How many bees needed before bees produce excess honey

[garys520]

 How many frames of bees in two deeps are needed before the bees start producing excess honey in the supers above?  90% of the frames are drawn out and bees take up about 8 to 10 of the 20 total frames.  We're lucky in CT, we get a nectar flow most of the summer, so we're not rushing to get everything done by June.   

[ccwonka]

67,893.  you'll need to count them.
:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Really though, it sounds like about time to pop a super on!  They'll draw it as they are ready.  I'd go ahead and add it so that they will hopeful not start backfilling and swarm.  I'm guessing that temperatures are moderate enough there that keeping warm at night is not an issue and that you are far enough north that hive beetles are at a minimum?  So I'd say err on the side of more room and pop one on!

[AllenF]

67,890,   67,891,    67,892,      on come on, quit moving around.  I am never going to get yall counted if you don't be still.

[meade kampe]

Now that's funny Allen.  You crack me up.

[Michael Bush]

75,000 will make some honey.  100,000 will make twice as much.  Just count legs and divide by six... or include antenna and divide by eight...

[ccwonka]

Now that's just gotten silly - counting legs and antennae?!!??!?

Goofy thread. 

Everyone knows the best way to keep track of your bee numbers is with custom clothing.

My wife knits each one a sweater with their name and specialy assigned hive number, our phone number and adress in case they get lost, as well as how to mix up sugar water till we can arrive to pick them up.  Oh yeah, and a map to the hive, pictures of the flowers we'd really like them to visit most often.

And war and peace.

[Finski]

When I byed swarms long time ago, it needed to be 4 kg bees that they normally got and handled the yield. Itoccupied 2 langstroth boxes.
That amount was 40 000 bees. The swarm brought about 40 kg honey during one month.

After 3 weeks one box was full of brood and another full of honey. Number of bees was halved, After that new bees emerge and I was able to put on third langstroth.

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In chalk brood case, the hive may be quite big, 4 or 5 boxes but it is not able to get surpluss if 20% of brood will be dead by disease.

When the hive loose brood and then dueinr warm summer it will be healed, it takes 1,5 month that bees are able to forage normally.
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The hive need a balance between brood, nurser bees and foragers that they get surpluss:

- brood: you may take off the queen and they forage better, but in some period the missed brood do not produce workers.

- if the hive has a good layer and the colony is small, it takes long time that it is in balance with brood, home bees and foragers.
 with 5 frame nuc it takes at least 3 months that it is able to get real  surplus honey

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- If you have a normal swarm and a small hive which has for example one box full of brood, you get a good forager when you join them.

- but if there are not good yeild, it may swarm again.

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- False swarm must be joined to brood hive to get honey. Otherwise either hive is not in balance to get honey yield.

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Too few honey and yout get only your exctractor dirty with it

.

[Finski]

.
You may acoount them about: 2 kg bees occupye densily one box of Langstroth. It is 20 000 bees.

Think about it. You save one bee from water and you are happy.
But the queen lays 1000-1500 eggs a day and same amount bees will die a day.

You try to save one bee and put it into the hive entrance and you get 5 stings to your hand.

At least you tried.

[Kathyp]

 :lau: