Bee Keeping resources for newbie

[chicken stalker]

I want to learn how to keep a couple hives of bees. Any tips, advise and cheap/free resources would be greatly appriciated. Anyone build an easy hive that doesn't require a ton of wood skills?? I'm going to learn over the winter and hopfully invest in the spring. Thanks

 

[me&thegals]

Hi--There are a couple other beekeeping threads on here that would give you a lot of information. If you can't find anything there, then I would be glad to try to help.

My husband and I built topbar hives very cheaply and easily. I believe I got my plans from backyardhive.com. Good luck!

 

[reinbeau]

I want to learn how to keep a couple hives of bees. Any tips, advise and cheap/free resources would be greatly appriciated. Anyone build an easy hive that doesn't require a ton of wood skills?? I'm going to learn over the winter and hopfully invest in the spring. Thanks

Your best bet is to find a local beekeeping organization and join it - what state are you in? There are several excellent beekeeping forums, one of the best is Beemaster forums, where you can get advice from beeks from all over the country/world. There are a couple of us who hang out here, too, so ask away.

You can buy complete kits from places like Brushy Mountain (a favorite source for us) where all you have to do is nail the various parts together, you can even buy them fully assembled, but that's pretty costly. Brushy Mountain usually has a free shipping offer in December, take advantage of it, wooden ware is heavy and costs a lot to ship!

 

[dragonlaurel]

You should look up Top Bar Beehives. It's much lighter weight so they will be easier to deal with and it looks like they can be built at home pretty easily. Here's a link:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/main.htm

I haven't tried them cause I am living in an apartment- for now. I have more info on them but I'll have to look for it.

 

[me&thegals]

One more thing about topbar hives--The link I gave has detailed plans. But, they really can be made out of just about anything. I've seen pictures of topbar hives made from old whiskey barrels or plastic barrels. I got stuck on the plans and lost sight of all the possibilities. So, they can really be as cheap as you want!

Another thing, mine were so cheap because we had planed wood lying around here on the farm. If you had to buy all the lumber, of course the price would be greater.

Good luck!

 

[reinbeau]

The problem with top bar hives is the waste of the bees' resources when you want to harvest honey. The only way to harvest is to crush and strain. Wax takes a lot of resources to build. While I like the thought of top bar hives, and know some beeks who have them, they aren't the best if you're in it for honey. The beeks who do have top bars, at least around here, have one or two in addition to their standard Langs.

 

[me&thegals]

chicken stalker--when making the decision of what kind of hives you would like, you may want to consider:

1. Cost (building, foundation or none, chemicals or none...)
2. Ease of building.
3. Ease of maintaining.
4. The amount of time you need to "work" each hive.
5. How often you will be able to visit the hive.
6. Whether you want to be able to have an observation window.
7. If you want to "treat" your hives with chemicals or go completely chemical free. Some hives are better suited to one philosophy or the other
8. If you can find great local or internet resources to help you with your chosen hive type. That said, I know NObody who has topbars, but the internet support has been incredible.

Good luck!

 

[reinbeau]

For the record, I have nothing really against top bar hives, I've been accused of 'attacking' them. That isn't the point. I don't care for them, I don't care for crush and strain to harvest honey, and I believe it is unnecessary stress on the bees to have them constantly rebuilding comb, but others feel differently. I have several good friends who have the top bar hives and enjoy them - but harvest more honey from the Langs.

If you want to get involved with them, there are many resources on the net (including at the previously mentioned Beemaster forums), here are a few more:

Biobees

Beesource's Top bar hive subforum

Top bar hive info

 

[dragonlaurel]

I like making candles so the extra wax is a huge advantage for me. To be fair to the bees, don't harvest too close to the start of your cold season and leave some reserves for them.
I would be doing this at a homesteading level, to keep the gardens well pollinated, have honey for our home use and some to spare. May even put a 2nd hive in with the fruit trees to help that crop and sell or barter some honey.
If somebody wants to go bigger scale - they would want the other kinds of hives for the higher honey ratio. I don't know if I could lift them once they get really full though. The wax sheets from top bars would be easier on my back.
I also plan on having an herb garden near the hive. Thyme is used to protect the hive sometimes but other herbs may help them too. Why not give them easy access to the herbs and see if it helps. I can still use the more concentrated versions if needed.

 

[reinbeau]

The honey harvest from hives that have a mixed herb garden to draw nectar from is absolutely fabulous. The difference between the honey harvested here, surrounded by my gardens, from the honey harvested from our hives up in Maine, surrounded by nice wetlands, blueberries and other pine barren type plants, is amazing. I love them both, but I particularly enjoy the herbal honey. As for the beeswax, I just adore the scent!