Becoming a Hobby Beekeeper…..getting started:

When bees become available, they will be put in your equipment for pickup.
When extra bees are available, they need to be put in a “home” (AKA a brood or nuc box) for transport.  It is best for the bees if this box is yours and can be closed up and taken away by you to be placed in your new location.

Bees and beehives are sometimes available via some participants in our local hobby beekeeping group, Bees Boyz and Girlz. 

Here is what would be available when I have extra bees……

$100  —  Just the bees.  You provide your own hive or nuc box and then the built out and populated frames with a queen are placed in YOUR hive/nuc box.  By having the box on hand, the process can be smoother since it is readily available right when there are bees.

IMPORTANT…..ALL of these bees come from splits/swarms/removals that the  BB&G beekeepers occasionally do.  You can use the contact page on this site to get more information on obtaining any of the above. Bees and beehives will depend on what the beekeepers have currently available and that aspect will change  week to week during the season.

Getting started in hobby beekeeping can sometimes seem a little overwhelming.  Learning what you need to know, assembling all the required hardware and then finding a source for a package of bees to be shipped to you is not easy.  In addition, packaged bees from other parts of the country are not always best suited for our southwest Florida area.

A complete beehive consists of a brood box, bottom board, top cover board, frames and foundation (including bee built brood/pollen/nectar comb), and, of course, bees with a laying queen.  In general, locally raised queens/hives will outperform those obtained from commercial queen/package farms because they are better adapted to the southwest Florida location.  When the Bees Boyz and Girlz group has some bees available, the bees will run around $100.  You can buy all the necessary wooden hardware online from places like MannLake and you will need is a bee suit and a few simply tools and the willingness to join the wonderful world of backyard hobby beekeeping!  Contact me here .  

What bees are available changes often.  
 

A beehive at a new location.	New relocated beehives with their new beekeeper.
A complete langstroth beehives consists of a bottom board, a brood box with 10 natural comb and wax coated plastic foundation wood frames, a telescoping top covered board, and a well established hive of bees and their queen.  All finger joint beehive boxes should be primed and painted to stand up to the elements. Please be aware, like any endeavor with wildlife, there is never any guarantee of success.  Nobody can give you a guarantee when it comes to having a beehive.  Beehives can get overwhelmed with pests and disease, or, in some cases, just decide to leave the hive if they don’t have the flora in the area.  Being a beekeeper involves all the ups and downs associated with a hobby that is based on a living organism.
Click on any picture for a larger view
New Langstroth hives ready for bees

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