Good day friends. My name is Michael Raizen, and I live in Greensboro. I am going to start a hive this year and had a question.
I've seen multiple Langstroth hives with different configurations, so which is right? How many supers do I need? Is there a bare minimum setup?
I appreciate all for their time and knowledge. Thanks in advance.
Question From a Beginner
Re: Question From a Beginner
Michael - welcome to the group! There is really no "right" setup. Some folks use one deep brood box, with additional mediums for brood and honey. Other folks use two deeps for brood, with mediums for honey (this is probably the most standard). Even others (like me) use all mediums, although I would not recommend this and am currently switching to deeps for brood boxes.
10-frame vs. 8-frame equipment seems to be just personal preference also, with the 8-frame equipment being lighter and having fewer frames to manage and inspect.
If I was starting over again with just one hive, I would initially invest in two deep brood boxes, a metal queen excluder, and two medium honey supers. I would have chosen to use wooden frames and plastic foundation (the heavy/triple-waxed kind). I would also make sure to have a hive-top feeder and stock up on sugar! I would feed, feed, feed with a focus on getting them to draw out as many frames as possible the first year...
Though some of the stuff you see on Amazon may seem tempting, please stay away. Most of it is complete junk. If you haven't already, go and visit our two local beekeeping supply stores - Beez Needz and Triad Bee Supply.
There are several of us here in Greensboro, so don't hesitate to ask questions or reach out for help! Good luck!
10-frame vs. 8-frame equipment seems to be just personal preference also, with the 8-frame equipment being lighter and having fewer frames to manage and inspect.
If I was starting over again with just one hive, I would initially invest in two deep brood boxes, a metal queen excluder, and two medium honey supers. I would have chosen to use wooden frames and plastic foundation (the heavy/triple-waxed kind). I would also make sure to have a hive-top feeder and stock up on sugar! I would feed, feed, feed with a focus on getting them to draw out as many frames as possible the first year...
Though some of the stuff you see on Amazon may seem tempting, please stay away. Most of it is complete junk. If you haven't already, go and visit our two local beekeeping supply stores - Beez Needz and Triad Bee Supply.
There are several of us here in Greensboro, so don't hesitate to ask questions or reach out for help! Good luck!
Re: Question From a Beginner
I'll get this started. (oops) Welcome to the forum. If you haven't joined Guilford Beekeepers, please consider it. We meet the 2nd Tuesday of the month and we have a mentoring program for beginning members. We welcome visitors if you want to check out what meetings are like. Details are on our homepage. We just finished our annual beginner beekeeping course which is designed to answer the majority of questions involved in getting started with honey bees.
8 Frame and 10 Frame Langstroth hives have been around for a long time. Either work fine. Some folks use 8 frame for the lower weight involved in removing supers when working a hive. If you are starting with a nuc (5 frames of comb-usually 3 brood and 2 food with queen), most of those are sold on deep frames so that your first box would need to be a deep. If you want to go all medium boxes, you will need to try and locate a supplier who sells medium nucs or begin with a 3lb package.
Our 2 local suppliers, also members of GCBA, have beginner kits that save some money and provide the bare minimum equipment. Consider adding a top feeder to your purchase. You will be feeding sugar water to the bees to help them draw wax comb after installing them and to keep them from starving/getting ready for winter after the end of the nectar flow. Links to Beez Needz in Sophia, and Triad Bee Supply in Trinity are on our homepage at www.guilfordbeekeepers.org You will start your colony with only 1 box for the bees whether you are starting with a nuc or package. You will add supers as the colony grows. If your queen is a really good one and conditions are right, you could be adding 3-5 supers over the course of a season.
Feel free to give me a call. I can try and answer questions that I may not be reading in to your post. My cell is 336-740-1703.
8 Frame and 10 Frame Langstroth hives have been around for a long time. Either work fine. Some folks use 8 frame for the lower weight involved in removing supers when working a hive. If you are starting with a nuc (5 frames of comb-usually 3 brood and 2 food with queen), most of those are sold on deep frames so that your first box would need to be a deep. If you want to go all medium boxes, you will need to try and locate a supplier who sells medium nucs or begin with a 3lb package.
Our 2 local suppliers, also members of GCBA, have beginner kits that save some money and provide the bare minimum equipment. Consider adding a top feeder to your purchase. You will be feeding sugar water to the bees to help them draw wax comb after installing them and to keep them from starving/getting ready for winter after the end of the nectar flow. Links to Beez Needz in Sophia, and Triad Bee Supply in Trinity are on our homepage at www.guilfordbeekeepers.org You will start your colony with only 1 box for the bees whether you are starting with a nuc or package. You will add supers as the colony grows. If your queen is a really good one and conditions are right, you could be adding 3-5 supers over the course of a season.
Feel free to give me a call. I can try and answer questions that I may not be reading in to your post. My cell is 336-740-1703.
Last edited by Jacobs on Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: reedyfork beat me to the punch! good!
Reason: reedyfork beat me to the punch! good!
Re: Question From a Beginner
Unless cash is no object, I would recommend one thing different from the above. I would start with one box each for two hives, two top feeders, and no queen excluder the first two years. A queen excluder is like a gun, it can be very useful used properly, but deadly "to the bees" if used wrong. Then once established, you can add additional boxes as needed. The two local dealers have boxes in stock at all times, so you can get them as needed. It's easier for me to spend 250 four months in a row then spend 1000. at one whack.
Re: Question From a Beginner
Yes, Wally is absolutely right! If you have the opportunity to start with two hives instead of one, definitely choose that route. The sharing and switching of resources, combined with the ability to make comparisons, is very valuable when starting out.