STEPS
TOOLS
Order your bee boxes. Manlake.com is where I got mine
Build your bee boxes and the 10 trees that slide in with a hammer and a nail
Put on your bee suit
Put on your gloves and your best kicks (actually, ideally wear boots)
Don't let the bees out until you are suited up. Think about the bees flight path with your bee keeping mentor (an experienced bee keeper who is going to help you keep bees)
Start to look for the queen
Carefully remove the top cover. Don't smash any worker bees or drones if possible
Amazing!
Look for the queen carefully. You lose her, youose the hive
Gently pry open the slats. You may need to carefully cut crosscomb (comb connected between the trays) to free up the slat for removal and inspection
Carefully withdraw the slat
Look for the queen
Carefully cutting crosscomb
Queen! Where are you!?
Use a mentor!
Found her!
She is golden brown, doesn't have stripes and has a larger body. See if you can spot her.
See her now?
Add your new bee box to the top of the one carrying the queen and her hive. These first two boxes are for the bees. Add boxes as they build out the comb. You can harvest anything north of the bottom 2
Eat the honeycomb!
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Plant pretty flowers and flora for the bees to forage
Buzz some 2x6
Make a nice stand that is wide enough for two boxes
Smear petroleum jelly on the bottom of the legs of the stand to prevent ants from crawling up to the hive and stealing the honey!
Wear your bee suit!!
Ta dah!!! Remember: don't move the hive any more than 2' at any one time, else it must be moved a minimum of 2 miles. The little bees must reset their GPSs and Google Maps they are not!
- 1 experienced bee keeper
- Bee boxes
- Trays
- A hive
- A queen (comes w the hive)
- Bee suite
- Smoker
- Wedge tool
- 2x4, 2x6
- Wood screws
- Saw
- Hammer
- Nails
The Conversation (0)
Sign Up