Basic Beekeeping   --  Protective Equipment and tools

Back to Basics

Equipment and things needed to Manage Honey Bees

Protective Clothing

     A well protected beekeeper will continue to enjoy the benefits of keeping bees.  One can get along with clothing that you already own or you can spend big dollars for a complete bee suit.  One thing that you will need is a bee veil.   We would suggest that you check out bee catalogs for the variety that is available.  The various bee supply business are listed at: where to buy .  Contact these dealers for their newest catalog.

The basic protective equipment is:

• Bee Veil
• Hat
• Gloves
• heavy shirt (long sleeved)
• heavy long leg pants
• high top shoes or put pant legs into the top of socks.

Honey bees will crawl and usually find any opening that may exist in the clothing that you are wearing.  Most often, they climb up the inside of the pant leg if nothing prevents them from getting there.  Bee supply firms sell leg straps as well as leggings.  If you can afford the cost of a complete bee suit, you will be rewarded.  As you become more confident in working your bees, you can dress down to something more comfortable.

Tools

Every beekeeper needs tools to work with.

• The foremost tool is the smoker.  As indicated this produces smoke to subdue the bees.  We will discuss using the smoker later.
• A tool to pry open the hive and remove frames.  This could be as simple as a screw driver but most beekeepers have a handy hive tool around.  It is also good for scraping.
• A roll of duct tape.   This comes in handy sometimes.

As you read through bee catalogs you will see many things that seem to attract your attention.  Some items are useful and others are just a waste of money.  I often see bee brushes offered with beginner hives.  If you really want to piss off a bunch of bees, just try brushing them.  If you want to get bees off of a frame, it is quite easy to take the frame and with a quick downward motion with a sudden stop causes many of them to fall off.   Another item that I see quite often is something called frame grips. As you can see from the picture, frame grips are used to pick up a frame from the hive.  Maybe beekeepers buy these things because they do not have to come too close to the bees.  You will still need to use the hive tool to loosen the frame in the hive in order to lift it out.  Why not just use your gloved hand to grab hold of the frame and lift it out.  That way you can view both sides of the frame and the bottom of the frame!  If you will be looking for your queen, you will have to do exactly that.

Things that would be nice to have but you can get along with out them:

• A bee tight work room
• Electric Hand uncapping knife
• An extractor
• A storage tank for honey
• Some honey jars or honey containers (5 gal. bucket).
• Woodworking tools - Electric saw, hammers, etc.

A location to put your bee hive!

You will need a location for your hive.  Where to put the hive is a question new beekeepers must deal with.  Consider the following:

• Do not put the hive on the lot line facing your neighbors property.  Even if you don't like your neighbor!
• Locate it so that it get early morning sun.  A southern exposure is often recommended.  However, on very hot days the bee hive needs some shade.  Shade helps the beekeeper as well when working the hive during very hot weather.
• Do not place the hive in a location where there is going to be a lot of foot traffic.
• Most areas do not have zoning laws against keeping bees but some do.  Check your zoning laws.
• You can keep bees at a location on someone else's property.  There are many local farmers who desire bees for pollination.
• Do not keep more than two hives on a city lot.  You could stretch it to three but not many more than that.  Use common sense.
• Don't work your bees while the neighbors are present.
• Make sure anyone with you is wearing protective clothing.