The Beginners Guide to Beekeeping
Our beekeeping journey began with just one hive. When one hive slowly grew to several, we started harvesting honey and raising queens, learning a lot along the way.
We know that beekeeping can be intimidating, so to make your journey as a new beekeeper a bit easier, we put together a guide to help you through the first 90 days.
What you'll need
Prerequisites
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Check your local ordinances
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Select a location for your hive.
The hive should be placed in early morning sun. This gets the bees out of their hive earlier in the day to forage. In our local climate, hives should receive some afternoon shade.
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Check with your neighbors!
Essentials
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1 Feeder + Granulated Sugar for Syrup
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1 Deep Box with wooden frames and foundation
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1 Solid Bottom Board
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1 Inner Cover with Telescoping Lid
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1 Hive Stand
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1 Hive Tool
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1 Smoker
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Protective gear: A Bee suit and Gloves
Day 1: installing your nuc
Make sure your hives are in their permanent location!
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Put on your suit, gloves and boots -If it’s your first time have someone check that all of the zippers are 100% closed.
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Start your smoker. Wait until a steady stream of cool smoke is coming out of the smoker without pumping it.
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Place the nuc next to the hive.
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Open your hive and remove all of the empty frames.
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Give the nuc a 2-3 puffs of smoke, then remove the cover.
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Start on one side and gently remove each frame- Frames should be placed into the hive in the same exact order.
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Very carefully install 5 empty frames- All of the nuc frames should now be on one side of the box-.
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Give the bees 2 puffs of smoke above the frames and cautiously put on the inner cover and top. Bees should be fed 2:1 Syrup. The box should now have 10 frames.
Congratulations! You have a new hive!
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Minimum 1 x per week just do a visual inspection - with daytime temperatures over 65 degrees there should be a good flow of bees coming and going.
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External Feeder - check level, when empty refill.
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Once every 2-3 weeks - Remove the cover and count the frames with bees - record the number frames with bees. This is how we will monitor the growth.
The first 60 days
To-dos
Within the first 60 days, a healthy colony should grow to cover 80 percent or more of the frames.
* Only if the bees have reached 80 percent coverage should a beekeeper consider adding another level. Premature additional boxes can put unnecessary stress on the colony.
Day 60 - Day 90
To-dos
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Add another level
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Check for mites - treat if required
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Feed
By the ninetieth day there should be two boxes of bees with a minimum of 80 percent coverage in both boxes. With a healthy colony you could put another super on for honey production, or make another hive!
Video's to help you get started
