Pinckney
Songster
I did bees 2 years ago. Lots of work and expensive ($500-600?)! I went to a local bee school to learn as I went. It’s pretty fascinating when you dive into your hive. Start with 2 hives as you will probably lose one- $150ish each, you can buy packages (kind of like a box of loose bees) or already in kind of a mini/box hive with frames. These sell out soon so you’ll need to find your source and pre-pay. My instructor did not recommend the top bar, but I think that may have been from an equipment perspective? Not sure why people think the traditional hive is fancy??? There are some wonderful traditional decorations different cultures have added to them-the Hungarians in particular.
If you can find an experienced bee keeper and work for them for a season you’ll not make the expensive mistakes most make.
There is a bee conference in Kalamazoo MI in February that is supposed to be really good. I think they may sell bees too? The supplier matters! My local feed store is selling bees now but no idea where they are from.
If you can find an experienced bee keeper and work for them for a season you’ll not make the expensive mistakes most make.
There is a bee conference in Kalamazoo MI in February that is supposed to be really good. I think they may sell bees too? The supplier matters! My local feed store is selling bees now but no idea where they are from.