Top Ten Tips For BUMPER Honey Crops
Maximise Your Honey Yield With These Expert Beekeeping Strategies
As a beekeeper, your primary goal is likely to produce the largest possible honey crop each season. While factors like weather and forage availability play a significant role, there are several proven techniques you can employ to consistently achieve bumper honey harvests. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the top 10 tips from a seasoned commercial beekeeper to help you take your honey production to new heights.
1. Conduct Weekly Hive Inspections
One of the most critical steps in securing a bountiful honey crop is vigilant hive monitoring. In the UK, you should be conducting thorough inspections of your colonies every 7 days from April through August. This weekly cadence allows you to quickly identify and address any issues that could jeopardise your honey production, such as:
Development of swarm cells
Signs of disease or pests
By staying on top of your hive health and catching potential problems early, you can take swift action to prevent swarming and maximise the number of foraging bees dedicated to honey collection. Skipping these regular inspections puts your honey crop at serious risk. I've seen talk of a set it up and leave it approach. This is only effective if you have hundreds or thousands of colonies and are willing to sacrifice lost honey/swarms in exchange for the time saved due to no inspections. I wouldn't recommend it!
2. Master Swarm Control Without Splitting
While making splits is a common swarm prevention tactic, I would advise against this approach if your goal is to maximise honey yields. Splitting colonies means the bees need so to focus on building up their brood nest, causing them to divert energy away from honey production. Instead, the key is to maintain your colonies as single units throughout the season using a technique called a "pre-emptive demaree split." This advanced swarm control method allows you to keep your colonies intact while still preventing swarming. Click HERE to learn more about this effective swarm management strategy.
3. Time Your Varroa Treatments Strategically
One of the biggest mistakes beekeepers make is delaying their varroa mite treatments until late summer in an effort to maximise the current year's honey crop. However, this approach can have severe consequences for the following season.
I recommend moving your varroa treatments forward to mid-August to align with an earlier than traditional harvest. This ensures your bees are healthy and robust when they begin rearing the critical overwintering cluster - the "winter bees" that will be responsible for the colony's survival and early spring build-up. Healthy autumn bees translate to thriving spring populations, setting you up for a bumper honey harvest.
"Healthy bees in the Autumn means healthy bees in the spring. If you delay that varroa treatment because you're trying to maximise last year's honey crop, you will pay for it next year."
4. Follow the Nectar Flow
For beekeepers with the ability to relocate their hives, strategically moving your colonies to track the seasonal nectar flows can unlock exponential increases in honey production. By positioning your bees near the most abundant and productive floral sources, you can capitalise on the maximum foraging potential.
In the UK, this may involve moving your colonies from oilseed rape, to field beans, to summer blooms, and finally to heather. While this level of mobility isn't feasible for all operations, it's an incredibly effective tactic for those who can manage it. Just be mindful of the potential downsides, such as increased disease transmission risk, when frequently moving hives. It can also really drain your bees energy, so do this responsibly and always remember this key message - 'Healthy Bees Make Heavy Hives' - Awesome book - https://amzn.to/3ZG8fX5
5. Split Your Season in Two
An alternative approach for static apiaries is to divide your honey production season into two distinct phases: the spring harvest and the summer flow. By focusing first on maximising your spring honey crop, you can then shift your efforts to boosting your bees through the "June gap" - the dearth period between the spring and summer nectar flows. This two-part strategy allows you to capitalise on both the spring and summer honey flows without the logistical challenges of relocating hives or the risk of starvation throughout the June Gap.
"If you're working on a static apiary basis for say people in the UK, focus on your spring Harvest, take the spring Harvest off, develop yourself a method to get your bees through the June Gap... and then you can focus later on on that summer flow."
6. Invest in High-Performing Bee Genetics
Perhaps the single most important factor in achieving bumper honey crops is the genetic makeup of your bees. Not all colonies are created equal when it comes to honey production. Some bee strains are simply more industrious, productive, and resilient than others. I would emphasise the importance of experimenting with different bee breeds to find the ones best suited to your local environment and management style. Look for colonies that excel at:
Varroa mite resistance
Disease/pest tolerance
Honey storage capacity
Foraging efficiency
By selectively breeding from your top-performing colonies, you can steadily improve the honey-producing capabilities of your apiary over time.
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7. Optimise Your Apiary Locations
In addition to bee genetics, the specific locations of your apiaries can have a massive impact on honey yields. If certain apiary sites in your operation are consistently underperforming compared to others, it may be time to consider relocating those hives. Factors like available forage, competition from other beekeepers, and environmental stressors can all influence a site's honey production potential. I would advise closely monitoring your apiary performance and iteratively adjusting your locations to find the sweet spots that reliably deliver the highest honey crops.
I like to limit production sites to no more than 12 colonies based upon North Wales forage. It could be much more in the south. Find a happy medium and stick to it or you will get diminishing returns for your effort per hive.
"If your apiaries aren't performing, iteratively change them out... if you've got an apiary that's been there for three or four years and is underperforming versus other apiaries that are maybe a couple of miles away, there might be too many beehives there but almost certainly what it's going to be is that there's just not enough natural forage around for the bees to produce bumper honey crops."
8. Maintain Impeccable Hive Health
Keeping your colonies in optimal health is foundational to maximising honey production. This means vigilantly monitoring for and promptly addressing any signs of disease, pests, or other issues that could compromise your bees' wellbeing and foraging capabilities. Key health factors to stay on top of include:
Varroa mite levels
Foulbrood (American and European)
Chalkbrood
Sacbrood virus
Maintaining rigorous hygiene standards across your apiaries is crucial to preventing the spread of disease. Failing to do so can quickly lead to colony losses and a decimated honey crop.
9. Protect and Reuse Drawn Comb
Drawn super comb - the beeswax foundation that your colonies have already built out into functional honeycomb - is an invaluable asset for honey production. Not only does it provide your bees with a head start on storing nectar, but it also allows them to dedicate more energy to foraging rather than comb construction. Brood combs need to be replaced every 2-3 years as toxins can build up in them and negatively impact your bees.
Safeguarding your drawn comb and reusing it season after season should be a top priority. Proper handling and storage techniques, as well as thorough cleaning and sterilisation, will ensure this precious resource remains in optimal condition. Doing so can dramatically accelerate your colonies' honey-gathering capabilities.
"Drawn comb is worth its weight in gold. You want to protect it especially when you're extracting your honey do everything you possibly can to give the bees back a really nice well protected piece of drawn comb which means that all they need to do is focus on repairing it as opposed to using their energy reserves to go and make new wax cones."
10. Provide Ample Supering Space
The final piece of the puzzle is ensuring your colonies have sufficient space to store the incoming nectar. Leaving your bees feeling cramped or constrained can cause them to slow down or even stop foraging, robbing you of potential honey.
Rather than adding supers one at a time, I recommend giving your colonies two supers at the start of the season. Additionally, always keep an empty super on top of the brood nest, so the bees never feel like they're running out of room. This proactive approach allows your colonies to work at full capacity throughout the prime nectar flows. If the bees hit the roof, they will try to swarm.
"There is nothing worse than coming back to a colony after a week seeing the bees at the very top of the hive and seeing every single frame in that box completely capped with honey... you need to make sure you've got the boxes there before that happens."
Putting it All Together for Bumper Honey Crops
Achieving consistently high honey yields requires a multifaceted approach that addresses every aspect of colony management and environmental factors. By implementing these top 10 tips, you'll be well on your way to unlocking your apiaries' full honey production potential.
Remember, becoming a master honey producer is an ongoing journey of learning, experimentation, and continuous improvement. Stay vigilant, adapt your strategies to your local conditions, and don't be afraid to try new techniques. With the right combination of best practices, you'll be celebrating bumper honey harvests year after year.
If you found this guide helpful and want to dive deeper into no-nonsense beekeeping strategies, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our other educational resources. You can also join our channel membership to access exclusive content and support our mission of making beekeeping simple and enjoyable.
And if you're in the market for high-performing bee genetics to boost your honey yields, don't forget to explore our selection of mated queens and overwintered nucleus colonies. These premium bee products can give your apiary a significant competitive edge. Here's to your most bountiful honey season yet! Happy beekeeping.
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