Dear Stan,
 
> The best return I've heard of lately was 650 x 300kg drums from 800
>hives in one year returning a bulk honey price of AUD$1.75-$1.80/kg.
 
>That is a truly stupendous yield.  You say that is the best return.  What
>might an average return be, in an average year (weight of honey per
>hive).
>I'm just looking for a very rough guess on your part.  Do you think yields
>are similar for migratory beekeepers in other areas of Australia, West
>Australia for example?
 
Typical yeilds are in the order of 150 kg per hive.
 
>This channel country is world famous (in Australia) for huge crops of
>Yapunyah honey.  The Yapunyah is a short eucalypt that produces
large crops of a very light honey having a natural moisture content of
around
>15% (try and wipe that off your knife).  It is a truly delicious honey.
> The channel country starts about 1000 km from the coast.  It is mostly
>sheep of beef country with low stocking capacity and very large
>properties.  One of the largest in this region is 3,500 sq miles in
>area.
 
>Wow, that one property is about the same size as Prince Edward
>Island, the province of Canada I happen to inhabit (admittedly the tiniest
>province).
>When the beekeepers are putting hives in the channel country  how
>many hives might they put in one yard, and how far apart would the
>yards be (assuming that the area had an average to good density of
>Yapunyah?  Would the stocking density vary much in other eucalypts?
 
Australian honey flows tend to be very fickled.  You will have an area of
flowering eucalypts covering perhaps 2-50 sq km.  This area may be
bordered by an area of the same eucalypt species that doesn't yeild in
that year.  The other classic are the species of eucalypt that flower on
oneside of the tree this year and on the other side of the tree next year.
 
Anyway, in the channel country a typical apiary is around 100 hives = a
truck load.  The apiaries would be about 1.5km apart but this depends on
the size of the flow.    I know that there was around 60,000 hives on the
Yapunyah last season.
 
>I was also curious as to the extent to which the beekeepers
>themselves followed the hives, and whether they used mobile
>extracting facilities.
 
In the good old days many beekeepers used mobile extracton plants
when out in the west. These days many either build a shed on the land
owners property or by a small piece of land in one of the western towns
and put a shed on that.  The beekeepers will live in the shed while in the
west.
 
The beekeeper with the 800 hives built a shed on the property his
apiaries are located on.  He has a good relationship with the land owner
and does a lot of favours for him, ie., bring supplies or equipment out to
the property which is about 100 km from the nearest shop.  Incidently the
beekeeper keeps all 800 hives within 15km of his shed when in the
west.  That is the property is > 30km in diameter, a lot greater.
 
Migratory beekeeping in Australia is what you make of it.  Many
beekeepers sleep in there own beds at night but just as many follow the
flows and can be away for months (if they choose).  It's interesting that
many of the wives (once the kids are off their hands) travel around with
the beekeepers as helpers.  They often spend weeks camped beside
their trucks or in sheds.
 
The classic example of this is  the founder of the Honey Corporation of
Australia.  After the 2nd World War he  brought his new Canadian bride
back to Australia and set her up in a tent out at the bees.  The bees
where located  Sth-West of Brisbane, and thats where she spent the
first 6 mths of her married life.  Incidently he is now retired and still
happily married to his war bride.
 
Regards,
 
Robert Rice.
Apiculture Service Manager (Sth Island)
Ministry of Agriculture
New Zealand.
 
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