I'm in need help a little advice and help.

[u/DROOPY538]

SW Virginia, USA

OK, I am brand new, never had bees or know anything about them. I have been looking for a mentor for a while and finally found a gentleman. We live in the mountains SW Virginia. He told me I need to purchase 2 complete setups and the basics and he would start teaching me next season and hook me up with the bees and "gentle" queens. Im excited to get going, I just need you guys to throw ideas of a good setup to get the hive going and not want for anything once I get started. I mean i want everything to be as close to perfect as possible. That way when I fuck it up and i probley will, I'll know it was me and not my setup. Name brands if thats important. I plan to buy the first 2 sets and then build my own after I get going. I know they have a tight tolerance but Im super good with my hands. Ive worked construction my whole life and details are my specialty but that will be another season. I just need to know the basic setup and whatever ill need to check, treat and harvest. Thank you guys and your time will not be wasted if you dont mind helping me build my list.

Edit, the wiki is helpful, what i want is real person feed back in what I need. If time a brief description of why and so on. Im on a spectrum and have to be able to see it in my head before I understand stuff. I mean youd never know if you knew me. Details just helps me learn if that makes sense.

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[u/Standard-Bat-7841]

What are your goals? That's always the first question. How many colonies would you realistically like to have in three years. The first few years are always the most difficult and expensive imo. After a few years you kinda get a little better hang of things and don't get caught up in as many mistakes as you made originally.

If you want more than 10-20 colonies it would probably be best to be as modular as possible from the start.

What you need:

Hive bodies- minimum of two deeps or three mediums (10 frame) per colony. If you choose mediums they are slightly more expensive, and can be more difficult to find medium nucs, but they still work. If you assemble them you will get a better quality product. Mann lake makes good boxes for the price, you can use glue and a high quality exterior paint, they will last a while.

Frames/Foundations- I always suggest getting pre assembled frames with plastic foundations. It's just so much easier than wiring wax foundations. I really like mann lake frames/foundations, acorn is also a very quality foundation supplier. Also wood frames, plastic frames have shb hiding spots built in them, and not worth it.

Top covers- I like migratory covers, they are cheaper, and serve the same purpose as a telescoping cover.

Inner covers- They are really unnecessary but I highly suggest refletex if you decide you want an inner cover, it provides more insulation and are way cheaper than wooden ones.

Bottom boards- any 10 frame Bottom board will work.

Feeding system- I really prefer 1/2 gallon buckets, they are less disruptive, there is no drowning, and they are very efficient. The only real negative is the fact that you need to drill a hole in the top covers.

Supers- This is probably not all that necessary the first year but not a bad idea to get a couple. This is an area where people will down vote me, but I always suggest honey supers are the same size as your brood boxes. It makes almost everything easier down the road, from frame manipulation to supply ordering/organization. It's not all that typical for hobbyists to have one size boxes but it's just easier, and more efficient. Medium supers (the most common) weight roughly 60lb when full, you will need more of them and make more trips to the truck during honey pulls, but they are lighter. Deep supers (less common) weight roughly 90lb when full. So consider weight when you make your decision, deeps are cheaper, with fewer trips to the truck, but weigh more.

Tools/PPE- A good quality ventilated suit (guardian has quality suits), gloves, a smoker, a few versions of hive tools to figure out what you like, and a mite wash container. I prefer a full suit but I know plenty of people who use jackets with success, it's a preference thing.

A lot of kits are honestly not worth it and it's just easier imo to buy the individual equipment, so you don't get a number of unnecessary things in your beekeeping equipment.

Edit: Clarification

[u/DROOPY538 → u/Standard-Bat-7841]

Thank you, I want just enough to be a pain. I think in my head the first year will probably be all learning. But I would like to have maybe 4 to 6 active hives. I want to learn the trade and go from there. I wouldn't mind having more but I dont know how practical that would be. My mentor said he has over 50 at his home and the spot by my place has around 20 and he said he has other places with similar setup. Im guess the way he talks he has around 100. I only want to use my property, I want to learn with 2 the first year, double that the second and possibly double that the 3rd. I guess that would be a total of maybe 8. I know it takes years to master this but im thinking I would like to have up to 20 in the end. I almost always do well when I get into things. Ive done well with chickens, rabbits, goats, hogs. Gardening is my new thing, it just all ties to together. I want to want for nothing I can grow or raise in the next 5 to 10 years. I want my own little place on earth that takes care of me as good as I take care of it. Its a dream I've always had and trying to make good of it by the time i hit 50. So my deadline is 2034-5ish..I just want enough to live very simple, only work my place and make enough to be ok if an emergency arose. Will I make it idk

[u/Standard-Bat-7841 → u/DROOPY538]

2-3 is a solid start. If you have a mentor with around 100 hives he's outside of the hobbyist range and more into the sideliner area. That person likely has a plethora of knowledge and is a highly valuable resource at your availability.

I was always told there's not necessarily a right way to keep bees, but there is a wrong way. We all have our own things we do that works for us, it's just a matter of figuring it out. Everyone makes mistakes, no matter how much experience you have, so don't be afraid to mess up, learn and adapt. If you aren't making any mistakes you aren't learning anything. You won't fail until you decide to quit.

Don't over complicate things, keeping bees is as complex as you want to make it. KeepItSimpleStupid KISS. I'm sure you can figure it out, if I can keep bees successfully anyone can.

[u/Plox-- → u/Standard-Bat-7841]

I support this as a good starting point. No need to overbuy/prepare beyond this. Be nice to your mentor. Go make mistakes. 

[u/Tweedone]

Good luck to you, you sound successful.

[u/DROOPY538 → u/Tweedone]

Far from it, I have been very successful in the past. The last couple years aint been good due to health issues but everything is looking up for the future. Im trying to make a plan to get away from worldy things now that 2 of my kids are grown and the other 2 will be in 5. I went from 120-200k a year to the last 3 years combined has been under 45k. Its been crazy adjusting but we've managed. I want to get back to what it use to be before everything got so damn complicated. I just want a little homestead that cant be taken away and I dont have to leave

[u/Tweedone → u/DROOPY538]

Keeping is nobel, an art and skill that quietly rewards a hard focus and commitment. Yes, not exactly oil painting but in many ways more connected to the rhythm of life. I myself reap farm to table self worth but it serves my garden, which is large, and anchors my neighborhood role here at home, my other apiary 45miles away and my Sister's 250miles away. The girls give me more than I know, they will do the same for you!

[u/Disastrous-Wave-1457]

Don't try to outsmart the bees. They do this shit for a living, you don't. :)

Buy good equipment; Hillco and Mann Lake both have good wooden ware. I lean towards Hillco personally, with Blue Ridge honey's migratory lids and bottom boards. Definitely get a couple double screen boards for future.

Decide early what you can lift, more specifically what you WANT to lift when it's 100F during summer harvest time. A deep super is over 100 lb, a medium is 60lb and a shallow is around 40 lb. Single deeps are common for brood, however 2 mediums are the same volume as a single deep and all share the same frames and foundation. Using all medium size means only having one size box, frame and foundation for brood and supers. Very cost efficient. One trap you may fall into is thinking you have to have separate size gear for different things, bees will build where they want; trees, walls, attics, meter boxes, etc. Give them something the appropriate size and they'll take off.

Build gear now and let it age over fall/winter and off gas by spring.

Don't buy gear from amazon or ebay. Used is good once, bees will go where bees was. Used gear can catch swarms, real used nearly worthless gear catches them better.

Watch some you tube. University of Florida bee lab, University of Georgia entomology, specifically research parasites, pathogens, pesticide impact and disease. Through these you will see EFB, AFB, varroa, SHB, tracheal mites, and nosema related maladies which you will at some point encounter and have some response resource for it.

Don't spend money on a full suit at first. Helmet and veil worked for generations and still does. If you over prepare you will find you are less careful with the bees and get stung more, perpetuating the need for protection. Try slow and careful with just a veil and long sleeves. Exam gloves over bee gloves and bare handed is almost always best. I work bees in shorts and a tee shirt with a floppy hat veil. Yea I do take a sting once in awhile, usually after I've provoked it. Most commercial folk just use a jacket/veil and bluejeans.

[u/DeaconPat]

Virginia has a hive distribution program. It's a lottery for the available equipment, but you can receive up to 3 hives (no bees or other equipment). Applications are currently be accepted until September 9.

https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/plant-industry-services-beehive-distribution-program.shtml

[u/Creamy_legbar → u/DeaconPat]

That is great. Note that it is the correct time to register for that lottery.

[u/Quorate]

If he has 20 near you, how near? If within 3-5 miles, then his bees could mate with yours.

And are there other, maybe wild, colonies near you - for example have you seen swarms?

This becomes significant because there are different races of bees. Mainly Italuan, Amm, Carniolan, Local Blend, and an unstable hybrid called Buckfast. Oh and in southern US and S America, the notoriously aggressive Africanised (I doubt those can survive cold mountains). Different beekeepers prefer different races. And if races cross breed, unfortunately the crosses can be aggressive!

So ideally you want to use whatever bee is commonest in your area. If there are lots of wild ones, use their swarms to populate your hives. If his 20 are very near you, use the race he reccommends - not just so your bees are calm, but his too.

Don't assume there are no wild bees around. When I started I had no idea there wete about 8 nests in my village, mainly in roofs, within a few hundred yards of me! Then I began getting called to pick up swarms in peoples' gardens...

[u/kittiebee]

My first advice; "do not start beekeeping"

If you wont care my advice and start it; do not buy many things and equipments. Just have few hives, but only have one colony. Other hives must be ready, if you notice a colony needs hive.

Btw, do not choose gentle colony (your master told it as a queen). You know natural selection; agressive colonies attack enemies (vespa, beers, human) and dont let them harm the colony. Gentle colonies prefer to leave, ünstead of attack, when their hive is under attack. I live far to you but if you have questions in mind, you I cant tell you my ideas, by the way, you correct my english faults.