A Thousand Pounds of Honey

beekeepinghoney

May 25

I was shocked when I learned that an established beehive could produce around 100 pounds of “extra” honey per year. Of course, the bees need honey for their own food (approximately 70 pounds the survive the winter). So, when I say “extra”, I mean honey that we can take from them for our own use. Anyway, 100 pounds is unreal! How does one beehive produce so much honey?

Honey production depends on two key factors: bee population and available nectar. Strong hives have more bees to forage. It their first year, a new colony may still produce some extra honey, but it’s usually limited as they are building up their population and using some of their resources to produce wax to build comb. By year two, a hive is ready to rock and roll!

In areas where there are plenty of nectar-rich flowers, honey production increases dramatically. Surprisingly, the urban core, with its dandelion and clover-filled yards, is a great place for foraging! Our first year of beekeeping, we were pleased with the 40 pounds of honey we were able to harvest from our new hive. It was so exciting to watch the bees build out their comb, increase in numbers, and start making honey. It seemed almost miraculous!

In year two, we expanded from one hive to six and our honey harvest brought in over 300 lbs! I was a bit taken of guard by the amount of time and effort it took to harvest, extract, and bottle that much honey! This year, we’ve expanded to 18 hives and purchased some more equipment to help the extraction and bottling process be more efficient. If all goes well, we hope to harvest around 1000 pounds of honey this year!