having beehives

[ihookem]

I am looking into getting a colony of honey bees. I came to this thread cause I knew I would get some real answers.
1. Is it a lot of work if I just want one or two hives?
2. is it easy to sell the honey?
3. Do I need a lot of equipment? I saw a honey extractor for 800 bucks!!! Is that too muxh or is there a way
to do it for cheap?
4 I mostly just love honey but it is 4.50 a pound in the stores. Also, my son and wife have allergies and I don't. I only sneeze when I am cutting high weeds with the brush hog. My wife goes through her maximum allowance of allergy medicine by law. Now she wants me to buy some for her too. My 15 yr old son is starting to take it too. This bothers me cause I'm sure it helps that day but weakens your imune system after time goes on. What do you think of bee keeping and what is there to it? Thanks, ihookem.

 

[piller]

I started out last year with two hives. There is a lot to learn. I enjoy it very much and would like to expand to four hives next year, but it does take some work, time, and money.

Let's say that you do decide to get a hive or two. You will want to start learning and get things ready to install your new hives in the spring of 2013. You cannot count on harvesting any honey in your first year. So you may get your first harvest in June/July of 2014.

It sounds like you need local honey now to deal with allergies. I suggest that you find a local honey producer and buy direct in one gallon containers, that way you get the benefits of real local honey with the best bang for the buck price. Check to see if there is a local beekeeping club in your area, they can help you in finding someone to buy honey from and also when you are ready for your own hives.

 

[cqaigy2]

I don't have bees anymore, but used to have bees. Read up and ask questions just like you are here. Honey extractors can be pretty expensive, i have what is called a two frame extractor, it's all stainless steel so explains the cost, capping knife for removing the wax caps on the ends of the honey comb before loading into the extractor, frame jig used to help with making your own frames. I did "traditional" full sized or honey supers and frames. A frame full of honey is about 10 pounds and i usually put 10 frames in a super so a full honey super weighed in at around 100 to 110 pounds. You would probably want to have a couple full sized supers for the main hive and then use what is called comb supers for the honey, smaller and lighter used to make comb honey. Good luck and have fun.

 

[ddb123]

It is not too much work; just enough to be a good hobby. If you don't want to buy an extractor, a lot of people do crush and strain. It's not ideal, but it's cheap and a good solution for a lot of people. If you want to sell your honey, there will be people lined up to buy it. Check out beesource.com, it's a great forum.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Ditto on Beesource.com. I posted there for years. Just steer clear of the arguing that can go on there. As for your questions; ask ten beekeepers and you'll get eleven different answers. The short answers are 1) it is not a lot of work at all with just a few hives. 2) It's very easy to sell. 3) There is no proof that eating local honey helps with allergies. All evidence is anecdotal.

 

[Ed of all trades]

IT might help to get local polin from a bee keeper or your own bees:2cents:

 

[Concordriver]

I got into beekeeping because I wanted a hobby that did not take much time and was not expensive. I currently have two hives. I harvested ~ 60 lbs of honey last week and expect to harvest an equal amount in the fall. I have a relatively inexpensive hand cranked extractor...cost ~ $400. But, I have friends that simply take their honey filled frames, scrape off the wax caps, and then stand them up in pans on their kitchen counters. This method takes longer to get the honey then with an extractor. But, still works just fine. Beekeepers tend to be very opinionated in regards to how they keep their bees. I tend to take a hands off approach...just let the bees do their thing. No medicating or complicated manipulating of the hives. And, I do just fine that way.

 

[forgeblast]

Biobees.com is a good site too. Just remember there are different ways to keep bees.
I use a Warre system. All the plans for the equipment can be found at biobees. The way the warre system works is that
you let the bees do what bees need to do and you dont mess with them. After I put the bees in I didnt touch them for a year(until the spring when I added two new boxes under them). THen the bear came and destroyed them. But this fall was when I was going to get honey from them. Next year Ill catch another swarm and restart.
Equipment wise I probably have under 150.oo in the entire hobby. Thats including 3 full hives (built from 1x10 rough cut hemlock) a bee suite, smoker, and a honey bottling bucket (I was going to use the crush and strain method).
I would say if bear will be a problem, make sure you follow
Bear Fence
Protect Bees and Beehives from Bears - Keep Your Bee Colony Safe from Predators
(if you look at the picture in the about.com article thats what my fencing and hives looked like after the bear got done with it.)

 

[20 20]

You may want to check into TBH(top bar hives) I have built all my own stuff and it isn't all that hard or expensive. As others have said you'll get a pile of different answers to your questions. I agree with Concordriver, once you get them started, leave them alone, they don't need all the chemicals the money makers are trying to shove down folks throats.

 

[dmccarty]

Check you local extension office as well. Our office has meetings/classes a couple times of year about starting with bees. One day I will. If you have a local community college check them as well since they might have classes, contacts and information.

Later,
Dan

 

[Gem99ultra]

I'm guessing that you just want a couple of hives for your own use? Or did you have in mind selling commercially...

As a kid growing up, we always had two or three hives out back. I'd lay in front of the hives right near the entrance and watch the bees; great experience for kids. Never had a fear of getting stung, and don't recall getting stung either.

Dad used to rob the hives about once a year. Simple get-up; hat with a wire screen front, rain coat or heavy jacket, and a smoke pot. Hives were entry level design. The older I get, the more I think I'd also like a couple more hives. They're great for the garden, and wonderful creatures on top of that. If I do though, I won't be starting out with a $800 setup. Mine will be pretty much a home-grown arrangement.

We always had enough honey to leave plenty for the bees to winter on, and enough for ourselves and all they neighbors. As a side benefit, I've never been alergic to just about anything. That's probably a side benefit of eating plenty of home-grown honey I hope you go forward with your idea. You'll be well rewarded and enjoy it as well.

 

[ihookem]

Thanks everyone. I am going ot start with 1 hive if it gives me 60 lbs of honey. And ya know, that is more than I get from my garden and I don't have to weed. I still don't know a thing about it but the posts give me some idea. More comments are welcome. I know I can get a hive and queen for 100 bucks 40 miles down the road. They may tell me a bunch too.

 

[RTII]

I started this year with 2 hives and the plan is to expand to between 10-20 next year. Saying that, I wish I had started out with 4 hives. There are a lot of different methods to keeping bees or like previously said, many ideas on how to keep them, and I would have liked to try several ways to see how the bees do. I also favor a mostly hands off and particularly a chemical free approach. We'll have to see how that works out. At the moment 1 hive is doing well after re-queening and the other does not look as strong. While we have some honey, it's not as much as I expected but I also knew we probably wouldn't harvest this first year. Trying to find a "mentor" to help with the questions is a good idea. Beesource.com is full of info.

Money wise, I've started out with about $600 worth of equipment and bees. 8 supers, 3 bee suits (wife and brother are into it as well), tops and bottoms, smoker, frames, the bees themselves, and a few other small things. I don't have an extractor yet but that will be the next big purchase next year. With up to 20 hives I need to decide on the size of the extractor but after that, the cost per colony should go down. Also I could have gone cheaper but I bought all of my hives preassembled. Later this year, I will buy unassembled or painted and save on my next years hives considerably.

Go for it, good luck and have fun.

 

[forgeblast]

I did want to put out the name of the person that I bought my bees from. He is Jerry Mattiaccio
at rockhillhoneybeefarms-inc.com and they are a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Company located in Northern Virginia.

The bees I recived were awesome and Jerry is great to work with. I highly recommend him. Before buying anthing check out beesource they have a review section on people selling various products, check out who you are buying from before you drop a lot of cash on bees and materials.

 

[RobertBrown]

You should know that it's a significant investment of money and time, a few hundred dollars when you add up the cost of the bees, the hives and other equipment, like the suit and the smoker. You can minmize these by buying used or by joining a beekeepers club or chapter. These people have xtra stuff they will sell or give away. There is a lot to know or learn so you will have get some knowledge or you'll make mistakes and these can be costly.
We have been lucky in that we have had few problems with the various issues associated with bees. Our haves have split 6-7 times over the past 3-4 years, some of these bees left and some were collected.

1. Is it a lot of work if I just want one or two hives?
Once you get them established, no, but if you have problems then yes it can be.
2. is it easy to sell the honey?
It's not easy here, you have to get your hives inspected and your packaging area as well. Then there is the license.....you get the idea. Might be different where you live or you might try to sell it without all the fuss and not get into trouble.
3. Do I need a lot of equipment? I saw a honey extractor for 800 bucks!!! Is that too muxh or is there a way
to do it for cheap?
Collecting and separating honey from the comb is a messy job. It can be done cheaply, it takes more time and there is more waste.
If your trying to save money, it's not really feasible as there's a chance you'll have mites or foul brood or some other pest problem and you'll have to start again with new bees. If that happens your likely to never recoup that loss, in savings.
It's more of a cheap hobby at the level your talking about. You have to scale it up quite a bit before it will payout.

 

[randy41]

i suggest at least 2 hives or else your success will depend on the genetics and egg laying ability of one queen. you will learn more and have more resources to draw from with 2 hives. you can build your own hive bodies if you have woodworking skills and tools.
i agree that the best way to start is by reading a book or two about beginning beekeeping and by reading some of the posts and responses on beesource.
we harvest honey using the crush and strain method since we don't have an extractor. i have 4 hives and have been keeping bees for about 8 years.
the best way to start is by buying a couple of nucs from a local beekeeper.
get a good bee suit or jacket. getting stung because of insufficient protection will take away the pleasure of keeping bees.

 

[20 20]

getting stung because of insufficient protection will take away the pleasure of keeping bees

Unless one is allergic then getting stung can be medicinal It is a fairly accepted fact that bee venom possesses anti-inflammatory properties. It is hypothesized that this is why many arthritis and MS patients see benefits from bee sting therapy

 

[aczlan]

Unless one is allergic then getting stung can be medicinal It is a fairly accepted fact that bee venom possesses anti-inflammatory properties. It is hypothesized that this is why many arthritis and MS patients see benefits from bee sting therapy

Agree. I know a beekeeper who has a group of Asians (Koreans IIRC) who come a few times per year to get stung by his bees. He always refuses payment and they always hide money somewhere where he finds it a couple of weeks later.

Aaron Z

 

[troutsqueezer]

i suggest at least 2 hives or else your success will depend on the genetics and egg laying ability of one queen. you will learn more and have more resources to draw from with 2 hives. you can build your own hive bodies if you have woodworking skills and tools.
i agree that the best way to start is by reading a book or two about beginning beekeeping and by reading some of the posts and responses on beesource.
we harvest honey using the crush and strain method since we don't have an extractor. i have 4 hives and have been keeping bees for about 8 years.
the best way to start is by buying a couple of nucs from a local beekeeper.
get a good bee suit or jacket. getting stung because of insufficient protection will take away the pleasure of keeping bees.

Ditto. Like farming in general, there are many things that can go wrong year-to-year to affect your crop. With bees, it is an art, not so much a science. Bees may not do what you want them to do despite giving them what seems like to you, a perfect home. If you have two hives, you're more likely to get a crop of honey on a given year. You are also more likely to have at least one working hive at all times.

I found a Dadent two-frame extractor at the local flea market for $100, used once, so there are deals to be had.

 

[KYErik]

It is my 3rd year with beekeeping. As others have said- two hives are better than one- for example, you can "revive" a declining hive with eggs from another if you have queen problems. I would also recommend buying nucs (mini established hives) or full hives when you get started rather than buying a "package" of bees. Even though I attended the bee company's live bee package installation demo and picked up the bees (versus mail ordering them), I had bad luck with packages- about 33% of the time, either there were likely 2 queens in the package so half of the bees flew away within 1-2 days, or the one queen didn't survive or lay eggs so the package just fizzled out. This year, I was able to split my established hives in the spring and make two new nucs of my own- effectively doubling my number of hives for "free".

Find a bee club and join it. There is lots of knowledge to be gained there. My club has demos where we all bring our gear and meet at a member's house to inspect their hives. As a new beekeeper- I didn't even know what a strong hive was supposed to look like. An old timer in my club would even give new folks some of his old equipment (hive bodies, frames, etc.). I got an old "economy" 2 frame extractor (in need of repair) for free.

Last thing is to keep in mind is that you can expect that even with good management, you will likely lose 25% of your hives every year. Also know that you WILL get stung from time to time- even with all of the protective equipment on. Bees can be moody depending on the weather etc. and some hives are more angry than others. Bees can sting through blue jeans and they can even give a slight sting through a 3 year old pair of leather beekeepers gloves. Initially I had a severe swelling type of reaction to stings that lasted 4-5 days, but the more I have been stung (likely 30 times for me by now) the less of a reaction I am having (most of the swelling of an upper body sting is now gone in 24 hours- a little longer when I am stung on my ankle).

It is an interesting and exciting hobby!