Equipment you need and what you can skip

The floor

eXtension puts the minimum at three items: a veil, a hive tool and a smoker. Everything else is either part of the hive or optional in year one.

The veil is the one not to compromise on. Stings on hands and arms are unpleasant and survivable. A sting near an eye is a different category of problem, and fear of that is what stops people inspecting, which is what actually loses colonies.

The hive itself

A base hive is a bottom board, a brood box with frames, a vented inner cover and a telescoping outer cover. That is the whole structure, and everything else stacks onto it.

Frames need foundation unless you are going foundationless deliberately, and for a first year foundation is the fewer-problems choice.

What can wait

• Supers. A first-year colony is usually building rather than producing surplus. You can buy them in month four when you can see whether you need them.
• An extractor. Almost certainly never for a first harvest, and the reasoning is on renting, borrowing or buying.
• A full suit. A veil and long sleeves gets you through a first season. Some never buy the suit.
• A queen excluder. Opinions differ enough that you can wait until you have one.

What people buy too early

The expensive items are bought in the first flush of enthusiasm and then sit. An extractor for one hive, a full suit for somebody who turns out not to be nervous, a second brood box before the first one is drawn.

What you will actually reach for

A hive tool, constantly. A smoker that stays lit, which is a skill more than a purchase. A frame perch to hang frames on while you work. A brush. A bucket. And a notebook, because you will not remember what you saw in hive two by the time you have finished hive three.

References