Despite my previous comment about the budget supers, after putting them together, they are noticeably lower quality. Possibly even the commercial supers are problematic, but again, it's tough to tell them apart.
The most troublesome defect is that some boards are shorter than others. When I assemble a super with one of these boards, the resulting super doesn't rest evenly on a flat surface. If you place that super on top of another, there's a gap between the two supers. Will the bees fill this up? The gap is usually not more than 0.25". I tried chiseling/sanding down some of the bigger offenders, but I'm not as skilled at woodworking as I imagined. That is, I made them slightly worse.
Also, with three or four of the boards I received (again, they may or may not have been budget supers), the wood was not straight. In all but one of these boards, strategic nailing straightened them sufficiently. The irreconcilable board resulted in a slightly off super.
Finally, a note on the 7D nails I bought from Mann Lake-- they're really not necessary. You can buy stronger, twisted 8D galvanized nails from Lowes or Home Depot for about the same price. They bend much less than the ones from Mann Lake, and you won't ever have to pay shipping.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Equipment arrival
All my equipment arrived today in four boxes, ranging from 40 to 60 pounds each. Needless to say, I unpacked it immediately.
Everything is there. Although, I can't tell the difference between the commercial grade and budget grade supers. Also, I realized I don't exactly know what an entrance reducer looks like.
The economy hooded coat fits like you would expect an economy hooded coat to fit-- baggy in all the places, and a little short. The hood is more comfortable than I thought it would be.
Assembly details to follow...
Everything is there. Although, I can't tell the difference between the commercial grade and budget grade supers. Also, I realized I don't exactly know what an entrance reducer looks like.
The economy hooded coat fits like you would expect an economy hooded coat to fit-- baggy in all the places, and a little short. The hood is more comfortable than I thought it would be.
Assembly details to follow...
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Bees ordered
Originally, I wanted to order two nucs. I emailed a few people about their nucs-- Where do they get their queens? Can they accommodate an all medium super setup? Do they treat for mites before handing off the nucs? Price?
Robert Steffes had five (out of seven) nucs left at $150. He gets his queens from Steve Respasky, local master beekeeper. Best of all, he said he could give me medium frames for my setup. No pesticide treatment beforehand.
$150 seemed a little steep compared to Kopar Honey Farm's $105 per nuc, but Kopar couldn't give me medium frames unless I provided the equipment. And then, the nucs wouldn't be ready until June. They do offer packages at $80, and so I bought one of those. Mainly due to cost, I didn't get a second nuc from Robert. Partially though, I want to try out Kopar's queens. Apparently, they have Minnesota hygienics, which are fairly popular for their supposed Varroa mite resistance.
In hindsight, it might be better that I didn't get two nucs. I would have had to install them at the same time, thrust myself into the fire instead of the frying pan. Hopefully, though, both the nuc and the package will provide honey this summer.
Robert Steffes had five (out of seven) nucs left at $150. He gets his queens from Steve Respasky, local master beekeeper. Best of all, he said he could give me medium frames for my setup. No pesticide treatment beforehand.
$150 seemed a little steep compared to Kopar Honey Farm's $105 per nuc, but Kopar couldn't give me medium frames unless I provided the equipment. And then, the nucs wouldn't be ready until June. They do offer packages at $80, and so I bought one of those. Mainly due to cost, I didn't get a second nuc from Robert. Partially though, I want to try out Kopar's queens. Apparently, they have Minnesota hygienics, which are fairly popular for their supposed Varroa mite resistance.
In hindsight, it might be better that I didn't get two nucs. I would have had to install them at the same time, thrust myself into the fire instead of the frying pan. Hopefully, though, both the nuc and the package will provide honey this summer.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Equipment build out & purchase
I own no beekeeping equipment, so I need to buy everything. The two issues I agonized over for the past few days were 1) What's my hive build/style? and 2) Where do I buy all this stuff?
I decided to start with two hives, both comprised entirely of 8 frame supers. My reasoning? I find comfort in modularity and simplicity. I could probably lift full 10 frame supers, but why? If there's an 8 frame option, and it works well for others, I see no reason to exert myself.
Some of my local beekeeping contacts sell equipment that they've ordered in bulk from one website or another. I admire their plight and really would like to help them out by buying from them, but my schedule is usually tight enough that I could do without the hour drive to their houses to pick up the equipment. That said, there are a multitude of beekeeping equipment merchants on the Internet. Looking at their websites, you'd think a computer professional never took up beekeeping. The website interfaces are mediocre at best, usually displaying their paper catalog digitally in some way.
The prices on all these merchant sites coincide with slight differences. Therefore, shipping and quantity discounts can be deal breakers. The winner, and apparently a popular choice, was Mann Lake LTD. Their interface is ok-- it's relatively easy to find everything you need. They offer free shipping for orders over $100, which is an easy goal to make for a first purchase. Also, their quantity discounts are non-negligible-- 20% in some cases.
For the interested, here's the list of everything I bought from them:
* (5) 7 5/8" (19.37 cm) Unassembled Hive Body Budget 8 Frame - Bulk
* (5) 7 5/8" (19.37 cm) Unassembled Hive Body Commercial 8 Frame - Bulk
* (1) 7 1/4" Unassembled Select Frames - Groove Top & Groove Bottom - Case of 100
* (1) 7D Nails - Approx 200/lb
* (1) 1 1/4" (3.18 cm) Nails - Approx 1150/lb
* (1) 3/4" (1.91 cm) Nails - Approx 2600/lb
* (1) 6 1/2" (16.51 cm) Waxed Rite-Cell® Foundation - Natural - Case if 100
* (1) Square Folding Veil w/string
* (1) 9" (22.86 cm) Hive Tool 1 - 11
* (1) 10 1/2" Frame Lifter and Scraper
* (2) 8 Frame Telescoping Cover With Inner Cover 1 - 4
* (1) 4" x 10" smoker (10.16 cm x 25.4 cm) With Guard
* (2) 8 Frame Top Feeder w/ Super
* (1) Economy Hooded Jacket Small
* (2) 8 Frame Bottom Board 1-4
* (2) 8 Frame Entrance Reducer
* (2) 8 Frame Varroa Screen Board 1 - 4
They didn't have 8 frame mouse guards...
All this cost me a whopping $558.65, with free shipping.
I decided to start with two hives, both comprised entirely of 8 frame supers. My reasoning? I find comfort in modularity and simplicity. I could probably lift full 10 frame supers, but why? If there's an 8 frame option, and it works well for others, I see no reason to exert myself.
Some of my local beekeeping contacts sell equipment that they've ordered in bulk from one website or another. I admire their plight and really would like to help them out by buying from them, but my schedule is usually tight enough that I could do without the hour drive to their houses to pick up the equipment. That said, there are a multitude of beekeeping equipment merchants on the Internet. Looking at their websites, you'd think a computer professional never took up beekeeping. The website interfaces are mediocre at best, usually displaying their paper catalog digitally in some way.
The prices on all these merchant sites coincide with slight differences. Therefore, shipping and quantity discounts can be deal breakers. The winner, and apparently a popular choice, was Mann Lake LTD. Their interface is ok-- it's relatively easy to find everything you need. They offer free shipping for orders over $100, which is an easy goal to make for a first purchase. Also, their quantity discounts are non-negligible-- 20% in some cases.
For the interested, here's the list of everything I bought from them:
* (5) 7 5/8" (19.37 cm) Unassembled Hive Body Budget 8 Frame - Bulk
* (5) 7 5/8" (19.37 cm) Unassembled Hive Body Commercial 8 Frame - Bulk
* (1) 7 1/4" Unassembled Select Frames - Groove Top & Groove Bottom - Case of 100
* (1) 7D Nails - Approx 200/lb
* (1) 1 1/4" (3.18 cm) Nails - Approx 1150/lb
* (1) 3/4" (1.91 cm) Nails - Approx 2600/lb
* (1) 6 1/2" (16.51 cm) Waxed Rite-Cell® Foundation - Natural - Case if 100
* (1) Square Folding Veil w/string
* (1) 9" (22.86 cm) Hive Tool 1 - 11
* (1) 10 1/2" Frame Lifter and Scraper
* (2) 8 Frame Telescoping Cover With Inner Cover 1 - 4
* (1) 4" x 10" smoker (10.16 cm x 25.4 cm) With Guard
* (2) 8 Frame Top Feeder w/ Super
* (1) Economy Hooded Jacket Small
* (2) 8 Frame Bottom Board 1-4
* (2) 8 Frame Entrance Reducer
* (2) 8 Frame Varroa Screen Board 1 - 4
They didn't have 8 frame mouse guards...
All this cost me a whopping $558.65, with free shipping.
Beekeeping journal
Yet another blog. Hopefully, I'll continue to write in it.
My intention for this blog is to document the progress of my personal beekeeping experiences and the slow expansion of my new apiary. The more I learn, the more I'm expecting that my experience will be different than everyone else's to some degree. Luckily, Pittsburgh has a wide support network for craft apiarists.
I am completely new to beekeeping. So far, I read Storey's Guide To Keeping Honeybees by Richard E. Bonney and Malcom T. Sanford, I attended a local, 9-hour beekeeping class hosted by BurghBees, and I recently secured a some apiary space on the top of an industrial building in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh. For the non-native, Lawrenceville is an up-and-coming (10 years running) neighborhood in The Big Smoke. It's home to Allegheny Arsenal and Allegheny Cemetery, where they buried all the workers that died in the famous Arsenal explosion of 1862.
Please comment and criticize my methods. I generally like to do things my way and/or against the grain, so I may not listen. However, if you argue your point well, I'm a sucker for sound logic, and will likely take your suggestion.
My intention for this blog is to document the progress of my personal beekeeping experiences and the slow expansion of my new apiary. The more I learn, the more I'm expecting that my experience will be different than everyone else's to some degree. Luckily, Pittsburgh has a wide support network for craft apiarists.
I am completely new to beekeeping. So far, I read Storey's Guide To Keeping Honeybees by Richard E. Bonney and Malcom T. Sanford, I attended a local, 9-hour beekeeping class hosted by BurghBees, and I recently secured a some apiary space on the top of an industrial building in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh. For the non-native, Lawrenceville is an up-and-coming (10 years running) neighborhood in The Big Smoke. It's home to Allegheny Arsenal and Allegheny Cemetery, where they buried all the workers that died in the famous Arsenal explosion of 1862.
Please comment and criticize my methods. I generally like to do things my way and/or against the grain, so I may not listen. However, if you argue your point well, I'm a sucker for sound logic, and will likely take your suggestion.
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