Buying Beekeeping Equipment - How To Save Money & Find Deals
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- I'm expanding my apiary from 9 hives to 30 in 2021, and I needed to buy a lot of equipment. With my background in economics and business, I researched and overthought things. In this video I walk through the main decision points and give some tips to help other hobby beekeepers find deals and save money on beekeeping equipment.
NOTE: One thing I failed to mention in the video is sales tax. Check your local laws, but in TN there is no sales tax on agricultural supplies. So by getting a farm tax exemption and furnishing that to the supplier, I can get a 9.25% tax discount.
Tips to Buying Beekeeping Equipment:
1. Buy Ahead Of Time
2. Buy Your Needs
3. Buy Efficiency
4. Buy Used, When You Can
5. Buy In Bulk
6. Bargain Hunt
7. Buy Time
8. Financing
**Another tip I failed to mention is to Get On Email Lists With Suppliers! They will notify you when sales drop.**
Suppliers to Check Out:
www.mannlakeltd.com/
www.dadant.com/
www.acornbee.com
www.blueskybeesupply.com/
www.betterbee.com/
westernbee.com/
eheartwood.com/
www.gabees.com/
www.humbleabodesmaine.com/
millerbeesupply.com/
Don't forget to shop local if you can! A small local bee supplier is handy to have, and oftentimes Amish or Mennonite communities will offer woodenware at very good prices.
Link to the Bostitch Stapler I use to assemble my hive bodies:
amzn.to/38gZ6cK - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
Love how you prioritize Church man !!
I’m not a beginner beekeeper, but after watching your videos, I feel like one. So many things I never thought about. Thanks for your insights.
LOL, Thanks Amy!
Very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us
Thanks!
Thanks for a nice video, I like your combination of business and farming skills and buying of equipment and stock, forecasting, etc.
Thanks!
Great videos man, I’m just getting into beekeeping and I appreciate the insight. I’ve been soaking up as much knowledge as possible from several different channels. Good luck expanding and keep it up with the videos!
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Very good and important information!!! 30 hives would be awesome. ...Thanks for sharing!!!
I appreciate it!
Your videos are clear, concise, and very good. Great work and keep it up!
Thank you very much!
Thank you for taking the time to share this valuable information and details. Looking at starting this new hobby myself, you are now my favorite Bee Geek :D
Thanks! Love Bee Geek, May have to borrow that sometime.
I’ve watched about every beekeeping video on UA-cam and find yours the most enjoyable. I hope you continue to make videos and I pray for a good outcome with you bee adventure. I’ve been beekeeping for a few years now and it’s a lot easier than everyone tries to make out.
I appreciate the kind words!
I just ran across your channel and subscribed. As a new beekeeper this year, and a finance/ops guy by profession, I find myself thinking through a lot of issues similarly to how you describe. Love the content, keep it up!
Awesome, I appreciate it! I plan to do some more videos on the business side, but they will (hopefully) be simple enough that anyone can use them.
Nathan, the more I rewatch your videos, the more I like the clear, well thought out way you present information and your “here’s what I do, but do what works for you” stance. I’m looking forward to more videos!
Thanks, that means a lot. The season jumped on me, so I’ve got several videos to get out.
I am a new beekeeper located in Nova scotia Canada.. i really connect with the viewpoints you have . You video's are so helpful!!
Awesome, I appreciate the encouragement!
Much respect for your Ag experience and education. Many people underestimate the role Ag plays in our world. I grew up around livestock shows and Ag life in N. Florida and it was a great life to grow up in. You’re on track for sure. Three years for me to get into the black, but discipline was key on tracking and segregating finances for beekeeping vs other income. Built up to 40 and then realized full time job was a major factor. So keeping it at 20 to 30 for now and learned quality over quantity and being efficient pays dividends, literally. And while folks would think that number is too small for expensive equipment, but I found efficiency outweighed expense at that moment, and paid off in the end. Great video and sound advice.
I appreciate it Mike! Much respect to you for your service, and your beekeeping knowledge. I've already run into trouble with segregating finances....I can earmark costs easy enough because I'm a Mint user, but the income -- some of it came through my wife's venmo or paypal, or cash, or check. I wound up with a mason jar full of cash and IOU's where I took money out to buy equipment. I'll have to streamline that for next year. My hive count goals may change, who knows? But I think that 25-30 is very doable for me with the equipment I now have, and my forage area is TOP notch. I suspect that going to two yards would add a whole 'nother layer of complexity, so I don't plan on that for now.
Great information 👍 i try to buy some equipment every week that i find on sale and bee ready for spring. ❤🐝🐝🐝
Sales are a great time to buy. Lumber prices are so high now that supers are selling for nearly twice what I paid a couple month back. Glad I bought when I did.
this is about my 10th video of yours that Ive watched...I had NO IDEA you were a relative newbie to beekeeping ! I like your methodology, frugality and common sense approach. Thanks for sharing your tips
I appreciate it.
A well thought out presentation!
I am a 4th year beekeeper in Atlanta. You are correct in that you cannot raise bees and expect much of a honey crop. I am working diligently on insuring adequate stores and aggressive mite treatments to get my girls through the winter.
I plan on one yard for honey and one for queen rearing as it’s time to replace many of my 12 colonies.
I catch a few swarms but most likely are my own. That’s ok.
Thank you again for a well done video. Best of luck on your 2022 harvest.
Thanks Joe!
We have been a beekeepers for 7 years and 2020 was a year that definitely took us by surprise!!! We went from 6 hobby hives to over 30 in a VERY short period of time! So I hear you about the bees being ahead of you the whole season. LOL!!! We scrambled the entire year for equipment. Luckily we had friends that were getting out of bees and needed someone to take their equipment cheap!!! :)
That’s a good situation to get into Lisa!
Very interesting approach to expanding honey bee production. We have a lot in common on the thought process on how to grow our bees. Started with two this past spring and now I have over 60 in one year. We did invest more money than I wanted but it jumped us ahead a couple years.
I tend to jump in with with both feet...I have to discipline myself to get this first growth phase done and paid for before I think about expanding further. Slow and steady wins the race, but it’s not as fun sometimes!
@@DuckRiverHoney I absolutely agree. I am obsessed with growing the bees. Like you said though you need to balance honey production with how many hives you build.
@@BuckeyeHuntingAndFishing Yep, I’m pretty deep in the red right now. A decent honey crop this year will move the needle back towards the black, which would make me feel better.
Liked and subscribed. My dad ran nine hives in our back lot when I was a kid. Thinking about getting a couple hives for the garden and fruit trees. Im going to try swarm traps. Maonly because i think they are cool. Love the whole idea of local bees. Very informative video. Thanks for posting.
Thanks!
I would like to take a moment and THANK YOU for your video. My Momma and I got into beekeeping a number of years ago and it was a whirlwind of activity, unfortunately my Momma was hurt on a "Collection adventure" and we decided to give that part up, BUT that has not stopped us from pursuing the other aspects of bee keeping in a more safe environment for my Mom. God bless you and your family in the New year, 2022.👍🙏🎄
Thanks, to you as well!
Like the star trek reference. funny.
Thanks!
Hey hey, have a good one buddy and take care.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
thank you this was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Hello fellow UA-camr. Sounds like you got a good hold on things. I'm going into my second year and planning on expanding myself. Thanks for sharing!
I appreciate the kind words! Luck to you in 2021.
How many hives are you lookiing at for next year?
@@russk3931 I'm planning on splitting my 7 hives atleast once and then how ever many swarms I can catch.
Great Video
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Great video we are kind of in the same boat I have grown in one year to 22 and I'm planning on getting to 50 this year I caught serval swarms to increase my numbers last year and planning the same this year and I like buying used equipment as well
Thanks, I actually love swarm trapping. It’s a ton of fun. Planning on doing a bunch of follow along videos checking swarm traps this year.
Nice tips thanks
I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for taking the time!
We need more videos with this hat.
I like that hat
There is a Duck River in Smithton, Tasmania, Australia, famous for its rich dairy area and the fantastic Duck River Butter factory.
Pretty neat to have someone from around the world watching my video, thanks!
There are a couple of Amish suppliers around Ethridge, TN that make excellent cypress equipment. Great folks to deal with.
Awesome, Thanks
Totally agree with everything that you have said, try if you can to stay away from the Chinese stuff, to them anything shiny is stainless, put a magnet on any chinese equipment because good stainless steel isn't magnetic, and forget spares, so in the long run it is always better to buy local, sure you pay a little more but you give a buddy a job.
Agree completely. My extractor has been made for decades, since the 80’s at least and people are still using them every year. Buy once, cry once is better than buying cheap and having to replace it because it’s junk.
Very good information here, well thought out. Your goals seem reasonable in my experience - we started with 9 hives in 2020, split 5 of them 6 ways and made 300+ lbs of honey off of the other four. We also bought 5 packages that ended up being rather unproductive (won't do that again if we can help it) and caught about 20 swarms. 2020 was an abnormally active swarm season in our area (southern PA), so I would caution against planning on the same amount of swarm catching success in 2021, but your area may be different than ours.
Thanks, I appreciate the encouraging words! Strength of the swarm season is a risk that I’ve thought about but can’t control other than effort. I’m going to spread out all over the county and put up swarm traps. Fingers crossed that I can catch what I need. Time will tell...
@@DuckRiverHoney Best thing you can do for yourself to catch more swarms is use swarm commander (www.amazon.com/Swarm-Lure-Commander-2oz-Bottle/dp/B00NHVOL7C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RXYMNYGD4GT0&dchild=1) it is expensive but worth every penny, put this on a stick and throw it in your yard and you will catch a swarm on it. If you put a few drops in a ziplock bag it will slow-release the scent over many weeks, that is how we plan to use it this year, last year we just spayed it in the box, which worked but dissipated quickly. Other than that, get traps up wherever you can - I caught three (four?) from my suburban back yard last year.
Here's some more unsolicited advice: If you can get the trap elevated to ~15 feet easily, do, but don't worry about it too much. We hang all of our traps at head height and have great success, and it makes the setup/removal process much easier. Here's a link to the design we use: ua-cam.com/video/AfxF62sRhXc/v-deo.html. A little bigger than most people recommend, but a big box can catch big and small swarms, a small box can only catch small swarms.
foresthillbeesupply.com/ is an Amish beekeeping supply store in our area that makes excellent products at a great price.
Good luck on your year of growth!
Dr. Seeley's book Honeybee Democracy (amzn.to/2XTFqFX) goes deep into what swarms look for, and there is a doc floating around with how to catch swarms....I've got that somewhere on my old laptop.
Basically they want:
1. Around 40 liter cavity
2. Small opening around 1.5"
3. Entrance at bottom of cavity and facing south or east
4. Strong preference for being 8' to 25' up a tree
5. In the woods, but near or on edge of a clearing.
What I did last year was to focus on trees in pasture edges that I can back my truck up to. That way I can stand in the bed to put the trap up and get it down. I built a few dedicated traps and will build a few more, but I prefer to just use two medium boxes with a migratory lid and cheap solid bottom board. Put frames in the top and nothing in the bottom. This way I don't have so much extra equipment to build and store. Swarm commander works well, I used it last spring. I plan to log my entire swarm catching season this year, should be a fun project.
@@DuckRiverHoney Sounds like we are on the same page - get something up in a tree in the easiest, most cost-effective way you can. Would be interested to see your results from 2021 - with 20ish traps out you should be set to catch quite a few.
I hope so. I caught 7 swarms from 5 traps in 2020, but like you said it may have been an abnormally good year. I’m planning on it being harder in 2021. Best case I have extra bees to sell or give away or combine with other hives.
How old were you when you got your first bees? Thanks for the video man I appreciate it! Hope to see more keep coming. Just found your channel and I’m blowing through the videos!
I believe I was 40.
Earl Grey Tea is the Best ! From a UK tea drinking Beek ! 🐝☕🐝☕🐝☕🐝☕🐝☕
It’s my favorite!
I been making my own hive box's and my own frams cost of wood is a little high but I enjoy doing it
Cost of wood is awful, unless you’re selling.
Swarms are not always the panacea you make them out to be. It takes one year to learn what you captured. Sometimes you catch a swarm with a colored dot of number. Are theses bees from out of State, Winter hardy and are they hygienic? How old is the queen? One year, two years or three or more years old? One or two year old queens produce the most brood. You will not know if they are Winter hardy till you keep them thru a Winter. Bee keeper need to be aware blanket statements "Local bees are your best bees" are more complex than they think.
I agree to a point. FREE bees are my favorite bees. If they are FREE and GOOD, then wonderful. If they’re FREE and BAD then I can cull them, or pinch the queen and combine the rest of the swarm with a honey production hive to boost forager numbers. Point is you have to catch them to find out.
Impressive. Good things to think about if it isn't just a fun hobby. Hobby fisherman don't make much money on their daily catches. LOL Bees can be the same - just fun.
Definitely....I love bees, love working them. I also hope to have them pay for themselves, plus some. It’s about balancing time, work, and expectations, like anything else.
I had a guy try to sell his used equipment and it was apparent he did not take care of his bees-- Red Flag. I'm growing to 25 hives, saved 2 hives for honey and committed the other 3-4 to making new hives; now I have 21 sets and 6-8 nuc boxes with bees in them.. I bought my hive kits from MannLake when advertised for 100 bucks, had a bunch of hive boxes on the black friday promotion sale and went economy grade before the price increase last December. I spent several days outside in the winter building equipment and getting things ready for spring. I'm set up fairly well now and still need more honey supers, last summer I made double deep stacks to prevent swarming.
Buy once cry once I like that 👍👍🖐🐝🐝 new suscraiver here
Thanks, glad to have you!
buy the ots on the spot bee book !
Thanks for the suggestion!
Can you do a video on bottom board design.
I’m planning on a bottom board video. It may take a while though. A lot of my ideas are going to take time.
I’m 100% against debt after 20 years of being in credit card debt . I’m finally crawling out of of it , but not with out tendencies ! That is slowly fading !!
Good deal Michael, thanks!
Great Info! I'm kinda in the same boat wanting to build up my apiary. I've been building my own nucs and some 8 frame equipment this winter. I do have back issues and wanting to get away from the 10 frame boxes. do you feel that its cheaper to buy your boxes instead of building your own? I definity can't afford to buy the tools to make rabbit joints.
Lots of layers to the cost question. Full time job, side job, beekeeping, wife, two young kids, church.....I don't know that I have the time available to make all my equipment currently. It's something I would enjoy if the kids were bigger, or if I were retired, but currently building all my own would eat into what little smallmouth fishing time I have.
@@DuckRiverHoney
Lol I hear ya same here. A wife ,1 little boy1.5 years old and twin boys dew next month.
Full time job and part time job, with cows and chickens on top of it and love keeping bees as well. Needless to say I will be burning the candle at both ends! Trying to be the best man,husband and father that I can be..
That's great! I struggle with focus when I've got too many balls in the air.
What type/style foundation do you use for hives and for supers?
I prefer black plastic. I’ve used Mann Lake Rite Cell and Acorn. I bought a bunch of Acorn heavy wax coated last fall. I plan to experiment with some small cell as well, just because.
I see that you use honey supers, here in Aus no commercial beekeeper uses them preferring to keep to one sized box (always deep) and only one size of frame, there is no reason to duplicate your gear, give them room and they will fill it. and we generally use the rule that brood boxes have the correct number of frames but anything above the excluder has one less, with the frames being equally spaced, this gives a thicker frame of honey that is much easier to uncap evenly.
I’m actually using all mediums. All deeps makes sense for commercial guys because it’s roughly 20-30% cheaper to provide the same comb area. But I’m a hobby beekeeper and don’t have lifts and things, so I figured I’d do some future proofing against me getting old and use mediums instead of deeps. Works for me. Added benefit is a medium with a gallon frame feeder makes a good size nuc box, so I don’t need any extra equipment.
@@DuckRiverHoney I am a newbie planning starting this year. I am investing in long hives, 2 types Layens (horizontal hive.com) and Zest hives (UK guy called Bill Summers (Zesthive.com), which are staggeringly simple and make a lot of sense to me. This year I am 70 and my main reason for this investment is to protect my back....
So far I have 3 hives and 3 a building and 10 nucs coming along. Anyway I liked your work so I have subscribed. Good luck for the future.
Thanks! I’ve studied the horizontal hives a bit and they’re real interesting. Seems like bees prefer to move up vs sideways is the biggest disadvantage. I think horizontals make a lot of sense for small hobby operations. I may experiment with a few somewhere down the line. Luck to you this year!
@@DuckRiverHoney I have a few horizontal hives sitting unused in my bee yard, leftovers from previous experiments. They have some old wax on the bars, but swarms seem to adopt empty or weak langsroth boxes readily, but after about 10 years minimum, of sitting there, not one swarm has taken to the top bars as yet. Sure there have been a few scouts but they haven't shown interest for long.
That’s interesting. From Seeley’s work in Honeybee Democracy it seems they look for 40-47 L in volume, south facing entrance, entrance of 1.5 inches, preference for being 8 to 25 ft up a tree. Wonder if it’s the horizontal vs vertical layout that keeps swarms from moving into your hives, or if it’s something else (not far enough off ground)? Swarm trapping is a passion of mine. I’ve predator trapped in the past and swarm trapping is more fun.
Will you be selling packages in the spring? Ive been trying all year to catch swarm but there is not many bees around here, at least not swarming.
Probably not next year. Thanks!
How long have you been beekeeping? How many colonies do you run?
I’m going into my 3rd year, have 30 colonies and will double this year.
Hi Ray, I’m pretty similar. Going into third year with 23 colonies, plan to set up one more yard this year, winter with 40-50, then maybe expand to a third yard after that. My states honey House regulations are a growth limiter currently though, have to figure that out.
Hey brother I’m in Alabama do you use queen excluders what’s your thoughts on em
I didn’t last year. I may this year on some hives. They keep honeycomb clean, which simplifies storage.
@@DuckRiverHoney thanks brother I’m actually in the shop putting together 3 traps noticed yesterday the 3 hives I have were pulling in lots of pollen
That’s a good sign!
You most definitely can buy used beekeeping equipment in TN. It just has to be sanitized. Tennessee Code 44-15-112 Used beekeeping equipment : No person shall sell or give to any other person any used beekeeping equipment until the equipment has been sanitized by a method approved by the state apiarist. This requirement will not apply to equipment that is occupied by live bees. --
Method to sanitize, last time I checked, boil in lye for 30 minutes, which would destroy woodenware. So YES, you CAN, but not really.
my question is why dont more people use horizontal hives? it saves your back from all that heavy lifting, hard for people to walk off with it,, just my thoughts on this,, thank you for the tips
Langstroth is made for honey production, and it does that well. Horizontal hives make a lot of sense for a hobbyist, especially with the future proofing against aging.
@@DuckRiverHoney the reason i was asking is they are used alot by bee keepers in eastern EOUROPE,, them and bee houses/huts, i was just thinking about the wear and tear on the body
Different strokes for different folks. Bees do like to move UP, and store honey overhead. They will keep in a horizontal, but as efficiently from a honey production perspective? I don’t know. Have you read Beekeeping With A Smile?
I don’t see a link to www.acornbee.com 🤔
I added them to the description, thanks.
I guess you’re going to the hive alive conference?
I’ve got my ticket!
i have a trap on my deer stand
Good places usually. I caught two swarms out of the same ladder stand last spring. Pretty easy to get down too...I lower the box with a tow strap.
If Mannlake would only ship to me for free. 🤣😂 Alaskan problems. It's the only downside to living in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Alaska’s a neat state. How is the beekeeping up there?
It is cheaper to buy the lumber cut. Homedepot sells standard wood for $34 dollar a plank. The worst part was I spent a hour looking at tools before looking at a single board of wood. Lol
One box 24 happy to spend that all day.
Nuc production might be different. Need to start building those some how.
I bought unassembled cypress mediums for $10.50 back in November. From an Amish man.
I need to find one. Lol capitalism is real and hard to find things but thankfully bees make a lot of profit
Suburban beekeeping is great thankfully when they deforested everything they replanted with bee friendly plants. Never knew you can just have bee like this but the power they show is really amazing.