honey harvest with local mutts ?

[bulldog]

just out of curiosity, i'm wondering if mutts tend to produce more, less or about the same as other species.
i'm only wondering because mine have not produced any surplus honey. unless i am just being too generous to them, but i'd rather do without honey than to lose my bees over winter.

there are many variables to consider for my real or imagined lack of honey production:
1. inexperience - how much can i take and when ? how much should i leave them for winter ? maybe they have some i can take but i'm too
    ignorant to know better ?
2. bee species - do they actually make/store less than other bees ? they do seem to over winter with a small amount of bees, maybe they need
    less ?
3. bad season - self explanatory
4. area - mostly cornfields and hayfields, but there are a lot of maple trees, apple trees, raspberries, wildflowers and in fall tons of goldenrod
    and star thistle.
5. management - they are in top bar hives and they are 150 miles away so i can only visit them on weekends. plus i did not feed them during the
    dearth and i believe that is when they eat up most of the spring stores.

as always, any advice or insights greatly appreciated.

[indypartridge]

Too broad of a question, I think. My mutts had a record year this year, but they are likely very different than your mutts. Since your bees are so far away, do you know any beeks who are near your bees? What kind of year did they have? If other beeks in the same area are having good honey crops while yours are down, that's at least knocks a couple of variables (#3 & #4) off your list.

[JRH]

" ... they are 150 miles away"

I'm curious about why you would want to drive 300 miles every time you visit your bees.  Or do you fly?

[Michael Bush]

Mutts are, by definition, of unpredictable stock, therefore the results are somewhat unpredictable.  On the other hand they are from stock hardy enough to do well in your climate.  This usually means they are also in tune with the flows so they tend towards being productive.

[bulldog]

i don't question their productivity in terms of keeping themselves alive and thriving, in fact they were booming in june. by july there is a dearth and their numbers are already declining and their stores steadily declining. i think mostly they never finish capping an entire frame, they are probably moving it above the brood or eating it up before it gets capped. should i take a half-capped frame when i get the chance or no ? what's the earliest in spring i could take the "leftovers"  if there are any ? wait for apple blossoms or dandelions to be in bloom ?

I'm curious about why you would want to drive 300 miles every time you visit your bees.  Or do you fly?

it's not so much that i want to drive that distance, but that is the only place i can keep bees because it is bear free (so far ) and since that is where i have my orchard it is where i need them. i take the trip almost every weekend anyway so it is not as if i am only going there to tend the bees, but sometimes i wish i did fly.