beekeeping only for rich folks?

[Sir Quej]

Onymee & Phil

Join your local association. Mine sell NEW equipment VERY cheap. My first hive ( a cedar deep national) cost me at most £150 for the fill hive.

To be honest though, I make my own now. I'm no carpenter and the hives arent good enought to sell or anything but the bees appear to have been fine in them this year and thats whats important.

It costs me about £40 to make a new hive with two supers and a deep lid. Bee keeping really doesnt need to be expensive and b&q cut the wood for me. Most b&q's have a cutting service available. You just give them the measurements and they cut a sheets of plywood for you.

Good luck

 

[Chris B]

A poly Langstroth will not cost you £300. You should be able to get the whole hive together with frames, foundation, supers feeder etc. for £150 or less. I know of at least 3 different manufacturers, all continental Europe but easily bought from the UK. (Swie*ty, Parad*se, Lys*n).

Yes 2 hives are better than one but you could wait until year 2 for the second.

Protective clothing, smoker, hive tool will also set you back £100 or so.

Bees are free if you catch a swarm but replacing the queen in the autumn with one bought from a good breeder is a good investment.

If you do it right you can generate an income of £200 upwards per hive per year so that needs to be weighed against costs.

 

[Headnavigator]

Don't worry to much about the price of bees, you can get them free from your local association by going on there swarm collectors/receivers list.

Really? How many Assocs still give bees to new members for free?

 

[Dishmop]

I've spent the last 2 years researching, reading, speaking to beekeepers etc

also you say as a reply to Rab that there are beekeepers nearby, one of which is your best friend...

surely you could ask if they have any spare equipment for you to borrow on the grounds that if you dont like beekeeping they can have the stuff back?

 

[Hivemaker.]

..

also you say as a reply to Rab that there are beekeepers nearby, one of which is your best friend...

One of the friendliest is in Outwell near my best friend.

 

[Dishmop]

Oh damn. Wrong again.... Three strikes and I'm out?

Anyway, I think the same sort of thing applies...

Crawl on knees to other beeks and get on their nerves until they remember that they have some old bits in the barn.

 

[phil edwards]

Cheers just interested in the prices that's all i am about to start building my own hives having got the materials together and the price of a second hand car over hear is more then one in the UK but hives are a lot cheaper.

 

[alanf]

Really? How many Assocs still give bees to new members for free?

Many around here. Any swarms reported to the local association that don't have a clear origin are made available to members who do not yet have their own bees. The swarm collection service is a good neighbours thing and an opportunity for a bit of public education. As I recall, that covered 20 or more swarms last year. There was even a message asking if anyone else could offer hive room to swarms as everyone on the list had one. There may be a correx box and any frames they have been given to pay for but no other charges. Maybe not from the first choice breeding stock, it's pot luck, but they are a way to get started at minimal cost.

 

[itma]

A self assembly hive in the sales can be had for £80/90.

Yes, but you'd still need to add all the frames and foundation ...

That budget should get 2nd National stand, floor, brood, qx, 2x supers, coverboard and roof in T's sale.

If you know of a better deal, don't keep it to yourself!

 

[itma]

Many around here. Any swarms reported to the local association that don't have a clear origin are made available to members who do not yet have their own bees. ... There may be a correx box and any frames they have been given to pay for but no other charges. Maybe not from the first choice breeding stock, it's pot luck, but they are a way to get started at minimal cost.

A notional contribution to petrol costs is not unusual.
But yes, pretty close to free.

 

[Easy Beesy]

Really? How many Assocs still give bees to new members for free?

And ours will not allow you on their swarm collectors list until you have passed you basic. Sensible idea, I thought.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Is a swarm the best way for a beginner to get bees?

 

[Finman]

Is a swarm the best way for a beginner to get bees?

when I started beekeeping I bought all swarms what I met. I joined them so that they occupyed 2 langstroth boxes. It was 4 kg bees.

I got soon strong hives which brought on average 40 kg honey. They drew 3 boxes foundations too each hive in first summer. It was easy start and I got soon money back.

To keep half box swarms is mere nuisance. One box is minimum but it is slow and do not give honey.

All those swarms were German Blacks

 

[Sir Quej]

I only started the hobby last year so dont take my word as gospel but I dont see any issues with starting with a swarm.

When I started last year, I bought a Nuc for £150 from my association. I then later went out and collected 4 swarms, which became 2 strong colonies.

Tbh, the weakest, most aggressive colony I have is the one that I bought. I'm not saying the colony is mega aggressive but it is a little more so than the other two, which were made from swarms.

The point I'm trying to make is that it IS pot luck with swarms but can also be with bought bees. You have to remember that a swarm is only bunch of bees that has just left someone elses hive? It's not like youre getting ferral wild bees or anything. It's just the same as someone carrying out an artificial swarm and then giving you the bees.

 

[itma]

Is a swarm the best way for a beginner to get bees?

Its probably the cheapest -- which is important when cash is tight! Seemingly very important, in the context of this thread.

Since its pot luck as to what the traits and genetics might be, it may well turn out that the swarm queen might not be a 'keeper'. But a replacement queen is still going to be much cheaper than a nuc, let alone a full colony.
There's an obvious likelihood of a 'swarmy nature', but if nothing else, that is going to be good training in swarm control!
And if things don't work out, well, the investment has been in learning rather than stock.

 

[onymee]

many grateful thanks to all the wonderful suggestions. I was going to reply to everyone and multi quote but that seemed somehow impolite. I am really not a person who enjoys groups and associations. I'm a grumpy old beggar really. For decades I was a smallholder and never once joined the local smallholders association. I do have the skills to fangle a top bar hive, and probably the timber needed too. I have a very comprehensive toolkit. As years went by, and bits of me started to stop working as it used to work, I bought tools to enable me to carry on doing stuff. I once even built a huge aviary block by myself, and all my poultry houses. I love the idea of a poly hive with plastic frames so might just visit the site suggested and buy one, and then build myself a top bar hive too. Who says that a girl has to only have one style of hive? It goes against the female mind you know, like having only one style of shoe.<shudders at the thought>
The beekeeping for me is less amount large amounts of honey and more about learning about a new species and interacting with them. This old dear even keeps pet cockroaches and finds them fascinating.I may be old and bits may be falling off but I'm not ready to sit on my rear end muttering "poor me, I can't do anything". The beekeeper near my best friend is a mine of knowledge and offered to make and sell me a national hive at the normal rate, £200 ish. He has to make a living and I understand this. Not many are like me who give things away.
Last year on ebay I saw some swarm lures listed and it just appealed to me that I'd get a hive (or two) and tried to lure a swarm. This is probably not the way for a novice to get bees but I thought I'd give it a go, then perhaps buy a nuc when I've seen who's got what breed and how they are and what I take to. The chap in Outwell had some bees which seemed nice and docile but his nuc's were again £150+ and again, I understand that he has to make a living and if I had that money spare, I'd buy some from him. I already have a boilersuit with elasticated cuffs, and some gloves. I can easily buy a hat and veil and the bits and bobs needed to start.
I am determined to have bees this year. I can remember in the olden days at school, there were bees kept and us kids learned to care for them, extract the honey in a centrifuge etc but that was a long time ago.
I am so pleased that the members of this forum are friendly and helpful. So many forums seemed filled with in fighting and backbiting (much as a lot of clubs and associations are).
If I can reciprocate in any way with advice about dogs and dog care (am a behaviourist), poultry keeping etc, then I will be happy to do so.

 

[onymee]

Southdown bee farm has a sale at the moment, selling complete poly Langstroths with a full set of plastic frames for a little more than £150.

It isn't 'cheap' (when compared to making your own using plywood), but it's a good hive and if you treat it well will last you for years.

You can't make your own poly hive because the density of the material is completely different, although some people (me included) have made bait hives (for attracting swarms) from polystyrene broccoli boxes and some people in the US have made the bait hives from cool boxes.

If you do a search through DerekM's posts, and look at the pictures in his gallery, you'll see that he's made his own hives from insulation board. http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/member.php?u=6228

Many thanks, lots of ideas which appeal to me. I particularly like the poly broc box idea as I plan to lure a swarm initially (just to see if I can)

 

[ratcatcher]

Really? How many Assocs still give bees to new members for free?

joining my local club, I had the mick taken for being a "top bar man" yet within 2 weeks had a call from the chairman on a swarm, by the 4th week I was given info on an allotment site that wanted bees, which is now my 1st out apiary, and now, Ive been asked by the club to become under manager of the clubs apiary, and adding top bar hives to it, I think each club must differ

Is a swarm the best way for a beginner to get bees?

of course, rather than paying for bees in a box, your actually getting out there and collecting the bees yourself, maybe with help from a mentor, but your still getting your hands into a few thousand bees, it certainly made me feel they were really mine

 

[alanf]

Yes, but you'd still need to add all the frames and foundation ...

That budget should get 2nd National stand, floor, brood, qx, 2x supers, coverboard and roof in T's sale.

If you know of a better deal, don't keep it to yourself!

Ply doesn't feature in everyone's plans and the rest of the kit is basic but if you're shopping entirely on price Frag1le Pl4net do a ply hive for 55 quid. Order 2 (split with another beginner?) and delivery is included. They do a small discount for associations - net cost 50 quid? National mesh floor plus block, deep brood, 2 shallow supers, galv sheet QX, correx cover board, porter escapes and reclaimed ali sheet covered gable roof. Fifty quid per hive delivered.

No frames or foundation and FP are not the cheapest for those. While other sales are on you could kit out your two hives and have frames and wax spare for just over 100. Glue and fence paint would be useful additions for external weatherproofing. Sale prices for a smock, smoker and hive tool and that's a two hive starter kit for around 250 or two beginners on their way for 150 each.

I'm not claiming that you would have top quality kit in any department by the way. Nor disputing that it is cheaper recycling wood, using top bars or if you're into woodworking from scratch. There's still a fair amount to do assembling but as a pre cut kit the only tool you really need is a hammer. About the cheapest way to get started using the format that most of the people in your local association are likely to be familiar with.

 

[Pete D]

Hi Onymee,
I live about 10 miles from you and am a member of Kings Lynn beekeeping association. WWW.WNKLBA.CO.UK, on 26th May they are holding a beekeepers car boot on Sunday morning at 10.30. There may well be an assortment of secondhand stuff available a long with bees, everything will be cleaned and the bees will have been inspected prior to sale. Its a car boot not an auction and everything will be priced and no doubt up for a haggle.
There will also be a demo on the day, general inspections, swarm control, making nuc's, whatever needs doing basically.
Its being held at my home apiary, come along and have a look.
They are a friendly bunch and have taster sessions throughout spring and summer along with a good training programme from beginners to General husbandry, the website has all the details including my contact details if you want to chat.
I gave away 4 swarms last year....... who knows this year.
Pete D