Last Year I Started Beekeeping - So Exciting

Orpy Lady

In the Brooder
10 Years
Feb 11, 2009
92
1
29
I found that you are never too old in life to start a new hobby.

Last year I decided to keep bees and joined a bee club and before you knew it I was off getting this and that and now have two hives of bees! The enjoyment and satisfaction of eating your own honey and knowing where it comes from is very rewarding.
The bees are very gentle and I do not need to smoke them much when I take away the frames of honey for the extraction thereof.
At the moment as it is our winter over here, I am feeding them with fondant to help them keep happy and well fed in the hive for the spring flowers which hopefully will start in February.

Has anybody else got bees as I am learning all the while and need more information and each week I learn as much as I can to help my bees.
Sandy

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I need to buy a hive. I'm new to this, for the frames, do I just need one deep and one shallow?

I started with 2 deeps for brood boxes for each hive.

Some folks start with 3 mediums for brood boxes.

I will tell you that if you have any back or shoulder problems I would go with the mediums instead of the deeps, because of the weight.

Another thing is with all mediums you don't have to inventory all the different components for all the different types of supers.

Around here, I don't know of any one that uses shallow supers for honey production.

As far as I have seen, they all use mediums.
 
Wow, never would have thought about baking fondant. I gave the bees the 2 to 1 sugar water so they can get It packed away in the comb before winter.
So, once it really cools down, switch to fondant. Then in jan/feb, switch to pollen patties to stimulate brood rearing.
There is so much to learn! Do you even feed established hives? Or is this just a first year thing? Just curious.

You feed the hives that need a little extra to get them through the winter. They could be new hives or ones that you have had for years. Not all hives will need fed.
 
I've decided to go with the top bar hives too. Last week I started looking into them on line and garnered most of my information from the sites maintained by Philip Chandler, The Barefoot Beekeeper, and Christy Hemenway of Gold Star Honeybees. I was able to learn enough from their offerings to draw up my own plan and build my own from scratch. I even figured out how to cut the beveled point top bars on a table saw. I had enough materials on hand to build the first and get a good start on the second. I had to buy a couple of 1X12s and some misc. hardware as well as the glass for the observation windows to complete them, but I figure my total expenditure for two/thirty bar hives will come in at under $100. Here's some pix of the first. I haven't drilled the entrance holes yet, or painted the top. Now for the long wait till next spring when I can populate them.





Nice!
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That is fantastic. I don't have bees but am planning to get some so am trying to learn everything I can. I will be watching your thread. I think there are a few other old bee threads on BYC somewhere.
 
I have wanted bee's for a while now but things have gotten in the way. I am hoping to get them this spring. I will be watching your thread also.
 
Welcome to beekeeping, it's a lot of fun.

I've been keeping bees for 20 years or so. I got my initial start with a commercial beekeeper and ran bees from Michigan to Florida and back again. I also belong to a local club to keep up on new developments.

This will be a rebuilding year for me.
 
I hope to get my first bees this year. The beekeepers meeting is tonight. Hoping I can make it! My wife works with someone whos father keeps bees. Trying to get him to "show me the ropes". I'm really looking forward to it.
 

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