Isn't @Hillside Desolate a bee dude?
The best advice I can give is to start with 2 hives. It makes the learning curve twice as fast. You want the hive placed in morning sun and afternoon shade, preferably where you don't have to mow around it, bees hate gas powered equipment almost as much as they hate electric powered equipment. You want to start with nucs of local stock rather than packages of bees coming off the peach pollination in georgia. It's a little more speedy but your bees will have a head start and better survival. I'll dig out the contact for some suppliers. Also since brand new hive won't have comb drawn a nuc will be better for starting band new hives.
www.mannlakeltd.com
Shit, after that, only question I have is - how much is the honey..The best advice I can give is to start with 2 hives. It makes the learning curve twice as fast. You want the hive placed in morning sun and afternoon shade, preferably where you don't have to mow around it, bees hate gas powered equipment almost as much as they hate electric powered equipment. You want to start with nucs of local stock rather than packages of bees coming off the peach pollination in georgia. It's a little more speedy but your bees will have a head start and better survival. I'll dig out the contact for some suppliers. Also since brand new hive won't have comb drawn a nuc will be better for starting band new hives.
Timing wise you are precisely on time. Jan/Feb are when you should be ordering bees.right now is a good time to build your equipment and study. I strongly recommend "bee keeping for dummies"
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ is my favorite equipment supplier (RIP brushy mountain)
For hives you can buy complete kits or save quite a bit of money by making your own telescoping top covers and bottom boards (if screened) )I dont think screened are the best for OK winters but it is good for the summers) you will also save a ton getting their budget grade equipment. It is not possible to make boxes for less than you can buy them
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/hives-c...d-9-5-8-budget-grade-deep-hive-box-case-of-5/
and
Will be enough for 2-4 hives depending non how you set them up. Currently I run 1 deep and 1 medium over winter, in the PNW I ran 2 deeps and sometimes a medium as winter was longer. 2 five packs will get you a few boxes left over which you will need for covering feeders and other task. Assemble with galvanized nails and tire bond 2 glue.Unassembled 6 5/8" Budget Grade Medium Super, Case of 5
Buy Unassembled 6 5/8" Budget Grade Medium Super, Case of 5 at Mann Lake. Best & Biggest Beekeeping Supplier - Best Service.
For frames I like small natural foundation in my hive bodies and plastic in my honey supers. Natural helps the bees make their own communication passages and small cells = smaller bed and have less room for mites. plastic is doesn't break when you spin honey put of it.
Pest pressure is high here like all OK agricultural ventures. I'm using Oxalic Acid Vapor (OAV)or mites with good results, it's also pennies per hive and less invasive. In the past Ive used thymol and also Formic acid. The former is invasive as you need to open hives 3 times and expensive, the latter tends to kill queens. I have all the OAV stuff and can help you out come treatment time. We also have an issue with African hive beetles so honey super frames need to be spun immediately or frozen and thawed when pulled from the hive.
The saying goes Ask 10 beekeepers and you will get 11 different answers. But feel free to ask me any questions and let me know if you need any help.
It’s priceless! I bought some from him, and I couldn’t keep enough biscuits in the house until we ran out.
Honey price is based on national commodity with local beekeeper honey roughly double commercial price. This can fluctuate. Currently I sell at around a dollar an ounce by weight. Honey per hive vaties. This year was pretty bad and all my hives were new which lowers production. Typically it is between 30 and 90 pounds per hive.
This sounds suspiciously like you actually know something useful. I’m not sure how to take that. It must be some kind of psyop.The best advice I can give is to start with 2 hives. It makes the learning curve twice as fast. You want the hive placed in morning sun and afternoon shade, preferably where you don't have to mow around it, bees hate gas powered equipment almost as much as they hate electric powered equipment. You want to start with nucs of local stock rather than packages of bees coming off the peach pollination in georgia. It's a little more speedy but your bees will have a head start and better survival. I'll dig out the contact for some suppliers. Also since brand new hive won't have comb drawn a nuc will be better for starting band new hives.
Timing wise you are precisely on time. Jan/Feb are when you should be ordering bees.right now is a good time to build your equipment and study. I strongly recommend "bee keeping for dummies"
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ is my favorite equipment supplier (RIP brushy mountain)
For hives you can buy complete kits or save quite a bit of money by making your own telescoping top covers and bottom boards (if screened) )I dont think screened are the best for OK winters but it is good for the summers) you will also save a ton getting their budget grade equipment. It is not possible to make boxes for less than you can buy them
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/hives-c...d-9-5-8-budget-grade-deep-hive-box-case-of-5/
and
Will be enough for 2-4 hives depending non how you set them up. Currently I run 1 deep and 1 medium over winter, in the PNW I ran 2 deeps and sometimes a medium as winter was longer. 2 five packs will get you a few boxes left over which you will need for covering feeders and other task. Assemble with galvanized nails and tire bond 2 glue.Unassembled 6 5/8" Budget Grade Medium Super, Case of 5
Buy Unassembled 6 5/8" Budget Grade Medium Super, Case of 5 at Mann Lake. Best & Biggest Beekeeping Supplier - Best Service.
For frames I like small natural foundation in my hive bodies and plastic in my honey supers. Natural helps the bees make their own communication passages and small cells = smaller bed and have less room for mites. plastic is doesn't break when you spin honey put of it.
Pest pressure is high here like all OK agricultural ventures. I'm using Oxalic Acid Vapor (OAV)or mites with good results, it's also pennies per hive and less invasive. In the past Ive used thymol and also Formic acid. The former is invasive as you need to open hives 3 times and expensive, the latter tends to kill queens. I have all the OAV stuff and can help you out come treatment time. We also have an issue with African hive beetles so honey super frames need to be spun immediately or frozen and thawed when pulled from the hive.
The saying goes Ask 10 beekeepers and you will get 11 different answers. But feel free to ask me any questions and let me know if you need any help.
Keep us informed on how they do!
Budget just means they are ugly. Highest grade hives are knot free, then next is knots less than 2in. Budget has either big knots, too many knots, or often the wood is gouged or scratched. The grading is for people, the bees dont care. You will be buying kits and doing final assembly yourself. Design and construction are mostly the same across the board. The langstroff hive is still built to Rev Langstroffs original plans. Only difference is some companies vary about 1/4th of an inch on 8 frame boxes. 10 frames are all the same. And 1/4 inch isn't a deal killer when you mix equiptment.
just checked this out to see if maybe it would be a good deal. It's not, cost more than a locally bred nuc.
