They have not paid for themselves this year. Ive have however learned a lot of lessons in keeping bees this year. We've had drought so I've been feeding them, the queen started to fail so I requeened the hive and in their weak state they got some pests that I've had to manage. All of that took time and money and the truely heartbreaking thing is that they might not be strong enough to survive the winter. In the past I've had a hive I was pulling 40kg of honey off with plenty left over. I do know productive bee keepers who are able to cover the cost of the hive maintenance and even make a profit.