[AndyMorton]

Hello all,

I’m in the very initial stages of beekeeping: done some preliminary reading from the library, ordered books from the internet, scoured various websites and contacted local Bee Keepers Association. I have to admit that I am excited at the prospect of looking after my own hive(s), yet somewhat daunted by all the information and variables needed to learn about!

What I was wanting to ask is… can people post their experiences with regards suppliers of the basic equipment, and how they found the quality of the product and the price(s) too?

Also, with regards to the protective clothing, would people recommend a full suit or is a jacket and veil adequate enough for the hobby bee keeper with just one or two hives? Maybe the pros and cons of each?

Thanks in advance for your replies,

Andy
 

[manian]

hi
we're starting with bees this year.......
i would suggest joining your local bee association.
we are in derbyshire and the group is very welcoming and friendly
different people have different preferences
they all say cedar as the wood

we have seen some hives and kit on ebay..... look quite good

Mx

[Anke]

Hi Andy,

Re protective suit: I wear an overall with a hood attached (from Beeware I think), and would recommend it. You could also just get a jacket (but with a hood attached), and then use either thick jeans and/or waterproof overtrousers on top of your normal trousers. Overall is just easy on and easy off. If you jet get a hat/veil, the bees will find a way in!. Also get a good fitting pair of leather gloves, with cuffs that go up to your elbow. PLus normally wear hiking boots or better wellies.

I bought most of my basic kit from Thornes, got quite a bit of hive hardware from beekeepers that gave up. Thornes is quite expensive, and their delivery costs have shot up recently. So if you can go and visit them/collect it would save you a bit of money. However, for your first year (without your own bees I guess), just go along to apiary visits with your local beekeepers group, you will need your suit/gloves for that.

And get yourself stung (with other people present), so you can be certain that you are not allergic to bee stings. But don't do it in a silly place - your (left)hand/arm is good. I got my first sting in the ear (it wasn't planned), and looked very lopsided for a few days....

I can't see where you are based, but PLEASE do not go and buy bees/queens from the internet or any of the dealers that now offer. You will get the best stock from local beekeepers, as these are bees acustomed to your locality, and they will not bring in new diseases or change the local genepool. You might have to be patient as bees are in short supply atm, but I am sure there are quite a few local beekeepers that would welcome help with their hives, as they may be getting on a bit...

If you are buying second hand kit, you will have to sterilise the hive and re-do all the frames with new foundation, plus sterilise them too (before new foundation). You can either use steam and/or bow torch. Other beekeepers can explain.

[AndyMorton]

@ Manian: I'm just about to fill out the application form for the local association. I too am going to join the Derby branch, however as a rule i'll probably attend the Burton sub-division as it is moderately closer. I'll try to get along to one or two of the Derby meets though. Maybe i'll see you there!! 

@ Anke: Thank you for taking the time to write such a lengthy reply!! As excited as i was at getting my first hive this year, on reflection it'll probably be better to just shadow a more experienced member for the season and wait until next year until i take the plunge myself. I think it wold be better in the long run for myself and the bees! I'll most certainly take your advice and seek to acquire a local queen/ bees though.

If anybody else can recommend suppliers where they thought they got a good balance between quality and price, I'd be very keen to hear your experiences.

Andy
 

[lazybee]

I can only comment on my own experiences. Lots of people have their own opinions with beekeeping methods and equipment.

Maisemore Apiaries, Kemlea Bee Supplies, National Bee Supplies (used to be called Exeter bee supplies) They're all cheaper than Thornes. You can get hives made from Deal they are a lot cheaper and last well. I changed all my cedar National and Dadant hives to pine Langstroths 8yrs ago and they are still in good condition. I find with bees, if you want them to make a good profit it's difficult. As a self financing hobby it's great. If you want to make money it's best to stick to commercial beekeeping methods. If you want a great hobby then use the hobbyist methods. The hobby methods are much more interesting and enjoyable but time consuming. All the local association members are hobby beekeepers. You'll meet a mixed bag of people with lots of different ideas. good in the summertime with all the apiary visits tea and cakes, barbecues etc.
Then when you start reading all books you'll get totally confused by all the complicated manipulations. After a couple of years or doubting yourself, what you're doing, what the books say and what people are telling you, as they all contradict each other you'll start to figure it all out and do your own thing. I saw this time as the 'apprenticeship' when you gradually sort the wheat from the chaff.

I have a bee smock from a company called Sheriff. I bought another one made from DPM camouflage because I had a problem with vandalism (in the UK) It's best not to advertise where your bees are. There's nothing worse than finding your hives knocked over.
I buy tig welding gloves. They are made from thin soft leather the same as bee gloves but a fraction of the price.
Don't wear dark blue of dark brown. They attack it.

The second most valuable tip I think is: Feed them when they are getting short, even in the summer. A lot of the bee books are many years out of date. Most of the honey comes from the spring flow nowadays and there often isn't the summer flow described in the books.

The most valuable tip is enjoy yourself and enjoy your honey 

[Floyd]

From experience dont waste your money on cheap plywood hives.  Got one for £60 in the summer by feeding time it was already bowed on the inside which will cause me problems in the spring, and that was despite sealing all the ends.  There are lots of good flat pack ceder hives on Ebay and would recommend the sheriff suit,but stay away from white unless your are really handy with keeping clean.  I tend to get everything black and the vail on my original suit did not survive the washing machine.

[peteinwilts]

You must remember the BBKA is not the only way. The BBKA has a policy.. 'their way or no way'

Cedar is the best in terms of quality and long lasting and can last for 10 years +, but the price will reflect the longevity.

Polyhives are favoured in a lot of circles as the keep the bees at a more stable temperature. This can start the bees brooding earlier and later. I have not really had enough experience of these, but may try one one day.

Plastic hives are available... not sure of the advertising policy's on this forum, but most beekeepers will know who what I am talking about.
I have been in contact with a Mk II, and could see many design flaws.

Pine is used by some, but warps easily.

Marine ply is popular, but for it's density is quite heavy and do not have especially good thermal properties.

My weapon of choice is 18mm software ply. I have not been a beekeeper for many years, but have known others to have them for 6-7 years. Great thermally and soaks ducksback in very well.

Making hives is a doddle with the right tools.. that is why I do it. There is one main reason why I go for 18mm softwood ply... it is cheap
In the (hopefully) unlikely event that I catch AFB, the hive will be burnt whatever it is made of... cost will not be a factor.
Also, I have known woodpeckers to favour cedar over softwood ply (hives sat together), although it may have been a coincidence.

These comments may be subjective, and would like to say these ramblings are from my experiences only

Cheers
Pete
 

[OhLaLa]

The quick, good quality and probably most expensive way:

Join your local beekeeping association
Buy a full suit from Sherriff (I advise you do that anyway)
Buy your kit new from Thornes

or wait a bit longer and

Join your local beekeeping association and wait to make a few contacts - that way you will find out what is for sale secondhand from other beekeepers, learn about the various pieces of kit and what works best for you - and learn the good from the bad.

Or do a bit of both, that's what I did.

'There are as many beekeeping opinions as there are beekeepers'

[Hatty]

have a look at this!
 

 http://www.biobees.com/how_to_start_beekeeping.php
 

paid for my partner to do a bee keeping course last year for his birthday last year, this year i am building him a top bar hive (no experience in wood work and very blonde lol) and hope to buy him bees  going well up to press

[Plantoid]

I used to have 50 hives and 25  1/2 hive neuc boxes in the national hive dimensions
right from the start i realized that standardization was paramount in being effective .

I got a set of plans for making a hive and adjusted the thicknesses to make it buildable with my using  planed soft pine and 19 mm marine ply for crown board feeders so that the internal dimension were accurate to within 1 mm

I made all my hives bottom bee space so that I should / could stand  one box on another wilh less chance of crushing the bees

 All the pine was precision cut and dovetailed  or routed and then given four dipp coats of the bee friendly green cuprinol to preserve them .

 the crown board feeder was  3 inches deep with a tower containing a 20 mm hole in the middle and given four or coats of yatch varnish to seal them completely . The flat roofs were the same but without the feeder hole and covered in thin ally sheet
 Instead of using castleated separators i use the runners and purchased hundred and hundreds of brood and super frames with a built in seperator though eventully i purchased plain frames and added plastic spacers nailed to the edges.

I found that purchasing a hand panel pin inserter was a very very good investment for over the winters dead months i got stuck in and made up the frames  less the wax


 Because the local joinery and wood yard was almost on the dock side at Wisbech Cambridge the guys gave me trade costs for the amount of wood and ply as well as good rates to cut and mortice and tennon it as needed on ther big machines .
 
It worked out that my hives were just under 2/3 the cost of a Thornes hive with the extra benefit of a big crown board feeder.

 I made a simple set of construction jigs to enable me to quickly build brood boxes  and supers . The joints were made with expanding water proof glue and screwed not nailed with stainless steel screws using a screw gun attachment for my power drill.

[Laurieston]

My experience is limited, only had my girls since May.  However, we're enjoying the honey and they are having a well earned rest.

I use just a hood, and find that to be sufficient.  Each to their own, but personally I cannot see how I could work in the hive with gloves on.  I find I can remove frames and taste honey bare handed - but I am lucky and have very passive bees.  Maybe it is worth meeting the bees fore-fathers, the hive from which yours might come, this will give you an idea of their temperment.

I have found the Bee-Keepers I have met to be very supportive and friendly, with lots of local and therefore appropriate information.  They told me about local stockists etc..

One tip I got was to get good frames, as these will take quite a load with carrying honey and being spun round and round each year.

Go for it, I am SO pleased I got mine, and already I'm planning to get more !!!!

[starcana]

I'm in my second year, having had two swarms last year and only one very strong colony that saw it through the winter and produced about 20lbs of honey (she says proudly). BUT, today I have just complete a four-saturday introduction to beekeeping couse, and I'm so glad I did it. It has given me so much more confidence to know what I'm looking at (will be looking at) on hive inspections. I've always felt quite comfortable with the bees but not really sure what I was looking at/for. With hindsight, I'm quite pleased I had a bit of experience BEFORE doing the theory course. I got most of my stuff from Thornes/Fragile Planet, but wish I'd bought cedar hives as I now know it's a hobby I'll have for many years to come.

[audianne]

I've been considering beekeeping recently but there's this part of my brain which if desperately afraid of being stung and I know it's quite irrational considering the beesuit but I can't help it.

If I can overcome this, I'd love to have some homegrown honey to spread on toast.

Anne

[Bionic]

Anne,
I had never been stung in my life until I went to the bee keeping club where they were supposedly breeding placid bees. 
I was stung on the hand and boy did it hurt.  Having said that it wasn't enough to put me off.  I think the fear of being stung was worse than the actial event.

Having our own hive is very interesting and both me and OH loved to spend time just sitting and watching the comings and goings. Unfortunately we lost the bees last winter and didn't get another necleus as we are moving. We hope to start up again this coming spring and I can't wait.
Sally

[Laurieston]

Anne, Re Being Stung

I have been stung 4 times this year, twice when I accidently squashed one of the girls and she wasn't happy, the other two times when I brushed them off the frames so I could take them to be spun empty.  However, the point, I was given a tip that helped me no end.

When stung a bee leaves the poison sack with the sting in your arm/face/hand/whatever,  Our first instinct is to grab it and pull it out.  DON'T DO THIS.  Instead carefully brush it out, with your nail or even hive tool.  Grabbing it means that you pump any poison left in the sack into your body, while scraping it off does not.  Also, the sting leaves a scent mark for the next bee so that she too knows where to attack.  Making sure that this scent mark is removed will make you less attractive to the next bee.  My mentor washes his hands with vinegar before starting work, he says it helps.  I washed my stings with vinegar as this changed the scent. 

And I too found that my fear was actually greater than the reality of being stung.  Next year I will be more confident.  I blame films from my childhood such as Swarm and those Killer Bees.  Maybe there is also something deeply instinctive, some survival instinct from many thousands of years ago....  Who knows...

Happy Beeing

Laurieston