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Getting started in bee-keeping? Us too! Read about it here...

Our two hives when they were only one deep super tall! This is immediately after we installed our two packages and you can see that we left the cages beside the hives to allow any stragglers to find their way in! 

Well...Where to begin?

This being our first season as bee-keepers, there was a great deal to be learned! In the Spring, our first (and most difficult!) lesson was figuring out what we needed to get started...and more importantly how to put it all together! We found that there were many options out there (starter kits, various materials, different strategies on assembly, etc.). Here is what we found was needed to begin...and what I would recommend obtaining if you'd like to get started as a bee keeper!

Getting Started:

• 2 wooden "deep" boxes or "supers." These are the largest size of the three available. They come in 8-frame or 10-frame widths. We chose 8-frame only because these things get HEAVY when they're full! Full of honey, of course! 
• 2 wooden "medium" boxes or "supers." These are sometimes called honey supers, I believe, as they are intended to store honey while the brood (baby bees) are stored in the deep super(s) below. *These supers will require small amount of assembly--use no larger than 8 penny nails!! Larger will split the wood*
• A certain number of wooden "frames." These will be used to hold the sheets of honeycomb which the bees will use as a guide for building! These frames will be the heart of your hive, so to speak. They are where everything fun happens.  The number of frames you need and the size you need depends upon the size of the supers you purchase. The frames are made to fit perfectly into "medium" or "deep" supers. They will be labeled as such. You will need 8 or 10 frames for each of your supers (depending which width you have). It is very important that you keep the correct number of frames in each box, as the bees will fill in any opened spaces with lots of complicated (and messy) comb! This could be a problem. For the setup above (2 deep 8-frame supers, 2 medium 8-frame supers), you would need 16 medium frames and 16 deep frames. 
• Foundations (enough for all of your frames--and sized appropriately to match deeps and mediums). These are the sheets of honeycomb-pressed material which the bees will use as a platform for their own wax comb. They will begin "drawing out" comb on these sheets if all goes well! We needed 16 medium sheets and 16 deep sheets. Foundation seems to be a place where many bee-keepers have a difference of opinion! We prefer good old-fashioned 100% beeswax foundations (which are a pain....but worth it...sort of....). Here are your options: 
• 100% wax foundations (which require extensive amounts of extra work for you because of its flimsiness). Some prefer these because they believe the bees build better and prefer the wax to other materials. 
• Duragilt foundations (plastic that had been coated with wax, giving it more structure). Much easier! Slides right into your frames! You do, however, risk that your bees will not draw out comb on this or will not build as much/as well. 
• Plastic foundation (simply plastic with honey comb shape imprinted on it)
• There could be others....but i'm a novice, people! I don't know what they are!
• *These are things you ONLY need if you are using 100% wax foundations. You will need to do what is called "wiring" with your wax foundations. All it means is that you will strengthen the flimsy sheets of wax by threading wire back and forth under and on top of them in the frame. That way when they become heavy from honey/eggs/what have you, they will not cave in or tear. I will do a post about how do this down the road. However, here is what you will need! 
• A roll of wire (available at bee-keeping supply stores for this purpose)
• Wire cutters
• Needle nose pliars
• Tiny....and I mean Tiny....nails. They have to be small enough to be nailed into the side of your frames without sticking out the other side when hammered in! 
• Grommets (small metal rings which fit into the holes on the sides of the frame. They will stop the wire from cutting the soft wood of the frame when it is pulled tight. 
• Spur Embedding Tool: For gently pressing the wire into the foundations. If it sticks out, the bees are less inclined to build on it. You can see what it looks like here.
• Can you see why many people choose Duragilt yet!? This is a lot! However, we did find that our bees prefer building on 100% wax. 

Pressing the wire into the wax foundation using the spur embedder tool

• Bottom Board: The "foundation" of your hive. It sits underneath the bottom super and provides an entrance to the hive (for the bees, not you!). 
• Top Feeder: Box shaped feeder with two rectangular areas for bees to feed on sugar syrup which you will provide when needed. This is the same shape as the supers and will fit perfectly on top of them. You can remove it at times of year when you are not feeding (mid-end of summer). 
• Inner Cover: Just as it says, a flat cover which is the inside part of the two part cover on top of your hive. 
• Outer Cover: Sits over the inner cover, usually with an over-hang to prevent entrance of rain and usually metal to reflect sunlight off of the hive. 
• Cinderblocks: No one told us about this part. So I'm telling you! You will need 2-4 cinderblocks to place underneath your entire setup. This will elevate it, protecting it from some other animals and also making it easier for you to access. 
• Hive tool: A tool used for basically everything you do as a bee-keeper. 
• Smoker: Really! It's necessary! It is not a myth, smoke really does calm honey bees. Be sure to have your smoker, as well as some "fuel" (anything from leaves to grass clippings) ready when you go in to check on your little friends. 
• Vail: A protective headgear. It does not need to be the full body suit, people!! A hat/face covering net will do just fine. Unless, of course, you are allergic. In that case, why are you doing this!? Please don't risk it. Do whatever you are comfortable with. We used the vail/hat piece and also gloves attached to sleeves in the beginning. Now, we use the veil only. We got rid of the gloves, as they are difficult to move in. They keep you from being able to maneuver the pieces of the hive very delicately. That is important! 
• The bees, of course! You have two options for obtaining bees (from my understanding). 
• Nucs: Essentially a queen, and a set of eggs which you will place into a new hive. The eggs will hatch and make up the first generation of your hive. These seem to have a better success rate long-term.
• Packages: Your bees will come as adults, in a shoe-box sized cage. The queen is inside the cage also, but in a tiny  and separate cage closed by a tiny cork and attached to the roof of the main cage using a tiny metal tab. The adult bees will need to be "installed" into your hive. 

Our package hives, immediately before we installed them.

• *Usually, you will need to order your bees during the late winter/early spring. They will typically arrive in late spring (april/may). Be sure to have all of the pieces to your hive assembled, wired, painted, etc. before their arrival! They need a place to go as soon as they arrive! 

Here are some pictures of what our hive looks like now! 

Close-up of a cute little larvae!

Large patch of golden colored comb in the center is brood (eggs) in various stages. The lighter area of solid is going to be honey! It is sealed so it will not leak....bees are so smart.