Why Are My Bees Not Making Honey?
Even though honey bees are well known for their ability to make honey – they are not machines. If you are wondering – why are my bees not making honey – it is normal to be disappointed. The cause may be something simple or temporary. Many factors are involved in honey production – some of which we have no control over.
Years ago, during my first seasons of keeping bees, I had visions about large amounts of honey to harvest based on a per hive count. Those dreams are long gone because I now understand more of the factors involved.
Your Colony is Too Small
So many things are happening inside a hive, honey production, pollen storage, comb construction, etc. In addition, nurse bees are busy rearing larvae to become the next work force.
What does this have to do with making honey? A colony needs a large work force to make a lot of honey. If your colony has a small bee population – there are not as many workers to go out and collect nectar or ripen it into honey.
This is a common situation for new packages, splits or colonies recovering from winter losses. Build up takes time.
Little Nectar Available
Sometimes, the local area is blessed with a lot of nectar for the bees to collect. But, blooms are not a guarantee of nectar.
Weather conditions in the weeks prior to bloom have an affect on nectar and pollen. A late frost or a severe drought can cause flowers to have little nectar – this period is called a nectar dearth.
When a large amount of nectar is available, this is called the time of the “honey flow“. We beekeepers work to have colonies ready for this period of time.
Bees Are Using Resources to Build Comb
Unlike wasps – bees do not collect materials for their nest – they produce them. Wax production requires a lot of energy in the form of food and workers to get the job done.
Naturally, new colonies may prioritize comb construction over storing surplus honey. Their goal is preparing to Winter – not making a honey crop for me and you.
Also, any bee box or super filled with foundation will take longer to fill out vs a super of drawn comb. Feeding sugar water is sometimes practices to encourage bees to drawn comb quicker.
Queen is Not Performing Well
Queens that are growing older or new queens that are poorly mated may result in reduced brood production. Bee brood or young bees are necessary for colony population growth.
Honey Stores Are Being Consumed
Your colonies must meet their own nutritional needs first. This should be the goal of the beekeeper as well.
During times of rapid colony growth, the colony make be consuming all of the incoming nectar and have none to store for later.
Weather Conditions Limit Foraging
Even the best colony of bees will have trouble making honey if the foraging weather does not cooperate.
High winds, too much rain for bees to fly or unseasonably cold temperatures all affect the amount of nectar bees are able to bring in.
Honey Supers Added Too Late
When the beekeeper is late adding additional honey supers, honey production will be limited. This is one of the main reasons to connect with your local beekeepers association.
Local people will know when the main nectar flow is in your region. Don’t limit your hive’s storage space. Learn when to add another box to the hive.
Why First-Year Colonies Often Produce Little Honey
First year colonies, especially those new hives started when a beekeeper buys a bee package often need the whole season to get ready for Winter. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule.
Don’t expect a honey crop until year two – many new beekeepers take honey thinking the bees have plenty of time to “make more” before cold weather and end up starving the colony. Don’t be that beekeeper.
Before You Assume There Is a Problem
Use this quick checklist to access your colonies. It covers some of the most important factors in honey production by bees:
- Is the colony population strong?
- Is the queen laying consistently?
- Are workers actively bringing in nectar?
- Is there a nectar flow in your area?
- Is the colony still drawing comb?
- Were supers added at the proper time?
- Are pests or disease affecting colony strength?
FAQs
Sometimes poor honey production points to underlying issues such as queen problems, Varroa mites, disease, or chronic colony stress. If the hive remains weak despite favorable weather and forage conditions, further investigation may be needed.
This depends on weather conditions, colony population and food availability. On average, it takes about two weeks for an average colony to fill a honey super.
In general, first year hives may not be able to produce excess honey for the beekeeper. However, if the colony builds up quickly and abundant nectar is available – it is possible to harvest a little honey.
Feeding bees is a personal choice. Never feed when honey collection supers for human consumption are on the hive. However, some beekeepers feed sugar water to bees to help encourage colony buildup.
Final Thoughts
Rest assured that bees want to be productive. If your bees are not making honey, it is because some part of the equation is missing. Healthy strong colonies are the first step. Given the proper timing and forage and you should be on your way to harvesting fresh honey from your hive.
I’ve had bees for about 12 years. I had been able to ‘ over-winter’ most of my hives the first 10 years. I keep 4 or 5, sometimes more when they swarm and I catch them 😄. I harvest 5 or 6 gallons of honey each year. The last 2 years I have lost all my bees, generally before Christmas. They struggle to store much honey so I’ve tried feeding them during the fall and placed candy boards on the inner cover, it doesn’t seem to help. I vaporize oxalic acid in the spring and then again in the fall. Any ideas why I have lost all my colonies the last 2 years? What should I be looking for?
Oh my, that’s not good news. Losing multiple colonies… I would reevaluate your mite control plan. We always have to check to make sure our methods work. All varroa control plans work sometimes and sometimes any can not work. I have to treat my bees more than 2 times. My guess is – perhaps varroa are not controlled well in Spring – or if they are – the numbers build up too high during Summer. If you go into Fall this way, you have sickly weak nurse bees trying to raise Winter bees – it doesn’t work well. I would test for varroa more often during the Summer – treat if needed and then about 2 weeks later – test again.
I’ve got a huge colony, their 2 brood boxes are full, but I can’t seem to get my bees to build comb in the honey super. I took off the queen excluder after a month of no progress hoping that would help and I’m feeding them to encourage them to build but still after another month nothing. Any tips please!
I think a few factors come into play. They need to have forage/syrup to work with, a good strong population, space to store the honey and a reason to make it. Of course, bees mainly want to make and store as much honey as possible. But, the genetic factors come into play as well. Some bees just seem to want to make honey more than others. Perhaps your bees feel they have enough – not good for you of course.
If you have a large population and if the weather is warm, you could place a honey super between the two boxes for a few weeks. Let them start building it out and then move it back to the top. However, the downside of that is the queen may just lay eggs in there and now you have frame meant for honey with brood.
When you say you are feeding – that means you never let it run dry right?
I would definitely do a full hive inspection and make sure both boxes have enough bees to do a good job. Good Luck
Hi Charlotte,
I truly enjoy reading your Beekeeping articles so thank you for them.
My question is when you add a second Honey Super do you put it on top
of the first honey super or under it?
Best Regards
Henry Gass
Niota Tennessee
I top super or place a new box on top of the stack. But, there is no harm in using the under method. It’s just more work for me without added benefits but some beekeepers like it.
I have 3 new packages this year. Two of the hives have managed to produce 3 to 4 frames of capped honey in the supers. I’m inclined to freeze those frames and give it back to the hive in the spring. What thoughts do you have on this?
If that is in the super for you – leaving the required number of boxes with honey for their Winter stores, that’s a good plan or you could eat it yourself.