I would recommend getting A bottom board, two hive bodies (I prefer deeps), two honey supers per hive minimum (I prefer mediums), inner cover, telescoping outer cover, queen excluder, imirie shim, entrance reducer, some sort of feeding device (you will need to feed them as soon as you get them), an extra hive body is perfect for hiding your feed on top of the hive. I use a mason jar for liquid feed and put it on top of the inner cover and then put a hive body over that and then the telescoping cover on that. You have a lot of this stuff already and what you dont have you wont need for a little while (except the feeder thing). The queen excluder and imirie shim are used together the shim on top of the excluder to give the girls another entrance to the honey supers you can wait a little while on that but they arent expensive I would recommend going ahead and getting them.
Ask ten beeks about queen excluders and you will get eleven opinions. Actually thats common for most of beekeeping. I only use excluders if for some reason i can find the queen and i want to isolate her. Another thing i would add is some one way boards. Put theses under ur supers a fewdays before you pull them. Lets the bees go down into the deeps but not really back up.
I read all this through and I've got to ask, what is a "beek"? Dictionary says it's "to bask or warm in the sunshine or before a fireplace, stove, or bonfire." Good word for this site, but I don't understand what that has to do with bees? Interesting info. Seems like a LOT of work, cost and headache/risk for minimal reward? I'm not trying to be negative, just curious mostly. Maybe my thoughts on it are after trying my hand at raising ducks and chickens. In the end it wasn't worth it for me. If I factored in all the costs... materials, feed, electricity, etc, etc, etc and my time it made for some really expensive eggs. Figure just feed alone runs about $15/bag and lasts maybe a month. I can buy about 5 dozen eggs for that. Is there a big use for honey on a normal basis? I put a drop or two in a cup of tea once in a while but it goes a LONG ways. The 16oz container I have has a "best by" of 2008 on it and it's 3/4 full.
Nate, being I'm new to this I can maybe answer a couple questions. A "beek" (short) for beekeeper…. "just a bit of slang if you will". "For me" wanting to keep bees has very little about harvesting honey, although it's one of the benefits, it's about the insect and their impact on everyday life! Without them, life as we know it would not exsist. Recently they were dying off in record numbers and I wanted to help this. I've had an intrest for maybe 30 years to keep bees, but moving and the military, it just didn't fit my life style. I'm very close to retirement and not picking up and moving again so I pursued it. I have met some great people, I love the outdoors as most of here on the forum does, it is a great way to get in touch with nature, and it's also a therapy of sorts…… If you get a chance, go to youtube and watch a video called, "tales from the hive" it was a PBS special and it is fasinating… Matt, Coal reaper, Honey fuzz, and a few others may have another outlook on it but that's mine
interesting, never heard that dictionary definition before. but i like it! they say if honey bees were to vanish tomororw, the world would be out of food within 4 years. i have never had so much fruit on my trees since i got beehives. i wont bother with chickens anymore. they are easy but not cost efficient. i do love my beehives. google the benefits of consuming raw local honey. thats what did it for me, specifically the allergy aspect. i havent taken claritan/allegra since i started keeping bees. as far as economics, i get $10 for every pint mason jar of honey i sell. an average year will yield 40-50 pounds of honey per strong hive. that said, it is a lot of work and you have to enjoy it. it took me almost 3 years to get out of the red. by the time you invest in woodenware, bee packages, extracting equipment it adds up. bees are remarkable insects. the second highest regarded communication system of the animal world after primates. ask yourself: how does the colony manage the queeen? most people think the queen is the boss. how does a bee know what its job is for the 6 short weeks it is alive? they play different roles as they mature. did you know they share where with eachother a good source of nectar/pollen/water is? all in complete darkness within the hive. then the make a "beeline" to that source. once you really get into it there is a lot more going on in there than most people realize. likely your honey with a "best buy" date is from the supermarket. raw, unprocessed honey never goes bad. it will solidify or crystalize but you can use it like that or melt it back down. believe it or not a lot of stuff in supermarkets is shipped in barrels from china and bottled here in the US. and actually what can be done is the following: commercial honey production can open feed sugar syrup or high fructrose corn syrup to the bees. the bees will eat this, process it just like nectar and pack it in the hives. the commercial operation can then harvest this mixure just as pure honey. though it is mostly syrups, they can get away with this because the process is the same as that of honey and there is no way to regulate it. they also pasturize everything so it is clear and pretty for the consumer. this kills all the enzymes and everything that is good about honey!
Nate first off Coal Reaper and Dave covered all of your questions perfectly the only thing I would add is as far as a bug use for honey on a daily basis yes I use it daily either a spoonful here and there, on toast, in tea, in coffee, as a substitute for processed sugar just about anything. The "honey" you have with a best by date is as was stated most likely from the supermarket and more than likely not really honey. A lot of the honey that is in stores is from overseas and has had all of the pollen and good stuff processed out of it for two reasons 1-people want clear honey without stuff floating it in 2- if theres no pollen in it you cant find out where it comes from. There have been reports of Chinese companies "selling" honey to sister companies in India and elsewhere and then repackaging it and selling to the US. There are immense benefits to consuming raw local honey I would highly recommend that you find a local beek and get some its good for you and it tastes great.
im not sure this early. heck, the last layer of snow just melted off my lawn yesterday. still snow on the shaded side of house and piles everywhere. i havent seen any dandys yet. and i think they are a darker yellow and this was on the light side.
This past Saturday, my neighbor had croucus and dandy lions coming up in her yard. I actually saw bees on her stuff, I don't know where the closest hive is but I there is a vineyard about a mile away and I believe they have bees.
Hey Guy's, I'm back, I was down hard with the @^%$*^%#!*&^% FLU!….. Matt, I ate every "drop" of the honey you sent me, THANK YOU SIR!.. I must have had 5 gallons of tea in the last 5 days. Good news is, My Mann lake top feeder came in yesterday… My bee's are supposed to be here mid month. I had to miss my next to last class because of the flu but I can go watch it from a local bee keeper, It was un capping and honey extraction. I'm ready to go, "I THINK"…. and still don't have a clue… My last class is actually when we pick up our bees and introduce them into the hive., I'm looking fwd to that! I been watching some videos on you tube of the "fat bee man",….any thought's on this guy? Seems like he does thinks the back yard way, "which" in a lot of respects is fine…… Because I really don't know . I'll get some pic's when systems are a go and all set up! I have a skunk I know I'm gonna have to contend with in the near future
Im glad your feeling better Dave the flu is the worst. No worries on missing the extraction class theres nothing to it really and honestly you shouldnt expect to get anything this year but if you stick with some local people as Im sure you will you should be able to get in on helping them during the harvest its a lot of fun. I would suggest linking up with some club people when you get your bees so they can help you deposit them in their new home. The fat bee man on youtube is a good guy hes got a lot of good advice on his videos. Im glad this is coming together for you Dave its a pretty big commitment but its a lot of fun and worth it. Make sure those pics come rolling in Im looking forward to seeing your hive up and running.
I have a local guy in the JCBA is coming over when I bring the girls home to assist in the home coming…. I'm a bit nervous but we'll get through it
more on honey, this is old but i just came accross it http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/
Ok Guy's, here we go! My bees destine to arrive soon. I got it covered according to the laws etc… Hive painted, made a base stand, new feeder up top, ready to give the girls a new home
That looks good Dave Could I make a few suggestions though? You might want to move the hive forward a couple feet so that you can comfortably walk behind it to work the hive its always better to work the hive from behind (in my humblest of opinions) Also one other thing to take into consideration is the propane tank if it needs to be filled Im pretty sure you wont be able to get the propane man to fill it with a box full of bees right next to it. Just a suggestion Im glad this is all coming together for you Im looking forward to seeing more updates from your new apiary
I was gonna say those exact two things matt did. In addition, when i start a hive i use only one box and wait until they just about fill that one out and then add another. It helps them keeps things tidy if they dont have to manage a whole mansion with not enough workers yet. Excited for you!
