I want to start bee keeping! I want my own honey!

[Kennas_Kritters]

I am on a mission to be as self sufficient as possible so this means I am growing my own veggies/fruit and raising my own meat chickens. I have made the decision I would like to start a bee hive on the other side of our 5 acres. I know I will have to get a bee suit but I want to try to make the boxes myself at home but I don't know what kind of style I want to make. I see some on the internet that are all fancy and have all kinds of different grooves and stuff in them and then there are some that are plain. I was hoping I could get some good ideas here. I need something that will make honey collecting easy. Please share pictures of your setups! I also need to know the best plants and stuff to attract honey bees. Thanks! I'm a newbie at this.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

Bee balm, Black eyed suzan, and red clover are good plants for honeybees. I also have an enormous russian sage out front and the bees go wild for it.

 

[McChooky]

Bee balm, Black eyed suzan, and red clover are good plants for honeybees. I also have an enormous russian sage out front and the bees go wild for it.

Love your Cat vs Chicken Avatar!

 

[the_peanut_coop]

Love your Cat vs Chicken Avatar!

Thanks!

 

[Pettycoat Prepper]

I keep bees. It’s the only hobby where you wear a full body suit with leather elbow length gloves, hat and face covering in 100°F temperatures while lifting between 20-80 pounds of weight for about 30 minutes per hive

You will want your apiary close enough to monitor as you should check them every other week, 15-30 minutes probably. You’ll want an area with morning sun and dappled shade in the afternoons, plus a water source nearby.

There are several ways to house them, do your research now and plan for next year. I buy my products from Mann lake. There’s a couple of good YouTube folk for additional information. Check and see if you’ve a local club to join as well. It’s late in the season to start now but a great time to begin learning.