Equipment

My 8 Frame Garden Hive

There is an initial investment in equipment before you can start keeping bees. I spent less than $500 on all my equipment and hive, but like any hobby or sport, the amount you spend can vary. To use a golf analogy, could you spend thousands of dollars on clubs and all the latest equipment before learning to play? Sure you could. Could you also find a set of clubs at a garage sale and spend less than 100 bucks? You could certainly do that as well.

I bought the bare minimum to get started which included a hive plus frames, bee suit and veil, gloves, hive tool, smoker, and feeder. I decided to standardize on an 8 frame hive from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm using medium supers. You could easily decide to go with a 10-frame hive or top bar hive, but it really depends on what your end goals are for your hive. I got my bee suit, veil, and gloves from Dadant and Sons mainly because I liked their suit styles better.

Once you have your equipment, all you need is a place to place your hive and wait for your bees to arrive.