One of the best parts of any hobby? Shopping for supplies!
We are off to a great start researching our new beekeeping hobby, but now comes the fun part! Before we just buy any old equipment online, we thought we would take it to the people. No one knows beekeeping equipment better than experienced beekeepers!
We currently have two hives on order from a company that makes hives here on Vancouver Island. His company's name is Bee Furniture and if you want to check him out click here: http://www.bee-furniture.com/
Not only is the owner of this company, Mark, handcrafting our hives for us, but he has also been our bee guru answering all our questions in depth and truly helping us figure out all that we can. He is our secret weapon!
So, hives - check. But there is a lot more that goes into beekeeping than just the hives. Including the bees! We have a few resources on Vancouver Island that we are looking into ordering our bees from. Now, what about all the rest?
Here is a list of items we know we need so far:
- Frames: We are starting with two 10 frame hives, each with a brood box and a medium super
- Hive Tools (more than one?)
- Bee Suits: We will need at least 4 suits and are going for head to toe (at least at first)
- Water Source
- Blocks: To raise the hives up (cement?)
- Mulch or Gravel: For underneath hives
We are positive that this list is only the beginning of the shopping we need to do to get ready.
All the feedback we could get at this point will really help us make decisions on what to buy and where. Who better to ask than the people who use it every day! As our shopping begins, we will be sure to keep everyone in the loop about what products we buy and how they work out for us down the road.
Who knows, we might all ditch the bee suits sooner than we think and go freestyle.
If anyone is interested in giving us any advice we would love to hear it! Comment below, email us at email@example.com or fill out this form so we can make some informed shopping decisions!