Urban honey yeilds

[busybee53]

I am an urban beek and have a theory that urban bees can do better than rural bees because they have access to more types of flower and that when it is hot people water their gardens to keep plants alive (and available for bees).

My bees have access to the local country park, including a wild flower meadow and HB as well as access to gardens, parks and allotments. I have been lucky to extract 47lb of honey from one hive and tomorrow hope to get a similar amount from another 3 supers on the same hive.

This in a year when other beeks (possibly more rural) are getting little, or in some cases no, honey.

Please can any other urban beeks out there comment. I would love to know how you are all doing and how much honey you expect. Thanks to Kate from Liverpool who replied when this came up a bit off topic on another thread.

 

[huntsman666]

I believe a central London beekeeper won a number of top prizes at a pretty big honey show.

While what you say about forage is correct, keep in mind that a lot of garden flowers are modern hybrids and are of little use to honeybees.

 

[biglongdarren]

all but one of my hives are in the country with the best hive having a super and a half filled where as my hive in the town had its third super placed on yesterday.
needless to say all being well next year more hives will be placed in the town.
Darren

 

[Stiffy]

You run more of a risk of someone getting stung and all the associated problesm of having hives in an urban site. As such I do not and will not have hives close to urban areas.
All my apiaries are in rural areas, not tying to boast as I am sure I(they) could do better but most of my hives have 4 supers and some have 6 mostly full at present and with no OSR or HB.
Cheers
S

 

[busybee53]

Huntsman. Good point about the non bee friendly flowers in a lot of gardens. I prefer the wild flowers and daisy types any day.

Stiffy, you are quite right about proximity to people. Wish there were fewer people around here but the allotments round here still need bees. Will do as much as I can to minimise risk including education and fences. Glad your bees are doing a lot better than some which have been mentioned on this forum.

Glad to hear other people's views as well.

 

[Dishmop]

I have never seen my bees taking much interest in our flowers. Some flowering bushes and shrubby things but not small plants. Theres more bumbles on stuff in my garden than honey bees.
Best honey I had this year was from one frame from my observation hive which they filled in about three weeks. Nice and clear, not too thin and a nice taste, but like a fool I gave half of it away before I realised how nice it was.

 

[SteveJ]

I'm urban. I've just extracted 16 frames and got 40lbs of honey and I've still got another 4 full supers to do + odd and sods from others.

 

[Tom Bick]

My hives are in an urban environment and of the three that have produced honey this year (other hives been building up and nucs) have produced 8 supers and two supers with approx 50% capped honey so far.

The spread of available forage over the year is fantastic and this year was a bit odd in that we had a longer and earlier than normal June gap due to the dry weather.

At the moment I have 3 hives working HB and all hives are getting packed with plenty of pollen, it’s a great sight and very reassuring.

Urban beekeepers have particular problems and worries but the rewards can be very satisfying and no OSR to deal with.

 

[itchyhives]

I agree that urban gardens probably do offer a greater nectar variety and I’m sure makes delicious honey. My bees are in countryside and from one hive I have taken 80lbs of honey so far this year, I also have 3 full supers still on them to extract.

Compare this to the hives neighbours, started off at the beginning of the year very similar regards to size and location and have taken probably half that amount in honey yield.

There are so many variables involved don’t think you can really compare the two…..can you?

 

[YorkshireBees]

IMO another variable this year may be that in urban areas there is a high chance that gardens are watered and as my hives are rural I have witnessed a very 'stop / start' honey flow due to lack of rain and therefore lack of nectar being produced!

I cannot really quote figures for honey yields as only some of my hives were over-wintered, established colonies and of these I have moved (mid season) some of them to new out apiaries. I did extract 110lbs of OSR honey earlier and am still hoping for a small harvest in the next few weeks however as I said due to the very dry periods and wanting to leave each colony with a super of stores for winter, I do not expect a large harvest this year.

 

[The Apprentices]

My main hive looks as if its going to need feeding this winter, there is pollen on but not enough, the super I placed on is barely drawn and is coming off the next warm day or sooner after any type of flow has stopped.

Slightly off topic but related is those, and these are my own views by the way,,,,, Who support the Monoculture cash croppers by pollenating their M*****to type crops or big anything culture are supporting their eventual downfall.

I see these cash grabbing barstuards in the same eyes as the Varroa.

Back to a more balanced local economy for man and bees is the way to riches for everyone not just one who dictates how, when and what we eat and how much.

We are approaching the end of this current empire an empire who is responsible for only themselves on the backs of the bees and their keepers, they have OUR money and many times more than enough to sort out the bees problems, yet usery is rife and neglect it parramount throughout to these virus carrying thorns in our sides.

Let the awakening arise and the honey of life flow into our lives by working together, for all, not for the, There can only be one brigade, a nucleus with a Thatcheristic attitude who said and quote" Why bother about the British honey bee we can buy honey cheaper from abroad.

My pollitical compass and many others if the "Silent Spring" of truth be known,,,,,Concerned about the honey flow but ignore the spices of life that works night and day to secure a better future for their whole.

There more to life about honey and how much.

 

[hedgerow pete]

you are sort of right, us urban bee keepers do get a better mix or honeys we also get a longer season and very little june gap if any so we can beat everyone hand down with quality,

but no we cant beat the country beekeepers for quantity a good crop of osr will be double what i can collect in a year let alone the other crops

 

[Compostcritter]

I have 3 x rural colonies and 2 x urban. The urban tastes beautiful and has produced twice as much. I will be looking for more voluteers next year to house some more hives in a sensible place ( well away from human activity) in peoples gardens!

 

[Kate's Bees]

As busybees53 said, I'm also an urban beek and have had a wonderful first year. I've extracted 46 lbs from 2 supers and have taken off a couple more supers so hoping for about the same again. I've only got one established colony and a nuc that's being built up and it's my first year so hard to comment on whether this is beginners luck or not.

I do think that the urban environment has many benefits for bee and beek alike but there are disadvantages. I am certainly always a little anxious that they will sting someone and create conflict with neighbours.

Polyculture has much to offer the bees however great swathes of monoculture is a reality and bees will be used to pollinate which is essential in terms of
the food chain so am uncomfortable completely condemning this practice.

I am sure beekeeping is now entering the popular psyche and more and more people are keeping them. This should be applauded, with caution. A similar situation occured with chickens over the last 5 or so years and not always to the benefit of the birds.

Luckally training and support for beekeepers seems far better established.

 

[The Apprentices]

Polyculture has much to offer the bees however great swathes of monoculture is a reality and bees will be used to pollinate which is essential in terms of the food chain so am uncomfortable completely condemning this practice.

I am sure beekeeping is now entering the popular psyche and more and more people are keeping them. This should be applauded, with caution. A similar situation occured with chickens over the last 5 or so years and not always to the benefit of the birds.

Luckally training and support for beekeepers seems far better established.

The monoculture I would like to see gone is the singulars controlling all bases, the Duopolists, food and fertilisers, Pharma and People, my type of anarchy is a word often missconstructed, it is a greater number growing the food for better quality and a booming and steady community spirit within each and everyone's immediate enviornment this is already starting to happen as we adapt as we always do to the manufactured downturn.

The bees will still be there but for a wider audience not just a few.

It's a well known fact that higher quality food out performs quantity every time and the constitution needs less of it.

The land is suffering and an almost depleted anchor for the false feeding monoprogram being carried out as we speak, and yields are fourfold because of it, but without it!

The film, " One man One cow One planet" is a great starting point with all the evidence and answers to what I am trying to share here.

My kind of anarchy is also a supporter of the local and little makers of things, and people who procrasternate not upon childerick and walk in shoes not made by them for nothing while we pay the 500% mark up price for our sins.

This is like those natural oils of mind that will help to rid society of another kind of Varroa, just like the one that has no humanity left, that is slowly taking every soul down to sleep forever in its slavery minset, always at the edge and socially engineering our muscles energies, the most valuable commodity of them all.

The bees have a system worth saving and are a lesson in itself which we could all learn from and beeks are probably best equipped to understand what is going on in our failing system.

Video, Say No to GMO, youtube.

 

[djg]

I am an urban beekeeper, on my rooftop four floors high, out of the way of the busy streets.

I count my blessings: I sell my honey in bulk to a local restaurant (I uncap in their kitchen) and will soon be selling 250 g jars (from French Flint, just 250 yards away) of "Bermondsey Street" honey through the florist/wine shop down the road. They both love the idea that their customers can just look up and see the hives on the roof.

And I have great beekeepers nearby, nice people who really look after their stock well. All that and the thriving LBKA for support and monthly meeting natter. Lucky me!

This year's crop will be about 75kg from 2 producing hives, with a couple more getting in shape for next year.

 

[peteinwilts]

all of my hives are rural, so have nothing to compare

I took 70lb's off of my most established hive in spring and took another 85lb last weekend. This year there was no Rape feilds within reach so consisted of 'normal' fodder.

My daughters hive swarmed in late may, yet she still managed to take 65lb from her hive last night.

We took the honey from the hives because 'if' the weather warms up, the bees will go into their most productive period. Last year the weather was rubbish, but the year before the bees were filling a super a week.

My hives may be rural, but they are not on crops. Our farm only has a handful of horses and we mow a couple of times a year (with sheep in winter)

We have very established hedgerows, with broadleaf woods in several directions. The fields are also awash with white clover and other wild flowers. If the weather gets hot, we 'should' get a bumper harvest.

Our autumn honey is very light and delicate in flavour.

What i am trying to say, just because a hive is in a rural location, it does not necessarily mean the harvest will be poor.

 

[Beezy]

I extracted 3 full capped supers from my hive in South London - I don't know how many lbs it was as I didn't weigh but it looked like a lot! My bees forage in my garden (lots of bee friendly plants) and the neighbours' gardens as there are a lot of fruit trees around, all flowering at different times.

 

[peteinwilts]

I extracted 3 full capped supers from my hive in South London - I don't know how many lbs it was as I didn't weigh but it looked like a lot! .

rule of thumb, 3lb a frame give or take a little...

 

[The Apprentices]

I am an urban beekeeper, on my rooftop four floors high, out of the way of the busy streets.

I count my blessings: I sell my honey in bulk to a local restaurant (I uncap in their kitchen) and will soon be selling 250 g jars (from French Flint, just 250 yards away) of "Bermondsey Street" honey through the florist/wine shop down the road. They both love the idea that their customers can just look up and see the hives on the roof.

And I have great beekeepers nearby, nice people who really look after their stock well. All that and the thriving LBKA for support and monthly meeting natter. Lucky me!

This year's crop will be about 75kg from 2 producing hives, with a couple more getting in shape for next year.

Very nice

A freind of mine was just off the phone and a guy he knows in Austrailia says they are having a bumper year just above the Perth area and getting around 70 kilo from one colony.

Saw a documentary a few years back when fooftop set up's were just becomming popular, here we are, and well out of reach of big agri and fert/pharma, all the evidence one needs as they say.