Shopping List

[hemo]

Plastic Q clips are useless , toos trong and accidently drop one and invariable they break, the metal ones are much better with a weaker spring. I use a metal one for capturing wasps in the hosue to release and for workers when a few may end up in the porch having escaped any supers when transfered to home.

 

[ericbeaumont]

start beekeeping this year and currently completing a course

What advice have you received so far with regard to equipment?

 

[blackcloud]

A small bottle ,with appropriate warning label,of cold brutality.
Sparingly applied to the lesser queens.
Your two hives can easily become four,then eight ,sixteen........and thats without incoming swarmage.
I need to get some this year.

 

[westawake90]

What advice have you received so far with regard to equipment?

national seems to be the verdict so far, and have done a lot of my own research and inquiring, decided to stick with nationals. was given a recommendation for lansgtroth but all nucs seem to be national that i can get,

 

[drex]

Another reason for choosing Nationals would be if it is predominant hive used in your association. Then you ccan borrow bits of gear

 

[Buzz Off]

And it never stops does it ?

There is always another bit of kit needed for some reason or another ... but try and avoid the 'must have' gadgets that get thrust in your direction. Avoid impulse buys unless it's something you know you wll need and a bargain. Make your lists:

1. Priority, you need it to get started.
2. What I will need eventually, short, medium and long term.
3. Nice to have but not essential.

Your lists will be very dependent upon where you envisage your beekeeping going ... is it going to be a 2 hive home operation or do you envisage it expanding and how far will you expand ?

It pays to be a bit DIY if you can - buying self assemble hives and frames saves a lot... it's not difficult to make your own floors, roofs and stands and that will save a lot. You can get by with salvaged timber and in some cases second hand items. It very much depends on the depth of your pockets ! It's not a cheap hobby in the early days but, once you have established your operation at the size you want and are prepared to put a few hours in then honey sales can generate enough revenue for it to be self funding ... some years !

You could be shopping every day. After year 2 the bees start producing some excess honey and they begin paying you back

 

[ericbeaumont]

national seems to be the verdict so far, and have done a lot of my own research and inquiring, decided to stick with nationals. was given a recommendation for lansgtroth but all nucs seem to be national that i can get,

• 2 complete national hives (aim to have brood box plus 3 supers on each)
• Bee suit
• Smoker
• Hive tool

From this info. it seems to me that you haven't been given much guidance or truth about the tsunami that will arrive in May and expose your shortage of kit.

The two factors that should dictate your first year shopping list are management of expansion and of swarming.

You are understandably unaware of the astonishing speed with which bees multiply in spring, and of the need for brood space to give the queen unlimited freedom to lay in the first half of the season. If you fail to absorb this, swarming is reasonably inevitable.

For this reason, one brood box ain't going to cut it. It doesn't matter if in spring you put 9 supers on top of that single BB, because the queen will still run out of space, the nest will be congested and on your next visit you'll find queen cells.

Buy another brood box + frames and double-brood the colony when the first box is strong.

Suppose that instead, you hope for the best and want to run just that single BB, but one day find QCs. What have you been taught to do? An artificial swarm? For that you will need another hive.

Buy another floor, brood box + frames, crownboard and roof.

Suppose that instead of the standard artificial swarm you wish to economise but achieve the same result. There are two options: a poly nuc box and a split board. A poly nuc will enable you to nuc the queen and manage the colony to prevent swarming. A split board will give you a vertical artificial swarm, like a block of flats, saving money and space.

Buy a poly nuc box and make a split board per colony.

To fill these boxes you'll need frames, gimp pins & a 4oz pein hammer to assemble, and wax foundation. Frames are best bought as seconds, saving money for virtually no loss in quality; 20x1mm Challenge gimps are the best so avoid the rest; the size of hammer is specific; buy frames and wax in bulk in advance of need.

For example, using the updated list above, you will now need 28-33 DN4 brood frames, but you will be wise to buy 50 or 100. Trust me, you will use them.

This extra kit will allow you to be flexible and responsive to colony development and to work ahead of the bees, but you can't give an extra box if you haven't bought one. Deflect or manage swarming and the bees will make honey and you money, but if you're slow off the mark and lose them, you'll make none.

A course at this time of year is of limited value: it involves a lot of sitting and talking and tea and not much that will prepare you for the reality, and a fair bit will have been forgotten by May. For this reason our association teaches in May only, and gets beginners into hives within the first half hour, because we believe that practical beekeeping will equip a beginner to begin to think like a bee and not go by the book.

Suppliers? For wood, top quality knot-free Western red cedar is a luxury the bees will ignore, and cheaper boxes made of knotty English cedar will do the job. For poly, go with an Abelo 11-frame set-up. Yes, there are other systems and suppliers of poly but unless you want to trawl here for hours and go mad, stick with Abelo, which is entirely compatible with cedar National.

You haven't mentioned queen excluders, feeders, gloves, fuel or hygiene.

QX: cheap plastic ones crush bees and get glued to top bars; wood-framed QXs are worth the money and include bee-space to avoid crushing.

Best feeder is the poly Abelo Ashforth, which is multi-purpose and can be used all year instead of a crownboard. Smaller feeders need repeat visits.

Gloves: don't start off with clumsy leather that are unhygienic and difficult to clean. Instead, use long cuff nitrile.

Fuel: get a lidded box and a stack of woodchip; use eggbox to start and a jet lighter (matches and ordinary lighters are no use in the slightest breeze). Keep all this dry.

Hygiene: you will need two lidded buckets. Fill one half full of water and add half a bag of washing soda. Use it to wash hive tools and gloves during hivework. Change the water mix when it gets light brown. The other bucket is for wax scraps, which are worth money and must never be dumped in the apiary. Wash your beesuit in washing soda regularly.

Lastly, blag or buy a shed.

 

[Swarm]

Great advice.

 

[westawake90]

From this info. it seems to me that you haven't been given much guidance or truth about the tsunami that will arrive in May and expose your shortage of kit.

The two factors that should dictate your first year shopping list are management of expansion and of swarming.

You are understandably unaware of the astonishing speed with which bees multiply in spring, and of the need for brood space to give the queen unlimited freedom to lay in the first half of the season. If you fail to absorb this, swarming is reasonably inevitable.

For this reason, one brood box ain't going to cut it. It doesn't matter if in spring you put 9 supers on top of that single BB, because the queen will still run out of space, the nest will be congested and on your next visit you'll find queen cells.

Buy another brood box + frames and double-brood the colony when the first box is strong.

Suppose that instead, you hope for the best and want to run just that single BB, but one day find QCs. What have you been taught to do? An artificial swarm? For that you will need another hive.

Buy another floor, brood box + frames, crownboard and roof.

Suppose that instead of the standard artificial swarm you wish to economise but achieve the same result. There are two options: a poly nuc box and a split board. A poly nuc will enable you to nuc the queen and manage the colony to prevent swarming. A split board will give you a vertical artificial swarm, like a block of flats, saving money and space.

Buy a poly nuc box and make a split board per colony.

To fill these boxes you'll need frames, gimp pins & a 4oz pein hammer to assemble, and wax foundation. Frames are best bought as seconds, saving money for virtually no loss in quality; 20x1mm Challenge gimps are the best so avoid the rest; the size of hammer is specific; buy frames and wax in bulk in advance of need.

For example, using the updated list above, you will now need 28-33 DN4 brood frames, but you will be wise to buy 50 or 100. Trust me, you will use them.

This extra kit will allow you to be flexible and responsive to colony development and to work ahead of the bees, but you can't give an extra box if you haven't bought one. Deflect or manage swarming and the bees will make honey and you money, but if you're slow off the mark and lose them, you'll make none.

A course at this time of year is of limited value: it involves a lot of sitting and talking and tea and not much that will prepare you for the reality, and a fair bit will have been forgotten by May. For this reason our association teaches in May only, and gets beginners into hives within the first half hour, because we believe that practical beekeeping will equip a beginner to begin to think like a bee and not go by the book.

Suppliers? For wood, top quality knot-free Western red cedar is a luxury the bees will ignore, and cheaper boxes made of knotty English cedar will do the job. For poly, go with an Abelo 11-frame set-up. Yes, there are other systems and suppliers of poly but unless you want to trawl here for hours and go mad, stick with Abelo, which is entirely compatible with cedar National.

You haven't mentioned queen excluders, feeders, gloves, fuel or hygiene.

QX: cheap plastic ones crush bees and get glued to top bars; wood-framed QXs are worth the money and include bee-space to avoid crushing.

Best feeder is the poly Abelo Ashforth, which is multi-purpose and can be used all year instead of a crownboard. Smaller feeders need repeat visits.

Gloves: don't start off with clumsy leather, are unhygienic and difficult to clean. Instead, use long cuff nitrile.

Fuel: get a lidded box and a stack of woodchip; use eggbox to start and a jet lighter (matches and ordinary lighters are no use in the slightest breeze). Keep all this dry.

Hygiene: you will need two lidded buckets. Fill one half full of water and add half a bag of washing soda. Use it to wash hive tools and gloves during hivework. Change the water mix when it gets light brown. The other bucket is for wax scraps, which are worth money and must never be dumped in the apiary. Wash your beesuit in washing soda regularly.

Lastly, blag or buy a shed.

Thanks very much for this advice. I should have been clearer in my original post that it will be April/May before i get nucs at this stage, also I have a fairly good workshop that I will be able to utilise to make up kit. Also in terms of feeders I was intending on going down the poly ashforth route given the range of options it allows.

From reading posts so far I need to be to be better set up for swarm management. Therefore I have gone about ordering additional frames (both DN4 and SN4 nationals). When the time comes to order my hives I think I will add in additional brood boxes (including required kit) and hopefully this will set me up better for swarm management. I also am going to attempt to make up floors with a UFE based on the design in this forum.