I just registered with the Department of Agriculture as a beekeeper. My bees come in May. I can't say how excited I am to eventually be able to make all my own mead from honey and berries produced on my own property.
Soon a Beekeeper
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Goofynewfie
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My father had bees when I was growing up, I sure do miss them. most beneficial and relaxing hobby out there IMO
JustinCider
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Whats the start-up cost to do this? I would google but I'm about to take off to the store?
I'm in Nova Scotia, so I don't know much about aquiring bees in any other province or in the States. The startup cost for me will be the cost of bees, which is about 150 bucks. I'm building my own hive - a warré hive - which anyone who knows how to use a handsaw and swing a hammer should be able to do with some scrap lumber. Here, we simply register with the Department of Agriculture and then go to it.
liquiditynerd
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krackin said:
Or a bee allergy!
Awesome verge. I figured you were canuk when you had to register, lol. We can have bees and chickens w/o the dept of AG. ( just messing with ya) apiaries are key to our agrian future, keep it up.
Hahaha yeah we can have chickens without registering too ... actually, I think you can have most any sort of livestock except bees. There have been massive campaigns to prevent bees from entering the province in order to keep out various diseases, and they've been pretty effective. There's really just one woman who oversees all the bee-keeping in the province, and she's terrific to work with. The registration is free and you just give name, number, address, and number of hives. Not very intrusive, or I probably wouldn't have filled it out. And after sending it in you get a nifty package of bee-keeping information and contacts, too.
And speaking of an agrarian future, I also have a small cider orchard, barley harvest, and hop garden in mind...
And speaking of an agrarian future, I also have a small cider orchard, barley harvest, and hop garden in mind...
Its area specific, search your local area for beekeepers associations, those folks can tell you what kind of equipment you need, where to get bees that can survive in your kind of climate. I have had honey from MI, it was very good, are you in an orchard area or wild area? WVMJ
jmureiko
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Verge said:
Glad to hear you're taking a simple, less conventional approach than the traditional langstroth hive. I've moved to the horizontal top bar hive for this year in my apiary. I'd be very interested to hear about your experience with the warre!
I'll be sure to post a review of my experiences! I'm not entirely sold on the rhetoric of the warré being the most sustainable hive, but I certainly agree with the abbé's argument that it's a low-maintenance and backyard-friendly approach to apiculture that is especially suited for beekeepers on a budget. I plan to read David Heaf and Phil Chandler's work on warré and other top-bar hives in the Spring, and perhaps they'll convince me of the other benefits. I'm a sucker for empirical evidence, so I'll probably only believe that the Warré is actually more sustainable (ie, does not promote problems with colonies to the extent a Langstroth does) after seeing the results of people who have conducted some real tests.
I always love undertaking new projects
jmureiko
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Verge said:I'll be sure to post a review of my experiences! I'm not entirely sold on the rhetoric of the warré being the most sustainable hive, but I certainly agree with the abbé's argument that it's a low-maintenance and backyard-friendly approach to apiculture that is especially suited for beekeepers on a budget. I plan to read David Heaf and Phil Chandler's work on warré and other top-bar hives in the Spring, and perhaps they'll convince me of the other benefits. I'm a sucker for empirical evidence, so I'll probably only believe that the Warré is actually more sustainable (ie, does not promote problems with colonies to the extent a Langstroth does) after seeing the results of people who have conducted some real tests.
I always love undertaking new projects
Phil chandlers book, The barefoot beekeeper, is a very worthwhile read on horizontal top bar hives.
Subbing. I'm working on convincing my wife we should move out of the city on the edge of the burbs and get a bigger house with a massive lot. With the massive lot comes tons of veggies and hopefully bee-keeping (of super-small proportions).
Anxious to see how the bees fare. Good luck!
Anxious to see how the bees fare. Good luck!
liquiditynerd
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Wow you are up there, eh? I'm from buffalo so I like ribbing y'all. I love the sounds of your plan. Were talking about doing something similar when we get out the south.
We actually have a great relationship with the dept of AG, the county and city. If you register your hives you get the 411 on pesticide spraying schedules and they'll actually avoid your hive. It also gets you hive assistance and monitoring. ( the good kind) our local beekeeper association has really coalesced.
Bonne chance
We actually have a great relationship with the dept of AG, the county and city. If you register your hives you get the 411 on pesticide spraying schedules and they'll actually avoid your hive. It also gets you hive assistance and monitoring. ( the good kind) our local beekeeper association has really coalesced.
Bonne chance
Subbing. I'm working on convincing my wife we should move out of the city on the edge of the burbs and get a bigger house with a massive lot. With the massive lot comes tons of veggies and hopefully bee-keeping (of super-small proportions).
Anxious to see how the bees fare. Good luck!
Thanks! And I think that's a great idea. Growing my own food is one of my greatest pleasures.
Merci
I've secretly also got US Citizenship, but I don't spread it around too much... Thats why my grandfather sold his hives.
I wish this was the case for me. That would pay for the bees, hive, and still give me a bit of cash left over to buy some celebratory malt.
I think Top Bar Hive Beekeeping by Wyatt Magnum who writes for the American Beekeepers Jounrnal is a lot better and not full of so much rhetoric as Phils book. WVMJ
DeviantBee
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TBH are probably the cheapest to start from a material aspect, but it almost requires you to buy a package of bees. Also, you have to crush/strain your comb. This makes for good wax/honey but your bees have to work harder for you.
If you go with a standard langstroth, you can get a nuc from an established colony. That is sometimes easier than starting with a package.
I'm in TN, I have roughly 30-40 hives depending how many make out of the winter. I've been keeping bees about 4 years, but I just started my first batch of mead 2 weeks ago. Will trade bee advice for mead advice. *grins*
If you go with a standard langstroth, you can get a nuc from an established colony. That is sometimes easier than starting with a package.
I'm in TN, I have roughly 30-40 hives depending how many make out of the winter. I've been keeping bees about 4 years, but I just started my first batch of mead 2 weeks ago. Will trade bee advice for mead advice. *grins*
MannLake is selling top bar hives now, their top bars are the same length as Langs and they sell the bars separately. As for package vs nucs you can usually get packages cheaper and sooner than nucs unless you can get overwintered nucs. We plan on having or nucs that are set up in lang boxes start top hive bars comb to give the nucs something to do besides get ready to swarm. As far as the bees working harder, yep, but they beeswax is only 1 season old and so the theory goes wont have a lot of contaminants in it. We also are using foundationless in our Langs, just pull the frame, cut it out and crush it in a winepress. Yes, a wine press does a good job of extracting honey from comb. WVMJ
Join a local club for great info. Ours is 15.00 a year and includes being able to borrow the exctractor well worth it.
Definetly register your bees. The updates and info provided are well worth it and keep your bees healthier in the long run. New problems are coming all the time, small hive beetle is the latest
2 hives with enough supers for the first season,2 suits, smoker, gloves, hive tools feeders for the sugar syrup to get them started ect (no extractor) will probably add up to 100-1500. Thats with putting stuff together yourself
Here you should get about 100 lbs a hive though not so much the first year. Recommend 2 hives to compare as one should be "normal"
Have fun!
Definetly register your bees. The updates and info provided are well worth it and keep your bees healthier in the long run. New problems are coming all the time, small hive beetle is the latest
2 hives with enough supers for the first season,2 suits, smoker, gloves, hive tools feeders for the sugar syrup to get them started ect (no extractor) will probably add up to 100-1500. Thats with putting stuff together yourself
Here you should get about 100 lbs a hive though not so much the first year. Recommend 2 hives to compare as one should be "normal"
Have fun!
Thanks for all the advice. I'll also order in Magnum's book, in addition to Phil's. I don't mind rhetoric so much.
I'm getting my bees in a 4-frame nuc, which means I have to make a conversion box (although there are other options) to get them into my Warré hive. While I'm not adverse to the Langstroths, I would prefer to attempt my first bee-keeping with the minimal amount of equipment necessary, and I really like the idea of being able to build and repair my own hives.
When I go to get my bees, the bee-keeper has agreed to show me around his apiary and give me whatever advice he can, so hopefully I'll get a little introduction to Langstroths right there.
Can't wait for some mead
I'm getting my bees in a 4-frame nuc, which means I have to make a conversion box (although there are other options) to get them into my Warré hive. While I'm not adverse to the Langstroths, I would prefer to attempt my first bee-keeping with the minimal amount of equipment necessary, and I really like the idea of being able to build and repair my own hives.
When I go to get my bees, the bee-keeper has agreed to show me around his apiary and give me whatever advice he can, so hopefully I'll get a little introduction to Langstroths right there.
Can't wait for some mead
jmureiko
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Verge said:Thanks for all the advice. I'll also order in Magnum's book, in addition to Phil's. I don't mind rhetoric so much.
I'm getting my bees in a 4-frame nuc, which means I have to make a conversion box (although there are other options) to get them into my Warré hive. While I'm not adverse to the Langstroths, I would prefer to attempt my first bee-keeping with the minimal amount of equipment necessary, and I really like the idea of being able to build and repair my own hives.
When I go to get my bees, the bee-keeper has agreed to show me around his apiary and give me whatever advice he can, so hopefully I'll get a little introduction to Langstroths right there.
Can't wait for some mead
Good luck! Can't wait to hear more!
stinkmuis
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good luck!! but watch out its like drugs. You just cant get enough of beekeeping. In 2 years i went from 2 hives to 8 hives
What kind of hive do you guys use? WVMJ
good luck!! but watch out its like drugs. You just cant get enough of beekeeping. In 2 years i went from 2 hives to 8 hives
Regular lang.whatist. Means can easily run to the store to buy new supers, or to try comb honey boxes ....
Everything is in pieces (cheaper) but all standard size.
Being able to change boxes between hives is important as one will be stronger than the other and might need more supers. Or you might need to swap put a bottom board to repaint it, fix it and it is easy if everything is the same!
Everything is in pieces (cheaper) but all standard size.
Being able to change boxes between hives is important as one will be stronger than the other and might need more supers. Or you might need to swap put a bottom board to repaint it, fix it and it is easy if everything is the same!
stinkmuis
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I use the regular ones with 11 frames. Buy them second hand and restore them. easy to swap parts, honey supers and frames between them
Also i have a few 6 frame boxes ad hand for catching swarms or split and start up new hives. They look like this ( picture taken by a nearby beekeeper)
Also i have a few 6 frame boxes ad hand for catching swarms or split and start up new hives. They look like this ( picture taken by a nearby beekeeper)
woknblues
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Jealous guy here.
True story: I had the space and everything to do it. Got a bunch of obscure and neat/rare books on beekeeping and read up for 6 months. Around this time I see an ad that some widow is GIVING AWAY her husbands beekeeping equipment, local pick up only, right around the corner from me. I call them up and its legit, a 10 or 12 hive full blown set up, probably worth $1000+ IIRC. She didn't care about the money, and really just wanted someone who was interested to enjoy, and to drop off a jar of honey every year so she could remember her husband's hobby. Also around this time, I had just started seeing this girl a month or two prior to all this. On the day I am going out to get the hives, I tell her casually what I am about to do. There is a silence over the phone, and then she tells me that she has had three anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, the first requiring an ER visit, and the other two with an epi-pen. Her throat closes in about 2 minutes.
10 years later, we are married with kids. No bees.
True story: I had the space and everything to do it. Got a bunch of obscure and neat/rare books on beekeeping and read up for 6 months. Around this time I see an ad that some widow is GIVING AWAY her husbands beekeeping equipment, local pick up only, right around the corner from me. I call them up and its legit, a 10 or 12 hive full blown set up, probably worth $1000+ IIRC. She didn't care about the money, and really just wanted someone who was interested to enjoy, and to drop off a jar of honey every year so she could remember her husband's hobby. Also around this time, I had just started seeing this girl a month or two prior to all this. On the day I am going out to get the hives, I tell her casually what I am about to do. There is a silence over the phone, and then she tells me that she has had three anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, the first requiring an ER visit, and the other two with an epi-pen. Her throat closes in about 2 minutes.
10 years later, we are married with kids. No bees.
So you're saying the next time this deal comes along you are getting a divorce?
