What Does the Novice Beekeeper Need to Know?

Number 1

BEEKEEPER'S TOOL BOX

"And Why"

These are the basics. A more experienced bee keeper might have more stuff. They will also have more stuff they don't use. Check with your mentor about what and which style would be best for you.

Sting warning: Be aware if you are sensitive to bee stings. Carry an EpiPen if necessary. Let your working partners know if you are allergic to bee stings. You can become allergic at any time in the future. You probably will get less sensitive to bee stings as the season progresses. You will get the little electric jolt but they won't swell, turn red, and itch. More like a mosquito bite. Stings on the face especially around your eyes and ears are the worst. You cannot stop all bee stings.

Know the symptoms for anaphylactic shock! The throat starts to tighten up as the muscles in the neck start to swell. You feel like you are being strangled. Have someone take you to the hospital or call 911 which ever is the fastest. You need help NOW!

Veil (jacket): The full cover-all "jump suit" may be "over kill" except for children. Thick material like faded denim trousers usually is thick enough to ward off most stings but not all. An inspector's jacket will allow you to wear any shirt you want. A zip to the jacket and veil will keep the bees away from your face. Tie on veils only work for brave people. I prefer the white ventilated jacket over khaki or denim trousers. Keep the elastic and zippers in good working order.

Gloves: Official beekeeper gloves are worth the investment. I like goat skin as they preserve the most finger dexterity over cow hide. Rubber gloves are hot and cloth gloves generally get stung through more often. Some people use long vinyl dish washing type gloves. These work okay, but are hot and sweaty. The long sleeve on the beekeeper gloves will help protect your wrists and arms. Your jacket sleeves can ride up on shorter gloves exposing your wrists to stings. A good pair of gloves should last you several years.

Smoker with a long nosed lighter: The only question here is large or small. You only need the large smoker if you need to keep smoking for maybe an hour or so. The small one is good for plus or minus 45 minutes of continuous smoke.

The type of fuel used will also impact how long it burns. Pine needles or dry leaves burn fast. You don't need smoke inducing commercial additives. I use cedar pet bed shavings from the feed store or pet section of the grocery store. Pure cotton rags (t shirts) are smoky but must be 100% cotton. No polyester. Burlap works but much of it has preservative in the cloth which is a no-no.

Hive tool: A style for every occasion. You only need a basic sturdy tool. You can break them prying frames out of the hive. I like the Maxant style that has squarish head and a curved pry hook on the other end. The square end is designed to measure the space needed to insert a frame between other frames in the box. Using the square end, you pry sideways at each end of the frame to break the propolis and wax bonding, then the hook is used to jack the frame out of the propolis after it has been loosened.

Spray bottle: A misting spray bottle is always handy when working bees. If you smoke bees that do not have honey to engorge themselves with you will antagonize them instead of calming them. This is especially true when installing a package of bees. But, also true on a weak hive with little honey stored up. Misting the bees will calm them down as they are more interested in cleaning up the sugar syrup than fighting you. Water works okay but 1:1 sugar water syrup works better. When you want to inspect a frame of bees for a long time and you want the bees to hold still the syrup spray will help. It does not take much mist.

OPTIONAL: Now we get into handy things you decide you need after you start working the bees.

Sweat band: You will sweat in Georgia, even in the fall and spring.

Bee grabber: A thing-a-ma-bob cage, kind of like a modified clothes pin. Used to grab the queen while you are inspecting so you can go through the whole hive and not drop the queen in the grass or squish her between the frames you are moving around. Also, useful later when you want to move a queen and introduce her into another hive.

Push in queen cage: Self made out of number 8 hardware cloth. See your mentor about how to make it. Another way to hold the queen still while you are inspecting. Also useful for introducing a queen into another hive.

LED flashlight: Sometimes it is hard to see the eggs in the cell. Some extra light helps a lot.

5 gal. bucket or tool box: Now you have too much stuff to carry in your pocket. You can buy or make a fancy tool box. Or, you can go down to the fancy grocery store a get a 5 gallon frosting bucket (usually empty). To organize your tools there are cloth coverings with pockets at the fix-it store (Lowe's or Home Depot). Bucket buddy is a good name if shopping on Amazon.

Cuff bands: Many people are tougher than I am. The bees will crawl up your pants legs. How far will you let them go before you squish them? Some people just stuff their pants legs in their socks. Socks are fuzzy, bees will sting them, mostly the sox are too thick for you to get stung. But, you just lost 1-5 bees as others sting where the first one marked your ankle. I go to the sewing department and get Velcro, make strips and just wrap my pants cuffs. Tall boots will give you a little added protection but you still might need cuff bands.

OFFICIAL BEEKEEPER UNIFORM:

Khaki trousers and white long sleeve shirt. Okay, so about anything will work but not dark colors or fuzzy like sweat shirt material. The bees will attack new dark denim. They will attach fuzzy gloves and sweat pants.

Boots are best. Flip flops are the worst. Bees will attack your fuzzy socks.

Bees will crawl up your pants legs and shirt sleeves.

Violating clothing rules just creates a test to see how tough you are!

Water bottle, drink lots of water when hot!