By: Buck Bradley
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of BEEKeeping Your First Three Years
So, you are thinking about getting into beekeeping. I took the plunge about a year ago, and while this hobby has had some ups and downs, I have enjoyed every minute in my apiary, and I’m thrilled I didn’t talk myself out of it. Probably like you, I didn’t have just one particular reason for wanting to start my journey in beekeeping; however, regardless of your reasons, that first step is a daunting task. If you are like me, I didn’t know of any family or friends that kept bees to get advice from, and when I looked online or in a book, I quickly became overwhelmed. The reason for this overwhelming feeling, I quickly found out, in beekeeping, there are more options and opinions then virtually any other hobby. Take for example, golf. If you wanted to take that up as a hobby, you get a set of clubs, a pair of golf shoes, and maybe a few lessons, and you are set. (I know I simplified golf quite a bit, but think about it; there are different qualities and brands of clubs, but a 9 Iron is a 9 Iron). Not so in beekeeping. You have to choose between eight frame or ten frame equipment, all mediums or a medium and deeps for hive bodies, chemical or chemical-free, queen excluder or no queen excluder, screen bottom board or solid bottom board, wooden or polystyrene hive, and the list goes on, which can seem daunting to someone just starting.
My equipment painted and ready in my garage in late February, ready for my bees’ arrival in March.
Furthermore, the upfront cost is steep, with it costing around $1000 to get one’s protective equipment, equipment for two hives, and bees, and unlike golf, it is hard to borrow or rent equipment for a season. If you find yourself, like me a year ago, wanting to start beekeeping but overwhelmed with all the choices, I will try to help shed a little light on a few of the main topics from beginner’s perspective. I will take you through the choices I made and the reasons why to try to help relieve some of your anxiety, which will hopefully keep you on your journey.
First and foremost, you need to educate yourself as much as possible and as early as possible. Many people have started beekeeping without any prior education or even reading a book, and nothing is preventing you from doing the same. However, I would greatly caution against this approach for several reasons. First, if you are feeling overwhelmed now, education will only help to reduce your anxiety and make your new beekeeping hobby more enjoyable. That is not to say all your concerns will be removed, but continually going blind into a situation rarely leads to good results. Second, the start-up cost of beekeeping is expensive, and the season is limited, and you do not want to be making preventable mistakes because you chose not to educate yourself. I find it amazing that people will spend upwards of $1000 on equipment and bees, but not spend a dime to attend a course or purchase a book. Lastly, the bees are living creatures. I firmly believe you should not try to raise any living creature without first understanding how to care for it; dogs, cats, chickens, bees, etc.
To get the necessary education I needed, I took a three-prong approach: books, classroom instruction, and a mentor. If possible, I recommend the same. I decided in late Summer that I wanted to start my beekeeping journey. It was too late in the season to get bees in North Carolina, but this allowed me eight months to leisurely prepare for the arrival of my bees.
While waiting, I read eight books on beekeeping, and that does not include the various articles online and in Bee Culture. The three books I found myself referencing the most during my first year with my bees were the following: Beekeeping for Dummies by Howland Blackiston, The Beekeeper’s Handbook by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile, and Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping by Dewey Caron and Lawrence Connor. I also read the books in the same order, and if you decide to get these books, I would suggest the same. I felt each book prepared me for the next and each book increased in the scientific and technical information. The combination of these three books gave me the book knowledge to face all the challenges I observed over my first year. While I still lacked the practical experience, I felt confident when I opened a hive that I could handle almost any situation I would see with the help of these three books. Now, I have no doubt these are not the only books that can prepare you for your beekeeping journey; however, I do not think someone could go wrong with purchasing these books. I believe in total, I spent no more than $75 for these three books, and it was worth the cost.
The second prong of my education was classroom instruction. I’m fortunate enough to be stationed in North Carolina, which has a very robust state beekeeping association, with numerous local clubs throughout the state. It was easy for me to find a beginner beekeeping course that worked with my schedule, and the course was less than $100 and included membership dues for the state and local beekeeping association. If you have the opportunity to attend a basic course, do so. Why all the information can be found in the books mentioned above, the course gives you the ability to handle the equipment and get practical information about your local area. Moreover, the personal connections I made both with new and experienced beekeepers helped me throughout my first year. If an in-person class is not available, there are several opportunities online that may work with your schedule.
Bringing home my two nucleus colonies.
The last prong of my educational approach was finding a mentor, which I did by joining the local beekeeping association even before I had bees. The association allowed me to make very personal connections that enabled me to have several individuals I can call to ask practical questions or run ideas by. It also allows me the opportunity to continue to expand my beekeeping knowledge with the various classes that are presented monthly. Finally, the club membership has allowed me to be mentored by multiple Master Beekeepers and learn valuable lessons without having to make them myself. This is because our club has several hives of various types that we work and manage throughout the season. While I was not able to make every session in the club’s apiary, being able to look into someone else’s hives to help increase one’s baseline knowledge has proven very valuable.
This three-prong educational approach to beekeeping served me well over my first year. I’m aware that some individuals may not have the ability to take a course or find a mentor. Nevertheless, don’t let that prevent you from starting beekeeping. Again, the books I read proved extremely valuable, and I firmly believe I could have successfully raised bees my first year without a beekeeping course and local mentor. I definitely would have had more challenges, but it would have been doable and still enjoyable. However, if you live in an area that you have those resources available, don’t use my words as an excuse not to utilize those valuable resources.
Probably the most challenging step for most beekeepers is trying to decide what type of equipment one needs to get started on this unique hobby. I will talk about my decisions in the next few paragraphs and how I came to my conclusions.
Equipment can be broken down into two categories: personal equipment and hive equipment. Personal equipment is the easiest, so I will handle it first. You will need at least these four things: a bee jacket/suit, gloves, smoker, and a hive tool. Again, these items are the bare minimum.
While you see a lot of individuals on YouTube with only a veil or nothing at all, I would strongly suggest you don’t follow their lead quite yet. While it looks easy, opening a hive for the first time with 20,000 stinging insects can swiftly overwhelm one who is more worried about getting stung instead of enjoying the moment. I suggest getting the best bee suit or jacket that one can afford, which is what I did. The different cost of suits or jackets is mainly due to the quality of the material and its construction. For the most part, the costlier suits or jackets have more breathable material, which depending on your Summers, might be worth the extra money. I chose a breathable bee jacket over a suit, because it was easier to get on, and I ensure I’m wearing jeans when I check my hives. If you are worried that bees will find a way into your jacket, go with the suit. The choice between a suit or jacket is ultimately what you are most comfortable with, and that will allow you to focus on your bees during your inspections.
Gloves and a smoker are simple purchases. You can get your gloves from the same company you get your suit or jacket from, and a lot of the time, they are sold as a set. The critical thing here is to ensure you get the correct size. There are options for cow or goat leather gloves, but I couldn’t tell the difference between the two when I borrowed a different pair from a friend. For the smoker, my advice is to get the largest you can afford with a heat shield and keep it simple. The larger the smoker, the less time you will spend adding fuel.
The first inspection of my colony that started from a 3-pound package.
Lastly, the hive tool. While the other items don’t have a lot of options, the hive tool quickly shows a new beekeeper the different opinions and choices in beekeeping. In the latest catalog, I received there are eight different options when it comes to hive tools, ranging from the most basic to, what I will call, the Swiss Army knife of hive tools. I suggest the basic hive tool because it is cheap, and it gets the job done. I have talked to several new beekeepers over the past year that bought several unique hive tools, and they are continuously going back to the basic version. Hive tools are a personal choice, and until you have had the opportunity to try several out, don’t waste your money. However, it is always wise to have an extra hive tool around. So, if you think you will like one of the modified hive tools over the basic version, get one of each, and you will not go wrong.
Now, onto hive equipment, this is where I got overwhelmed with all the available options as I flipped through the different catalogs and looked at the suppliers’ websites. Did I want to get a top bar hive, Flow Hive, eight or 10 frame Langstroth? Did I want the Langstroth hives to be wooden or polystyrene? If I was going with Langstroth hives, did I want to run all medium boxes or a combination of deeps and mediums, and what about the wood quality? For frames, did I want all plastic frames, wooden frames with plastic foundation, wooden frames with wax foundation, or use a starter strip? Lastly, do I get a beginner’s kit, and what about all the extra possible equipment available ranging from frame spacers to electronic gadgets for the hive? What makes these choices so tricky is the various opinions out there from multiple sources, and how adamant some beekeepers are about their particular viewpoint. Also, with no point of reference, it is difficult to find out what you need. Finally, after many weeks of deliberation, taking a basic course, and talking to a few seasoned beekeepers, I decided to keep it basic and go with the typical set-up for my
area. I reasoned the follow-up things: if the set-up was working for everyone else, it would most likely work for me, if I had questions having similar equipment would eliminate a variable, if I needed to borrow a piece of equipment in a pinch I could easily find what I needed, and finally after I had the necessary knowledge and experience after a couple years I could branch out and experiment. I decided to go with Langstroth 10 frame wooden hives with one deep box for a brood chamber and three medium supers. Also, I purchased a queen excluder, telescoping top cover with inner cover, entrance reducer, hive top feeders, and a screen bottom board for each hive. For frames, I went with wooden frames with wired wax. Finally, I went middle of the road, commercial-grade, for all wooden equipment. Below are some of my reasons for particular choices.
I chose the Langstroth hive over the top bar hive or a Flow Hive because that was the standard in the area and the United States. There are other types of hives that are more common overseas, but I wanted to focus on what was available here stateside. The top bar hive looked attractive, and I will probably give it a try in a few years, but there were only a few people in the local area using one. This would have significantly reduced my ability to get local practical information when it came to top bar challenges. Also, I would have had to build the top bar hive myself, and I didn’t have the necessary equipment or time to make a top bar hive. However, currently, several suppliers are selling top bar hives. The Flow Hive to me was very interesting but the price tag alone was enough to eliminate it for me quickly. For the price of two Flow Hives, I was able to purchase all of the protective equipment I needed and three hives with bees. Lastly, through my research, I found very little in the way of educational materials for the Flow Hive or the top bar hive compared to the Langstroth hive.
I went with wooden equipment over polystyrene for a few reasons. First was the cost. A polystyrene box was, on average, at least five dollars more than an unassembled wooden box, which starts to add up over time. Next, I was worried about the ability of the polystyrene boxes to hold up over time. I know they are more popular overseas, but I could not find anyone local that had a good experience with the polystyrene hives. Lastly, I wanted to be as natural as possible, and polystyrene didn’t fit the bill. Now, to be fair to polystyrene, with choosing woodenware over polystyrene I did occur additional cost not captured in the invoice. Because I decided to purchase unassembled woodenware, it cost me time and energy to assemble and paint the equipment for three hives, which would not have been necessary if I purchased polystyrene equipment.
Now by far, the toughest decision for me was between eight or 10 frame hive equipment and to go with all mediums or run a combination of mediums and deeps. I chose 10 frame equipment over eight frames, mainly because I can lift the equipment easily. There are some arguments out there that bees in eight frame equipment tend to swarm a little more or bees do better in eight frame equipment because it mimics a hollow tree cavity more than ten frame equipment. To me, all these are minor problems that have easy solutions compared to one’s ability to lift a hive body. One needs to consider one’s own ability to lift the hive bodies. A deep frame of honey weighs on average eight-nine pounds, and a medium frame weighs, on average six-seven pounds. Therefore, individuals that have a difficult time lifting heavy objects could reduce what they have to lift by 12-16 pounds by just using eight frame equipment over 10 frame equipment. It does the beekeeper or the bees no good if every time after an inspection the beekeeper is dealing with back issues because of the weight of the hives. If for some reason, you would like to get into beekeeping but are unable to lift more than 15-20 pounds at a time, you should consider a Long Langstroth hive or a top bar hive.
Using all medium equipment or a mixture of deeps and mediums is a combination of one’s ability to lift heavy objects and convenience. The difference between a 10 frame medium and 10 frame deep hive body could be as much as 20 pounds. However, there is also the added benefit of having all of one’s frames interchangeable if one is running all mediums. Many individuals don’t have any trouble lifting the weight of deep hive boxes but like the convenience of having all their frames interchangeable. It also simplifies ordering equipment and keeping track of inventory. Even though having all equipment interchangeable is a considerable benefit, the main drawback is the cost. Most people run either single or double brood chambers, and most consider a brood chamber to be a deep hive body. It takes roughly two medium hive bodies to take the place of a single deep brood chamber, and three mediums to replace a double brood chamber. Every medium ten frame wooden hive body with frames and wax foundation costs around $40 if you assemble it yourself. Therefore, if you go all mediums, you increase the cost per hive by around $40, because of the need for an extra medium hive body and frames. I chose to run a single deep brood chamber and overwinter with an additional medium super of stores, which is common in the south, I could easily lift the weight, and it was most costefficient. However, I will freely admit I was forced to borrow equipment once during the season, and if I ran all medium equipment, this would not have been needed.
For frames, I chose wooden frames with wax wired foundation because I wanted to go the more natural route, and it was cheaper. It was at least a dollar less expensive per frame going wood and wax compared to the other options. However, I did occur a cost in time and energy assembling all the frames and installing the foundation, but I enjoyed my time in the garage on the weekends. The amount of time spent in the garage would have been less with wooden frames and plastic foundations, and not at all with all plastic frames. I have been able to observe several hives with plastic frames or foundation, and I’m glad I went with wax because at least here, the bees don’t seem to draw wax well on plastic.
The Fruits of my labor. I was lucky to get 17 jars of honey from one of my colonies
that started as a nucleus colony in the Spring.
How to purchase all this equipment was another choice I spent a bit of time on. Should I buy my equipment as a kit or individual pieces? I ultimately chose individual pieces for a few reasons. First and foremost was the cost. The kits are more expensive compared to purchasing individual pieces, from my observations. I started with three hives with a deep brood chamber and three medium supers each. Most bee equipment suppliers offer a discount when you order over five of a particular hive body, which saved cost, and I bought my frames and foundation in bulk, which helped as well. The beginner kits are convenient because they offer the hive and protective equipment in one package, but I had already purchased my protective equipment the previous Fall. Lastly, the kits didn’t have the options I preferred. I wanted a particular screened bottom board, and none of the kits had that option. Consequently, this naturally led me to purchase the equipment as individual pieces.
Lastly, what about all those extra things you can get for your hive, which are too numerous to list and increase every year? As stated earlier, I didn’t purchase any of that equipment; however, I did buy two additional items as the season advanced that I wish I bought at the beginning. The first was a screened inner cover. This may not be needed in the north, but in the south, with the humidity in eastern North Carolina, it is a massive benefit in the Summer to help control the temperature in the hive. Next was a Nuc box. This piece of equipment allowed me to create my own insurance policy and prevent swarms as the season progressed. I was lucky and was able to borrow one early but I quickly purchased one and then another. It is a nice feeling knowing that I have an extra queen, if needed if I make a mistake in my apiary, and I did have to use one. Nuc boxes run anywhere from $40-60, and if possible, I recommend a new beekeeper add one to their initial purchase if they are not already planning on it.
Once I had made my decision on equipment and placed my order, most of the overwhelming feeling was gone for me. All I had to do was set back and wait for the equipment to arrive and begin assembling it. It may be because only one choice remained before me and that was concerning my bees.
Lastly, a new beekeeper must figure out where to get their bees from. There are numerous suppliers of bees, but there are only two choices, a package or a nucleus colony. Packages are cheaper than a nucleus colony and are commonly sold in three-pound packages. The package contains three pounds of bees from various colonies and a mated queen. The nucleus colony, while more expensive, usually comes with five frames of drawn comb, a laying queen, and bees in different stages of the lifecycle. The exact makeup of a nucleus colony will vary slightly from supplier to supplier. When getting your bees, always go with a reputable supplier because sometimes the low price is not worth the money saved. One of the many benefits of joining a bee club is they have already figured this out. I elected to start with two nucleus colonies and a package, and I’m happy with that choice. Unfortunately, in some areas, packages may be the only option or nucleus colonies are just too costly. It is strongly suggested that a new beekeeper start with a minimum of two colonies so a beekeeper has more than one point of reference. Furthermore, resources from one hive can be used to help another. I started with a nucleus colony and a package because I wanted to see the difference between the two. Also, with packages, I knew I would not get any honey my first year but with the nucleus colonies, there was a slight possibility. It was interesting watching the hives develop and the problems I faced with both. I dealt with the common phenomenon with my package when my queen was superseded about a month after I installed the it, and I did a few splits from the two nucleus colonies. Additionally, one nucleus colony did exceptionally well, and I was able to harvest six frames of honey from a second super it had filled up, which was nice to get a taste of what laid ahead in the seasons to come.
As I come to a close, I hope I was able to help to alleviate so of your worries and concerns as you stand at the starting line waiting to begin your journey. I hope that this article enables you to make some of your significant choices, even if they are completely opposite of mine. I was in your shoes only a year ago and understand and remember some of the decisions and anxieties you are facing. Looking back, I’m glad I took that first step and with every step, it became easier and easier as my knowledge and experience grew. The hobby of beekeeping is so rewarding that I’m thankful every day I started down this path. I’m amazed at how it has changed my perspective on how I view my surrounding environment and how everyone wants to hear about my bees when they find out I’m a beekeeper. I look forward to seeing you at a local beekeeping meeting in the near future.
