I started my beekeeping class last night at the Wheaton Park District. There were about 20 people in the class and the instructor said the class was full in early December. I had heard the waiting list was at least 10 deep at one point. Many of the folks were around my age and there was a good mix of women and men. Most of the men were my age or a little older and probably going through the same midlife crisis as me. Many introduced themselves as wanting to learn about bees because it compliments their life goals of moving to a farm and living the “simple life”. I got the impression that at least half were only recently interested, primarily due to the “green movement”. Nothing wrong with that…at least something good is coming out of it.
The instructor, Charles Lorence (picture left), is full of 30+ years of beekeeping knowledge and has a great personality. The class should be entertaining and informative. He showed us a “turn key” hive setup built by a local craftsman Chris Saad (Wayne, IL). I got an up close view of the parts and they look to be excellently put together. I’m no stranger to quality wood work and Chris looks like he puts his heart and soul into these boxes. They are not “custom” per say as many of the parts come from Dadant. But they have been expertly put together and any low quality components from Dadant have been replaced by Chris. I’m sure I could put the pieces together myself, but the question is how much is 30 hours of my time worth?
Beekeeping isn’t a cheap hobby to get into, but neither is riding a Harley or ham radio or even gardening. Using the Dadant catalog, the Brushy Mountain catalog and Chris’ prices I’ve scoped out what I’m going to need to just get started. This doesn’t include the bees, medicine, sugar feeders, honey extraction or extras. Just the basics.
- [$292 ] – Complete “Woodenware” Hive from Honey Trails / Chris Saad
- [ $55.50 ] – (3) 6 5/8″ Medium Super (for Hive Body on the recommendation of GardenFork.tv)
- [ $37 ] – (2) 6 5/8″ Medium Super (for honey production)
- [ $135 ] – (5) 6 1/4″ Grooved Top Bar Frame (/w beeswax coated plasticell foundation)
- [ $25 ] – Cedar Varroa Screened Bottom Board
- [ $22 ] – Tele Cover with custom Aluminum Top
- [ $8 ] – Inner Cover
- [ $2.50 ] – Universal Entrance Reducer (mouse proof)
- [ $7 ] – Metal Bound Queen Excluder
- Fully painted with high quality oil based primer and semi-gloss latex white paint.
- [ $22 ] – (1 Extra) Tele Cover with custom Aluminum Top [ used during honey collection ]
- [ $36 ] – 4×7 Stainless Steel Smoker with Shield (Dadant)
- [ $8 ] – Painted Hive Tool (Dadant)
- [ $5 ] – Bee Brush (Dadant)
- [ $19 ] – Frame Spacing Tool (Dadant)
- [ $47 ] – XL Hat-Veil Combo with Zippered Jacket (Dadant) [recommendation of GardenFork.tv]
- [ $11 ] – Fume Board (Dadant)
- [ $14 ] – Bee Quick (Dadant) [used during honey collection]
- [ $5 ] – Blue nitrile gloves [recommendation of GardenFork.tv]
- [ $5 ] – Good quality spray bottle (for when you hive your new bee package)
- [ $6 ] – Terramycin (Brushy Mountain) [medicine]
- [ $18 ] – Fumagilin-B (Brushy Mountain) [medicine]
- [ $20 ] – Hive Top Feeder (Brushy Mountain)
- [ $25 ] – MegaBee Prepared Pollen Patties (Brushy Mountain)
Total StartUp Costs: $450 + shipping/tax
When everything is said and done it will probably be closer to $550 by the time the bees arrive in April. (It better not be late April..I’m scheduled to go storm chasing in late April). Probably more like $650 after I buy a spare veil and a “kids outfit” so the girls can help. Then probably another couple hundred in fall during honey extraction. But after the initial investment you only need to pay for new queens and bees (if they die) and supplies.
[note: Yes yes, I know some of the stuff above isn't technically needed but for someone who has never raised bees before or worked around bees it's the minimum. Technically all you need is a Veil. Technically all you need to play football is a ball. ]
“primarily due to the “green movement”. Nothing wrong with that…at least something good is coming out of it.”
love that one.
we just finished our first year of beekeeping, and here’s what i’ve learned:
• the hand crafted hive parts are not necessary. all my woodenware is from a supplier and it is all good and works well. the bees will use propolis to seal up any gaps they dont like, and they will use it to coat all sorts of stuff inside the hive. i think the most important thing is to paint them well. don’t paint the insides of the hive bodies.
• the assembly of all this is easy, it just takes time. a nail gun or brad nailer is handy.
• you don’t need the heavy duty gloves. I use those blue nitrile gloves, they allow you to have much better feel, and i have not been stung thru the gloves. car mechanics use these gloves. a friend of mine has those big gloves, and after he worked with me once and saw the blue gloves, he now uses them.
• instead of a separate veil and coveralls, i’d suggest a veil jacket combo, and the round veils have better visibility, no blind spots.
• for people who want to come watch, i have a few simple mosquito veils you can buy at camping stores. this allows people to stand right at the hive and watch. the visitors need to wear long sleeve shirts and tuck their pants into their socks, just like i do when i work the hive. Your visitors, or family are not going to get stung unless they do something to aggravate the bees, like step on them. ( i have done this )
• i use all medium supers, or hive bodies, which are the 6 5/8 height ones. The regular supers, or hive bodies, are real heavy when they are full of bees, pollen, brood, and honey. I have a back injury, and even the mediums, when full of honey are quite heavy.
for the brood, i use 3 medium supers in place of the 2 large supers.
• plastic frame foundation is one of those things that people have many opinions about. I use wax foundation for the brood supers, and plastic foundation for the honey supers. This system has worked well.
• i suggest a screened bottom board with a wood slide that can be put under the screen, this allows mite counts and allows you to close up the hive in winter. You want some air flow, but the wood slide will allow that.
just my 2 cents here, others will have completely different thoughts.. thx, eric.
i thought of a few more thoughts here..
you will need a sugar feeder right away. when you hive the package, the bees will be without any food supplies nor any honeycomb. they have a lot of work to do rigth away, and you need to provide them with food until they get the hive set up.
as soon as you hive the package and put on the supers, put the sugar feeder on top of the super. drizzle a little of the sugar syrup down into the supers so the bees can follow it up to the feeder.
there are many styles of sugar feeders, and i’ve found you will get some drowned bees in your feeder. ( bees can’t swim )
When you are pouring the syrup into the feeder, you will get some bees flying around you and some may land in the syrup. lift them out with your hive tool.
the top mount sugar feeders with wood floaters in them work best, i’ve found. i don’t have these kind, and i get drowned bees when i use the feeder.
for honey extraction, we borrow an extractor from a beekeeper in a nearby town. you’ll only use this a few times a year, and if a neighbor already has one, ask. its proper to return the extractor cleaned, and with a jar of your honey.
use the money instead to come visit your aging mother….the bees can wait…..AND I’ll buy any jar of honey you want…
The bees and the girls will be waiting for you.
What do you do with the bees in the winter? I know it gets too cold to keep them outside, but any building you put them in would have to be pretty special.
actually they do just fine in the winter. If you take their honey you have to supplement their food with sugar water (or “candy”). You can give them a bit of help by insulating the hive with a cardboard box. All those bees in your garden? They arn’t all from beekeepers.