How much honey does one hive produce in a year?
Short answer
Plan on about 15 kg of honey per hive a year. One adult uses about 4 kg, so a single hive can cover a household of three or four in a normal year. Start with at least 2 hives anyway, so you can compare them and one can help the other.
Honey by number of hives
| Hives | Honey a year | Adults covered at 4 kg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | about 15 kg | 3–4 |
| 2 | about 30 kg | 7–8 |
| 4 | about 60 kg | 15 |
Harvests swing a lot from year to year with weather and forage, and a new colony may give nothing in its first year.
Before the first hive
- Check for allergy in yourself and everyone in the house, and learn the signs of anaphylaxis.
- Turn the entrances away from paths and neighbors, towards the south or south-east, with clear space in front.
- Register your apiary where it is required or offered, such as BeeBase in the UK or a state or provincial register in North America.
- Buy bees only from a beekeeper who can show their colonies are healthy, never old frames of unknown origin.
The full guide also gives you
The apiary: site, number of hives, equipment
Where to put the hives, how many your family needs, what to buy, how to get bees and how to stay safe from stings and on the right side of the rules
- Apiary site assessment
- Honey and hive calculator
- Equipment budget
- First-year calendar
- Apiary sketch
- Hive record card
- Contacts and emergencies
Sources: Winston, The Biology of the Honey Bee; Graham (ed.), The Hive and the Honey Bee; Muraro et al., Anaphylaxis guidelines (EAACI); National Bee Unit (APHA).
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