an exceptional queen might lay an average of 2500 eggs per day giving a population of about 90,000 bees. I've only seen one colony in 49 years that got that large. It is also possible to use 2 queens to build massive colonies.

How many bees a colony produces in a year is highly dependent on the climate, season, and availability of nectar producing forage. In my climate, it is possible for a queen to produce eggs for about 180 days though the average is closer to 1000 per day. This suggests the max number of bees produced is in the range of 200,000 over the course of a year.

This won't put one drop of honey in the extractor if the bees swarm.

 

[Hivemaker.]

both right. both wrong.

...and nothing in between.

 

[Curly green fingers]

both right. both wrong.

A good queen will lay an average of about 2000 eggs daily during the buildup to the spring flow. That translates to about 40,000 bees that can forage on any give day if the planets align, the bees don't swarm, and nectar flows freely.

What is missing? The bees have to collect enough nectar (and pollen) for daily maintenance plus enough to store as honey for winter. Daily maintenance has been estimated as two to four times as much as must be collected and stored for winter. This suggests a colony that produces 150 kg surplus consumed 300 to 600 kg. Do your own math to figure this out.

At peak population, a colony can have about 72,000 bees. This is based on 2000 eggs laid daily and a life span of 36 days. In rare instances, an exceptional queen might lay an average of 2500 eggs per day giving a population of about 90,000 bees. I've only seen one colony in 49 years that got that large. It is also possible to use 2 queens to build massive colonies.

How many bees a colony produces in a year is highly dependent on the climate, season, and availability of nectar producing forage. In my climate, it is possible for a queen to produce eggs for about 180 days though the average is closer to 1000 per day. This suggests the max number of bees produced is in the range of 200,000 over the course of a year.

This won't put one drop of honey in the extractor if the bees swarm.

Is the information in the book I'm reading wrong ?

Have the wurzburg bee group got it so wrong ?

The author of the book is prof.Dr. Jürgen Tautz .
I'll be getting my money back if it's miss information.

 

[Finman]

.
Right or wrong....

When you have extracted you annual yield, do you think that you would be able to calculate the yield before the summer, or even after the summer.

No one has on formula, that amount of nectar what bees took from flowers, it is different what they brought to home. The longer the home trip, the smaller is load at home.