Posted: 1/5/2017 8:02:29 PM EDT
|
We moved to the country 12 years ago. I told my Wife we needed to get at least one bee hive. Her response was" I will not have 1000 flying hypodermic needles around here." I brought it up a couple of times but that was the end of that. Last week my Wife comes up and says" we have to get a bee hive the bees are dying we need to support the environment I know where to put it you have to take care of it."
So what am I in for? what will it cost me to set up one hive? The hive would be in some woods on the other side of a stream that flows year round on my property. |
|
Quoted:
We moved to the country 12 years ago. I told my Wife we needed to get at least one bee hive. Her response was" I will not have 1000 flying hypodermic needles around here." I brought it up a couple of times but that was the end of that. Last week my Wife comes up and says" we have to get a bee hive the bees are dying we need to support the environment I know where to put it you have to take care of it." So what am I in for? what will it cost me to set up one hive? The hive would be in some woods on the other side of a stream that flows year round on my property. BEES...Figure $115 for a package OR $150-$175 for a Nuc Hive...Roughly $100-$125 depending where you purchase 2nd Brood box...$65-$75 2 honey supers...$100 Veil/suit...$20-$150 depending on how fancy Smoker...$30 Hive tool...$5-$20 $400 at a minimum not including honey harvesting. I know of a special locally going for $400. That includes the bottom, top, inner cover, 4 boxes, 5 frame nuc of bees, all frames and foundations and a candy board. These hive components are dovetailed not lap or finger joints so the construction is nicer than the entry level so the cost is a little more. |
|
Thanks for the links I looked at them.
I told my wife about the cost all she said was I can't do it. Is there any problem with the bees being entirely in shade? When should I place the order for the bees. We do have a apiarist supply co . in the county. I plan on calling them latter this month. I will also check the county ag dept. to see if they have y thing. |
|
We have had two bee hives, and they have died every winter. Of course, the last three years have had weird winters where we had polar vortex and other cold-warm-freezing cycles.
Check out this company: https://www.dadant.com/catalog/ I would recommend that you pour a small concrete pad to set the hives on. Make sure they are 1/4 bubble level and water will run off (and out). You need the materials to have two hive bodies. This means the base (screen or solid), hive bodies (taller than supers), ten frames and foundations for each body, and inner cover and an outer cover. You'll want an extra hive body for the spring, without any frames or foundations. That way you can put some sugar water on top of the inner cover, and then enclose it with the extra body and outer cover. This is very important to feed your bees until the main pollen starts. A smoker helps, but isn't vital. We rarely use ours, and a little smoke goes a long way when we do. The hive tool and frame holder are absolutely vital though, for doing inspections on the hive. We bought the full jackets with hoods, but most of the time just a good hat and veil is sufficient. Either way you need gloves, since they aren't part of the jacket or veil. Read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Beekeeping-Midwest-Elbert-R-Jaycox/dp/B000OQ6694?tag=vglnk-c102-20 Once your hive is established (a month or two), you'll need at least two supers, with ten frames and foundations for each. You put the supers on one at a time and check them to see when they are full before adding more. A queen excluder is a screen that separates the supers from the bodies, and keeps her from laying eggs in your honey. At the end of the pollen flow, and before it gets too cold, you'll need to harvest the honey. We bought the Ranger power extractor kit which has everything you need. It's pretty expensive (we went halves with my inlaws), but worth every penny in time and removing hassle/aggrevation. For winter, you will need at least one sugar board and an entrance reducer. You may want to insulate around the hive to help keep them from freezing, but no need to heat. Beginner kit Assembled supers with frames or this kit, which is what I would recommend Good starter kit Ranger kit So you could get started for about $400. About $1100 for extractor if you buy-once, cry-once (but time to save up for that). Every few years you'll want to replace the foundations in the frames, so start buying those. Frames break down too, so have spares. You also want to protect against veroa mites and hive beetles, so some cheap beetle traps and seasonal veroa pesticides will be important. Read the book, and look for your local bee keeping club or ag extension. Good luck. |
|
I told my wife about the cost all she said was I can't do it. I think you'll have a hard time getting bees before spring. That should be OK, because it'll give you time to make plans and prepare. It'll also give you time to find beekeepers in your area and, hopefully, find one that will take you under their wing. That would be your best bet, and if you help one out they might be willing to "loan" you a hive or you could offer to provide a place for them to store their hive. If cost is your major concern, consider alternatives to reduce those costs. If you are handy, you COULD build your own hives. In olden days, bees were kept in hollow logs- I've seen videos of various types in current use. Around here they'd call those "bee gums". I won't vouch for their practicality but bees can live in them. If you are prepared and ready to go with a hive or box, you might be able to trap or acquire a swarm later in the spring or early summer. Your state may have regulations regarding who/where/how bees are kept and I think some require licenses or other fees and even hive inspections. Your county agent can help you sort out such details for your area. They might also have beekeeping classes and/or a beekeeping club. |
|
Quoted:
I bought the Midwest Bee book mentioned. I will start reading it soon. The wife was less than enthusiastic when she heard we should have 2 hives. That book will answer a lot of your questions. I don't know that you "need" two hives. Nothing wrong with getting one hive and seeing how it goes. It's kind of like reloading. Everyone says get a single stage, and then you'll have the people that tell you to just get a progressive because reloading isn't that hard. It's just opinions, neither is wrong. In my case I started out with two hives. My father-in-law got my oldest son interested and provided the hives, then my son lost interest and I found myself caring for hives and having to learn about bees. Two isn't that much more to care for, but make your wife happy and start with one. (Although, for what it's worth, I learned to reload on a progressive press and never bought a single stage...) |
|
I attempted beekeeping for the first time last year. Did 1 hive, used a Warre hive (low maintenance and hands-off hive, or so I've read).
My bees swarmed  .
I was going to give it another go this year, but the wife and I have decided that we will skip getting bees again this year, and wait until next. We have a LOT of irons in our fire right now.... My advice is to find someone around who keeps bees and spend a year "helping" them. Wish I would have done that, but I honestly didn't/don't have the time. Homesteading is a time consuming work/hobby/thing, even just at the level in which we operate. |
|
Quoted:
You need at least two hives. That way you can monitor their health against one another. I was gonna suggest this too. ^^^ If you notice bees in your area already, look into making a swarm catch box (if you have any basic carpenter skills or tools) & catch your own local bees instead of buying an expensive package of bees. I bought 2 packages of bees when I started two summers ago, both packages died out or left over the winter & early Spring. I was out all that money. I built a few boxes & lured wild swarms into them. Hopefully these bees that I caught from my area make it through the Spring. This is one of my boxes. It is the same size as a 8 frame deep. Just add empty frames, hang it in a tree, a few drops of lemongrass oil to the entrance every once in a while, & let the bees move in. 
|
|
Quoted:
I attempted beekeeping for the first time last year. Did 1 hive, used a Warre hive (low maintenance and hands-off hive, or so I've read). My bees swarmed .
I was going to give it another go this year, but the wife and I have decided that we will skip getting bees again this year, and wait until next. We have a LOT of irons in our fire right now.... My advice is to find someone around who keeps bees and spend a year "helping" them. Wish I would have done that, but I honestly didn't/don't have the time. Homesteading is a time consuming work/hobby/thing, even just at the level in which we operate. OP, THIS is the best advice I can give, so I'll just quote it here. Join a local bee club. Go to their bee schools ($10-30 for a full day, depending on what they do, and lunch is usually provided.) Meet people. Go to the meetings. Listen to the presentations. Read the books that are linked. Learn, learn, learn. I see what I consider some great advice in this thread. I see some I think is not so great and situation dependent. You can make good decisions only when you have an idea of what you're in for, and what your goals are. There are options to how you set up your first hive, all within the parameters of a Langstroth hive (which is what's been mostly recommended in this thread.) If I had it to do over, I would still start with all medium boxes (Often called "Illinois" supers) because it's so much easier on the back. The photo tutorial linked above is a great thread. There's a (very long) tacked beekeeping thread at the top of the forum. Good information in there, too, and you can learn how different beekeepers think about things. Take the time to learn. The time you spend with another beekeeper will not be wasted. I suggest you get a jacket/veil,some gloves and some leg straps of your own, so you can visit bee yards without the beekeeper being constantly worried about you getting stung. 
|