How To Set Up A Bee Colony – Beekeeping 101

Even though it is considered to be a very difficult thing to do, you should set up a bee colony and start beekeeping. You will see that it is among the most interesting thing you can do in lifetime. The bees are wonderful, so they will keep surprising you and making you fall in love with beekeeping even more. In order to get started, you just need to make set up and obtain everything that you need. The set up depends on the climate and on the location. Thus, in order to set up a bee colony successfully, we advise you to ask for help from a local and more experienced beekeeper.

Purchase or make a beehive

This may seem obvious to you, but is really something that cannot be left out and not mentioned. Regarding the beehive, you have different possibilities. For example, you can buy it from a bee store, or you can make it by yourself. If you decide to make the beehive by yourself, an interesting feature to make is to put a small glass window. This is very useful because you can observe the bees

from the outside without opening them too often. If you want to buy a set up beehive, you can ask an experienced beekeeper to accompany you and help you make a decision.

Get the bees

If you want to purchase bees from local beekeepers, you should notify them sooner (around January or February). The suppliers of bee packages need to put you in their list sooner, in order to plan their spring delivery. These packages arrive around April because the weather needs to be warmer. Besides the warmer temperature, there must be sufficient source of food for the bees. Be prepared with having many bee-friendly flowers planted around the beehives’ location.

Here are some suggestions:

This is very important for the bees because they need to start collecting nectar and pollen in order to feed their young. They need these flowers for the more successful development and good health.

Beehive location

When choosing a location for the beehives, you must take into consideration several factors. For example, you must consider the winter conditions. What is the direction of the wind? This is very important question to answer. You need to put the hive entrance away and safe from the wind in winter. On the other hand, you need to consider the summer too. The bees will need to be protected from the sun in the afternoon and have some shade. It may be good if you have a deciduous tree nearby. Another thing to do is to put them at the east side of a building. Here, they will have lots of sun during the bigger part of the day, and shadow during the afternoon.

It is very nice to put the beehive away from places with frequent movement, so the bees are not disturbed. You can also place the hive a bit higher than the ground. Doing so, you are helping yourself, as it will be more convenient for working.

Set up the bee colony

Finally, it is time to set up the bee colony! If you got your bees in a package, then the queen comes in a cage. Put this cage on the top of the hive. After this, wait until the bees are installed into the hive. Placing the package over the beehive, firmly shake it several times, in order to make all the bees fall into the beehive. You should be wearing your suit and beekeeping tools, even though in this case the bees are concerned about finding and exploring their new home, so they are not a big threat, even though they seem agitated. In the end, place the queen around the 4th frame, releasing her from the cage.