Beekeeping Meeting tonight!

[keljonma]

Joan, we've purchased most of our equipment from Brushy Mountain. They usually have free shipping in December, which is the best time to order from them, because woodenware is heavy! You may be able to find a supplier closer to you where you could pick the equipment up. If you'd like, I can e-mail you an Excel file that lists the various pieces needed to get started in beekeeping.

I will say I feel better with a full suit, if I'm going into the hive, but when hubby is doing the 'invasion' I don't wear anything special - and in four years of beekeeping I haven't been stung once.

Thank you Ann, that would be great. Yes, I'm going to ask the club members if there is a local place to buy. That's good to know you've never been stung!

Your beek club members will probably be your biggest asset. Some may have complete hives they want to sell off. They are also great for teaching you how to avoid some new beek problems.

Last year one of our new beek club members purchased two complete hives (with queen and colony) for $50 each, just because one of our 80-year-old members wanted to cut back on the number of bee colonies she owns.

Have fun!

 

[Southern Gardener]

Well, listen to this! My ex-husband called me today and I told him I was interested in beekeeping. He says - "I wished you would have been interested 2 years ago - I dumped 6 (yes 6!) brand new hives on my deer lease!"

He bought them from a lady that was going to keep bees but changed her mind, so she sold them along with all the equipment (and a bee suit) for $60! He did keep everything except the hives and will bring them to me when he's back in town. He said his neighbors threw a fit about the bees because they would be too close to their horses.

 

[smom1976]

well that is neat... very nice of your x..

 

[Reinbeau]

Bees and horses do not mix.

Beginner kits from the beekeeping catalogs can have stuff you really don't need. which is why hubby developed the list we hand out at bee school each year. I'm going to copy and paste the essential equipment list below, anyone who wants the full file PM me your e-mail address and I'll e-mail it to you (Southern Gardener, yours is on the way).

We use all medium supers, three for the hive body (if you buy deeps you use two for the hive body). By using all mediums all of our equipment is interchangeable and we don't have to deal with the weight of a full deep (over 90 lbs!!).

Medium Frames (50) per hive
Medium Supers (5) per hive
Screen Bottom Board per hive
Telescoping Cover per hive
Inner Cover per hive
Foundation (50 sheets) per hive
Entrance Reducer per hive
Mouseguard per hive
Plastic Hivetop Feeder(or your feeder of choice) per hive
Smoker
Hive Tool
Veil
Gloves
Imarie Shims (very useful little spacers, we have two per hive plus)
Fume Board (only need one, but two is nice, for honey removal)
Uncapping Scratcher
Fisher Bee Quick or Honeyrobber (Honeyrobber is disgusting!!)
Plastic Bottling Tank & Honey Filter

The honey tank, fume board and uncapping scratcher can be purchased later, but why not just get it and get the shipping charges over with?

 

[Southern Gardener]

Thanks so much Ann! I admit it's a bit confusing right now - I'll have to reread my Beekeeping for Dummies. Having a list for newbies is a great idea - I think I'll mention it when I join the bee club - I'm flying blind right now! :/

I did find a VERY cute hive at the website you mentioned. It's the English Garden Hive kit for $179 - so you think it's better just to go by the list? I'll definitely do that if you think it's best.


My ex and I are still friends - Me thinks he has big regrets for letting such a great catch get away!!

 

[Reinbeau]

Thanks so much Ann! I admit it's a bit confusing right now - I'll have to reread my Beekeeping for Dummies. Having a list for newbies is a great idea - I think I'll mention it when I join the bee club - I'm flying blind right now! :/

I did find a VERY cute hive at the website you mentioned. It's the English Garden Hive kit for $179 - so you think it's better just to go by the list? I'll definitely do that if you think it's best.

If you're talking about the eight frame English Garden Hive kit shown on this link then it's fine, the only thing I wouldn't bother with is that feeder, you don't want to use an entrance feeder, but it is good for water. You'll also want to order four extra medium supers (remember, three mediums equals two deeps for the hive body), so you have the three plus three honey supers. You'll also need 24 more pieces of wax foundation for those supers, and 24 medium frames. That would be a lovely addition to your garden!

My ex and I are still friends - Me thinks he has big regrets for letting such a great catch get away!!

Well, I know nothing of your marriage, but I can say I've heard of more regret stories about men finally realizing what they had after they gave it up....greener grass and all But it's good that you're friends, animosity eats away at you if you become bitter about things!

 

[simple life]

Southern Gardner.
You will love the english garden hive. I have several of them and they look so nice in the yard. I put 2 of them right in the vegetable garden.

I didn't order the kit though, I got the hive and ordered everything else seperate because I wanted to be able to pick and choose what I wanted.

The hive itself is $105.00 and then you can buy 3 extra supers.
If you can't afford all the supers right now you can probably get away with just 5 for each hive right now because you may not get that much of a harvest the first year and then you can buy them as you can afford them.
If you run short though in a pinch you can harvest a super and put it back on the hive.

I don't know if you are looking at the 8 frame or the 10 frame garden hive, they make both but if you go with the 8 frame there are a couple of other places that sell 8 frame components that you may need and Brushy Mountain does not sell yet.
I bought the hives from Brushy but ordered other components from the other supply companies.
Betterbee and Rossman's sell the 8 frame stuff and I have ordered from both and gotten very fast service.

I use all mediums as well (Ann did you switch to mediums? I thought you used deeps for the hive bodies before) and its good for a woman or anyone who doesn't want to hurt their backs.
Those hives can get tall and I didn't want to be lifting a 90lb box of honey off of a 5 foot or taller hive. No joy there.
That would take the joy right out of an enjoyable hobby for me.

Here is my best piece of advice, all the information that is thrown at you can be overwhelming.
Whatever you do make sure its right for you, there are so many ways you can go with beekeeping and none of them are wrong.
You will meet so many beekeepers that will tell you which way you should do things and they firmly believe their method is the best practice.
However, it may not be the best for you and your bees and you should not be afraid to do things the way you want.
While it may or may not be working great for them it still may not be in line with your thinking.
I have found that I would never do most of what I hear at beekeeping classes but would not have known any better if I wasn't aware of my options beforehand.
If you don't educate yourself first you will not know any better and just do what they tell you you are suppose to do.
There are beekeepers that just seem to pass on the same methods they were taught years before and have always used onto new beekeepers over and over through the years and they bristle at the thought of you doing something different.
There has been alot of changes that have been made over the years and its best to educate yourself before you latch onto a mentor who may not be on the same page as you.
If you can research different methods of beekeeping and figure out what you want then you can better match yourself with a mentor or align yourself with a club or group who is familiar with what you want to do and can support you and not try to change your mind and do things their way.
If I blindly followed what I had been told I would have been very unhappy and would be having to change things around, but I educated myself before hand and knew what I wanted.

That would be the number one thing if you want to make the most of this hobby, it should be fun and it should be on your terms.
The best thing to do is read read read and pick other beeks brains and then decide what fits your way of thinking.

I wish you the best and lots of fun!!

 

[Reinbeau]

Natalie, we have never used deeps, we have always used mediums, which is the advice we give to all new beekeepers when we speak at bee school.

 

[simple life]

I don't know why I thought you guys did the deeps before, maybe its the 10 frames that are different.
So then I have a question for you, have you found medium nucs from any local suppliers around here? If not then how do you handle the deep nucs?

 

[Reinbeau]

We've had no trouble finding medium nucs up north, I've never looked for them down here (although that will change next season). I just tell them when I order them and they use medium frames. I stick to nucs for up north because we're not there to tend them the way we are down here.