Strong colonies, empty supers: the October reality
You're standing in your pantry counting jars. Fifteen. You expected fifty.
All summer, those hives looked textbook. June brought solid brood patterns, July saw the population explode, August meant bees everywhere—constant traffic, heavy foraging. You timed everything right. Kept mites under control, never saw red flags.
Then harvest day arrived and... where's the honey?
Your buddy three miles away pulled sixty pounds per hive. Same weather you had. Same flowers. You flip through your inspection notes—they read like a management manual.
So what gives?
Most beekeeping advice hands you vague explanations. "Bad nectar flow." "Weird season." "Sometimes they just don't make honey."
Those aren't answers. Those are shrugs.
Here's what's actually happening: your bees spent everything they collected just to survive in that box. Not because you did anything wrong, but because the math doesn't work out.
And we’re going to explain it all.
The hidden costs of honey production: what research reveals
Most beekeepers don't realize honey production has massive hidden overhead costs. Recent research has finally quantified where colony energy actually goes.
The three biggest expenses:
1. Brood rearing costs 96 pounds of honey annually
Before you see a drop of surplus honey, your colony pays fixed costs.
The biggest: raising baby bees.
In a landmark 2024 study published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology B, Stabentheiner and colleagues finally quantified what beekeepers had suspected but never measured: raising brood costs about 96 pounds of honey per year. That's roughly half of what an average colony brings in during a decent season.
Why so expensive?
Larvae need exactly 98.8°F (37.1°C).
Pupae need exactly 96.8°F (36.0°C). Not approximately. Not close enough.
Those exact temperatures.
Drop it two degrees: weird wings, shorter lifespans, learning problems.
Drop it four degrees: lots of pupae don't make it.
Drop it eight degrees: almost total developmental failure.
Your colony pays whatever it costs to hit those temperatures. That 96-pound bill gets paid every year, no matter what.
Surplus honey—what you extract—only happens after all bills are paid.
For lots of colonies, that equation never balances.
And after brood rearing, colonies still have to pay for:
- Winter stores (60-70 lbs in cold climates, 20-30 in warm)
- Climate control (15-40 lbs depending on hive thermal efficiency)
- Daily operations energy (15-20 lbs)
Typically, disappointing harvests come down to climate control costs, which vary wildly based on hive thermal efficiency. That 25-pound swing (15 lbs in efficient hives vs 40 lbs in poorly insulated hives) creates completely different outcomes.
2. Your bees burn honey to make honey
Most beekeepers don't realize honey production has massive hidden overhead costs. Recent research has finally quantified where colony energy actually goes.
When foragers bring back nectar, it's basically flavored water; 70-80% water content.
House bees need to turn that into honey at 18% water or less, which means that most of their energy is spent evaporating massive amounts of water, which requires energy, and so on.
Primal Bee's laboratory research using aerospace-grade thermal measurement equipment (±0.1°C accuracy) demonstrated that evaporation processes consume between 25-50% of the energy content in collected nectar, depending on hive thermal efficiency.
At typical wooden hive thermal efficiency levels (around 50%), bees must collect substantially more nectar than they can convert to surplus honey because so much gets burned as fuel for the evaporation process itself.
In other words, they're literally burning honey to make honey.
Derek Mitchell, another researcher, demonstrated that the evaporation process uses at least 25% and often more than half of the energy in the nectar brought into the nest, depending on the thermal efficiency of the hive. At 50% thermal efficiency (typical for wooden hives), bees must collect 84 kg of nectar to produce just 10 kg of honey—with 44 kg burned as fuel for the evaporation process itself.
When your hive loses heat, bees work even harder keeping things at 95°F. More heat loss equals more energy spent equals more nectar burned as fuel instead of becoming surplus.
3. Climate control costs vary wildly: 15-40 pounds depending on hive insulation
You can have 50,000 bees working constantly and still extract nothing.
Why?
Those 50,000 bees might spend everything they collect just keeping the place at the right temperature.
Your standard wooden Langstroth has 3/4 to 1 inch thick walls. That's an R-value (insulation rating) around 0.8—about the same as a single-pane window.
Compare that to tree cavities bees evolved to live in: 6-inch thick walls, R-value around 5-6.
That's a six to seven times difference in how well the place holds heat.
A 2021 study by Alburaki and Corona directly measured thermal efficiency impact on colony performance comparing wooden hives (R-value 1.2) against polyurethane insulated hives (R-value 6.2).
Insulated hives maintained temperatures 0.47°C higher year-round, translating to 15% less supplemental feeding requirements and better humidity control. Wooden hives force bees to burn 26% more nectar just fighting temperature loss.
Primal Bee’s independent Swiss government testing validated that our hives achieve R-values of 50+, representing approximately 10x better thermal efficiency than traditional wooden hives and nearly 8x better than the insulated hives Alburaki studied.
While Alburaki's insulated hives reduced feeding requirements by 15%, Primal Bee's field data shows winter consumption dropping from 30 kg (standard wooden) to just 6 kg—an 80% reduction in energy waste.
How to harvest honey and inspect your hive without weakening your colony
Understanding energy budgets changes how you approach harvest timing.
Signs you can safely harvest:
- At least 80% of cells capped in frames you want
- Colony still has 8-10 frames of brood
- Weather looks decent for another week or two
- You're leaving at least 15-20 lbs for immediate needs
Best extraction methods:
- Brush bees off gently with a feather or horsehair brush
- Fume boards on warm days (80°F+, quick and gentle)
- Escape boards night before (install at dusk, collect morning)
Critical timing factor: Every minute that hive's open, temperature drops. Bees spend energy warming back up. Work fast, and look quickly.
Temperature recovery time varies dramatically: well-insulated hives return to optimal temperature within minutes. Poorly insulated hives require hours, burning stored resources.
What October is telling you about next season
October's empty supers aren't mysterious. They're physics. And physics doesn't change.
Your bees worked hard this year. They probably brought in plenty of nectar. They just spent it all on climate control instead of honey storage because the housing forced them to.
If you're serious about next year being different, this winter is when you make the investment. Whether that means saving up, researching options, or committing to equipment that changes the energy math, the decision happens now.
Because next October, you'll be standing in your pantry again. The only question is whether you're counting fifteen jars or fifty.
October is when you find out if the math worked. Winter is when you decide to change it.
FAQs
Why didn't my bees make surplus honey if they were so active?
Activity doesn't equal surplus. Your bees likely brought in plenty of nectar but spent it all maintaining proper brood temperatures in a poorly insulated hive. The 96-pound annual cost of brood rearing gets paid first, then climate control costs (15-40 lbs depending on insulation), then winter stores. Only after all fixed costs are paid does surplus accumulate. In wooden hives with R-values under 1.2, many colonies never reach surplus.
Can strong colonies still produce low honey yields?
Absolutely. Colony strength determines how much nectar can be collected, but thermal efficiency determines how much of that nectar becomes surplus versus being burned as fuel. A strong colony in an inefficient hive will collect more nectar than a weak colony but still produce minimal surplus because they're spending it all on climate control.
How much does hive insulation really matter for honey production?
Research shows it's the primary determining factor after nectar availability. Alburaki's 2021 study found that improving R-value from 1.2 to 6.2 reduced energy waste by 26%. Primal Bee's Swiss testing showed that increasing R-value to 50+ reduced winter consumption by 80%—from 30 kg to just 6 kg. That 24 kg saved (roughly 50 pounds) is the difference between no harvest and a substantial harvest.
When is the best time to upgrade to better hives?
Winter is the strategic planning window. By spring, you're committed to another season in your current equipment. October shows you the results, but winter is when you make the investment decision that changes next October's outcome. The thermal efficiency advantage compounds over time—earlier adoption means more seasons of improved production.
Want to understand the complete energy economics of your colony? Read our guide on [thermal efficiency] or explore how [thermodynamic hive design] changes the fundamental equation.
Ready to change the foundation for next season? [Learn more about Primal Bee's thermodynamic hive system] or [contact us to discuss your operation's specific needs].
