Becoming a Hobby Beekeeper…..getting started:

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

Here is what will be available on occasion……

1) $200  —  A complete, established colony of bees in a hive box. This includes, bottom board, brood box, well populated frames with a laying queen, and a top board.  Ideal for just getting started in beekeeping or a quick addition to your current apiary.

2) $100  —  Just the bees.  You provide your own hive box and then the built out and populated frames with a queen are transferred to your hive box.  The transfer can be done by bringing your box to where the bees are and then, when the bees have settled down, come back in a few days to pick up your box containing the 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.

The 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.  By getting an established hive instead of buying a “package of bees”, you are more likely to have success and probably honey in your first season.   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.  All the physical work of gathering the individual hive equipment/bees, assembly, and mistakes of getting started is minimized and you can just concentrate on learning to become a beekeeper. When the Bees Boyz and Girlz group has some hives available, the complete hive box, including the bees will run around $200.  Add up all the individual necessary wooden hardware/bees costs involved and this is a very reasonable price.   All you 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 hives are available changes often.  
The hives are usually well established hives and have normally grown in size beyond the “nuc” or “starter hive” sizes. 

A beehive at a new location.	New relocated beehives with their new beekeeper.
The “turnkey” 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 are 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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