Reference

[Wilco]

Can anyone remember the name of the person/study where they worked out how much beeswax a colony can produce in a year?

 

[Roger.Wilco]

This thread says the following:

you-tube video by steppler honey farms,Manitoba,Canada and he said he produces about 3000 lbs. of rendered wax from his 1500 colonies, about 2lbs /hive.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/how-much-wax.41452/#post-617651

In Canada average yield is 70-90 kg/hive

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

but how much honey is produced
and do the bees survive?

 

[Roger.Wilco]

do he bees survive

Not in my hive - the girls kick them out every winter!

 

[Wilco]

I'm sure there was a single study many decades ago on this though, that's the reference I'm after. It was done relatively scientifically.

 

[Sutty]

Maximum wax would be very artificial to achieve - I suspect near continuous feeding and a lot of removal of freshly formed comb.
In medieval times honey was almost a by-product, wax for the church was the main bonus.

 

[Swarm]

Don't forget mead for the monks.

 

[Roger.Wilco]

I'm sure there was a single study many decades ago on this though, that's the reference I'm after. It was done relatively scientifically.

Personally it seems strange to have "beeswax per colony per year" given that beeswax production relies on many factors: age of bees, temperature, weather, amount of sugar & water input etc...

I can find various references relating to "beeswax per pound of honey" or "beeswax optimum production vs. temperature" or "beeswax production vs. age of bee". But I cannot find any publicly facing references for "beeswax per colony per year".

What I have found are historic US Dept. of Agriculture honey & beeswax production statistics on Google books:
Example for 1965-69
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edit...+produce+in+a+year&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover

The report has number of colonies per state per year and amount of produced beeswax per state per year.