Equipment what do you really need.

Having the "why" apiculture; looked, in short, and in more depth on 'Where', now we look at 'What'.

What you've got to start beekeeping? There is no amount you need to get started. As you progress you will see that beekeeping is very lucrative and decide to grow. With increasing your Apiary you need more equipment, but at the beginning you must, of course, a hive bees. Further (unless you 'Where' will hold you have already set up), veils, gloves, a smoker and a hive tool. And that's pretty much it.

For details on the equipment is all I will say there are alot of beekeeping equipment suppliers on the Web, each with fairly substantial catalogues, you can browse.
Try: http://www.honeyshop.co.uk/equipment.html

In short, the veil on her head fit or can be of the type that fits over the entire torso and long sleeves. If you really need to cover up a few get overalls. Theses must be white or a light color. Bees don't like dark color.
The gloves have sleeves with elastic tops.
The hive tool requires prise the frames from the hive. It takes an end sharp - not too sharp to be, but sharp enough from wax from the above at the top of the frame around you the inner cover prise or scrape off propolis scratch used frames in place ' Stick.

As mentioned in the last article, you need a stand to place to keep you out of the ground the beehives on. These can be made of wood, or you may be metal. However, a very cheap - and lasting alternative - is an old motor car tyres. It is admirable, it probably costs nothing and not red or rust.

May find that you an extractor. These vary in capacity and price and even "cheaper are expensive. When you join your local Beekeeper's society for that an extractor has one of the older (established) members to use. Otherwise, get the honey from the ridges is very difficult, messy and time consuming be. Remember, just like you a place to your bees need to keep, you need a place to work with the honey. You finally have to keep in your mother / wife good books and not mess up your kitchen too much. She could sell your honey in the comb or, if you have some friends who keep interested in bees, join forces and club in an extractor to buy.

If you go to the point where you have to make an extractor, you need also a 'uncapping knife'. These can either be heated electric or steam. Get way with a sharp knife carving and a mug of hot water. Although this is possible, it is not ideal.

Bees keep includes more than one field of bees somewhere and collect honey of every now and again. There is some level of management required - and we have a look at the next time.

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Equipment – What do you really need.

Having looked, briefly, at the ‘Why’ of beekeeping; and in more depth at ‘Where’, we now look at ‘What’.

What will you need to start beekeeping? There is not a lot you’ll need just to get started. As you progress you may find that beekeeping is quite lucrative and decide to grow. As your apiary increases you’ll need more equipment, but at the very beginning you’ll need, obviously, a hive with bees. Next (assuming you’ve already established ‘Where’ you’ll be keeping them), you’ll need a veil, gloves, a smoker and a hive tool. And that is pretty much it.

As to details about the equipment, all I’ll say here is that there are a lot of beekeeping equipment suppliers on the net, each with pretty substantial catalogues that you can browse through.
Try: http://www.honeyshop.co.uk/equipment.html

Briefly, the veil can fit over the head or it may be of the type that fits over the whole torso and having long sleeves. If you really need to cover up get a pair of overalls. Theses MUST be white or a light colour. Bees DO NOT like dark colours.
The gloves will need gauntlets with elastic tops.
The hive tool is needed to prise the frames out of the hive. It also needs one end to be sharp – not too sharp but sharp enough to scrape wax off the top of the top bar of the frame, to prise off the inner cover or to scrape off propolis used to ‘stick’ the frames in place.

As mentioned in the last article, you will need a stand to place the hives on in order to keep them off the ground. These may be made of wood or they may be metal. However, a very cheap – and durable alternative – is an old motorcar tyre. It serves the purpose admirably, it will probably cost you nothing AND it will not rot or rust.

You might find that you need an extractor. These vary in capacity and price and, even ‘cheaper’ ones are expensive. If you join your local beekeeper’s society you may find that one of the older (more established) members has an extractor that you may use. Otherwise getting the honey out of the combs will be very difficult, messy and time consuming. Remember that, just as you need a place to keep your bees, you also need a place to work with the honey. You do, after all, need to keep in your mum’s/wife’s good books and not mess up her kitchen too much. You could sell your honey in the comb or, if you have some friends who are also interested in keeping bees, join forces and club in to buy an extractor.

If you do get to the point where you need to afford an extractor, you’ll also need an ‘uncapping knife’. These can be either electric or steam heated. You can get away with a sharp carving knife and a jug of hot water. Although this is feasible, it is not ideal.

Keeping bees involves more than having a box of bees somewhere and collecting honey every now-and-again. There is a certain amount of management required – and we’ll have a look at that next time.

View the original article here