Long time lurker finally signed up.

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Heh, I was a long time lurker on here too, but now I'm a true addict, out in the open. I just didn't think I had much to say at first because so many folks on here are so informative, they always had it handled.
I found this by googling questions I had to my chicken keeping hobby, the answer was always found here. Finally I stuck around and read alot before I signed up.

We have learned alot and I think avoided alot of mistakes by reading about different experiences as we were new to chickens, goats and country living (transplanted city folk).

My husband is quite interested in beekeeping as we would love to have the honey and the wax. I'd love to hear more about it. Do we already have a beekeeping thread? If not you should start one. I've been educating myself lately on BYC, BYH and SS and can't believe how great everyone on here is!

Welcome!
 
Thanks everyone for being so welcoming.
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Arin the chicken lady: I'll have to check and see if there is a beekeeping thread, if not I may just have to start one. If you have any specific beekeeping questions, don't hesitate to ask me. I am still able to surprise myself with how much I really do know about bees.
 
We are on a budget so we are wanting to know how to get started cheap, and what we need to have to get started. We live in a forested area and have secluded sections ideal for keeping the bees, because we have a shed and road down to that area but don't use it much otherwise.

I want the wax to add to my soap making and I drink alot of honey in tea for my allergies.

We are very interested in keeping the bees under control as I am allergic to bees. My husband will be doing the handling however.
 
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Getting started in beekeeping cheap, eh?
Is your husband good at woodworking?
---If so, he could build the hive equipment cheaper than you can buy it. I don't even bother painting my hives anymore. So you can save some time and money building them and skipping the painting.
Are there bears in the forests near you?
---Bears love to tear apart hives and eat the honey and brood (baby bees). They can decimate quite a few hives in a very small amount of time. I've heard of them wiping out entire bee yards. If you have bears, a good electric fence is a must!

Here is a list of things you will need:
Bees (obviously)
Bee Suit (with hat and veil)
---I prefer the bee suits that have a zippered veil (the veil zippers onto the suit).
Smoker
---You can use just about anything for fuel (small branches/twine/etc)
Hive tool
---buy two if you can. You never know when you'll lose one. I have three.
Hives and Supers
---Building your own is cheap, plans are on www.beesource.com
Frames for your boxes
---10 per box
Queen excluder?
---not required, but highly recommended. Plastic ones are cheap. I use plastic ones.

Extracting Options: Extractors are nice to have, but you don't necessarily need one.
(1) If you can find another beekeeper in your area, you may be able to talk them into extracting for you. For a small fee of course.
(2) My first year I used plastic frames and scooped out the honey and wax with a spoon. I drained it through a screen to filter the honey from the wax. Extremely messy, but very cheap.
(3) You could do all cut-comb honey. Comb Honey sells for a lot of money! No need for an extractor, but its time consuming and messy to cut comb honey. Not sure if this would work for you, as you said you wanted the honey and wax.

I'll have to expand on this later, but its a start. I think I got most everything though. Hope it helps.
 
A big Texas size and VERY belated
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I hope you had a wonderful Christmas .. and Happy New Year!
 

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