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

The average crop from colonies in 2019 defined as ‘productive’ was 40.25 pounds.

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

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 moved to seasonal forage like heather and colonies sited near wooded areas or forestry did the best.

It seems that most of the beekeepers who responded to the survey only had one or two colonies but next most popular was five to 10 colonies.

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A clear majority keep their bees on standard national frames, with larger 14” by 12” brood frames in around 18 per cent.

The highest average yield was in the south east followed by the east region.

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

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