Howto start beekeeping

It it important to start to beekeeping soif you want to start beekeeping our professional advice is you start by takingthe following steps first.

Step 1. Do a lot of reading.

If you have already done some reading andyou are inspired to start, go to Step 2 otherwise a book should be the firstthing you buy - read it twice.

Reading books is essential if you want tokeep bees in any case but reading a book first will help you decide ifbeekeeping is for you before you go any further or buy anything else.

However, read as many books about bees andbeekeeping as you can - to say there are many ways of doing things is anunderstatement.

Step2.Make a plan

There are a lot of things to think throughwhen you start beekeeping: your budget, where you are going to get bees, whatkind of bees, what kind of equipment, how you are going to manage your hives,what kind of records you will keep, etc. And then there is the honey productionside as well. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you’ll feel a lot more confidentif you aren’t flying by the seat of your pants at all times. (There are enoughsurprises in beekeeping as it is!)

Step 3. Order your beekeeping equipment.

You will need to have a bee hive ready inplace and some equipment before you can have bees so it is important to planahead.

Bees become available in summer so youshould plan to have your bee hive ready to start beekeeping well before then.

To make things easier we have designed ourBeginners Kits to include everything you need to start.

Step 4. Order your bees.

A colony cannot be started with just aqueen bee - new honey bee colonies, known as Nucleus Colonies, are onlyavailable for a brief period in summer so, again, it is important to planahead.

The process of producing nucleus coloniesstarts in spring so you will have to order your bees before then to avoiddisappointment.

Answers to Frequently Asked BeginnersQuestions.

What equipment do I need to startbeekeeping?

A bee hive, a bee hive smoker, a bee hivetool and a beekeeper's veil are the only essentials to start. To makes thingseasier we have carefully designed our Beginners Kits to include all the basicessentials you need to start keeping bees whilst keeping the start up cost to aminimum. Additional equipment is best purchased after you have bees, when youknow what you want and need.

 Where can I keep bees?

"Bees will do anywhere" is an oldbeekeeping saying and you can keep bees anywhere as long as you know what youare doing.