Honey Production

Strong mature hives have the fewest problem and make the most honey, so getting them strong and keeping them that way is a top priority. The preferred honey production hives are typically double deeps with twelve to fourteen frames of bees and a fresh young productive queen to keep the brood rearing high.

Beginning beekeepers should not expect to get an actual harvest the first year, but may be able to take a few pounds of honey on a good year. A starter colony is akin to getting a puppy, or a better analogy may be more like getting a baby milk cow. A yearling calf is not expected to produce milk until she matures. The same expectation should apply to a young colony of honey bees. They need to grow and build their numbers to become a mature productive hive.

We budget to feed our starter colonies so they grow fast and make new comb for brood production and honey storage in the future. Since building comb requires a lot of extra resources, when we are in a dearth we feed constantly and like to push them hard to grow the first year.