Beekeeping

[CloverKnollFarms]

That is dark honey! What nectar flow produced that do you think?

Knotweed flows have produced dark honey like that for me.

It’s actually a lot lighter than last year. It’s a deep bucket without much light. In the bottle it is very light, clover honey

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

 

[Torvy]

My wife added this to her birthday/Christmas list. We are 100% new to bees (as I we have nothing but the land).

Is this worthwhile? Better ideas for getting started?

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I can't tell anything about the jacket from the picture but it does not look vented. You are going to want a vented one. You are mostly going to be in the direct sun and it gets hot hot, even with a vented jacket. I got the fencing veil like this one and I'm planning on getting the one with the hat and round veil when I wear it out.

The only tools I take with me on a regular basis is my smoker and a hive tool. My favorite one below. I use pine straw for smoker fuel it's easy to light and stays going for a decent time. I use thick nitrile gloves but have used the gloves like are in the kit above before, It's harder to manipulate the frames with them. I actually got stung a lot more with them than the nitrile. Mostly because more bees get smushed with the big clunky fingers.

You will not need the knife until you start harvesting, and when you do that you will need lots more stuff. Same with the brush, I only use it to help get the bees off the frames when i collect for harvesting.

Amazon.com

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Pollen coming in February 4th in Indiana!

 

[Alan W.]

Unfortunately my son has told me that he is selling all of his beekeeping equipment.
Last fall he got stung once while checking his hives. No biggie he gets stung usually once during a hive check. But this time he had a bad reaction to the sting and swelled up.
I gave him Benadryl and took him to the ER. He now has to have an epipen close by.
Said it wasnt worth the risk to him.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

This can happen. Your immune system is a weird thing. I had been having bad shoulder pain for months, got stung on the shoulder blade during a cutout… been pain free ever since. Still, I like to limit my exposure to stings.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

My wife added this to her birthday/Christmas list. We are 100% new to bees (as I we have nothing but the land).

Is this worthwhile? Better ideas for getting started?

View attachment 832275

Must haves for me...

Vented jacket with fencing veil. Leather beekeeping gloves.
Smoker (fuel comes from nature)
Hive tool (frames are glued in with propolis)
Brush (handy for many things, not just brushing bees off frames)

That's it.


For harvesting

Uncapping tool (not the knife)
Frame spinner
Stainless steel filter
400 micron paint strainer
5 gallon bucket

 

[RobertEH]

So I am not an experienced beekeeper, but I did start 3-4 years ago and I have opinions on how a new keeper could start. The best thing you can do is find someone who already keeps bees and use them as a mentor. This is a critical success factor

Essentially, buy in stages. Nearly all new keepers will lose a hive their first year. I lost both of mine in September - they absconded for some reason. The common recommendation is to start with 2 hives as this will give you options should you have a problem with one (like if a queen goes AWOL, you have a swarm, you have a weak hive, your hives abscond, etc.). if you buy as you need, it will lower your overall investment. Buying honey harvest equipment out of the gates may be optimistic - many folks lose their hives in year one or don't get enough honey to do a harvest as you need to leave some for the bees to overwinter with.

Mite treatment regimens are critical too. I mention mine below, but talk to folks in your area and determine how you want to deal with them.

The 50 dollar kit above may be OK, but I think you will find you replace the cheaper stuff or fail to use some of it. I do however love that hive tool they show.

Hive components are not terribly difficult to build. but dimensions are CRITICAL. I found this book pretty helpful. Amazon.com

I am sure others will weigh in and I may not be on target, but this is how I recommend folks get started, and when to buy or borrow gear.

In January to April of your first year:

• Read all you can on keeping bees. Bee keeping for dummies is surprisingly good.
• Order two sets of bees. Either packages or nucs. If you get a quality nuc producer those are best. If not, get packages. They usually arrive in early to mid spring.
• Get two hives set. For each, get:
  • A stand
  • Bottom board
  • 1-2 deeps with frames (you can just do one at this time if you wish but will likely need a second one later)
  • 1 super with frames
  • An inner cover
  • An outer cover
  • An entrance reducer
• Get your basic beekeeping gear
  • Jacket (vented is important as noted above)
  • A smoker
  • A hive tool
  • Good gloves with gauntlets
• Buy or borrow some mite treatment equipment. Apivar strips and Oxalic Acid vaping is what I do.

May/June

• Your bees should arrive so get them in the hive and start managing them/inspecting them.
• Mite treat immediately (I do 2 vape sessions a few days apart followed by the strips for 4 weeks)
• As your hives grow, monitor them for swarming

Summer

• Monitor your hives, as they grow, add a second deep if needed - buy it now if you did not buy it originally.
• Add your super as they need it and buy another one to keep in reserve. Always have one super in reserve for each hive. Buy them as you need them.
• If you get a harvest, I would borrow or buy honey harvesting equipment a few weeks before you plan to pull the supers off. this would include a spinner, a hot knife, double sieve, 5 gallon bucket with honey gate, jars, etc.

Winter

• Reduce your hives to whatever size you want for overwintering. I go with a deep and a super with 10 frames of honey
• Do your mite treatment. I do another Oxalic Acid vape
• I also add a quilt box and a candy board. (so you will need to buy these now if you want to go this route). This is for moisture control and critical for places with cold and wet winters.
• I run hot hives over the winter so I cover the hive on all six sides with 2 inch foam board so buy that now if you need it.
• If you want to add mouse guards, add them.

 

[riptides]

So I am not an experienced beekeeper, but I did start 3-4 years ago and I have opinions on how a new keeper could start. The best thing you can do is find someone who already keeps bees and use them as a mentor. This is a critical success factor

Essentially, buy in stages. Nearly all new keepers will lose a hive their first year. I lost both of mine in September - they absconded for some reason. The common recommendation is to start with 2 hives as this will give you options should you have a problem with one (like if a queen goes AWOL, you have a swarm, you have a weak hive, your hives abscond, etc.). if you buy as you need, it will lower your overall investment. Buying honey harvest equipment out of the gates may be optimistic - many folks lose their hives in year one or don't get enough honey to do a harvest as you need to leave some for the bees to overwinter with.

Mite treatment regimens are critical too. I mention mine below, but talk to folks in your area and determine how you want to deal with them.

The 50 dollar kit above may be OK, but I think you will find you replace the cheaper stuff or fail to use some of it. I do however love that hive tool they show.

Hive components are not terribly difficult to build. but dimensions are CRITICAL. I found this book pretty helpful. Amazon.com

I am sure others will weigh in and I may not be on target, but this is how I recommend folks get started, and when to buy or borrow gear.

In January to April of your first year:

• Read all you can on keeping bees. Bee keeping for dummies is surprisingly good.
• Order two sets of bees. Either packages or nucs. If you get a quality nuc producer those are best. If not, get packages. They usually arrive in early to mid spring.
• Get two hives set. For each, get:
  • A stand
  • Bottom board
  • 1-2 deeps with frames (you can just do one at this time if you wish but will likely need a second one later)
  • 1 super with frames
  • An inner cover
  • An outer cover
  • An entrance reducer
• Get your basic beekeeping gear
  • Jacket (vented is important as noted above)
  • A smoker
  • A hive tool
  • Good gloves with gauntlets
• Buy or borrow some mite treatment equipment. Apivar strips and Oxalic Acid vaping is what I do.

May/June

• Your bees should arrive so get them in the hive and start managing them/inspecting them.
• Mite treat immediately (I do 2 vape sessions a few days apart followed by the strips for 4 weeks)
• As your hives grow, monitor them for swarming

Summer

• Monitor your hives, as they grow, add a second deep if needed - buy it now if you did not buy it originally.
• Add your super as they need it and buy another one to keep in reserve. Always have one super in reserve for each hive. Buy them as you need them.
• If you get a harvest, I would borrow or buy honey harvesting equipment a few weeks before you plan to pull the supers off. this would include a spinner, a hot knife, double sieve, 5 gallon bucket with honey gate, jars, etc.

Winter

• Reduce your hives to whatever size you want for overwintering. I go with a deep and a super with 10 frames of honey
• Do your mite treatment. I do another Oxalic Acid vape
• I also add a quilt box and a candy board. (so you will need to buy these now if you want to go this route). This is for moisture control and critical for places with cold and wet winters.
• I run hot hives over the winter so I cover the hive on all six sides with 2 inch foam board so buy that now if you need it.
• If you want to add mouse guards, add them.

Excellent post. Well written.