That seems a lot, Critter. I have been quoted $250 and we are usually way more expensive then over your way. I better recheck my guy just in case he was only quoting for the wood.

That price sounds high to me as well. Here's a link to the article on the equipment you will need besides the hive.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/M...

Hope that helps. There are a few more articles on setting up a bee yard. Just click my profile picture and scroll down until you find the ones on setting up a bee yard.

I bought 4 items: a suit, smoker, brush, and hive tool. I wear cheap leather gloves when working.

For the hive, we have a full expensive langstroth hive that I love, but our other hive is just a topbar hive that I made myself for zero cost.

We worked commercial bees & never used a suit. A hat with veil, jeans, long sleeve shirt, bee gloves & duct tape. You use the duct tape to wrap around your jeans hems where they meet your boots so the bees don't crawl up your pants legs. Tuck your shirt in & button the cuffs.
Apparently you haven't had any problems wearing leather gloves Dave but bees generally despise leather. Don't ask me why. If you're going to use leather gloves critter, then duct tape your cuffs to the gloves. After you get used to them & they get used to you, you can work them without a lot of that stuff.
You have to have a smoker, brush & hive tool.

I knew I'd find help here!

flaflwrgrl said:Apparently you haven't had any problems wearing leather gloves Dave but bees generally despise leather.

How interesting. I actually did once get stung right through the leather. It was a mild sting because most of the stinger was in the leather, but I did get a swollen hand for a couple days. Good to know that the material itself might have drawn them to the glove.

@dave
I don't know that anyone has ever absolutely determined *why* they don't like leather but they don't. They also don't like sheepskin or black or very dark colors. It's all speculation as to why but the general consensus seems to be that these things remind them of their predators such as black bears, coons, skunks & so forth.
We used bee gloves that are like a thick canvas material & they never got upset.

Working with bees, one is bound to get stung once in a blue moon. It just happens. But for the most part, they really are docile creatures. When we were working them commercially, those bees went through all kinds of stuff, moving the hives, taking the supers of honey off (using an "acid board" on top to drive them down to the brood chamber & loading them on a truck, driving them miles & miles, then moving the supers around in the honey house during the extraction process, pulling frames out & putting them through the uncapping machine, whirling them around with centrical force in big machines.... and through ALL of that, ALL of THAT they were pretty cool about it. Seriously, if someone did that to me, I would be spitting MAD! Or should I say stinging mad. Yes, we got stung sometimes but it's understandable.

They also are highly offended by our breath. That's why they get so mad when they are buzzing around people & the person starts blowing at them --- wrong move! Then the person wonders why the bee got so PO'd. The bee just thinks we stink.

I always wondered why "beewear" was white....

I hope I remember about the breath!
Don't want one up my nose or anything!

@crittergarden
It sounds like I am not the norm here but it may be useful to get all perspectives...
I did buy about 200 dollars worth of used stuff on craigslist. Of all of those things I only use the hive tool to pry open the box, and the gloves (mine are bee gloves made with white goat leather), the hat and veil, and the hive box and frames. I have never been stung. I do not use the smoker. I move somewhat slow around them. I visit them without opening their hive everyday. I always talk to them. They have not stung me once. I have opened the hive about a week ago, no smoke, only a veil and gloves - no stings, and they are doing wonderful.
So, if I were making a shopping list mine would look like :

Hive box (research all options, what looks most workable to you)

Hive tool (to pry frames apart, lid off boxes as they get glued with propolis)

Honey extracted

Bee gloves
Hat and veil
Containers to collect honey

So you see, it doesn't have to be elaborate or very expensive.
I got my first bees for 20 dollars through a local bee group via Facebook. They had a captured swarm they didn't need. It happens

Wow!

Thanks Toni!

The reason Toni does not get stung is because she's in no rush and takes her time when she's around the bees

Like Toni I've never been stung when around the bees but my husband has several times even when he's not around them. I'm laid back and easy going, he's hyper and always trying to get things done as quickly as possible. He's learned to slow down when working the bees though. He's dared me to help with a swarm just to see if I am still calm and easy going with thousands of bees surrounding me.

I know how to be gentle, but it doesn't always "kick in" right away.....

I'll pop in here. I love having bees. We got ours in May and probably have close to $700 in it. Between buying the bees, the hives, and the clothes. My husband just wears jeans & a long sleeve white shirt with a veil. I wear jeans, and got a jacket with a veil that attaches to it. Then we both have gloves. I was reading something about people using surgical latex gloves for bee keeping because they are puncture proof. I don't have any experience with that though.

If you are handy, you could do it for a lot less. All of our hives & frames we assembled ourselves, but they were precut.

Another idea, maybe google to see if there are any bee keeping clubs in your area, contact them and see if anyone would want to keep a hive or two at your place. I have a few people that keep mentioning that they want bees, but can't get them because of where they live. I just tell them that if they buy the stuff they can keep the bees at my place for free. I don't know if it's a thing or not, but i imagine beekeepers are always looking for places to keep their bees

TaStahl said:...see if anyone would want to keep a hive or two at your place.

I NEVER would have thought of that!
Thanks for the input.

here is a make shift entrance reducer that is working wonderfully. It was a roll of screen I had around left over for another project. The girls really like it

Oh and here is their favorite watering hole

Crittergarden, if you aren't particularly interested in harvesting honey, you may want to look into establishing some native "mason bees."

Many years ago my ex and I kept honeybees, which I loved, but now I'm very grateful to have a good population of ground bees and bumblebees (and other pollinators)... one less thing to take care of (other than to not poison them and to provide them with lots of flowers!)