Honey Bees
The SaBill Farms apiary currently has 20 honey bee hives and is constantly growing and changing. Our hives are intensively managed to maintain their health and productivity.
Beginning in Spring 2017, we began growing and raising our own queens. Queens are being raised off a line that has shown hardiness, excellent brood patterns, and accelerated honey production. Please contact us for prices and availability if you wish to purchase a queen.
Honey Bee Fun Facts:
Swarms
During the early Spring, honey bee hives are prone to swarming. Swarms of honey bees are extremely docile and are not dangerous. Please do not spray a honey bee swarm! Contact Sara Foster (864-784-2032) or Bill Foster (864-723-5720) and we can come evaluate if the swarm can be safely removed. If possible, we will remove the swarm and give it a new home.
Some pictures from our hives:
The SaBill Farms apiary currently has 20 honey bee hives and is constantly growing and changing. Our hives are intensively managed to maintain their health and productivity.
Beginning in Spring 2017, we began growing and raising our own queens. Queens are being raised off a line that has shown hardiness, excellent brood patterns, and accelerated honey production. Please contact us for prices and availability if you wish to purchase a queen.
Honey Bee Fun Facts:
- There are three types of bees in the hive – Queen, Worker, and Drone.
- A populous colony may contain 40,000 to 60,000 bees during the late spring or early summer.
- The queen may lays an average of 600-800 eggs per day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. A particularly productive queen can lay up to 1,500 eggs!
- Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour.
- Honey bees will travel approximately 3 miles from their hive to find food.
- Honey bees are responsible for pollinating approximately 80% of all fruit, vegetable, and seed crops in the U.S.
- To make one pound of honey, the bees in the colony must visit 2 million flowers and fly over 55,000 miles! The honey produced will be the lifetime work of approximately 768 bees.
- A single honey bee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
- A single honey bee will visit 50-100 flowers on a single trip out of the hive.
Swarms
During the early Spring, honey bee hives are prone to swarming. Swarms of honey bees are extremely docile and are not dangerous. Please do not spray a honey bee swarm! Contact Sara Foster (864-784-2032) or Bill Foster (864-723-5720) and we can come evaluate if the swarm can be safely removed. If possible, we will remove the swarm and give it a new home.
Some pictures from our hives: