If you have even modest woodworking skills, you can save insane amounts of money by making your own hives and frames. I've made 2 deep boxes, 3 medium supers, a 5-box mini hive, a 37-frame horizontal hive, a swarm catcher, and all the frames for all this for less than $100 in lumber.
Purchased 1 complete medium super from Tractor Supply. Used it as a template all the other frames and boxes for right around 20 bucks per box with frames. These boxes and frames are super easy to built. I Build custom cabinets for a living and have a full working woodshop at my home so it was nothing for me to build the boxes. You do not need a woodshop to build these boxes though. They would require the most basic of tools to build. It will just take a little longer for each box. You will save quite a bit of money though. I even have SketchUp plans that I made for these boxes which I am more than willing to share.
Hi Max, I would be forever grateful if you would share those plans with me (andressinsurance@yahoo.com). Please let me know what you can do Your generosity is very appreciated.
I'm up in Canada Got a veil and basic tools in a starter kit that ran about $300. Then I bought 2 - 10 frame established hives at 300 a piece with a queen excluder and extra drawn super for each. I built extra supers with used lumber bought foundations and feeding pails, another veil for my wife. Honey extractor and on and on easily spent $ 2000 my first year with wintering costs. Out of that I got 260 Lbs of Awesome honey and got two late season Nucs made up. So ya it was expensive but then again if I had sold the honey I would have pretty much broke even. Name me another start up of any kind of livestock where if done right you can break even your first year and own all the equipment to do the work. All you have to do is make the work and responsibility the number 1 priority. beekeeping is livestock and the beekeeper is the steward and is responsible for their welfare.
@@WhistleThicket My wife want's to do some honey sales and possibly use it to replace some of her income so I'll be multiplying the hives as fast as I can. Started with 2-10 frame production hives late spring which i did a late season nuc split from each. But after watching many many videos and wracking my brain as to how to increase my bee stock I have now come up with a plan and old techniques used differently that if successful along with swarm prevention splits should have her where she needs to be by year 3. other than some queen cells and a few other items I'll make everything else my self. A lot of beekeeper complain about costs. It adds up fast but once bought it will pay for itself over and over so many times that the cost is irrelevant. I only complain about cost of honey extraction. The price of that stuff is stupid. When a decent hand crank 2-frame extractor is running at $300 + you know that the industry is trying to gouge. A provap for Oxelic acid is over 600 dollars up here. One of those tackle box cigarette lighter queen incubators is going for between 750 and 1000 dollars. Whenever I look at thing, I always think about what exactly it is that I'm buying for the price they want. That transfer box for instance. It's nothing more than a 12 volt heater with a thermostat in a box. They are clearly off their rocker. But I'm OK with 12 volt so I'll make my own for under 10% of what they want. A 12 volt 150 watt auto heater and a battery operated home thermostat mounted in a box. it would hold 92 degrees at -40 in a snowbank and monitor humidity. It can also be used to make an incubator. So for $100 and some ingenuity I can save well over $1500 on a transfer box and a decent incubator.
Warning! Read the legal disclaimer in the back of Mann Lake's catalog. Look under the heading "FREE SHIPPING". I ordered bee feed and a bee suit in early march. THEY HELD BACK THE FEED BECAUSE THE SUIT WAS BACK ORDERED. THEN THEY NEVER SENT ME THE ULTRA BEE. Many bees perished... they're not responsible. SEE LEGAL DISCLAIMER.
@@mikeries8549 I know up here in Canada items like Ultra bee have to be ordered from Bee maid and are only available certain times of the year. I only order and have shipped the things I'm willing to go without. Last year I couldn't even get Ultra bee. This year I called in January to get heads up on When they were bringing it in. I called, confirmed then I took and hour and a half drive one way to go pick it up. the day it came in along with a list of other stuff I needed like boxes of frames and such. Anything! Not majorly time consuming or difficult I make. I decided I was gonna build some queens this year. Looking into things I needed and wanted I ran across those 12 volt queen cell carrying cases. I thought, well that would be cool! I damn near stroked out when I saw the price they wanted. Up here they want $ 750 dollars for the small one and $999 for the bigger one plus taxes. WHOLLY HELL!!!! It's a just a stupid tackle box with a 12 volt element, a thermostat, maybe a cpu fan and a piece of cushion foam with holes punched in it at most. I can buy every single component and assemble just as nice a unit with adjustable temp for under a $100 dollars in an afternoon. While I was at it, I also ordered a 12 volt 150 watt windshield defroster and a thermostat. I'll use that in an old dead bar fridge with an old computer power supply to power it and build me a nice incubator also. These simple projects Will literally save me $2000 dollars EASILY! I can literally have both usable in a single day. I know some folks want to make some money on their ideas. But, I draw the line When they are charging Wall street lawyer fees for their time. There are only a few things so far I've found that aren't economical to make myself and experience unreal savings. For instance: last year I made my own frames. I made 70 and it took me 3 days to get them identical to bought. I can buy them cheaper. Basically, I buy, frames, queen excluders and plastic foundation for the supers. I make every thing else hive wise myself and save a fortune. Thing I found about bee keeping is you do have some stuff that are economical and reasonably priced enough to buy. Then you have other items that are priced like It's limited availability that they brought back on the Apollo missions. Some things you can literally count your time and buy the tools and material and still save money. Items such as pollen supplement My bees won't go without. Last year for the very short term until I could get something better. I just went to a healthfood store. Bought a couple bags of pollen ground it up to powder with a coffee grinder mixed it in good with some wheat flour. As good? Hell no! But very short term it prevented starvation. The only magic recipe is pollen diversity made by nature. Health food store pollen was expensive as hell. But commercially they mix supplements down to 4 percent. So a small bag of pollen went a long way. Up here a 5 frame nuc sells for $260. Even if Pollen is 100 dollars a lb. At a 10% mix with wheat flour i can still get 10lbs total that will keep 5 hives from starving off short term. Keeping the bees alive is by far the most important issue. They are by far the most important commodity. I can build a box out of scrap. I can go without many things But I can't do anything bees or fix anything bees without bees. Even if we had hive beetles here I'd buy pollen patties (which is a major no no) and just put a small daily supply in the hive daily to keep them alive short term. There is always a way. Mann Lake said they aren't responsible. Even if they were and replaced the bees you'd still have the inconvenience and the loss of whatever production you wanted. Bees are just bugs. The same bugs I crushed and killed without thought my entire life. But I grew up on the farm. The moment I put them in a box I claimed ownership. I became responsible just the same if it was a cat, a dog, or cattle. They are livestock. I'd eat less myself or pay someone to take them before I helplessly watched them starve. Ya, they are still just bugs. But, they are my bugs and for that they will never go without If I can help it. It's an investment and I got too much in to rely on or blame 3rd parties. "Where there is will there is a way" Just have to look harder and try harder.
@@RoughAndWretchedRAW Mann Lake is full of nice people. They repeatedly assured me over and over how they'd immediately shipped my pollen sub. Its April and it still isn't here. It's not coming. They owe me money now $$$ for the product they never sent. It's just a little mistake to them. To me it cost ...well that $100 suit is now worth 4 grand. Just a little mistake.
@@Haegan_LeeThink electrician and plumbing labor costs for around 4 - 10 hours of labor for a decent to large sized removal (and lets face it, they only call once it gets out of hand). There is money in it because a person can only do about 1 or 2 removals a day. On top of this, many of the bee removers take, process, and sell the honey as well as the queens. So that's where the money is.
I have 4 hives now, started about 9 months ago, and It has cost me NOTHING!!!. My 4 self designed and built topbar hives cost.....Pallets-Free, box of screws and glue =$5 max each!!! My Smoker and bee suit I got for Christmas ($30/$75).... caught several hives by doing cutouts and splits ($20 total in hair clips for the cutouts)....I got paid $250 for one cutout!!.....I have actually made about $200!! No treatments, no foundation, no mites, no problems....my bees love where they live, they are local survivor stock !! I plan on expanding to 12 hives in the next few months...$5 each = $40 more for a total of $160 profit and 12 hives in one year.
Are there any time stamps where we see the prices? Even though watching throughout and listing to helpful information I just Really wanna know the pricing quick and instantly.
I've watched a couple videos of japanese bee keeping. What I watched seemed simpler than the good ole' American bee keeping. I'm checking all of them out
I'm in central California, brilliant content! I hope to begin this journey in mid February and this video has gone a long way in preparing me for the cash drop. Thank you for this most enlightening video.
I have a lot of questions . I live in Arkansas if a rule area and I have worries about bears . I'm not sure how to ask this but is there a ratio to population of bees and the amount of land they need to support themselves ? How far does one bee box need to be from another to keep him from fighting over resources if that's even a thing ?
Bees will travel up to a 3 mile radius to get nectar, and people have bees on farms, cities, and backyards. Some people have 100s of hives. In the far north there are less flowering plants, so it is harder to get enough nectar and a shorter nectar season. Where you are at you should be good. Bear are a concern, especially if you know there is already bears in your area. I do not have an electric fence around my bees, but it is fenced and there are lots of fences on my property, I also have 3 dogs, which chase everything away!
@@WhistleThicket thank you very much that was some very helpful information . Should I try to spread my bee hives out to the corners of my property or keep them all together ?
You forgot the paint , glue nails and screws to put together the hive boxes and frames basic total realistic starting price with a Nuc of bees is is around $900 this is a double broad boxes and 2 supers and 40 frames and all basic gear
You could save a lot of money by purchasing the components that need to be assembled if you have some basic wooworking skills, there are a lot of places on line where you can find free plans and all you need to buy is the wood.
It cost me 330 to start. I don't buy bees, I catch a swarm of bees myself and it's better than a package of bees because they were never medicated, they are strong, they can resist mites and diseases a little more, they can be less maintenance to take care the bees and they survive better in your area.
Join club. Find the old guy who is "slowing down" and let him lean on you. Be his helper and you'll be rewarded. Getting a willing helper/student can benefit both in big ways.
My story: Had gotten out of bees for 20 yrs. Went to club meeting and described my situation and they literally pointed to this man. He did removals and needed help. Those guys always need helpers. My pay was the bees from the removals plus a little cash. If not for Tim...I'd never have 40 bee hives. It's very expensive. Thanks Tim! Now go find your Tim.
You're just scratching the surface. We run 40 and ...spent $4000+ in one season. Then we quit looking at costs. $1250 extractor from Lyson and a $1200 bottling tank were purchased this past summer with HONEY MONEY. Save your nickels. Oh...started with free bees by doing removals and chasing swarms. It's a lot of loot in the yard.
Hi,. I'm just wondering if you have to harvest the hive. I would like to purchase a hive but not for honey. I just want to make a safe place for bees. Is this even possible?
Sure you could do that, but if you aren’t managing the hive, it could get two big and swarm. You also need to manage pests. Keeping old trees on your property can help provide homes for feral bees
You are not supposed to take the honey from the first Year's batch, you are supposed to wait till the Second years Harvest that way your new bees we'll make it through the first winter even with a feeder they need their honey to survive that first winter.
i am going to keep bees at some point in my life, but where i’m at now is just too small. i really just want some wild ones around to pollinate the garden. beeswax and honey would be an added bonus.
Thank you whistle thicket. This was a super interesting video. Wow very expensive. I would love to have bees for conservative purposes. And I've been asking around if any bee keepers would like me to look after their bees. I think it's a great way to have bees without the bulk cost. Again thanks for a super video and excellent tips. 🐝🐝🐝🌹🌝
Thanks! Luckily I was able to start for about half the cost due to gifts and used stuff! Some beekeepers who have lots of hives would to work with you I bet!
@@Annie.xx-xx There is also a possibility with hosting a hive on your property. There are lots of beekeepers who have nowhere to put their hives and need someone who would be willing to have their hive at their place since they cannot. Try your local bee clubs or bee groups. often times they share some of the honney with you as a thanks.
I'm starting this year, already have bees ordered and my stuff on the way everything was just under 600 dollars (for 2 full hives+ 2 nucs) but I'll probably build 2 more if possible glad I took the plunge I've wanted to do it for a few years now ;-)
Everybody who has been beekeeping for a while have stacks of hives. If I start this am I going to have stacks of hives too? Seems like the bees are going to multiply so fast I am going to constantly be buying new housing. True or false?
Not necessarily. I have only been a beekeeper for a year, but you can raise bees , or honey, not both. If you want more bees, then you can do splits. If you want more honey, bigger colonies are better. I think having 3-4 hives is good, especially if you split to prevent swarming.
@@WhistleThicket In Bulgaria, but prices are similar in the how Europe. And bee families come with 5 frames - 2 with honey, one with the queen and larvas and 2 with workers and eggs. 3 are far enought byt not if you start in September.
No, some people will have a 100 hives on a piece of property. Just remember that bees have a 3 mile radius to find nectar! Think about what is near you for nectar sources. A lot of people forget that bees get a lot of their nectar from flower blooming trees. A mixed hardwood forest nearby can be great for bees! I’d also want to know what is in a 3 mile radius of my property- are there other bee keepers nearby?
We have tons of bees in our old camper on our rural land where we use the river access. Would we just need a queen or to capture a queen that is in there or what to get them to our boxes of we decide to do it? Thanks
Depends on how hard they are to get. I would set up some swarm traps in the area. You would need to get the queen from the camper hive. Sometimes if you get the queen in a box/bucket, then the entire colony will follow.
@@WhistleThicket ok. They have been there for years now. There are probably 1000s of them. It's a 20ft camper and they have taken over the whole thing. Full inside the walls all the way around it. My aunt owns the land and she is about to retire and wanted something to do to build upon for her grandkids. We have room there for several boxes and I have some starting capital to use right now. I just don't know anything about it. I do know our land neighbors have a couple boxes they have had for a couple years now and I see they have a lot of honey for sell for really high on facebook each year. They run out before everyone gets a chance to buy it... I will have to keep researching. Thanks for your quick reply. I watched your ads all of the way through to help your channel the best I can.
Thanks! Yes sounds like you might have multiple hives in the trailer w several queens! Your beekeeping neighbors might be able to help? You could even order some queens and make some hives with the camper bees!
@@WhistleThicket my aunt wouldn't want anyone on her property but family she is old school. I'll figure out what we may need to do to order queens and how to get set up. I figure we have enough bees for probably 15 or 20 of those boxes you showed.
we all need to be doing this if we can possibly do it on our property's to help the bees survive the extinction. is there a way to keep bees just to release them in areas where they are limited? The need for bees very high now or what??? I mean I don't care about the honey, I just care about breeding more bees for the planet. Can you distribute bees or do they die if you try to drive them to different areas where bees are needed?
A lot more here in Canada I bought 8 complete hives with all needed for $1,900.00 3boxes bottom board queen excluder inner cover plus all frames and top plus entrance reducer so complete plus 8 escape boards were separate
Hi, do you use varroa mite treatments or are they not a problem where you are. Varroa is a big problem for us and can be expensive to treat in our little corner of the world. Beekeeping is a wonderful hobby ..challenging rewarding and not for the faint hearted.
*I got lucky and got a whole Forester load of equipment from a friend who kept bees years ago and still had a mountain of stuff. He gave it all to me for free. All stuff he'd made himself, frames and all.*
He made frames! Wow that is cool! I got some stuff from a friend and kind of overbought stuff this year, so I probably have stuff for almost 4 complete hives next year!
In my country in East Europe, (Serbia) buying a single freshly split hive with decent amount of bees costs around 120-150 dollars, and 1 kilo of highest quality honey costs around 9 to 10$, what is the price of honey in USA?
I'm surprised that beekeeping equipment is so expensive in the US! With our exorbitant tax rates in the EU (21% VAT where I live), our prices are still lower, especially for nucs. Nucs typically go for $12 to $18 per frame, queen included (no box).
@@WhistleThicket The gear prices, yup. The VAT... not so much. The nuc prices are nice for starting beekeepers, but it also means we make less as beekeepers when we sell nucs.
another idea.... if you are mainly after having the bees for the pollination benefits and a little honey... you could locate a beekeeper with multiple hives..... some beekeepers are running out of usable space in their bee-yards and would welcome being able to locate and manage some of their hives on your available property. win-win for both- you get the benefit of having bees and should have the opportunity to learn more about bees and caring for them..... they are caring for their bees and you are learning about what is going on on your property.
yes it can be a money pit Build and make as much as you can.STAY WITH THE BASIC Keep with the same FRAME SIZE I use DEEPS Don't buy every thing you see i can built 2 1/2 boxes for the price of 1>the hive you buy is the patter RITE THERE
I'm only like 13 and I want to do bee keeping but can't because I live in a neighborhood and I'm not sure if I could have a bee hive in my backyard and also I'm not sure if my parents will let me
240p, we meet again...
vikipoyta thought we left 240p in 2010
My tab 4 is from 2010 and its not 240 p
Just another way he’s saving money for beekeeping
Got an older one...took it apart...got dimensions n what I needed...built my own years ago. Wayyyyyyyy cheaper....if you know what you are doing.
He said the gloves were "handy" lol
Ye
S
You should be ashamed of yourself lol
@@Mccaid who even was I 2 years ago? Lol
There are other sites where a full hive is unassembled for 100 bucks! I can buy them locally for less! The entire kit!
Please recconend
Stop the cap, where @
Do you have a link or something?
I'm interested, can you send me the link?
If you have even modest woodworking skills, you can save insane amounts of money by making your own hives and frames. I've made 2 deep boxes, 3 medium supers, a 5-box mini hive, a 37-frame horizontal hive, a swarm catcher, and all the frames for all this for less than $100 in lumber.
Liked, commented, and subscribed. Great content!!!
Purchased 1 complete medium super from Tractor Supply. Used it as a template all the other frames and boxes for right around 20 bucks per box with frames. These boxes and frames are super easy to built. I Build custom cabinets for a living and have a full working woodshop at my home so it was nothing for me to build the boxes. You do not need a woodshop to build these boxes though. They would require the most basic of tools to build. It will just take a little longer for each box. You will save quite a bit of money though. I even have SketchUp plans that I made for these boxes which I am more than willing to share.
Cool, I’m hoping to make my own boxes!
Hi Max, I would be forever grateful if you would share those plans with me (andressinsurance@yahoo.com). Please let me know what you can do
Your generosity is very appreciated.
Hey there man you still got those prints?
I'm up in Canada Got a veil and basic tools in a starter kit that ran about $300. Then I bought 2 - 10 frame established hives at 300 a piece with a queen excluder and extra drawn super for each. I built extra supers with used lumber bought foundations and feeding pails, another veil for my wife. Honey extractor and on and on easily spent $ 2000 my first year with wintering costs. Out of that I got 260 Lbs of Awesome honey and got two late season Nucs made up. So ya it was expensive but then again if I had sold the honey I would have pretty much broke even. Name me another start up of any kind of livestock where if done right you can break even your first year and own all the equipment to do the work. All you have to do is make the work and responsibility the number 1 priority. beekeeping is livestock and the beekeeper is the steward and is responsible for their welfare.
I’m hoping this year to have 3-5 hives and be happy with that for the next few years! Can’t wait for warm weather!
@@WhistleThicket My wife want's to do some honey sales and possibly use it to replace some of her income so I'll be multiplying the hives as fast as I can. Started with 2-10 frame production hives late spring which i did a late season nuc split from each. But after watching many many videos and wracking my brain as to how to increase my bee stock I have now come up with a plan and old techniques used differently that if successful along with swarm prevention splits should have her where she needs to be by year 3. other than some queen cells and a few other items I'll make everything else my self. A lot of beekeeper complain about costs. It adds up fast but once bought it will pay for itself over and over so many times that the cost is irrelevant. I only complain about cost of honey extraction. The price of that stuff is stupid. When a decent hand crank 2-frame extractor is running at $300 + you know that the industry is trying to gouge. A provap for Oxelic acid is over 600 dollars up here. One of those tackle box cigarette lighter queen incubators is going for between 750 and 1000 dollars.
Whenever I look at thing, I always think about what exactly it is that I'm buying for the price they want. That transfer box for instance. It's nothing more than a 12 volt heater with a thermostat in a box. They are clearly off their rocker. But I'm OK with 12 volt so I'll make my own for under 10% of what they want. A 12 volt 150 watt auto heater and a battery operated home thermostat mounted in a box. it would hold 92 degrees at -40 in a snowbank and monitor humidity. It can also be used to make an incubator. So for $100 and some ingenuity I can save well over $1500 on a transfer box and a decent incubator.
Warning! Read the legal disclaimer in the back of Mann Lake's catalog. Look under the heading "FREE SHIPPING". I ordered bee feed and a bee suit in early march.
THEY HELD BACK THE FEED BECAUSE THE SUIT WAS BACK ORDERED. THEN THEY NEVER SENT ME THE ULTRA BEE. Many bees perished... they're not responsible. SEE LEGAL DISCLAIMER.
@@mikeries8549 I know up here in Canada items like Ultra bee have to be ordered from Bee maid and are only available certain times of the year. I only order and have shipped the things I'm willing to go without. Last year I couldn't even get Ultra bee. This year I called in January to get heads up on When they were bringing it in. I called, confirmed then I took and hour and a half drive one way to go pick it up. the day it came in along with a list of other stuff I needed like boxes of frames and such.
Anything! Not majorly time consuming or difficult I make. I decided I was gonna build some queens this year. Looking into things I needed and wanted I ran across those 12 volt queen cell carrying cases. I thought, well that would be cool! I damn near stroked out when I saw the price they wanted. Up here they want $ 750 dollars for the small one and $999 for the bigger one plus taxes. WHOLLY HELL!!!! It's a just a stupid tackle box with a 12 volt element, a thermostat, maybe a cpu fan and a piece of cushion foam with holes punched in it at most. I can buy every single component and assemble just as nice a unit with adjustable temp for under a $100 dollars in an afternoon. While I was at it, I also ordered a 12 volt 150 watt windshield defroster and a thermostat. I'll use that in an old dead bar fridge with an old computer power supply to power it and build me a nice incubator also. These simple projects Will literally save me $2000 dollars EASILY! I can literally have both usable in a single day.
I know some folks want to make some money on their ideas. But, I draw the line When they are charging Wall street lawyer fees for their time.
There are only a few things so far I've found that aren't economical to make myself and experience unreal savings. For instance: last year I made my own frames. I made 70 and it took me 3 days to get them identical to bought. I can buy them cheaper. Basically, I buy, frames, queen excluders and plastic foundation for the supers. I make every thing else hive wise myself and save a fortune.
Thing I found about bee keeping is you do have some stuff that are economical and reasonably priced enough to buy. Then you have other items that are priced like It's limited availability that they brought back on the Apollo missions. Some things you can literally count your time and buy the tools and material and still save money.
Items such as pollen supplement My bees won't go without. Last year for the very short term until I could get something better. I just went to a healthfood store. Bought a couple bags of pollen ground it up to powder with a coffee grinder mixed it in good with some wheat flour. As good? Hell no! But very short term it prevented starvation. The only magic recipe is pollen diversity made by nature. Health food store pollen was expensive as hell. But commercially they mix supplements down to 4 percent. So a small bag of pollen went a long way. Up here a 5 frame nuc sells for $260. Even if Pollen is 100 dollars a lb. At a 10% mix with wheat flour i can still get 10lbs total that will keep 5 hives from starving off short term.
Keeping the bees alive is by far the most important issue. They are by far the most important commodity. I can build a box out of scrap. I can go without many things But I can't do anything bees or fix anything bees without bees. Even if we had hive beetles here I'd buy pollen patties (which is a major no no) and just put a small daily supply in the hive daily to keep them alive short term. There is always a way.
Mann Lake said they aren't responsible. Even if they were and replaced the bees you'd still have the inconvenience and the loss of whatever production you wanted.
Bees are just bugs. The same bugs I crushed and killed without thought my entire life. But I grew up on the farm. The moment I put them in a box I claimed ownership. I became responsible just the same if it was a cat, a dog, or cattle. They are livestock. I'd eat less myself or pay someone to take them before I helplessly watched them starve. Ya, they are still just bugs. But, they are my bugs and for that they will never go without If I can help it. It's an investment and I got too much in to rely on or blame 3rd parties. "Where there is will there is a way" Just have to look harder and try harder.
@@RoughAndWretchedRAW Mann Lake is full of nice people.
They repeatedly assured me over and over how they'd immediately shipped my pollen sub. Its April and it still isn't here. It's not coming. They owe me money now $$$ for the product they never sent.
It's just a little mistake to them. To me it cost ...well that $100 suit is now worth 4 grand.
Just a little mistake.
Time investment? How many average hours go into keeping bees? I think for the return, the total start up cost isn’t crazy stupid money!!
The money is in doing removals.
Y'all would never believe what ppl will pay to get bees out of their house.
What does it normally cost?
@@Haegan_LeeThink electrician and plumbing labor costs for around 4 - 10 hours of labor for a decent to large sized removal (and lets face it, they only call once it gets out of hand). There is money in it because a person can only do about 1 or 2 removals a day. On top of this, many of the bee removers take, process, and sell the honey as well as the queens. So that's where the money is.
Seems like you could also go in with someone and share the equipment you don’t use every day: gloves, smoker, veil etc.
I have 4 hives now, started about 9 months ago, and It has cost me NOTHING!!!. My 4 self designed and built topbar hives cost.....Pallets-Free, box of screws and glue =$5 max each!!! My Smoker and bee suit I got for Christmas ($30/$75).... caught several hives by doing cutouts and splits ($20 total in hair clips for the cutouts)....I got paid $250 for one cutout!!.....I have actually made about $200!! No treatments, no foundation, no mites, no problems....my bees love where they live, they are local survivor stock !! I plan on expanding to 12 hives in the next few months...$5 each = $40 more for a total of $160 profit and 12 hives in one year.
@Achaeos Salisbury Now that was a smart move! I almost started with top bars. Have you seen the Cathedral hives?
You miss the honey extractor that worths a lot of money. But you'll lose more money if you don't use it because you can harvest less honey without it
Very helpful and informative. Thank you for your guidance. JT
Good luck!
I'm more interested in where you got that hat
Father's Day Gift! From J Hats. Best hat and gift ever!Perfect in the sun and rain. Used on the farm and on canoe trips!
The thumbnail looks like coyote Peterson.
You can’t tell me otherwise
That guy stole my look!
Are there any time stamps where we see the prices?
Even though watching throughout and listing to helpful information I just
Really wanna know the pricing quick and instantly.
$373.50
I you heard of Japanese’s honey bee keeping I think the style is much less invasive
I've watched a couple videos of japanese bee keeping. What I watched seemed simpler than the good ole' American bee keeping. I'm checking all of them out
@@ThetrippyLilHippie African bees a wild...so we can't use that method
I wanna be a Bee keeper.♥️
Warning: It is addicting!
I would suggest a supporting local beekeepers I'm sure there is some beekeepers that run a business on helping you be a beekeeper
Yes , luckily in wnc there are several local bee stores!
Umm Mann lake sells assembled kits. Blue sky doesn’t.
Thank you. Very informative video for those considering beekeeping or beginners. 💛🍯🐝
I'm in Florida, and I want to get some bee's
Good info thanks
Good luck!
I'm in central California, brilliant content! I hope to begin this journey in mid February and this video has gone a long way in preparing me for the cash drop. Thank you for this most enlightening video.
Honestly less than I was expecting
I have a lot of questions . I live in Arkansas if a rule area and I have worries about bears . I'm not sure how to ask this but is there a ratio to population of bees and the amount of land they need to support themselves ? How far does one bee box need to be from another to keep him from fighting over resources if that's even a thing ?
Bees will travel up to a 3 mile radius to get nectar, and people have bees on farms, cities, and backyards. Some people have 100s of hives. In the far north there are less flowering plants, so it is harder to get enough nectar and a shorter nectar season. Where you are at you should be good. Bear are a concern, especially if you know there is already bears in your area. I do not have an electric fence around my bees, but it is fenced and there are lots of fences on my property, I also have 3 dogs, which chase everything away!
@@WhistleThicket thank you very much that was some very helpful information . Should I try to spread my bee hives out to the corners of my property or keep them all together ?
Cost have gone to a lot. You are looking at $500 just in boxs
That’s crazy!
I'm deathly scared of bugs but I want to start beekeeping, this will go well (although it might help with my fear)
Thank you for sharing. Ur video is very informative for me. God bless.
What about bee 🐝 hive on the site wish or Aliexpress ????? I thinking start a hive in Dublin Ireland 🇮🇪 thank you 🙏
You forgot the paint , glue nails and screws to put together the hive boxes and frames basic total realistic starting price with a Nuc of bees is is around $900 this is a double broad boxes and 2 supers and 40 frames and all basic gear
All those boxes can be hand made pretty easily
Frédérick Lehoux Oh Ok, guess everyone purchasing them doesn't know that😒
@Poison Ivy so can stainless steel screws
Hi, and greetings from Puerto Rico, I was if shipp to Puerto Rico UAS.
Not this year, but maybe next year~!
You could save a lot of money by purchasing the components that need to be assembled if you have some basic wooworking skills, there are a lot of places on line where you can find free plans and all you need to buy is the wood.
Short answer. $1,500.00 that is without extraction equipment.
Cost me about 1k
It cost me 330 to start. I don't buy bees, I catch a swarm of bees myself and it's better than a package of bees because they were never medicated, they are strong, they can resist mites and diseases a little more, they can be less maintenance to take care the bees and they survive better in your area.
Can you start with 1 hive or is 2 recommended?
why was my dad watching this is he gonna start beekeeping????
Yes, yes he is!
@@WhistleThicket he might just want to know how much it costs
@@WhistleThicket never mind I think he wants to
That’s not bad- under $500. I thought it would be over a grand or 1,500. I might have to go ahead and get into beekeeping.
If you are interested, need to start by May this year ( if you are in the US)!
Thankyou
Dame bro way to call me out right off the start lol
I haven’t ordered my suit yet, only 2 empty hives and 2 nucs. So far I’m into for about $700
Yep those nucs can get pricey!
The one thing I didn't hear was the bee jackets or suits. Those can be a major price.
I think I mention safety equipment, veils and gloves. A basic bee suit with an attached veil is about 60 bucks, veils alone are usually 25-45.
@@samylsneh6186 how do I learn to train bees if I have never had bees
@@samylsneh6186 I haven’t practiced much but I know I can bc I played trombone for 7 years
$404.00 ? That's CHEAP !!! (Yes, for me. I understand others may not agree.) I was expecting to have to spend much more than that.
You can probably start even cheaper with some used gear! I basically made my money back selling honey and other bee products my first year!
Join club. Find the old guy who is "slowing down" and let him lean on you. Be his helper and you'll be rewarded. Getting a willing helper/student can benefit both in big ways.
My story: Had gotten out of bees for 20 yrs. Went to club meeting and described my situation and they literally pointed to this man. He did removals and needed help. Those guys always need helpers. My pay was the bees from the removals plus a little cash. If not for Tim...I'd never have 40 bee hives. It's very expensive. Thanks Tim!
Now go find your Tim.
You're just scratching the surface. We run 40 and ...spent $4000+ in one season. Then we quit looking at costs.
$1250 extractor from Lyson and a $1200 bottling tank were purchased this past summer with HONEY MONEY. Save your nickels.
Oh...started with free bees by doing removals and chasing swarms. It's a lot of loot in the yard.
Yes, if i can catch some swarms I will be saving tons!
Hi,. I'm just wondering if you have to harvest the hive. I would like to purchase a hive but not for honey. I just want to make a safe place for bees. Is this even possible?
Sure you could do that, but if you aren’t managing the hive, it could get two big and swarm. You also need to manage pests. Keeping old trees on your property can help provide homes for feral bees
You are not supposed to take the honey from the first Year's batch, you are supposed to wait till the Second years Harvest that way your new bees we'll make it through the first winter even with a feeder they need their honey to survive that first winter.
A lot of times this is true. My 2nd hive I did not harvest from. My 1st hive filled up 4 medium supers of honey! I had no choice but to harvest!
Its a friken wooden box, just make yourself one
very informative, thank you
i am going to keep bees at some point in my life, but where i’m at now is just too small. i really just want some wild ones around to pollinate the garden. beeswax and honey would be an added bonus.
It’s addicting!
I have gotten going with about 200 bucks buying some used stuff
Score!
how much does a bee colony cost 🙏
Thank you whistle thicket. This was a super interesting video. Wow very expensive. I would love to have bees for conservative purposes. And I've been asking around if any bee keepers would like me to look after their bees. I think it's a great way to have bees without the bulk cost. Again thanks for a super video and excellent tips. 🐝🐝🐝🌹🌝
Thanks! Luckily I was able to start for about half the cost due to gifts and used stuff! Some beekeepers who have lots of hives would to work with you I bet!
@@WhistleThicket
Yes I saw the part where you said to ask for parts as Xmas presents. Brilliant idea.
@@Annie.xx-xx There is also a possibility with hosting a hive on your property. There are lots of beekeepers who have nowhere to put their hives and need someone who would be willing to have their hive at their place since they cannot. Try your local bee clubs or bee groups. often times they share some of the honney with you as a thanks.
I'm starting this year, already have bees ordered and my stuff on the way
everything was just under 600 dollars (for 2 full hives+ 2 nucs) but I'll probably build 2 more if possible
glad I took the plunge I've wanted to do it for a few years now ;-)
in our country the full hive with bees inside it cost 60$ (each) and in few weeks i am going to buy 7
but sadly 60$ each is still expensive in our country
How did it go 2 years later for you
@@Shortsrealstories just fine I lost 1 hive year 1 though
@@escapetherace1943 awesome! Things happen! Good job cool I’ll start mine in some years
How about a clothes dresser for a beehive
You still beekeeping brother?
🙏
I just got 2 complete set ups for free now I just need a smoker and a head thing and ready to go next year
You will love it!
@@WhistleThicket Thank you I am excited already
Got my hive up and running now so far so good with old equipment @@WhistleThicket
Ray Sarasin how is it running 10 months later? :)
@@formangrilling111 good but slow with covid
dude sorry but to really need to shop around
Wer can I get a queen 🐝 to start my hive ??
amazon has free shipping for orders 25 dollars up......
Good audiobook, because the video is mud
Everybody who has been beekeeping for a while have stacks of hives. If I start this am I going to have stacks of hives too? Seems like the bees are going to multiply so fast I am going to constantly be buying new housing. True or false?
Not necessarily. I have only been a beekeeper for a year, but you can raise bees , or honey, not both. If you want more bees, then you can do splits. If you want more honey, bigger colonies are better. I think having 3-4 hives is good, especially if you split to prevent swarming.
Cool video. Thanks
A hive cost in ontario 200.00 everything is cheaper in the U.S. i will by my ffirst hive then make the next one
I live in ontario aswell, any chance you found a good seller or cheaper alternative?
You also have to consider the fact that we come through winter at which point we need two super deeps as they need to be able to conserv for winter
strange, here the same hive is more or less 50$ and the family + queen is around 50$ as well.
Where are u?
@@WhistleThicket In Bulgaria, but prices are similar in the how Europe. And bee families come with 5 frames - 2 with honey, one with the queen and larvas and 2 with workers and eggs. 3 are far enought byt not if you start in September.
Do you sell any of the 20lbs of honey??
Just locally for now. I have sold 50 lbs to a cidery before...
Whaäãåā😱
Is there a limit to how many hives you can have close to one another. I have 80 acres
No, some people will have a 100 hives on a piece of property. Just remember that bees have a 3 mile radius to find nectar! Think about what is near you for nectar sources. A lot of people forget that bees get a lot of their nectar from flower blooming trees. A mixed hardwood forest nearby can be great for bees! I’d also want to know what is in a 3 mile radius of my property- are there other bee keepers nearby?
We have tons of bees in our old camper on our rural land where we use the river access. Would we just need a queen or to capture a queen that is in there or what to get them to our boxes of we decide to do it? Thanks
Depends on how hard they are to get. I would set up some swarm traps in the area. You would need to get the queen from the camper hive. Sometimes if you get the queen in a box/bucket, then the entire colony will follow.
@@WhistleThicket ok. They have been there for years now. There are probably 1000s of them. It's a 20ft camper and they have taken over the whole thing. Full inside the walls all the way around it.
My aunt owns the land and she is about to retire and wanted something to do to build upon for her grandkids.
We have room there for several boxes and I have some starting capital to use right now. I just don't know anything about it. I do know our land neighbors have a couple boxes they have had for a couple years now and I see they have a lot of honey for sell for really high on facebook each year. They run out before everyone gets a chance to buy it...
I will have to keep researching. Thanks for your quick reply.
I watched your ads all of the way through to help your channel the best I can.
Thanks! Yes sounds like you might have multiple hives in the trailer w several queens! Your beekeeping neighbors might be able to help? You could even order some queens and make some hives with the camper bees!
@@WhistleThicket my aunt wouldn't want anyone on her property but family she is old school. I'll figure out what we may need to do to order queens and how to get set up. I figure we have enough bees for probably 15 or 20 of those boxes you showed.
I really like this because I want to bees and it is a not to long video and saving money
Lllĺl.il,please lll
In South Africa this is not cheap $1 is R15
Great Information !!
Thanks!
we all need to be doing this if we can possibly do it on our property's to help the bees survive the extinction. is there a way to keep bees just to release them in areas where they are limited? The need for bees very high now or what??? I mean I don't care about the honey, I just care about breeding more bees for the planet. Can you distribute bees or do they die if you try to drive them to different areas where bees are needed?
You can't do anything really unless you move the whole colonies bee it's very difficult
A lot more here in Canada I bought 8 complete hives with all needed for $1,900.00 3boxes bottom board queen excluder inner cover plus all frames and top plus entrance reducer so complete plus 8 escape boards were separate
Do they ship to Canada?
You are helpful thanks brodii
Way too many commercials
helpful thank u
I noticed you can get non assembled equipment for 1/10th of the prices being listed.. just takes a little longer to do yourself but worth it
Yes, a bit cheaper than assembled, but definitely not 1/10th of the prices!!
Good job
How bee keeping is super cheap
Great video and thank you, learning something new everyday. Have a wonderful day.
So much to learn about beekeeping, but it’s a fun adventure!
That is awesome. Let me know when you start selling the honey and the honeycomb. I would try to buy some.
Thanks! I’m doing a subscriber giveaway for honey very soon!
That is going to be awesome.
Hi, do you use varroa mite treatments or are they not a problem where you are. Varroa is a big problem for us and can be expensive to treat in our little corner of the world. Beekeeping is a wonderful hobby ..challenging rewarding and not for the faint hearted.
Great info
Thanks! I can’t wait to expand to 3-4 hives next year!
Thank you very much for sharing this 😁
what about beetle traps
?????
*One billion dollars!*
Worse ways to spend a billion bucks!
*Lol, yeah!*
*I got lucky and got a whole Forester load of equipment from a friend who kept bees years ago and still had a mountain of stuff. He gave it all to me for free. All stuff he'd made himself, frames and all.*
He made frames! Wow that is cool! I got some stuff from a friend and kind of overbought stuff this year, so I probably have stuff for almost 4 complete hives next year!
Thank you from Germany. In spring I will start beekeeping with tree hives.
Good luck to you and your bees.
What type of hive is a tree hive,not to sound stupid.
In my country in East Europe, (Serbia) buying a single freshly split hive with decent amount of bees costs around 120-150 dollars, and 1 kilo of highest quality honey costs around 9 to 10$, what is the price of honey in USA?
It varies, a pound of honey is anywhere from 8-15 dollars usually.
@@WhistleThicketYes the price is more than double. Thanks for info.
Great video
Nice breakdown man, very good video for us looking to get into beekeeping.
It’s fun and I’m making some extra money! Right about this time of year people will be selling old and used equipment!
Keep up the great work!
very inspiring bees episode' thanks for teaching us sir, you're the bee keeper legend...
Thanks!
@@WhistleThicket you're always welcome :)
Beepisode
I'm surprised that beekeeping equipment is so expensive in the US! With our exorbitant tax rates in the EU (21% VAT where I live), our prices are still lower, especially for nucs. Nucs typically go for $12 to $18 per frame, queen included (no box).
Wow! Must be nice!
@@WhistleThicket The gear prices, yup. The VAT... not so much.
The nuc prices are nice for starting beekeepers, but it also means we make less as beekeepers when we sell nucs.
another idea.... if you are mainly after having the bees for the pollination benefits and a little honey... you could locate a beekeeper with multiple hives..... some beekeepers are running out of usable space in their bee-yards and would welcome being able to locate and manage some of their hives on your available property. win-win for both- you get the benefit of having bees and should have the opportunity to learn more about bees and caring for them..... they are caring for their bees and you are learning about what is going on on your property.
Yes, I have people who are doing exactly this!
Great info. I’ve been wondering how much all the bee keeping stuff would cost. Now I can start savings some pennies.
It’s so dang fun! Also you can make cool products! Hoping to make candles next month!
yes it can be a money pit Build and make as much as you can.STAY WITH THE BASIC Keep with the same FRAME SIZE I use DEEPS Don't buy every thing you see i can built 2 1/2 boxes for the price of 1>the hive you buy is the patter RITE THERE
I'm only like 13 and I want to do bee keeping but can't because I live in a neighborhood and I'm not sure if I could have a bee hive in my backyard and also I'm not sure if my parents will let me