Norfolk Honey - Community apiary

Community apiary

There maybe some in the community who would like to get involved with a community apiary and share in the honey crop but who don't want to be a 'hands on' bee keeper. Those people could be offered hive sponsorship where they pay for a hive that others manage.

A basic hive consists of:

A hive floor
A brood box
A queen excluder *
Three, four or five supers
A crown board
A roof

* Queen excluders can be left out for a more 'natural' style of bee keeping

I assemble Standard National bee hives and supply them with bees at the start of the beekeeping season (April) and throughout the months of May, June and July. My basic offer is a floor, brood box complete with a made up set of brood frames, two supers with made up frames, a crown board and a roof.

If the hive is to have a starter nuc of bees in - then five of the new brood frames will swapped with five from an established hive with worker bees, brood, and stores and a marked laying queen.

Brood box with crown board and attached traveling floor.

New equipment costs:

A hive floor is £30,
A complete brood box including frames costs £70
Queen excluder £10
Two supers including made up frames £140
A crown board is £10 ,
Feeder bucket £5
A roof £35 --- see my labeled hive parts photograph

Total above £300

Buying a 'Nuc'

A nuc of bees consists of several frames of bees removed from the brood box of an existing hive. These frames can then be put into a new brood box to set up a new hive. It is essential that a laying queen bee is on one of the frames when the frames are moved. The other frames should consist of healthy brood and stores.

I sell nucs from around the middle/end of April (last year's queen) and in June and July (new queens)

The current price of a nuc is £165

The total price for a brand new starter hive with bees in is currently £465

Getting started

Setting up your hive

Bees don't like damp conditions so a good start for the station of a beehive is a concrete slab to keep the rising damp at bay - see http://www.norfolkhoney.co.uk/examples/index.php

Second hand equipment

I have a considerable amount of second hand equipment available for purchase.

When using second hand equipment you do need to be aware of how bee diseases can be transmitted by using old and dirty kit. Old equipment must be cleaned before you can use it. Old boxes need to scorched and scraped removing any old wax from the wood. Old frames need any old remaining wax removed (and burned) and the frames need to boiled in a solution of washing soda. Any other equipment like feeder buckets and boxes also need to be cleaned in the same way.

All my old equipment offered for sale has been cleaned ready for use before sale - but it has to be said that the safest way to start beekeeping is to use brand new kit.

Feeding

Useful links
Feeding bees sugar syrup
and another
There are many more similar pages on the internet to browse through if you wish to become an expert on feeding bees.