When we talk about Beekeeping Equipment:

“All Bees need is a box.” John. The rest of the gear is to help us be able to manage our bees better.

“There is a gadget made for every problem you didn’t know you had”, anonymous.

This is true in the beekeeping world. There are so many Beekeeping Equipment that we do not need to be good beekeepers.

This blog is to help new beekeepers understand the beekeeping tools they need, and how to set up a hive.

The first thing you need is a deep box or medium box, a bottom board, 10 frames, a lid, and of course, bees.

Brood boxes are your choice. You can use a medium (smaller box) or a deep (larger box).

I prefer a deep for brood boxes, under the queen excluder. For honey, the deep holds 60lb of honey, the medium holds 30lb of honey, so I prefer the smaller ones.

The most common bottom is the solid bottom board. We use screened bottom boards in the summer to reduce varroa mite. However, this can make it easier for small hive beetle to enter the hive. We paint ours so they last longer.

Lids can be everything you want them to be, as long as they fit snug and do not let water in. We use a combination of telescoping and migration hive covers.

Below is a telescoping hive cover.

Inner covers can also be made of anything. We use plastic dog food bags, cut to fit. The main thing is to understand how to use your equipment. If you use a cotton or plastic fabric inner cover then you might have water wicked into the hive.

Above is the typical inner cover. The benefit to it is that it has a built in upper entrance.

Two other things you may want to use is a queen excluder, which covers the entire box and prevents the queen from moving into the honey supers. Be careful, the smallest bend in the wire will let the queen through.

The other thing we use is a shim. This is just a square that makes a space where you can add food.

The above hive is a double brood box. This means the queen has 2 boxes to lay in. You do not need to give a queen 2 boxes to lay in, but it will reduce the chances of a swarm.

This picture shows a bottom, 2 deeps with 10 frames each, and a queen excluder.

You do not need to use a queen excluder, but it keeps things neater.

On top of this we add a shim. It is just a square we make out of 1″x2″. This gives us a bit of room to put pollen patties, bags of syrup, or in the winter we can add dry sugar, or sugar cakes, or fondant.

There are other feeders that can be put on the top of the hive. We also use upper feeders, which are a large plastic feeder the size of the hive top.

The inner cover gives the bees an upper entrance for summer. It gives more ventilation. This is important in the summer.

The upper cover’s main purpose is to keep the bees from using propolis to glue the upper box or shim to the lid. Propolis is stronger than crazy glue.

With cloth inner covers you need to keep then from drawing water into the hive.

No matter what lid you use, there are some things to consider.

With a telescoping hive you want to make sure you do not jar the shim out of place, or pull the front of the lid against the front of the hive and block the upper vent.

With the cloths, you want to make sure they are fit snug under the lid so water or pests do not enter the hive.

Your tools are simple, top left, clockwise. Hive tool, frame grabber, queen clip, bee brush, comb fork, and smoker.

SMOKER – there are some important tips to using a smoker. First, only use natural fuel. My favourite is dried cedar leaves. John prefers the pellets he buys at the bee store.

They go out quickly, so keep giving them a puff every once in a while. Most important, do NOT use more than a couple puffs in the bottom entrance, and one in the top entrance. Then give the bees a minute before going into the hive.  Too much smoke will harm the bees.

The HIVE TOOL is another important tool. It’s purpose is to make sure you can gently break the frames apart, and break open the propolis, so you can move the frames without crushing bees.

The FRAME GRABBER also lets you lift frames straight up, not at a slight angle, so that you do not damage the bees when inspecting.

The DECAPPING FORK is just for scraping the wax tops off the comb when you are harvesting it.

QUEEN CLIP – Most often you will not see the queen. But, if you do see the queen then you can use the clip to gently put over top of her. Then, put it in the shade. NEVER leave a queen in the sun.

Most beekeepers like to put it in their pocket. I like to put it on the bottom board, just inside the entrance. This way the nurse bees can still look after her.

The BEE BRUSH- is also a tool to make it easier to be gentle to your bees. If you are harvesting honey, you can use the bee brush to carefully sweep the bees off the frame.

You might also need to move a frame of brood from one hive to another, but want to brush enough bees off so you can make sure the queen is not on the frame.

There are many types of bee suits. My preference is a full body ‘vented’ suit. I also like the hoods that unzip on the front. But, in 99% of the cases, you will end up with whatever your local beekeeping supply store sells.

I do have a couple of 1/2 coats, but they ride up. I only wear then when it is cold, and I have a long sweatshirt under the coat. If I use it in the summer then I end up with a line of bee stings above the edge of my jeans.

This article covers the basics that you need to keep bees. There is more equipment that can make life easier. For example, we have a huge hand truck that has fat wheels. We call it Goliath. It makes it easier to remove boxes, especially through the grass.

We also use hive stands that are 18″ off the ground. These make it easier to work the hives without needing to be kneeling on the ground, or bending over.

We do have 2 extractors, but you do not need one. If you uncapped the honey frames and put them over a food grade pail, gravity will do the rest.

Ratchet Straps are a must in our yard. They hold lids on, keep racoons from getting in a hive, and keeps the wind from blowing lids off.

Self igniting hand-held propane torch. It is invaluable for everything form starting smokers, to scorching boxes.

Water source for the bees. We find that they will drink a lot of water if you provide it. It is especially important if you are surrounded by corn. We put a pail with a solar fountain in it. The fountain stops  algae build up. We add pool noodles or rocks so the bees do not drown.

WHAT WE DON’T SUGGEST

This is based on our experience, and is not meant to be an endorsement or reflection on the effectiveness of a tool.

OXALIC WANDS. We found that they were not the right temperature to ‘fog’ the oxalic  acid. They either burned the white powder, or left a clump unburned.

HIVE FRONT FEEDERS – these are ones that go into the entrance of a hive. In our experience they promote robbing.

LEATHER BEE GLOVES – I love mine. But, it is impossible to clean them, and there is evidence that they cause a biosecurity risk. However, if you only have a couple hives, not a couple hundred, the risk is minimal. The gloves will prevent a lot of stings. John, “They come at a cost. You cannot feel bees under the gloves and my kill bees, or damage brood.”

MIGRATORY COVERS are not suggested for newbies. There is nothing more heartbreaking than finding out a cover let water in, or flew off in a storm.