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.
The roadside stand is as common a site in rural America as the lemonade stand is in the city. Whenever a person's garden produces a surplus of produce the farmers drag out an old card table, load it down with baskets of fruit and vegetables and slap a for sale sign in front of it. The same roadside stand that you use to sell your extra fruit and vegetables can also be used to sell your excess honey that you've collected from your bee hive.
When you are getting ready to set up your roadside stand you need to make sure that you have a sign indicating that you are selling honey. The sign should be simple. The letters should be clearly printed with ink or paint the contrasts with he background of the sign. The sign should be large enough the people driving past your house should be able to easily read the sign as they drive past your roadside stand. Make sure that sign can be easily seen from the road. Keep the writing simple, the sign you are using to advertise your roadside stand is not the place to practice your writing skills. People who total their cars trying to read a long winded spiel on a piece of cardboard generally aren't good customers. Don't get cute and draw a picture of a bee on your sign, people might misunderstand and think that you are warning them of a potential attack.
Before you set out your honey take a second and examine it. Make sure that the honey has been strained. There shouldn't be any dirt, clumps of wax or other foreign materials in your honey. Take a minute and wipe the outside of the container with a wet washcloth and remove and indication of spills. Make sure that the container is dry before you expose it to dust.
If possible offer your customers various forms of honey. Give them the opportunity to purchase jars of honey that you extracted from the honeycombs and also invite them to purchase a honey comb that still has the honey entombed behind the wax plugs.
Offer your clients a variety of sizes of containers of honey. Some people will shy away from purchasing large containers of honey because they are afraid that the honey will crystallize before they have an opportunity to use it.
Don't be afraid to market other produce alongside your honey. Feel free to sell cut flowers, sweet corn, or banana peppers. Different foods, in a a variety of colors will give your roadside stand an artistic flavor.
If possible try to set up your roadside stand in a shaded section of your front yard. The shade will make your produce appear fresher and will also encourage customers to linger over the merchandise. If you notice that your merchandise is starting to look tired, replace it.
If you are selling vegetables don't be afraid to spritz the vegetables with a find mist of water. The water will look fresher if they are occasionally watered.
Feel free to mingle with your customers. Customers are more likely to make return trips to a roadside stand if the owner is cheerful and friendly.
This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our Privacy Policy