Buying hives

I want to buy two hives pretty soon hopefully in the next 30 days
and then I have a guy that will ship me some bees and May
It's too cold here in April. My question is I see complete setups or anywhere near a hundred and some odd dollars
To well over $200.
Can anybody give me some good common-sense advice on what type of langstrath Hive to buy and from who?
I think I have watched every YouTube video there is and when I go on websites the purchase a hive I seem lost

Manna lake is about to have a big march sale starting around the 4th or so. Should be some pretty good buys online and in one of there stores.

Don't buy the kits, overpriced. Buy six deeps, ten supers three bottoms and tops all knocked down. Order from a known reputable supplier and their commercial grade. This should get you the over the free shipping minimum.
Shop for best prices but my first look would be Mann Lake, Western Bee (closest to you) or Ohio Bee Box.
Frames buy by the 100 count for best prices.

If you are a bit handy in the workshop. Go to Michigan Bees, then to the bee keepers workshop. They explain the different parts of a bee hive , and plans with measurements..If you are planning to get 2 packages . You had better start building more boxes, honey supers,etc.. Once they start to grow or swarm you will need them. I started with 2 have 10 now. . Looked at them today , too cold for much movement . May have lost 1 over the winter...Excellent hobby, you will like them. . old243

Know anyone with a table saw? The boxes, bottoms and tops are simple just be sure to keep the measurements exact. You can't mill frames cheaper than buying.

I have made frames as well. All measurements are doable but they have to be exact. Agree that if time spent is important , best buy them. In my case I have tools and my time , isn't , very expensive. . Look at barn yard bees , I made some of his 2 frame nucs. Looking forward to raising some queens.. Did have some success last year , with 5 frame nucs. old243

Mann lake ships free over $100. And hundreds and hundreds you will spend on beekeeping. Start up (and expansion) costs become substantial. (Strippers and cocaine might be cheaper).

If you continue, A table saw and a screw gun can really save you a ton of money if you're going to expand.

I sold a couple gallons of honey a few years back to a buddy when I just got going. He said "how much do I owe you for you to just break even"? I said...."about 5 grand". He wanted option #2.

It's a great hobby, etc for us trappers, though. I think most of our trapping minds really work well with beekeeping....especially as we age.

Yes, there are some great resources on YouTube regarding beekeeping. You being in the north, I'd suggest "a Canadian beekeeper blog" and "Michael Palmer" vids.

Best of luck to you.

I love my acorn frames. If beetles or moths make a mess, I can powerwash them and recoat with wax. I prefer the black for my brood and white for honey.

One thing I do that is a bit different than some is, I use all deeps including supers. For me it is just the convenience of being able to add and switch out frames that are the same. Yup the supers are heavy, but I just pull a few frames when extracting and then lift the remaining super. I also like black foundation in my frames, which aids in seeing eggs...Just my two pennies...

x2 on using deeps for the supers....having only one size box makes all your equipment much more uniform. I always use wax foundation though. I think they draw it way better than the black plastic.

I would build your own boxes and buy the frames unassembled. Assemble the frames yourself. Very simple...it only takes an air stapler.

Yep I use all deeps here too. I run to deeps for winter, then one or two for honey supers. I must be the luckiest bee keeper, I am going in to another spring with no losses yet. Only have 12 hives but it's my 3rd year and have only lost one going in to spring a few years ago. It had lost a queen and went laying worker.

I use all mediums....

Warrior thanks for the info anything else you can think of I appreciate all your help

Tell me about strippers I spent so much money on them in my youth I could have been running this country

Read

Beekeeping is a lifetime commitment to continuing education. Seems like every time we figure out one thing some other pest of disease comes round the corner. As bad as things are with bees we're much better beekeepers for it as we've had to hit the books or get out of bees.

BTW, I like American Bee Journal more in depth. Bee Culture is more basic.

Thanks again all of you

Well I called Mann lake today and finally got through which was a nice thing.
The lady that took my order was based in Pennsylvania and she was very nice I ordered all the things that Warrior had recommended, Plus available in a smoker in a hive tool. I also ordered a 3lb package of bees with a queen and they are the saskatraz variety. I dropped about a thousand bucks on this adventure but it's something I wanted to do my entire life and I finally got to a place where I can do it.
I think it's going to be a worthwhile Hobby and it fits my lifestyle pretty good.

The price of #3 packages of bees is all over the place. I buy from a guy who drives to Hardemans in Georgia and picks up 300-500 packages a year. I think he’s getting around $85 a package, wholesale price. I paid $115 ( # 3/ Italian/ unmarked queen) . for them...he and his brother drive straight through to get back to Pa.

Know of other suppliers , around $135. Some are getting as high as $200.

I paid $12 for my first package back in the 70s.

I paid around two hundred bucks and I'll tell you what it really makes you think about splitting hives in creating your own next year always next year.

Bee keeping here in Alaska is an expensive but fun hobby. We are paying $215 for a package of bees this year. Wintering bees here just doesn't work so we fresh start every spring.We do get a lot of product though because of the 24 hours of day light, the bees are going nonstop.

That’s the ticket....along with catching swarms.

The key to beekeeping is splitting and growing hives. If you can so this, its a sustainable venture. If not, its a never ending money pit.

It at all possible I encourage people to start with several hives. makes a world of difference to see one that looks different form the others. Best beekeeping info I've seen BY FAR, is blogs and posts by Ian Steppler. Guy runs his hives with a systems approach. Very, very good beekeeper. I wish I was half the beekeeper he is.

+1 on mediums for everything.

Antelope, I'm not a bee keeper, but If you get down in southern SD, I believe it is hwy 18, same hwy as the town of Bonesteel is on, there is a guy on the South side of the hwy that has a mountain of old hives. The stack is long and wide. Don't know if they are in any shape to use, but just a thought!

Hey you might want to consider creating some nukes and overwintering a small nucleus Colony so they're ready to go for the spring there's a guy in Vermont that is a big proponent of that. Worth a try

Got it all today. Supers on back order.
Neighbor kids assembled, i ran the stapler.

Prime and paint in a.m.

Looks good.

My wife had wanted to get into bees for years I knew the benefits but lacking time and don't like getting stung made it clear it would ne her thing not mine.

We moved to the farm went to some bee keeping meetings learned of the price to get started and how many keepers have over 50% losses at times..

The president of the club lives 150 yards down the road so there are plenty of bees around for pollinating. So we backed off the idea. Its the price of getting started and potential of hive failure.

So my neighbor asked if I would be interested in putting swarm traps and planting some clover on the farm last year i said sure. We caught him 2 swarms and I planted 6 acres in the field nearest his house.
He also runs a bee keeping supply business so when we went to go get the swarms he gave me a bee jacket and gloves.

This year he gave me enough stuff for two complete hives out of used stuff he got from a friend that had to reduce hives from 25 to 4 due to time limits since his wife has cancer. I'm cleaning them up and getting ready to paint them now. We also have swarm traps out now to catch bees to fill them.

So it looks like I'm getting into bees at nearly zero cost to start and I'm really excited about it. The cost will go up when I buy smokers and bee suits for the kids but for now I can get my feet wet for the cost of a little time and a quart of paint. I hope I can build two strong hives and come out of the winter going strong next spring.

Edit:
I'm going to use two large for the base. Then med or small for the honey boxes. The smaller boxes will get filled more evenly and dry better I'm being told? If so and they are easier to handle sounds like a win win.

Bees seem to be doing well.
I am feeding sugar syrup and they are starting to build out some of the New Foundation in the bottom box which is good I had a couple Combs that A friend gave me just to give them a head start it just needs to warm up a little here although the last few days have been in the 70s and 80s for prior to that it was cool.

I'm with you. Those deeps are too heavy! I use all 6 5/8ths. Heck of a lot easier to extract too.

about a week ago the dandelions started running out here. by 5 days ago they were 90% to seed. still a few stragglers around now but hardly any to speak of. prior to that bees were in full blown overdrive. since then things have reversed course a little. they were robbing off the truck today while standing in middle of 50 acres of apples in full bloom. dont think there's a bit of nectar in them after the big freeze.

I have cut my 10 frame boxes down to 8 frame, run two deeps on bottom and med supers, They are quite a bit lighter to handle. I have been using 2 frame nucs to raise queens,, check out barnyard bees on u tube . Then move up to 5 frame as they expand.. Have about 10 nucs going, , queens are hatching. .. I enjoy raising them, they are a lot lighter than honey boxes and you always have a replacement queen , for splits or if you lose one. I also make my own boxes. Check around construction sites , for plywood and cut offs. Go to the local dump, they always have paint. Just take a jar of honey with you. , to trade. Good hobby. old 243