# Just starting out



## valcwby01 (Dec 15, 2009)

What should I do to get started. Have decided I would like to try beekeeping, but where do I start? Have never tried anything like bees before and quite nervous.:banana02:


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## beehoppers (Jun 3, 2008)

Start with a book or two. Beekeeping for Dummies is actually quite good. Find someone who is presently keeping, talk to them and visit their apiary. Someone who kept bees a long time ago might not be good help. Look for classes, get some equipment catalogs. Where are you?


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## eatmorechicken (Dec 13, 2009)

I agree with Beehoppers. I took a course last summer and spent some time mentoring with someone who had bees. It was a great experience. I joined my local beekeepers club to meet more people. I ordered a variety of beekeeping catalogs. I also just ordered the Beekeeping for Dummies book via Amazon - waiting for it to come for Christmas - it is an excellent easy-to-read reference book. I would also read everything this forum has to offer so you can hear both the good and bad of beekeeping stories. Now is a great time to research if you plan to start up this coming spring.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Join a local beekeeping group. They will help you more than anything else! If there isn't one, find your state beekeeper - ask at the extension office. 

Watch sale ads for used equipment. If you buy new - get it all set up as soon as you can. It will take longer than you think to build all those frames! Good luck!


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## valcwby01 (Dec 15, 2009)

I am in New Mexico, the Albuquerque area. I have posted several messages on craigslist and asked the extension agent. No help from either. I have talked to local beekeepers at the local farmers market, but when I call them I leave a message with no reply. HELP!!!


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

valcwby01 said:


> I am in New Mexico, the Albuquerque area. I have posted several messages on craigslist and asked the extension agent. No help from either. I have talked to local beekeepers at the local farmers market, but when I call them I leave a message with no reply. HELP!!!


Here's a link with some contact info:

http://www.nmbeekeepers.org/


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## valcwby01 (Dec 15, 2009)

Thanks everyone for all the help. Have just purchased the Beekeeping for dummies. Right up my alley, and at my audience level!! LOL
Indypartridge, thanks for the link. Have done several Yahoo searches and it is still NOT coming up on the results. THANK YOU!!


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## eatmorechicken (Dec 13, 2009)

My only caution in what Callieslamn posted about buying used equipment is to watch out for the potential threat of disease. If you have several months and the initial $ to invest it might be a great experience to build your own frames and hives.

If you are looking for an alternative that might save a few $ - you might want to research Kenyan Top Bar Hives (aka TBH). They say you can make one for about $30 of lumber. You might be lucky to attract a swarm with a little Lemongrass oil, or you might get yourself on a local Swarm list (by contacting your local SPCA or pest control companies), or just buy some bees like one normally would for the standard Langstroth hive. In theory you get less honey but more beeswax. Tossup for me really - both have benefits for a 2-person household. 

I am planning to start up one in the spring. I do not plan to take ANY honey in year one. If the colony is strong - I plan to see how much honey they end up with in the spring - that way I will know how much honey I can skim off to allow the bees to make it thru the winter. I think people are crazy when they pillage too much honey then have to feed the bees all winter or replace thru bees every spring. To me it is too much of a sweatshop mentality - I want my bees to be happy working with me - in the end we will both benefit. JMHO.

Enjoy your beekeeping for dummies book - it is a great read. Also look for a course to take in the spring. You have several months of extending your beekeeping network. Should not be too hard with a little perseverance.

Steve


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnewbees.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesbasics.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm


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## valcwby01 (Dec 15, 2009)

Thanks, eatmorechicken, but what is the difference in the hive. Right now, this is also a two person household, but are planning on adoption in the next two - three years, so will that make a difference in the type of hive? I agree just from the little reading I've done that the first year is a NO HONEY year, but also would like to do something with the wax. I have always had "traditional" livestock, so I guess this is going to be a 180 working with an insect. Before, I always just killed bugs, not tried to keep them alive.

Thanks for the additional links, Michael Bush.


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## eatmorechicken (Dec 13, 2009)

Val,

Again to clarify - I do not have bees myself - yet. This year I took a course and did some mentoring with an experienced beekeeper. Below is my OPINION only and doesn't mean 1 is actually "better" then the other.

The Langstroth hive is the traditional standard hives you would see when driving around. They are the rectangular boxes stacked on top of each other. There are several variations that would require too much yattering on from me here in this post. It is inside the Beekeeping for Dummies book. That is the hive I was mentoring with and the one originally I planned to start myself.

Then one day I found somewhere on the net something called the Kenyan Top Bar Hive. I researched and read as much as I could find and really liked what it has to offer. Again I believe it is mentioned briefly in your dummies book.

Here is why the TBH will work for me:

First - my wife and I are the only ones in my household. We want the honey for us and not to sell for a profit.

Second - there are various free plans for TBH's and langstroth hives on the net (www.beesource.com). To make a TBH will take less time and cost you btwn $30 and $40 to make, whereas the traditional Langstroth hives will cost you a lot more - even if you make them yourself. You have to buy/make hive bodies plus the frames plus add the foundation. Most people just give up and buy a kit, but those can be very pricey. Again you can buy "used" hives - but you have to be very careful who you buy from and ensure you are not receiving tainted/diseased equipment.

Thirdly and again this is my opinion - after I read all I could about both options - I started to view the langstroth setup as a little bee sweatshop. Bees are boxed up and shipped all over the country to pollinate crops and then have most of their honey taken away. I do feel the honeybee culture we have today is making the bees very stressed and is contributing to disease and the overall decline, just as much as potential pesticide use and everyone's fear of Colony Collapse Disorder. What did bees used to? They built a hive in a tree, collected honey and pollen to make more bees and survive the winter, and they never really bothered anyone. but how many wild bee hives do you see today?

With the TBH setup - they say you do not get as much honey. The setup is rumored to allow you to open the top and remove a bar full of honey without getting swarmed (and maybe not need gloves, a smoker and a suit or veil) as opposed to the langstroth where you take the cover off and even lift or move hivebodies around. Not sure if that is the case since I have not worked with a TBH yet, but I do know the bees I worked with were ----ed off half the time and I was stung multiple times over the summer. Would you blame them though? I don't - they are only protecting themselves.

Anyways my point is you have to ask yourself what you want. If maximum honey production is what you want - Langstroth is the way to go. Everything you read is pretty much a science now so it is very doable with the appropriate protection. Having a Langstroth hive in your backyard would hardly be a sweatshop if they are pollinating your flowers and you let them be for most of the year. Depends on how hands-on you want to be with them as well. You need to get in their if you want to learn.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post - I love the idea of using the beeswax as much as I love the idea of having honey. My wife is into crafts and would be happy to make candles and other products for our own use. Plus for us the money is a small factor as I am still unemployed and do not have the money to go out and buy all brand new equipment, plus it would be a hassle in the fall to have to borrow extraction equipment.

And the last point I will make - I like to do things differently. I am very much an independent person. I was at a large fair in November and struck up a conversation with an old time beekeeper and brought up the TBH - and he looked at me like I had committed a crime. he was taken aback about why i would go against the norm and went on about how there was only one way to do beekeeping. i found the ordeal very annoying and became determined to strike out and learn on my own.

What I believe will happen in our future is I will make my TBH this spring and try to capture a swarm, and if that doesn't work well - how much have I lost?? Pretty much nothing. What would I potentially gain? A lot of valuable experience. If my wife and I want more honey down the road - I can still get into the Langstroth hives as well. 

On top of the books you buy - make sure to watch many videos from Youtube and google video - obviously they are free and they are great at helping you see things first hand without having to travel. Perhaps that will help you make the final decision on which way you want to go. In reality - there is no "wrong" way to go, just different and interesting choices.

Sorry for the rant but I hope this helps.

Steve


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## valcwby01 (Dec 15, 2009)

Eatmorechicken, no apologies nesescary at all!!! Thanks for the information and your valued opinion. That does help a LOT and it is covered BRIEFLY (so far) in my dumnmies book. I had not thought about YouTube, but will give it a try now, as we are getting snow right now here in New Mexico. So you guys in the midwest and east, get ready, it is coming your way!!

PS I LOVE these "dummies" books. Got one on Hobby Farming also. Is there one for other aspects of livestock? They're GREAT!!


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## eatmorechicken (Dec 13, 2009)

Enjoy the videos - I can get lost in them for hours. Don't forget Google video as well - different oned there too.

I also received "Raising Chickens for Dummies". Awesome book. I am planning on starting some laying hens in the spring.

Steve


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

>Thirdly and again this is my opinion - after I read all I could about both options - I started to view the langstroth setup as a little bee sweatshop.

That is only a view. From the bee's point of view it's just a cavity to build comb in. They don't care nor do they work harder or less hard because they are stacked up vertically or run horizontally.

>With the TBH setup - they say you do not get as much honey.

I don't agree. You have to manage them differently, but they both will make about the same amount of honey.

> The setup is rumored to allow you to open the top and remove a bar full of honey without getting swarmed (and maybe not need gloves, a smoker and a suit or veil)

True you will be facing less bees, but I open both top bar hives and regular hives all the time and do not get "swarmed". By the way "swarmed" in beekeeping terms has nothing to do with being attacked, it has to do with reproduction, but I also don't get attacked. 

>If maximum honey production is what you want - Langstroth is the way to go.

Actually I would say if you want your hives in an outyard where you won't get there very often, Langstroth is the way to go. If you want them in your backyard and you don't want to lift heavy boxes, and especially if you're handy with tools and have scrap lumber available, the top bar hive is nice.

> Depends on how hands-on you want to be with them as well. 

Exactly. And to manage a top bar hive appropriately you will have to be more hands on.

>What I believe will happen in our future is I will make my TBH this spring and try to capture a swarm, and if that doesn't work well - how much have I lost??

A season of watching a colony in a top bar hive. You could put a package in it.


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## valcwby01 (Dec 15, 2009)

Man, thanks for the help. And I thought they were just bugs that made really good candy!~! LOL. No offense to anyone. Michael Bush, I have put your site on my favorites list. THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT INFORMATION!! I have taken everyones opinion into consideration and looking forward to my first hive!! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!


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