loads of bees no Honey

[Purple Pete]

I have two Hives on a heather moor in Devon the first produced 1 super of honey in July the second is a July swarm now producing some honey in the supers. However the first hive whilst it is very strong and aggressive with plenty of brood and food but no honey in the supers for four weeks now, but they are still strong. Any thoughts on what might be going on?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Don't know what they foraged for the first super butHeather hasn't flowered yet?

 

[victor meldrew]

Bees here are going ballistic today but totally ignoring the balsam which is at peak and abundant !
VM

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Bees here are going ballistic today but totally ignoring the balsam which is at peak and abundant !
VM

Seriously thinking mine ought to have an apiary notice board with a forage source rota on it ;-)

 

[Finman]

.
A colony must be first some size that it is able to forage surplus.
During first week a colony can get honey stores but usually they use the food to build up new brood. Normally a small hive takes 8 weeks time that it rippen to make honey.

But all depends on pastures and on nectar flows.

What means "stong" hive. To me it is 7-8 boxes.
Strong swarm is over 4 kg and it fills two langstroth boxes.

 

[masterBK]

Bees vary alot and wheras some colonies work hard and store lots of honey others are lazy, wasteful and produce excessive brood even when there is little coming in. In an apiary you often find most of your honey comes mainly from just a few exceptional colonies.

 

[Finman]

Bees vary alot and wheras some colonies work hard and store lots of honey others are lazy, wasteful and produce excessive brood even when there is little coming in. In an apiary you often find most of your honey comes mainly from just a few exceptional colonies.

I thought that so too. But I found that even lazy bees get a good yield if pastures are good.

This year I had a one frame mating colony. It brought a frane so full honey in a week, that queen had no place to play.

Another mating hives on dry wood lands got nothing, They were same bees from same big swarm.

Things is just so that
- first you have brood in normal big hive
- after 4 weeks they are home bees
- after 6-7 weeks they are foragers
- if brood feeding and forager bees are not in balance, all honey goes to larva feeding .


Honey does not come so that you have a brood box, then you put an excluder and then honey start to flow into super. It may happen, but mostly not.

.

 

[Purple Pete]

thanks for your help
The established colony has produced honey a month ago and was my best producing hive last year, but now is not producing honey whilst a new colony, from a swarm, 4 meters away is producing - the Heather is very much in flower and will stay so normally until early sept.

 

[Chris58]

One of our hives have filled a super in a week, but have nothing really in the brood box. If the weather turned, there's nothing but the super - can't figure out why no stores around the brood?