Monday, January 28, 2008

Hives:

The assumption here is that you're starting 2 hives, each with 2 deep hive bodies and 2 medium supers. For the sake of simplification, Bill advises sticking with the medium supers, which overwinter better and will produce more from the same amount of labor as a shallow super. When shopping for wood, be aware that sometimes more than one grade is offered (Better Bee = 'select' & 'commercial'); it's worth it to spend up for the premium wood. 'Hive kits'- the already assembled options, usually feature the plastic frames. The Better Bee offers an unassembled kit with wood frames, but if you order 2 a la carte, you'll save $25. Of course, you'll probably make up that savings when you buy the necessary assembly tools, etc.., but you might be happy to have those around. Also, beesource.com offers plans if you are enviously economical & want to build from scratch
Deep Hive Bodies (4)
Deep Frames (40) the Better Bee has 3 types of wood frames. In Bill's opinion, the easiest to work with are the 'wedged split' frames, which you may also see listed as open bar/open bottoms in other catalogs.
Medium Supers (4) or more
Medium Frames (40) or more
Crimp-wired Foundation order these to match your frame order; (40) deep, (40) medium or more
Your first season, 4 supers total is probably fine. Like all things bought, sold & assembled, there is a margin of error that you should allow for - so more frames/foundations than necessary may save you. If you're getting nucs this year (which are each 5 frames) you may still want to order 10 total for each deep, and consider the extras back ups.
Bottom Boards (2) pine reversible
Screened Bottom Boards (2) varroa screens
Inner Covers (2)
Outer Covers (2) telescoping outer cover. Get them in parts & put together yourself.
Queen Excluders (2) metal, listed under tools
Bee escape or fume board (1) triangle escape; the fume board is what works with either the stinky butyric anhydride (Honey Robber), or the Fischers Bee Quick that Russ told us is made from cherries & almonds
Entrance Reducers (2) also called Entrance Cleats
Feeders there are 3 ways to do it: a resevoir the size of a frame inside the hive; a jar of syrup which attaches to a landing board; & feeding from a can or jar through the hole in the inner cover. To be discussed...

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