JayPoc
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Just took the plunge ---------->

I just ordered most of the basics, and I have a 3 lb package of bees arriving next Sunday. I'm not a complete noob, but pretty close. I took a 4 credit "bees and beekeeping" entomology elective in college about 20 years ago, so I have a basic understanding of bee biology and hive maintenance. I picked up a couple of library books and will read those this week. Any words of encouragement?

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rainbowgardener
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Wow terrific... So what is "most of the basics" and roughly how much did it cost you? I would love to have one or two bee hives (have four fruit trees and lots of flowers and veggies), but people keep telling me start up cost would be $1000.

Congratulations!

JayPoc
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I bought a "starter kit" that comes with a brood box, inner cover, outer cover, bottom board, 10 frames and foundation, entrance piece, hive tool, smoker, gloves and veil. About $200. I also bought a complete medium super (with frames/foundation), another $75 or so. The bees cost me another hundred, and I have a few incidentals that I'll pick up locally. SO for one hive, I'll have about $400 into it with maybe another $150 to invest as my hive grows for a second brood box and another super. The *plan* then is to try to build everything but the frames for myself going forward. If you know a woodworker, you can build them MUCH cheaper for yourself. I dabble in woodwork, but my skills and equipment right now would not allow me to be as precise as needed.

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applestar
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How cool is that!? :-()

I hope you let us know how things go. I'm super envious. :mrgreen:

If I ever get the chance to do this, I think I want to try the top-bar hives....

imafan26
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If you get a chance upgrade the hive tool to a j tool. It is much easier to lift frames with it. It costs just a couple of dollars more than a standard tool.
https://www.amazon.com/KINGLAKE-J-Hook- ... rds=j+tool

I would also get a small torch with an automatic igniter. If you don't have one already it is good for sterilizing your tool in case you get disease in your hive. When you clean your hives it might come in handy. Something to think about for later.

Brood boxes can be heavy. 90 lbs or more so if you don't have someone to help you lift the box then consider using supers for brood boxes. You can extend space in your brood box by using a deep on the bottom but adding a super as a brood box or just using supers alone for brood and honey. Unless you are planning a split later, we learned that double deeps are hard for the queen to lay. A super and a deep is about all a queen can fill. We split by putting the brood super with a deep on top. Wild bees like to brood in the top and store honey in the bottom. After the bees move up, we reversed the boxes, made sure the queen was in the deep and put an excluder between the super and the deep so they would only store honey in the super. When we had a lot of bees and running out of room, or we wanted to build bees we removed the excluder so they would have room to expand.

We check the hives every two weeks. Since varoa mites and hive beetles are always problems now, we don't put all of the frames in the box at one time. Fewer frames are easier for the bees to protect when there are not a lot of bees. We add frames as needed. Don't leave a lot of space between the frames or the bees will build burr comb in the space. We use oil traps on every level to trap hive beetles. A strong hive is the best defense against beetles.

Metal excluders are better than plastic

We found out the hard way not to get plastic foundation, the bees really were reluctant to build comb on it. They built burr comb from the lid and and comb at an angle to the frame. We ended up having to take out the burr comb and cut and paste it onto empty frames. The plastic frames look more durable but we had to paint it with wax to make it palatable to the bees.

Make sure your cover has a metal lid. Wood cracks and leaks over time.

We treat our hives every quarter to control mites. The mites prefer the drones to the best way to test for mites is to break open a few drones and see if there are mites. All hives must be treated at the same time but weak hives may be lost, so don't let them get too weak before treating. Small hive beetles like to go after honey so if the hive is not strong take off the capped honey supers and freeze the frames until your are ready for a harvest. Even if it is a small harvest it is better to take the honey than leave it for the beetles to slime. You can spin the frames instead, it is just that the cleanup is the same for a small or large harvest. It cannot be refrigerated because it crystalizes. I does take a long time for the frozen honey to defrost and it is impossible to spin if it is frozen. We took it out of the freezer two days before and it was still hard. We ended up putting the super out in the sun and we spread out some of the frames and put it back on the hive and let the bees warm it up.

When you get your package you may have to feed the bees for awhile since they will not have honey stores and they have to build comb. Feed them some pollen and sugar water, but watch for ants and beetles that will come for the feeder. If you had access to someone you can get honey frames and built up frames from, that is the best. Nothing like food and a fixer upper home to welcome the bees. Your package may abscond if they don't like the accommodations especially one they did not choose themselves. Read up on how to acclimate your bees before you let them loose.
https://www.beverlybees.com/install-pack ... roth-hive/
Right now the honey flow has started and some of our people have already caught a couple of swarms. If you catch a swarm take it at least two miles from where you got them or they are likely to abscond. We give our captured swarms a couple of honey frames and preferably old built up frames to entice them to stay. We are lucky to have a hive that is relatively isolated and a large area with a lot of diverse flowers and orchards for them to forage. Because they are in a public garden, we have docile queens. When we capture or split hives we usually requeen them as well to make sure we keep them docile. Also remember that the swarm travels with the old queen so you don't know how long she will last, how old she is or her temperament so it is better to start with a young queen that you know the pedigree of. We are looking into setting swarm traps up in the trees so we can capture any of our bees that swarm. We have people who want them and we would rather save them than have them land somewhere they are not wanted and have people kill them.

JayPoc
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Thanks all. I'll post some pics maybe as I get things set up...

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jal_ut
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Way to go! I have been keeping bees for over 50 years. Its a fun hobby and can also make you some money if you want to go for it. The equipment lasts a long time. Bees come and go.

Yes, plan to feed the new bees for a while until they get the frames drawn out and are filling them.

JayPoc
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Update!

It's been a week since I hived my package of bees. As far as I can tell, things are going well. They're eating about a third of a quart of 1 to 1 syrup per day. When the weather was good, they were foraging well...lots of bees coming back with full pollen baskets. I checked on Thursday and the queen had been freed by the workers. I didn't see her but I didn't spend much time looking. The bees are drawing comb. Unfortunately we're in the middle of a 5 day cold rain. Nobody is leaving the hive at the moment. I'll check mid week to see if I have eggs/larvae. Fingers crossed...

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applestar
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Sounds good. Hope everybee is happy. 8)

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jal_ut
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Wintering bees in this high dry cold country is hit and miss. I have lost from all to none. So I have changed my practices a bit and don't really plan on wintering bees. It takes a group in a double deep with one box of honey to make winter here. That box of 60 pounds of honey will bring over $300 extracted and sold. A package costs $90. You figure it out! Also ask: Why do I keep bees? Is it for honey, money, or pollinators? Maybe all three?

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jal_ut
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Quote: "queen had been freed by the workers. I didn't see her but I didn't spend much time looking."

You don't need to find the queen, just look for evidence that she is present. Brood and eggs.

If you are going for honey, just wait till that box of bees is crowded and wanting more space then throw on a queen excluder and a medium box of foundation and let them fill it with honey. I like the mediums for honey as they weigh about 40 pounds and this ol man can lift them without breaking the back.

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jal_ut
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Quote: " The *plan* then is to try to build everything but the frames for myself going forward. If you know a woodworker, you can build them MUCH cheaper for yourself."

I am a builder by trade and have the woodworking tools. I have built bottom boards, top boards and boxes, but it ain't worth it to build frames. I buy my frames. Price of wood these days considered..... its just kinda nice to order up a bunch of boxes, and then you just have to nail them together.



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