Busy beekeepers

A few weeks ago we looked at beekeeping in ancient times and how a colony works and is governed. This week we are looking at modern beekeeping. There are 2 major reasons for keeping bees, one is for honey, the other is for pollination services.

Honey

Here on our farm we keep bees for the honey. Honey is one of those substances that really can't be imitated. The most common form of honey is clover honey which gives a mellow, sweet flavor. Floral honey consists of the bees feeding heavily from wildflowers. Our bees tend to feed heavily on our herb garden, which gives it a subtle herbal flavor. 

Our honey is sold by weight. A gallon of honey weighs about 11lbs.

With honeybees, honey is a product that the bees work for all season. In order to sustain a colony, a beekeeper shouldn't take any more honey than is necessary.  Otherwise, the hive will starve over the winter. With our nine hives, we are able to take off 35 to 40 gallons of honey each season (with no starvation losses). So even if growers can't harvest 100%, there's still plenty to sell.

This is our 3-frame honey extractor. Larger extractors can hold up to 16 frames, and are motorized

Extracting the honey is an age-old challenge. Before the framed hive the entire colony was destroyed. Nowadays, the framed hive allows beekeepers to take out specific frames, leaving the hive intact. Once the frames are taken out of the hive, the cells are normally capped with a way top. A hot knife is used to remove the cap, and then a specialized extractor is used to spin off the honey.

This is the interior of our extractor, the frames sit on the wire rack

Pollination services
Most beekeepers are not considered commercial until they manage about 300 hives. At that point, honey production is secondary. Having to extract 4 gallons of honey from each hive would yield about 1200 gallons (slightly more than 6.5 tons). When beekeepers reach the commercial scale, the main market is pollination services. Regional farmers will rent out 12 to 20 hives for the season to increase pollination. This practice was first implemented by the ancient Egyptians, which they found increased yields. The average price is $75 to $85 per hive (and it's recommended that one hive is used per acre).

Honeybees are responsible for more crops that you might realize. Hives are rented for watermelon, apples, pickling cucumbers, strawberries, pears, almost all tree nuts, and many more. According to the USDA, honeybees are responsible for nearly 1/3 of all the crops grown. Commercial beekeeping is valued at $15 to $20 Billion annually.