Buying the Necessary Equipment
- Hayden Chrisman-TCA
- Feb 10, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 6
Every bee supply company offers hundreds of excess and unnecessary pieces of equipment. It can get pretty overwhelming trying to sort through what you actually need! In this article I am going to go over the absolute necessaries and my recommended suppliers. Let's get started!
Necessary Equipment
Deep Box-this serves as the brood chamber for your hive
Medium Super- serves as the boxes for the bees to store honey in. (not totally necessary will explain)
Frames-at least 10 for each box you buy. Make sure they have foundation! I recommend plasticell.
Bottom Board- This will serve as the base for your hive.
Cover- serves as the lid for your hive. Feeder- there are many different styles. I suggest either a division board feeder or a entrance jar feeder.
Deep boxes can be used as a honey super as well. In fact is is rather nice to only use deeps because all the equipment is then standardized. However, It can get extremely heavy! A deep box full of honey will easily weigh 80 pounds. I recommend purchasing woodenware from Dadant or Manlake. They sell high quality equipment and it will last a long time. Some other suppliers buy their equipment out of China and it is just poor quality and will break down. You will need at least one Deep box, and one either medium or (another deep), for each hive the first year.
Need bees this spring?
We raise our nucs in Greenville and place them across North Texas, the Hill Country, and the Houston area. Local genetics, already laying, ready to go into your equipment.
Buying bees for an ag exemption?
If you own between 5 and 20 acres in Texas, honey bees can qualify your land for agricultural valuation. Most counties want 6 hives on the first 5 acres and one more for every additional 2.5 — but every appraisal district sets its own standard, and getting the number wrong can cost you the valuation.
We verify the requirements for all 43 counties we serve directly with each appraisal district.
Timber Creek Bees manages 2,000+ hives across 250+ Texas properties.
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