It is commonly accepted by beekeepers that the egg-laying capacity of the queen directly
affects the amount of brood produced in the colony, which in turn, through its influence on
colony population, is a major factor in honey production. But, as any beekeeper should know,
colonies with the most brood do not always become the most populous, nor do the most
populous colonies always produce the most honey.

An investigation of the factors influencing honey production was conducted using 12 colonies of honeybees
(Apis mellifera), with 3 replications in time. Brood areas, colony populations and weights of honey produced
were measured.

On the average, adult worker populations amounted to only 40-60% of the numbers that should have
emerged, based on brood-cell estimates for the preceding 42--day period.

Intuitively, the rules governing honey production may be presented in the form of 2
equations: (1) honey production = number of workers X individual productivity, and 
(2) number of workers = average number of brood produced daily x length of adult life.

Beekeepers make great efforts to increase brood production to achieve maximum
populations while almost neglecting the other factors.

I obtained highly positive correlation coefficients between amount of brood and honey
production in spring I978 (+0·85) and early summer I979 (+0·83) but a coefficient of only
+0·20 in late summer I979.

My correlation coefficients for population and unit productivity were low or even negative.

It is concluded that honey production is governed by the interaction of 3 primary factors: average daily brood
production, length of worker life and individual productivity of workers. The relative contributions of these
factors vary.

Woyke, Journal of Apicultural Research 23(3): 148-156 (1984)

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html