Starting Equipment and Costs

In this post I will cover what basic equipment a beginner beekeeper needs, and the cost of starting up.

Personal equipment

As a new beekeeper I have decided to start out with the follow items, from left to right.

1) Gloves. The gloves I plan on using are 15 mil Nitrile gloves. They are very similar to dish washing gloves, but slightly thicker. The authors of the Idiots Guide to Beekeeping recommend these compared with traditional leather beekeeping gloves because they offer higher dexterity and are far easier to clean. When a bee stings they emit a pheromone that promotes other bees to do the same. Being able to easily clean your glove should help reduce this.
2) Hive tool. This is a standard hive tool, with one end being a flat scraper and the other end having a hook so you can easily pry up frames.
3) Smoker. I purchased the cheapest smoker at the store. They do come with heat shields which are basically a wire cage on the outside. Some beekeepers like the shields because it allows them to hold the smoker between their knees while they work on the hive.
4) Veil. Veils have the most price variation of the basic equipment, they vary from $15 for a basic veil which just covers your head to full jumpsuits with pockets all over for $250. I picked up a cheaper version veil/jacket combo.

As new beekeepers become familiar with the trade, they tend to shed equipment to make their jobs easier. Many longtime beekeepers work their bees with no gloves or veils. People are often intrigued by this asking why they don't get stung and what people don't understand is that when handled properly bees can be very docile. I myself will be trying to get to the point of working without a veil as soon as possible as I am trying to be discrete as possible with my beekeeping and quite frankly walking around in my backyard in a veil won't help.

Hardware

Here are the items which you will need to house your bees, from left to right.

1) Frames. Wood/White Plastic/Black Plastic. 10 Frames per hive body. Frames are what the bees build their honeycomb on. They are fitted with foundation and usually they are made of wood but plastic is available too. The white and black frames in the middle are plastic frames with integrated foundation. I purchased these from Mann Lake because they are 4.9mm cell size and virtually indestructible. They do however cost more than wood frames.
2) Entrance reducer (front). This little wood bar is used to limit the size of the entrance of the hive. It can be used for keeping pests out such as mice and skunks or for keeping the bees in.
3)Paint (back). Exterior Satin Latex based paint for painting the hive bodies. Traditionally hives are painted white, but I have chosen a light green to be discrete. To save money I purchased quart tester cans. They have more than enough paint, I painted all my supers and still have plenty left.
4) Frame Feeder. Bee feeders come in all sorts and sizes, this is a feeder that sits inside the hives and takes the spot of a frame. Bees need to be fed during spring and winter if their honey stores become low, they also need to be feed during any dearth. A period in which there are few nectar producing flowers in bloom.
5) Supers. In the picture is a deep/standard hive on the floor, and a medium/3/4 super stacked on top of it. I have purchased 3 deep supers and 2 medium supers. Deep supers are normally used for brood and mediums for honey, however in commercial beekeeping deeps are used for honey. A deep super full of honey can weight anywhere between 75-100 lbs, so many hobbyist beekeepers use mediums to reduce weight.
6) Queen Excluder. If you look on top of the deep super you will see a metal grate in between. A queen excluder is mainly used to keep the queen in the lower boxes so she doesn't lay eggs around the honey. I still haven't decided if I am going to use it, but it does have other uses.
Not Pictured) I am currently missing a cover, bottom board, and stand. Obviously a cover is what goes on top of the hive. A bottom board is what the hive sits on, it provides a small gap along the front of the bottom for the bees to come and go. A hive stand is what keeps the hive raised about the ground to prevent rotting and bugs from entering the hive. I will have pictures of these soon.

Total Cost

Overall I have paid $350 for all my equipment, $80 of that was the plastic Mann Lake frames. I did purchase everything new and if someone wanted to reduce the cost of starting up there is plenty of used equipment available if you know where to look. The only issue with purchasing used equipment is the possibility of diseases, so one must be careful otherwise you'll end up with sick bees. I purchased new to avoid this and if you are only going to be having a few backyard hives the cost isn't unmanageable.