Like all hobbies, beekeeping requires some basic
equipment before someone can establish a successful
hive. This equipment should be bought before you get a
call from the post office asking you to come pick up
bees.
The most obvious piece of equipment you will need is the
actual bee hive.
Your beehive should be have five supers. The supers are
a very important part of the beehive because they are
where the bees will be storing their honey. These five
supers should be between the bottom of the hive and the
hive cover. These supers are very important because they
are where the bees will be storing their honey and
raising their offspring. Once you have an active hive
each of these supers will contain nine to ten frames.
You can choose if you want a hive with shallow supers or
deep supers. The advantage of deep supers is that they
enable beekeepers to buy only one size foundation. The
disadvantage is that, when full, a deep super can weigh
one hundred pounds. Once you have a hive for your bees
make sure you place is somewhere that has a flat surface
so that the hive wont tip over in a strong wind. Also
make sure that you place it somewhere that humans and
pets aren't likely to disturb it.
A spacer is a piece of equipment beekeepers use to keep
an equal amount of space between the frames while they
are in the super.
The next piece of equipment you will need is a smoker.
The smoker is what you will use to encourage the bees to
leave the hive when you are getting ready to harvest the
honey. The smoker is surprisingly simple in its design.
The smoker consists of a funnel, a combustion chamber,
and bellows. Many beekeepers claim that old, clean
burlap is the best material to use in the smoker because
burlap is easy to ignite and smolders and smokes. Other
beekeepers prefer to use dried corn cobs. Once the fire
has been lit in the combustion chamber the bellows will
keep it going. The funnel directs the smoke into the
hive, encouraging the bees to leave.
Another tool you will need is a metal hive tool. The
metal hive tool is used to pry open the hive, separate
the hive bodies, and to scrape the frames clean. Think
of it as the all purpose tool of beekeeping.
No beekeeper is ready to receive their shipment of bees
until they have a bee brush. A bee brush is used to
gently brush bees out of the way so that the beekeeper
can examine the frames.
When it is time to harvest your honey, you will need a
fumer board. A fumer board is a board that is covered in
bee removing chemicals and is then used to encourage the
bees to leave a super and let you take their honeycombs.
If you don't mind getting using used equipment you can
find some great prices on beekeeping equipment on EBay.
There are several catalogs and websites that offer
beekeeping equipment, and many of those offer beginners
packages.