What’s the buzz with bees?

Rooftop and backyard beekeeping is quite popular. There are many reasons people decide they want to keep bees. The biggest reason for this is the bee population is in severe decline. Bees are instrumental to our ecosystem and people want to help save the bees! Another reason is that bees help to pollinate gardens and trees. In doing so, their hives create some incredible bi-products that hive keepers get to take part in. A few examples of this are; beeswax, honeycomb, a lesser known substance called propolis (a substance used in medicine), and the most popular of course, honey!

So, if you want to “bee” part of this growing community but don’t know how, this is the article for you!

Together, we will learn everything you need to know about how to get buzzing!

Get Your Beehives Buzzing: Steps To Getting Started

Below are the steps you need to get yourself started in modern beekeeping:

Do Your Research Honey: Get Approval

Before you do anything, you first need to find out if you are able to keep bees where you live based on your city and county laws. One of the easiest ways to do this is to look at your city and state guidelines easily found on a Google search. To help you with the state of Utah, take a look at the rules and regulations for bee keeping here.

Get Buzzin: Pick Your Bee Breed

After you make sure you are allowed to bee keep in your area, you will need to decide what type of bees you will want to keep. 

I have found three main species for purchase in Utah; Russian, Italian and Carnelian. There are a few main categories to distinguish attributes between these three bees:

  • Are they docile in nature? 
  • Are they good in harsh winters; what are they chances they will swarm? (To swarm means to leave the hive and make a hive somewhere else) 
  • How well do they pollinate? 
  • Do they supply a good production of honey?

They are listed here in comparison with the above attributes on a scale:

  • Russian– more aggressive, very good through harsh winters, moderate potential to swarm, moderate pollination, okay honey producers.
  • Italian– moderately gentle, good during harsh winters, moderate potential to swarm, moderate pollination, very good honey producers.
  • Carnelian– very gentle, good during harsh winters, high potential to swarm, great pollinators, good honey producers.

Once you do your research as to what type of bees you are interested in investing in, you will next need to purchase them!

Buy Yo’ Bees: Where To Buy Your Bees

Believe it or not, like most things these days, you can buy bees on the internet!

Yes, it’s true!

Bees are actually a hot commodity these days and any quick Google search will bring you to several options to find a source to purchase bees. 

Again, here, research is your best friend. You want to look for local apiary and bee keeping companies local to where you live to see when they “come in” in the spring and pre-order those bees if possible to give you more time to prep for their arrival. If you are local to Utah I have several great places to order bees listed here:

You will get an arrival date or week once your bees are ordered. This gives you time to prepare for their arrival. Once they come into the store, it’s time to go pick them up.

Prepare For Home: Supplies To Consider

You mean I get to wear an actual beekeeping suit? You bet!

Not only will you need a beekeeping suit but you will need other supplies as well!

If you are a first time beekeeper starting from scratch, it is easier and less stressful to get a bee keeping starter kit. There are several different options on these kits from different places. You can find some locally in your area or you can order online from places like amazon.com. You can find several bee keeping “tool starter kits” on amazon for $49.99 or around that price.

In this kit, wherever you get it, you’ll want to make sure you have a few staples. The most important items to have in my opinion will be:

  • A Bee suit 
  • A pair of bee Gloves
  • Bee Veils
  • A Smoker
  • Hive Tools 

You do not want to mess with bees (no matter how sweet they are) without a bee suit on, especially if you are new at beekeeping. Investing in these items will keep you protected and prepared.

Ready, Set, Go

After you are set up, you will need to ensure your hive and hive supplies are ready. Some of these supplies include:

  • Bees: the bees are the package that you order online or pick up locally that will be essential to starting your hive (you can’t keep bees without the actual bees!)
  • Mini marshmallow or marshmallow fluff: this is necessary for the queen bee, when you take her out of the cage, you will need to replace the cork with a mini marshmallow or marshmallow fluff to acclimate her to her new hive
  • Bee hive box: This is the box that you will pick up locally or order online (if you order it online you will most likely have to assemble it yourself) that the bees will live in
  • Frames for the inside of the box: The frames in the box are where the queen will lay her eggs and where the bees will put their honey and cap it
  • One Bee suit (at least a top half with gloves, bee pants are not essential): This is the outfit that you will need to wear to make sure that the bees don’t sting you while you are working with an active hive, if gloves don’t come with your suit, then make sure to purchase them separately
  • A Bee brush: this gentle brush is used to brush the bees off of surfaces or your clothes so that you can move them without harming them
  • Bee smoker: this tool allows you to “smoke” or deliver smoke into the hive so they move further into the hive, that way when you are working, less bees are toward the surface of the hive.
  • Kit of bee tools (uncapping fork tool, bee hive frame grip, J-shaped beehive tool)

Keep reading for a FREE printable checklist with all the supplies on it to help you stay organized and be prepared.

Lastly, make sure you have a mini marshmallow or a jar of marshmallow fluff. This will come in handy when you are acclimating your queen to the hive which we will talk about later in the article.

When you get your supplies you will have a bee box. Included in that box will be frames for the inside, a lid and a base. Set those up if they have been delivered in parts (kind of like Ikea). If you buy them locally, they will usually have them already assembled for you and you can just walk out of the store with your kit (this is what I did, loved it, super easy!)

Once your supplies have arrived, and your beehive is ready for your bees to be placed in it, you need to make sure your area around your beehive has a few things.

Planning Your Hive: Where To Put It

The burning question for many: where do I put my hive.

Although this might sound like a silly step, it is not. The environment where the bees live is vital to their survival so do not take this lightly!

Two things to consider when creating an environment for your hive, water and honey:

  1. Water is a necessity; bees need access to water on your property on a regular basis. They need to have a source they can drink out of, but not drown in. I have a bird bath with marbles in it that I fill with water every time it runs dry. This way the bees have access to water right near their hive, but they also have a safe place to land so there is a smaller chance of them drowning. It does not take much for a bee to drown unfortunately.
  2. Honey plants are not a necessity, but will help improve how well your hive does because some plants are better for bees. Depending on where you live, those plants and trees can vary. A few of these plants include dandelions, red maple, gallberry, oranges, daisies, marigolds and bee balm.

Once you have all of these things considered, set up and planned for you can then pick up your bees and start the fun stuff!

Picking Up Your Bees and Creating The Hive

About 6,000-7,000 bees and one queen come in, funny enough, yes, an actual little box (or package as it is referred to in the bee world).

When you get the package there will usually be a few bee stragglers on the outside of the cage. If you are carrying the bees in your truck or a vehicle with a separate trunk space, you are welcome to keep those stragglers on there. If you are picking up your bees in a car with an open trunk and it makes you nervous to have stragglers attached to the cage, you can ask the beekeepers at the store nicely to remove them for you and they will do so.

It is one of the most intimidating sounds in the world to have the sound of 6,000+ bees buzzing in your backseat on your drive home from the store. I remember the first time I got a package of bees I went in my car with an open trunk so I could hear them so well and the whole time I kept thinking, “I’m going to get into a car accident and the bees are gonna get out and swarm me and sting me to death and I’m going to die. I’m going to die like that little boy in My Girl.”

But alas, I made it home and so did the bees. And so will you.

Be brave, you can do this!

Once you are home you want to get the bees into your hive as quickly as possible.

To do this, first, put on your bee suit! Veil, gloves, top, pants (if you have them) or full suit if you don’t have a top/bottom combo and head out to your hive with your package (.Most packages have a can of a sugar combination in the package so that the bees can survive off of that until they get to their new hive.)

Once your bee suit is on, take the can out of the hive and you will see a little space where the queen is attached in an individual cage. Take her out and set her aside. Once she is out and the can is out of the cage you are going to shake the bees into your hive.

Make sure the lid is off of the hive and turn the package over (with the opening from where the can was on the bottom) and dump those bees into the hive. You can shake and tap the cage to get out the bees as needed to get them out. 

Once the majority are out, get the queen. This part is essential.

The Queen Bee

DO NOT LET THE QUEEN ESCAPE. I REPEAT: DO NOT LET HER ESCAPE!

She is the most expensive bee in the whole hive and you need her for the hive to be successful. So when you do what I am about to tell you to do, be careful.

There will be a cork that is covering the hole of where the queen is in her own cage. 

When you see the cork, remove it while SIMULTANEOUSLY keeping your thumb over the opening where the cork is coming out. Do not let the queen escape. Once your thumb is covering the whole where the cork used to be, you can take your mini marshmallow or a spoon of marshmallow fluff and cover the spot where the cork used to be.

Again, be so careful not to let the queen out. 

As you move your thumb out of the way, place the marshmallow or fluff over the opening immediately. (I have always used a marshmallow and it works very well). Once the hole is recovered with the marshmallow or fluff, take the queen’s cage and place her in between two frames in the hive so the bees can accept her and get acclimated to her.

Once they do, they will chew through the marshmallow or fluff and they free her and she will be their queen.

When you have put the queen successfully in the hive to acclimate to her fellow bees, then you can leave the package (empty box of bees, with maybe a few left) and the can of sugar substance on top of the hive for the next few hours and let the bees find their way into the hive. When it has been a few hours, go ahead and close the lid and the rest will find their way in on their own before dark.

That’s it! You did it! You’re home free!

…for about 7-10 days.

In a week from now you want to check on your hive.

What am I looking for?

Checking Your Hive

After setup, you will need to check the adaptation of your bees.

You want to make sure that your queen has been released and that the hive has accepted her. So when you go back into your hive to check on her, pull out the cage and it should be empty. If it is, check the cells of the frames to see if there are little baby larvae being made in the frames. They look like little tiny worms in semi-circles that are in the frames where most of the bees congregate in a section of your hive. Every hive is a little different. 

Usually the queen will start to lay on or next to the frame where you placed her cage when she was first acclimated to the hive. If you see larvae, then yay! If you don’t, or if you’re really not sure what exactly you’re seeing…ask for help!

Local Experts

There are local apiary experts in most areas that will come to your aide if you need assistance. 

Specifically in Utah the Utah Department of Agriculture will come inspect your hive for free if you need help.  You can call them at (801) 538-4912 or email them at agriculture@utah.gov. There is also an entire online community to find in terms of bee keeping. I belong to several backyard beekeeping websites and whenever I have found myself unsure of something, I post a picture and ask and question and someone replies! It is also awesome to have a fellow community of beekeepers who understand exactly what you’re going through. It’s good to have and build that. Some of the ones to join on Facebook are:

You Are The Bees Knees: Set Up For Bee Keeping Success 

Although this was a longer article from me, I am glad we made it through together.

I think a congratulations is in store. This is really exciting, hard work, but you did it! You are now the queen/king bee of your home and hive. If you have any questions or concerns, give me a buzz!

Click below to download your free printable PDF!

Download Free Supplies Checklist

 

  • Bees
  • Mini marshmallow or marshmallow fluff
  • Beehive box
  • Frames for the inside of the box
  • One bee suit (at least a top half with gloves, bee pants are not essential)
  • A bee brush
  • Bee smoker
  • Kit of bee tools (uncapping fork tool, bee hive frame grip, J-shaped beehive tool)