[oneofthetwotocome]

i know i need bees and hives , anyone know where the best place to get stuff from please tell me, becuz i really dont know to much but i would like to learn and that might be helpful please let me know thank you for your time and your help

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[BULLSEYE BILL]

Call your local county extension service and ask who raises bees in your area. Call them and buy a nuc from them and also see if they have any old basic equipment for sale.

Order catalogs for the stuff that you can't get locally.

That's a start.

Bill

 

[Michael Bush]

Your profile doesn't say where you are from. There are lots of suppliers of bee equipment. The best one for you will depend on price and shipping. Usually a closer one will be cheaper because of shipping, but you just have to include both to make a decision.
http://www.beesource.com/suppliers/usequip.htm has a lot of links to suppliers. I buy things from multiple suppliers because some things I can only find one place and some things are the cheapest at another place. I buy from Walter T Kelly www.kellybees.com, Mann Lake www.mannlakeltd.com, Dadant www.dadant.com, Western Bee Supply, Bee-Commerce www.bee-commerce.com, the Beeworks www.beeworks.com, Brushy Mt. Bee Supply www.beeequipment.com. When I was in Western Nebraska and Wyoming I bought more from Western Bee Supply because it was closer than I do now that I'm in Eastern Nebraska.

I suppose Bee-Commerce is seldom the cheapest but they have things no one else seems to like Honey Bee Healthy and very nice top feeders. Brushy Mt is usually good prices and they have some things no one else does. Dadant has some things no one else does. Walter T. Kelly has good quality and good prices and has some harvest and other equipment that seems to be unique to them. At least I haven't seen them a lot of other places, like a wax tube fastener.

I agree, the best thing is to try to find a beekeeper in your area who will sell you some bees and hopefully will share some of their wisdom with you.

 

[church24]

Your profile doesn't say where you are from. There are lots of suppliers of bee equipment. The best one for you will depend on price and shipping. Usually a closer one will be cheaper because of shipping, but you just have to include both to make a decision.
http://www.beesource.com/suppliers/usequip.htm has a lot of links to suppliers. I buy things from multiple suppliers because some things I can only find one place and some things are the cheapest at another place. I buy from Walter T Kelly www.kellybees.com, Mann Lake www.mannlakeltd.com, Dadant www.dadant.com, Western Bee Supply, Bee-Commerce www.bee-commerce.com, the Beeworks www.beeworks.com, Brushy Mt. Bee Supply www.beeequipment.com. When I was in Western Nebraska and Wyoming I bought more from Western Bee Supply because it was closer than I do now that I'm in Eastern Nebraska.

I suppose Bee-Commerce is seldom the cheapest but they have things no one else seems to like Honey Bee Healthy and very nice top feeders. Brushy Mt is usually good prices and they have some things no one else does. Dadant has some things no one else does. Walter T. Kelly has good quality and good prices and has some harvest and other equipment that seems to be unique to them. At least I haven't seen them a lot of other places, like a wax tube fastener.

I agree, the best thing is to try to find a beekeeper in your area who will sell you some bees and hopefully will share some of their wisdom with you.

Thank you I appreciate your help. We live in northeastern Colorado and my biggest worry is ordering bees without knowing how they will do here and have them die. I was trying to find some local bees. Once again thank you very much for the help and links.

 

[gww]

If you want to pay premium prices for stuff but have it very easy to buy, most tractor supply or orschlens will have basic bee stuff. If you buy a smoker, ebay will be ten bucks cheaper then those stores. You can probably get by for the first year with the cheapest type smock viel off of ebay which will be about ten bucks and this will let you see if you are going to stick to it. Craigs list will have bee sellers but most will probably not be local bees. Look on the internet for a club and you may find a contact person that can tell you of somebody close to you with bees right now. If you have wood working equipment, you might put together a couple traps and and throw a couple drops of lemon grass oil in them and catch a swarm. You may not be able to count on a trap for your first bees but it can be a good hedge if those bees did die as you fear.

If you are handy. there are free plans on this site to build your own stuff. It is time consuming and maybe not that much cheaper it you have to buy all the lumber but is handy if you have stuff left over from other projects that you can repurpose.
I hope the above helps more then sends you down rabbit holes.
Good luck
gww

 

[MajorJC]

Ummm, this "Discussion Starter" hasn't been seen since 2003.

 

[JWPalmer]

Yes, but it appears that gww is responding to Church24. I hate these old threads that keep popping up.