Honey is the most accessible concentrated sweetener because the bees do the processing: a strong hive yields about 30-60 lb of surplus honey a year after leaving the 60-90 lb it needs to survive winter, so a community of 100 aiming for 200-500 lb a year needs 8-15 hives. Harvest only fully capped honey and never take the bees’ winter stores.
Honey management is the care of honeybee colonies for a surplus of honey that a community can harvest as a sweetener without starving the bees.
The Bees Make It; Management Decides How Much Is Taken
The sugar guide calls honey the primary sweetener for most post-collapse communities, because it needs no processing infrastructure. Its figures for a community of 100: dietary use of 1-2 lb per person per year (100-200 lb), preservation use of 100-300 lb for jams, mead and medicinal preparations, and a total target of 200-500 lb a year, which needs 8-15 hives.
Yield figures vary between corpus pages. The sugar guide says 30-60 lb of surplus per strong hive. The beekeeping guide says one managed hive yields 10 to 30 kg a year (about 22-66 lb) (Beekeeping), and the hive-placement guide says a well-sited hive can give 60 to 100 pounds of surplus (Hive Placement). These are not the same claim, and they depend on site, forage and weather. Plan with the lower figure and count your own harvest.
What The Work Consists Of
- Hive management through the year (Hive Management for Surplus Harvest)
- Harvest and extraction (Harvesting and Extraction)
- Scaling the number of hives to the community’s need (Scaling to Community Apiary)
The husbandry basics (obtaining bees, hive construction, swarm capture) are in Beekeeping and the guides it links to.
What You Need
- Hives with removable frames or comb-bearing boxes, and a smoker
- Forage within about 2 miles, because the guide says most bees forage within that radius
- Protective clothing and a calm way of working
- Extraction tools: a warm knife, strainer, extractor or crush-and-strain equipment, and jars
Method: A Year In Outline
Step 1: In spring, inspect queen health, prevent swarming by splitting strong hives, and add supers. Step 2: In early summer, the main nectar flow builds stores. Step 3: In late summer, take only surplus and leave the colony its winter stores. Step 4: In autumn, treat for mites if present and reduce the entrance. Step 5: In winter, leave the bees alone and check the weight of the hive monthly.
Common Mistakes
- Taking all the honey. A hive left light starves; the guide’s winter need is 60-90 lb, varying with climate.
- Harvesting uncapped honey. It is too wet and ferments.
- Counting on the highest yield. Yield varies by site and year.
Safety
Stings can be fatal to allergic people, and smokers start fires
A person with a severe sting allergy can have a life-threatening reaction within minutes, and a community without emergency treatment must keep such people away from the apiary. Work in protective clothing, keep the hives away from paths and children, and keep the smoker’s fuel (burlap, pine needles, cardboard) away from dry grass. Never give honey to an infant under 1 year, because of infant intestinal botulism (Food Safety Standards).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Hive Management for Surplus Harvest — the seasonal calendar
- Combine with: Sugar and Sweeteners — other sweetener sources