Gazinga
Enjoys Recycling
how do i get started with a bee hive and what materials do i need, and most importantly............whered o i get the bees!?
honey bees, how to start
- Thread starter Gazinga
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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Try www.Beemaster.com and those folks will tell you everything you need! Reinbeau also is a fount of information on this forum.
yotetrapper
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You'll need a hive, Langstroth or a Top Bar. If using the former, you'll also need frames of foundation, and comb. A bee suit and veil I would HIGHLY reccomend, as well as gloves (some dont use them, but I am not near that brave.) And you'll need bees! lol.
The best cheapest way for acquiring bees is this: Make sure you are ready for them first. Then contact your local co-op or extension office, and let them know you a bee keeper. Leave your phone number with them, and tell them you'd appreciate any calls they get about swarms to be forwarded to you. People with swarms of honeybees in their yards call the co-op, and the co-op calls you. When you get there, you'll find (if your lucky) a swarm of bees on a bush, low in a tree, a fence post, side of house. If your not lucky, They'll be 30 feet up in a tree lol. Bring a ladder.
Then Just scoop the bees as well as you can into an empty hive. What we use is set up like this: Bottom board, deep super of foundation or comb, deep super with no frames in it on top of that, and a cover. You need to get the queen into that box....if you do, all the other bees will go in on their own. You wont see the queen in the swarm, but the way to tell is this.... once you have the biggest bunch of bees in the box, cover the box and walk away for about 15 min. If you come back and see a lot of bees still in the box, the queen is in there. If you come back and see a big horde of them out of the box again on the tree or whatever, you missed the queen. Try again.
Leave the hive until after dark. Then transport the bees to wherever you're keeping them. A lot of times the bees stay, but sometimes through no fault of yours, they will leave. Nothing can be done about that. Some years we pick up 6-8 swarms, and each swarm makes a hive. Good free way to acquire bees.
Also, check out beesource.com
The best cheapest way for acquiring bees is this: Make sure you are ready for them first. Then contact your local co-op or extension office, and let them know you a bee keeper. Leave your phone number with them, and tell them you'd appreciate any calls they get about swarms to be forwarded to you. People with swarms of honeybees in their yards call the co-op, and the co-op calls you. When you get there, you'll find (if your lucky) a swarm of bees on a bush, low in a tree, a fence post, side of house. If your not lucky, They'll be 30 feet up in a tree lol. Bring a ladder.
Then Just scoop the bees as well as you can into an empty hive. What we use is set up like this: Bottom board, deep super of foundation or comb, deep super with no frames in it on top of that, and a cover. You need to get the queen into that box....if you do, all the other bees will go in on their own. You wont see the queen in the swarm, but the way to tell is this.... once you have the biggest bunch of bees in the box, cover the box and walk away for about 15 min. If you come back and see a lot of bees still in the box, the queen is in there. If you come back and see a big horde of them out of the box again on the tree or whatever, you missed the queen. Try again.
Leave the hive until after dark. Then transport the bees to wherever you're keeping them. A lot of times the bees stay, but sometimes through no fault of yours, they will leave. Nothing can be done about that. Some years we pick up 6-8 swarms, and each swarm makes a hive. Good free way to acquire bees.
Also, check out beesource.com
ticks
Hunting Crazy
I am also looking into honey bees! are they hard to keep?
Colored Egg Farmer
Way Too Many Chickens
I wish I could raise hunny bees my great grandfather had them but all his stuff has since been trashed. (trashed is a sin in this site) I beleve that we still have some friends arrond. There is a hive in the barn wall that has to be atleast 10 years old or older. There hive is huge. There are actually working on door #3 becasue its so big.
I really wish i could do bees but the only problem is that I hate getting stung so I'll leave that to the professionals that own a bee place near us.
I really wish i could do bees but the only problem is that I hate getting stung so I'll leave that to the professionals that own a bee place near us.
ticks
Hunting Crazy
They do make bee suits CEF
Colored Egg Farmer
Way Too Many Chickens
did you ever see the dirty jobs episode on bee keeping They are bee resistent not bee proof 
Mike still got stung
Mike still got stung
ticks
Hunting Crazy
double up....
Carhartt works well too.
Carhartt works well too.
Colored Egg Farmer
Way Too Many Chickens
Just hope its not 90 out and carying thoes heavy bee boxes
yotetrapper
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They're not hard to keep, but there's some work involved. Need to check on them for mite infestation, and building of new queen cells (which means they are about to swarm). Need to rob the honey, and extract it in some way. Feed them in certain types of situations, and add empty supers as they make more honey.
