A good beekeeper gauging the colonies health and strength, who supports them with the right manipulations at the right time to reach their population peak aligned with the timing of the flow, in the right climate, and hives set in the right place ... Adds to around here 4 hives can easily fill a standard 45 gallon drum year after year. (280kg / 620 lbs). This is a truism for the apiaries around here. 4 make a drum, 40 make 100 drums, 4000 make 1000 drums. Some years quite a bit more, rarely less.
It is all about knowing the population strength, promoting only brilliance in the bees, knowing the potential of your queens and how to support her to reach it, knowing the status and timing of the brood and chambers, and knowing the timing of the flow.
The consensus is that a first year hive will not give honey. I disagree. A colony in the first year can build their nest, draw out frames, and still make a fair amount of excess honey. It depends on how early in the year it is started and how well you monitor and you support their growth. I have some that I started end of May as 2 frames mating nucs that I left to grow. I just pulled end of season boxes off of them (3rd box, deep super), approx 40lbs each. They filled out the double deeps, put some more upstairs in the 3rd deep, and since I took that away are now staging for winter.
With a late start and on all new foundation, meaning brand new box and frames, and not supported - yeah it will take everything they have just to fill out their nest.