Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: TwT on May 28, 2005, 02:29:41 am

Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: TwT on May 28, 2005, 02:29:41 am
I have been told that it is unlikely to expect much honey the first year from packages, I started 3 packages on foundation 3-11-05, 2 of the package's has a deep and medium for brood which the medium's are 3/4 full of capped honey, I bought 4 medium supers from a friend that each has 9 frames drawn out already and been adding them to the hives, 1 of those 2 packages has 2 of the 9 frame mediums full and almost all the way capped, the other hive has 1 extra medium full and about capped, so off these 2 packages, I'm going to have 3 mediums to extract leaving them 1 medium each for store's, the other package went honey bound but I have it going strong now(it in 2 deeps), from what I have read from the Ga. guys, I will winter 2 of these hives 1 deep and a medium and the 3rd in 2 deeps, how much honey will 3 mediums supers give me in quarts or gallons for my first extraction? these are Kona Queens.
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: thegolfpsycho on May 28, 2005, 03:25:39 am
Sounds like they are kickin butt for ya.  I would think that the medius are going to give you about 3.5 gallons apiece if you take it all.  And I don't see any reason not to take it.  Lots of time to give them back drawn comb and let them go to work.  Lots of moisure here in the west this year.  Nectar seems abundant..... at least for now.
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 28, 2005, 09:44:44 am
Sound like they are doing good - sweet huh? :)

I get about 5 pounds of honey per large super frame, and about 2 pounds per medium super frame. So if you have 10 frames in your mediums, you can estimate about 15-20 pounds per super. That's IF they did a real good job filling all the frames. (And a quart jar holds 3 pounds. So ya better get yourself on out to Wal-Mart and buy a case or two of jars. :) )

But like I said.... you can pretty much guarantee 1 1/5 to 2 pounds per medium frame that's well covered.

I'm in central Georgia, and my bees eat hardly any honey through the winter. But our winters are so short here, and we have flowers blooming year round. Each hive has gone through less than 10 pounds for the whole winter, and the queen starts laying strong by the end of January.

Beth
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 28, 2005, 09:54:48 am
Oh, and another thing......

Now this is just me, so don't anyone take this as absolute for YOU. :) But since my bees need so little in the winter, I usually only leave them the honey that's in the corners of the brood frames. It's worked out to be plenty for them.

I figure... it might be about a pound or so of honey there per frame. So with having two deeps for the winter of brood.... making for me 22 frames..... that  works out to be over 15 pounds I'm leaving them. There's always just a bit (estimated 5-7 pounds) left when they start bringing in more and start storing again. There's just no way for me to reasonably harvest out that honey anyway from the brood frames, but I get to take every one of the frames that's all or mostly honey.

Beth
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: Michael Bush on May 28, 2005, 10:12:05 am
Expecting honey and getting honey are two different things.  About half the time a package doesn't make any honey.  About half the time there is some surplus.  But having a package that didn't make a surplus shouldn't be a dissapointment.  Getting a surplus shouldn't be a shock, just a pleasant surprise.

I'd figure you'd get about 1 1/2 five gallon buckets full of honey out of that.
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: TwT on May 28, 2005, 07:50:32 pm
Beth, do we ever have any kind of fall flow here in Ga?, I know I have pastures  full of goldenrod. if I take most all the honey(like golf said), you know frames without brood just honey, I could feed this fall if I need to, probably will feed some anyway, my honey supers on my hives now are 9 frame so if I took most of it I would get about 38-40 medium frames to extract and might take a couple deep frames from the hive that went honey bound on me a few weeks back. might be a plan  :wink:
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: TwT on May 28, 2005, 08:27:18 pm
oh and don't get me wrong , they will still have plenty of honey on brood frame and on the side frames for them to use.
Title: Package Bee's and Honey
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 29, 2005, 09:19:06 am
That's basiclly how I do it too TWT. And yes, goldenrod is what we get for a fall flow here. I ate several pounds of it in the early spring of last year. They had some left on frames that was all honey, so I harvested it in Febuary. It's stronger, and can crystalize...... mine did. My husband didn't like the flavor, but I did. It's also darker than the honey they harvest in the spring/summer.

Beth