Bee a Beekeeper
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How to Start Beekeeping
Plan early, start your bee journey the year before
For those interested in beekeeping, we recommend beginning your planning and research during late fall and winter. The bees do most of their work in spring between April-June, and by summer it’s too late to start a new bee hive. Target installing your bees in April. Spend the winter reading free education materials online and join our club to attend field days, find a mentor and more. The KBA and other bee clubs will typically host bee schools in the fall and winter. Beekeeping can be a large investment upwards of $1000 to start, so we want you to be ready. The KBA is here to help!
Target bee installation in early April.
During the winter, purchase your equipment and assemble
During the winter, reserve or purchase your bees. Bees can sell out quickly in early spring. Local nucs and hygenic mite resistant bees are the best option. The most common are 3lb packages that can be shipped thru the mail or picked up.
Avoid installing your bees too late after mid-May, as they will struggle to grow once summer starts and food is less available. The later shipments of bees are intended for the most northern states and Canada with long winters.
Beekeeping Suppliers
Mann Lake (formerly Kelley Bees) has a large fulfillment warehouse and woodworking factory in Clarkson, Ky. Within driving distance to pickup bees and equipment. They have a storefront to see supplies and try equipment in person. They also have a large event each summer with lectures and learning opportunities.
Dadant has a small fulfillment warehouse in Frankfort, Ky with a small storefront. It is not as large or comprehensive as Kelley bees.
Fellow club members and local beekeepers. KBA buy local , KSBA buy local
Many other online bee supply companies.
How to Aquire Bees
Package
Most common method to acquire bees. Packages can be shipped thru the mail and trucked throughout the US. In early spring the southern states (Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi) ship packages northward. Packages are typically 3 lbs of bees shaken from an overwintered colony. A newly mated queen (not related to the bees) is added to the package and housed within a queen cage inside the package. A can of sugar water is added to sustain the bees during travel. It’s important to keep packages in a cool dark location and to install them as soon as possible. A package with more than 1/2 inch layer of dead bees on the bottom will struggle to do well.
Nuc
A miniature hive “nucleus” with its own laying queen. Usually are 5 frames, 1-2 honey/pollen, 1-2 brood, 1 blank frame not drawn out or not filled in. The advantage of a nuc is the colony already has a functioning colony with brood and food. Typically they will grow faster because of this advantage. Nucs do not need to be transferred right away to a larger box, but a prompt transfer is recommended as they will quickly outgrow the small nucleus box.
Swarm
Reproductive swarms occur in our area primarily April-June. When a honey bee hive is large enough to reproduce, typically the 2nd year, they produce new queens. The original queen leaves the colony with a group of bees to find a new home. While the bees are in transit, they will cluster in a ball within trees or other structures. This is when they can be caught. Swarms are usually only out of hive for a few days until they find a new home. After the primary swarm with the original queen, large colonies can can produce after swarms, or secondary swarms, with the virgin queens they made. The after swarms are often smaller but can eventually grow into a large size. The 1st prime swarms are the largest and fastest growing. It is rare to find a swarm on your own, but often our club is contacted by the general public when they find a swarm. It is important to act quickly as swarms often move quickly especially on swarm sunny days around noon.
Swarm Bait Box
Baiting swarms with empty hive bodies or dedicated swarm boxes. Often a few empty drawn combs are added to the box along with queen pheromone and/or lemongrass oil is often added to attract scout bees. Bait boxes can be successful but how they are made and where they are placed are important factors. Dr. Thomas Seeley has completed many research projects on swarms and swarm behavior.
Trap-outs
This is a method of removing bees from an existing structure, such as a house or tree. Bees are passively trapped without disturbing the structure. An empty box with drawn-out combs is placed at the entrance of the hive with a tube and a one-way exit cone. All the gaps and cracks are sealed so once the bees leave the hive they cannot renter. The trapping takes place over several weeks or months. Catching the queen can be difficult. This method can be used to harvest bees to make splits thru out the year. A good option for large trees or buildings that cannot be accessed.
Tear-out (Removal)
An established hive in a structure is removed. The structure is torn open to gain access to the entire hive. The bees are removed with a bee vacuum and combs are cut out and secured to empty frames to be reunited at their new home. All the comb is removed and holes are sealed to prevent future swarms from coming back.
Splitting
A general term used to describe the process of taking an established colony and splitting off bees and/or queens from it to make a new hive. Instead of a colony naturally swarming, the beekeeper splits the colony as a controlled artificial swarm to make use of the natural swarm tendency of the colony in spring. This is the most common way for established beekeepers to expand their operation instead of paying for bees each year. There are many split methods and techniques. The most common technique is to buy mated queens from a dedicated bee producer and then split frames of bees and brood from their own colonies to join with the purchased mated queen. Another common technique is to allow the hive to produce queen cells on their own as they naturally would do in spring. And then make split(s) with the laying queen and swarm cells before they swarm. The easiest method is a walk-away split, where a 2 box colony is split in half. The colony that does not have a queen will raise an emergency queen and likely become a new colony. It is highly recommended to move splits more than 2 miles away or the flying bees will return to their original location making the split potentially very weak due to the loss of flying bees.
