Friday 25th October

The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) annual survey of how much honey they have harvested from their bees shows the highest yield in 10 years.

The average crop was 40.25 pounds of honey. In 2012 they only produced an average of 8 pounds and the previous highest crop was in 2014. 

Important factors 

Beekeepers report that the most important factors for producing a good crop are abundant forage throughout the beekeeping season,
good colony health and the right weather. And this year the small number of colonies ( 2 %) moved to seasonal forage like heather and those colonies sited near wooded areas or forestry did the best. 

Most of the 1,039 beekeepers who responded to the survey only had 1 or 2 colonies but next most popular amount was 5-10 colonies. 

Best region

The highest average yield was in the South East followed by East region.

60% of BBKA members keep their honeybees in a rural/countryside landscape, 29% in suburban gardens and other green areas. The rest are keeping them in more than one location, with only 2% moving their colonies to seasonal crops. 

The average time they have been keeping bees was 8 years. 

-ends