How much honey do you get per hive?

[OkieFarmer22]

Hi,
Does Anyone Know How Much Honey I Would Get If I Bought A Beehive Kit And Raised Bees?

 

[Maggiesdad]

Michael Bush says- expect nothing, and then be pleasantly surprised if you do get some!

It is totally dependent on your location, and your aptitude as a beekeeper.

Your local bee club can usually give you an idea of a per hive average...

 

[Latestarter]

First off, greetings and welcome to BYH! So glad you joined us. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

I'd like to key on something that Maggiesdad said above... "It is totally dependent on ... and your aptitude as a beekeeper." I guess at sometime in the ancient past, bee keeping was simple... set up hives and collect the honey. Sorry to say, that's no longer the case. It's been much publicized in recent years about the trials and tribulations of the honey bee. Keeping hives healthy and successful is a LOT of WORK... and even then, you'll lose hives. It's always best to start out with (at least) 2 hives for that reason.

It all has to do with your location and food sources for the bees. If you have agri-farms around that spray herbicides/fertilizers/insecticides, you're going to be fighting a losing battle. All that aside, you shouldn't expect any honey the first year as the bees will most likely only produce enough to get them through the winter/no food times. You'll probably end up feeding them through their first winter as well.

Oh, if you haven't done so already, PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. I assume from your screen name that you're in OK, but that might not be the case. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. Old folks like me will never remember from this thread. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!

 

[Happy Chooks]

As everyone else said, it totally depends mostly on location, but also your hive management skills. Northern CA is VERY VERY dry, so our yield is much less than the more humid areas of the US.

There are seasonal changes too. We had a very wet winter last year, which made me hope for a great harvest........but it didn't happen. The blackberries blossomed when it was very cool, so not much nectar for the bees. This year, we have had very little winter, and the bees are already making honey from the manzanita blossoms. I will finally have 2 hives to collect honey off of this year, so it will be interesting to compare.

 

[OkieFarmer22]

I live in the Tulsa area. Do you know how many pounds people normally get?

 

[Latestarter]

http://neoba.org/ NorthEast Oklahoma Beekeepers Association
http://rjsbeefarm.com/ RJS Bee Farm Local Honey | Owasso, Tulsa, Sperry, Collinsville, Claremore, Oologah | Northeast Oklahoma
http://shadowmountainhoney.com/ Free Bee Swarm Removal Tulsa Swarm Hotline 918-981-BEES (2337) Local Tulsa Honey 918-520-4970
https://hivetracks.com/index.php tracking software for your hives.

You REALLY need to contact folks local to you. They are the only ones who can even guess at an accurate answer for you. (there guess will probably be as good as mine) As stated, there's no easy answer to he question you're asking.

Bees will fly up to 3 miles straight line from their hive seeking nectar. Get a map, draw a 3 mile radius (6 mile diameter) circle around where the hive will be placed. Then drive all over inside that circle looking for things bees need. #1 is nectar sources. That's what they make honey out of. That's what adult bees eat. They also need pollen. With that they make bee bread to feed the larva.

Trying to answer your question is similar to you trying to answer this question from me: How much rain am I going to get in August? I live in the Dallas area...

 

[Cmclean]

I’m new here also. My husband bought us a beginners bee hive set up. We will receive our bees in the spring. We are so excited. I’m glad to be in your club!!!