> I'm curious as to what beekeepers in your area would consider to be an
> "excellent" crop (in pounds of harvested honey from that hive).  In other
> words, I'm curious as to whether we are talking about the same sort of
> colony size that we speak of here in the States.

Hi Randy

With A.m.m. we are not concerned about colony size per se.

The individual bees live longer and so produce a good crop from a much 
smaller colony.  My average crop, based on number of colonies fed in the 
previous autumn, is around 100lbs per colony, which I think compares very 
favourably with the US average (I saw 67 lbs quoted in either ABJ or Bee 
Culture a while ago).  My breeder queen produced 90lbs in her final year.  A 
'good' crop in the UK might be around 50lbs - depending who you talk to!

But it is not just about the gross crop, as we have to consider inputs if we 
are thinking profit (I heard a nice phrase the other day: "turnover is 
vanity, profit is sanity" - same goes for bees).  Last autumn I fed an 
average of 10lbs of sugar equivalent (I use fondant) per colony - and that 
was far too much!  Many colonies had plenty that had not been touched this 
spring, despite the worst winter for 120 years.  In contrast, Italian bees 
(here) are often fed 60lbs of sugar.

Of course, I can appreciate that all beekeeping is local, and in areas where 
queens are laying for a greater proportion of the year then they will not 
last as long.

I would also stress that we are not trying to eliminate swarming completely 
as that would clearly not be sensible.  However, colonies that are more 
inclined to supersede, and swarm less frequently do make for much easier 
management.  In our area, colonies that build very rapidly and then swarm 
tend to produce much lower crops.

Best wishes

Peter

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