It has been a tough year for honey production here in southeastern Manitoba.

Tim Bartel is a Part Owner of Bartel Honey Farms in Kleefeld. He says production numbers aren’t catastrophic but they are below average.

Bartel Honey Farms wrapping up the season"An average year for a bee keeper, I think our provincial average is around 165 pounds per hive and this year will be slightly lower than that. We are not quite done here, most of the guys are already done and cleaned up but we are one of the last ones. We are probably looking at 120 to 150 pounds per hive."

Bartel says the year started off well but the lack of rain in July and August really affected honey production.

"Typically there are three rounds of honey that we take off. The first round typically is the smallest round and then the second is our biggest and then the third would be close to the first round again. So second round this year just didn’t develop like we hoped."

Bartel says they are now started to wrap up production and get the hives ready for winter. He adds they store half of their beehives in an insulated building with good ventilation and the other half wrapped up outside.