Beekeeping is a relatively inexpensive agricultural practice. Initial costs include hive materials, including the bees, and personal equipment such as clothing and tools. Maintenance costs(link to or leave sentence out altogether?) involve prevention and possibly treatment methods of various diseases/pests as well as supplemental feed if necessary.
Hive
Langstroth hives have become the standard beekeeping hives in North America. Primarily made from wood, these hives consists of the following components: top cover, inner cover, varying number of supers with several internal comb frames, often a queen excluder (especially if planning to harvesting honey), bottom board, and hive stand (Figure 1). In BC, unassembled 3-super hive kits, including nails for construction and the aforementioned components, except a queen excluder and hive stand, can be purchased for $245 1 . Alternatively, hive components can be purchased individually. A list of price ranges for each hive component was collected from three BC suppliers and can be found in Table 1. (Note hive stands are rarely purchased as nearly any flat surface can be used; therefore they are not included in the table). With purchased materials, 3-super hives can be constructed at an approximate cost ranging from $180 – $280. However, small-scale beekeepers, like the LFSOG, commonly gather their own scrap materials and use their woodworking skills to construct hives at a lesser cost. When building hives in this manner, it is important to follow standard measurement guides to maintain management flexibility (equipment easily replaced and interchangeable) and resale value 2 . Wood required for the hive includes plywood for the top cover and bottom board as it is more resistant to changes in temperature and moisture conditions, and pine or cedar for nearly all other hive components, presumably because of its less-processed nature 2 . Queen excluders, as well as frames and their foundations, can be either wood or plastic 3 . Plastic frames are increasingly used as they are durable, reusable, easier to manufacture and assist in disease control 2,3 . The hive does have some metal parts; iron or aluminum is commonly used for frame rests and at times to form a protective layer on the top cover 2 .
Figure 1. Langstroth Hive Components 8 .
Table 1. Price Ranges for Langstroth Hive Components.
|
Hive Component |
Price Range* |
|
top cover |
$22.50 – 23.55 |
|
inner cover |
$12.50 – 12.95 |
|
standard-sized super |
$16. 89 – 20.95 |
|
frame |
with foundation: $2.40-3.50 without foundation:$1.10- 1.35 *foundation sold separately at $1.15-3.25 |
|
queen excluder |
$6.95 -16.95 |
|
bottom cover |
$12.55 – 19.50 |
*Based on prices from Two Bees Apiary (North Vancouver), Urban Bee Suppliers (Vancouver) and Bees ‘n Glass Vancouver Island Apiary Supply (Vancouver Island).
Bees
A new beekeeper can obtain bees in one of two ways: as packaged bees or as nucs. Packaged bees normally exist in 1 or 1.5kg packages, containing approximately 8000 and 12000 bees, respectively 4 . A nuc refers to a small hive, one super or box with 2-5 frames, containing bees, including a queen and brood, and food/honey (Mussen, 1994). Beekeepers will commonly purchase bees from other beekeepers so there is a wide price range. Prices for packaged bees from Urban Bee Supplies (2012) in Vancouver are $177 and a 4-framed nuc costs $170.00. Unlike worker bees, queen bees can live 5-6 years, however her egg-laying efficiency declines drastically in the later years 4 . Egg-laying efficiency is vital to colony survival; successful brood is needed to replace worker bees, which live only up to six weeks 4 . Therefore, to minimize the chance of queen and colony failure, it is recommended that queen bees be replaced every 1 or 2 years 4 . Again prices for queen bees will vary, but Urban Bee Supplies (2012) provides queen bees for a price of $30.00.
Personal Equipment
Personal equipment required to appropriately manage the hive includes a bee hat and veil, coveralls if preferred, a hive tool, and a smoker 3 . In BC, full bee suites, including the coveralls, hat, veil and gloves, range in price from $89.95-141. 99. Alternatively, veils can be purchased at prices of $14.95-24.95 and gloves $15.95 -30.50 5,6 . Hive tools are sold as low as $7.50 and smokers can be purchased from $32.50 and up 5,6 . Altogether, these supplies can be purchased for $129.95 or $70.90 without coveralls.
If harvesting honey, honey-extracting equipment including an uncapping knife/scraper (to remove comb caps to access honey), extractor, and possibly a bee brush (to remove bees from the frame), is recommended 7 . Uncapping scrapers can be purchased for $9.95 and bee brushes for as low as $5.50 1,5 . There are varying sizes of honey extractors (from 2-frame to hundreds of frames) and prices range accordingly 7 . They typically cost over $1000, however second-hand extractors can commonly be purchased for only a few hundred dollars. The UBC Farm obtained their second-hand 2-frame extractor for $100 (Martin Hilmer, personal communication, 2012). When the LFSOG honey bees provide enough honey for harvest, the UBC Farm extractor can be borrowed to extract the honey.
Total
Overall, using the lowest found costs from BC suppliers, the initial cost to start a 3-super Langstroth hive colony, including the hive, bees and personal equipment (not including honey extracting equipment), is approximately $480 (with coveralls). However, since the LFSOG already has one Langstroth hive, they already have the required personal equipment. In addition, the LFSOG has the resources (people and materials) to construct a hive on their own and therefore their only initial cost will be the purchase of bees. As mentioned, the price for bees varies, but again Urban Bee Supplies (2012) provides packaged bees for $177 and nucs for $170. This, along with the additional maintenance costs, account for the economic barrier associated with the addition of another honey bee colony.
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