How Much to Start Beekeeping? Your Complete Guide

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Dreaming about beekeeping but unsure of what you need to get started? New beekeepers often find themselves completely overwhelmed in the beekeeping supply store! While the cost of beekeeping can be surprising, let’s discuss the must-have equipment needed to get you started. Together we’ll sort through the options to answer how much does it cost to start beekeeping. 

Most Important Step Before You Buy Bees

While it may be hard to contain your excitement about your decision to get bees, the most important thing you should find before you buy your first beehive is a mentor! Most areas have a local beekeeping club where you can meet other local beekeepers. Typically the meetings have speakers who share a variety of beekeeping topics. While some of the information will likely be above your beekeeping level, meeting a group of like-minded beekeepers is the most essential tool you can have in your beekeeper’s tool belt.

There you will likely find someone willing to allow you to work with them in their apiary. Hands-on experience in an apiary is invaluable! It will help you fine-tune your beekeeping goals BEFORE you invest in costly equipment. You’ll have the opportunity to work with beekeeping equipment to find out what you like and maybe what you don’t care for. It will also establish a good relationship with an experienced beekeeper you can reach out to when you start working with your bees. The best part is the cost is minimal! For the cost of a beekeeping suit, you can begin working with a colony of bees and learn firsthand the joys and challenges of working with bees. 

Protective Equipment

You have undoubtedly seen people on social media handling and rescuing bees without any protective gear, while that may seem exciting, it’s quite dangerous! The most important thing you can purchase is protective gear. Bee suits range from protective hoods to full suits that cover you from head to toe! Your level of protection may vary based on how comfortable you are working with the bees. Even with years of beekeeping experience the hum of irritated bees still makes me nervous! 

Economy suits start at around $100. We prefer vented beekeeping jackets that have a heavy-duty veil. The jackets are cooler than a full suit running at an approximate cost of $130.

Want to learn more about beekeeping, you may like these:

Protective Clothing for Beekeepers

Beekeeping Basics

Check out our Beekeeping Library

Honey Bee Hives

A beehive is simply a nest for bees. They come in a variety of different designs. Your budget along with your ability to lift and move heavy boxes will determine the types of beehives you choose. Remember honey is heavy, a full box of honey can weigh between 55 and 75 pounds!

Vertical Beekeeping

Langstroth hives are a popular hive choice and are more economical than other varieties.  They come in 8-frame boxes or 10-frame boxes. 8 frame boxes are about 20% lighter than 10-frame boxes, but likely you will need more boxes for the same number of bees. At our apiary, we use a variety of boxes both the 8-frame and 10-frame boxes. Since this post is about startup costs for beginner beekeepers, likely you will only need a single deep box per colony in the size you choose. Hives can also be purchased assembled or unassembled. Putting them together yourself will offer additional savings. 

A complete deep 10-frame langstroth hive with an inner cover. outer cover, bottom board, plastic frames, and an entrance reducer currently cost $166. Buy that same box unassembled and unpainted for about $130. The 8-frame hive boxes are just a few dollars cheaper despite the smaller space. Keep in mind, as your colony grows, you will need additional boxes added to the top to allow the bees more space and provide honey supers dedicated to honey production. Each additional assembled box with frames runs $65 to $80. Some companies also sell a Growing Apiary kit that comes with two deep boxes, two medium boxes, and all the other listed hive components for about $380. Keep in mind, the bees will not need all of that space when you get started, some taking two years or more to build that much honeycomb. Work within your budget to buy the equipment that you need. 

Top Bar Hives

Horizontal hives, also known as top bar hives are another option. While a larger investment up front, topbar hives don’t require any heavy lifting of boxes. Unlike Langstorth hives which have a series of stacked boxes that can grow as the colony grows, a horizontal hive is a single row of frames. The frames in a horizontal hive are typically larger than a Langstroth hive, and all the frames are accessible without moving anything other than the cover! Just like vertical beekeeping, beekeepers can use a queen excluder to partition the hive to allow the bees to focus on honey in the outer sections of the hive, typically keeping the nest of bees which include the brood and queen bee in the center. Horizontal hives are expensive as a start-up, currently about $324 unassembled and unpainted. Keep in mind, that you will never have to add more boxes to your top bar hive.  Though you might want additional colonies! If you are handy with carpentry work, consider building your own. 

Other Starting Equipment

While every beekeeper prefers different equipment, there are some basics that every beekeeper needs. This is where working with a mentor will really help you decide what kind of equipment you find indispensable and what you might consider extra. 

Smoker

A smoker is part of the basic beekeeping equipment that every beekeeper needs. Smoke is used to calm the bees and make them easier to work with. It suppressed their ability to communicate through pheromones. While we don’t use smoke heavily in most situations, a light smoking to start and the smoke gently blowing over the top of the hive is usually enough smoke to calm our own hives. In rescue or removal situations where bees are more aggravated, we use more smoke. While you can buy fuel for smokers, pine needles are free and usually found in your local area.

Hive Tools

One tool that every beekeeper must have is a hive tool. Hive tools look like a flat miniature crowbar. One end is flat, which allows the beekeeper to pry boxes apart. The curved end is good for working in small spaces. The hive tool is used for all aspects of a hive inspection. Prying open boxes, separating frames, and scraping propolis and wax away. Hive tools are inexpensive so get a spare!

Frame Perch

A frame perch is a rack that hangs on the side of you beehive. It allows you to remove bee frames and set them aside in a safe place. Think of it as an extra hand in the apiary. 

Other Basic Equipment

Some additional beekeeping equipment that we recommend for new beekeepers is certainly optional.  A queen cage is the best place to keep a queen bee safe while you are inspecting a hive. It looks like a hairclip. When you find the queen, you carefully capture inside the clip and set it aside. Trust me, knowing exactly where the queen is can save you from accidentally injuring or killing her. We’ve even had to crawl around on the ground looking for a queen who jumped off our frame! 

Hive beetles are a pest that has to be managed inside beehives. Beetle traps are inexpensive and do a good job of keeping beetles under control when combined with other preventative methods. Oil is used inside the trap to attract beetles to the trap.

Bonus Equipment

While this next item is certainly optional, we like to spread awareness of how helpful these really are! Philip wears a pair of magnifying goggles when he is working in the bee hives. These goggles also sold as jewelers goggles really help to find eggs and more thoroughly inspect the hive, especially if you are over 40 like we are! 

Where to Get Bees

Years ago when we started beekeeping, the bees literally fell into our laps! Philip was working a job and found a colony of bees inside the tree he was removing. Rather than call in a beekeeper to remove them he decided to bring them home! We didn’t have anything, not a beekeeping suit, not a bee hive or smoker, nothing! While he had studied beekeeping for years, it was all book knowledge, no hands-on experience. Hopefully, you will be a bit more prepared than we were. You can purchase bees locally or even have them shipped in the mail from a reputable bee breeder. Bees are typically sold two ways.

Nucleus Hive

A nuc, or nuclear hive is a small five-frame beehive that was prepared for resale. These small hives have a mated queen who is proven to be laying eggs. The colony will include a few frames of honeybees and brood. They also typically include a few frames of resources the bees have been collecting, honey and pollen. A nucleus colony is an established, proven colony of bees. While nucs can be purchased through beekeeping supply stores, many beekeepers will also sell nucs or established colonies in various sizes. A nuc of lives bees typically runs around $200.

Bee Package

A package of bees is another way to purchase bees. These bees will come in a container and can be shipped in the mail, it will not include frames, just bees. Packages usually include 3 pounds of bees which is about 10,000 to 12,000 bees! A package will include a queen bee as well.  Often she is separated in a queen cage. The difference between a nuc and a package is the bees in a package are not a colony. Likely the bees met the queen the day your order was prepared, at that time her cage was placed in their package. While she is a mated, laying queen, the bees are not established as a colony or a family, the bees may or may not accept her. Packages are a great way to save some money running about $180. However, it does take a bit more experience on how to successfully install a package of bees. 

Wild Swarm of Bees

If you are looking for a more budget-friendly means of getting bees, catching a swarm is free! While it’s not especially hard, it does take a bit of experience to know where to place your swarm traps and a lot of patience! The experience you gain working with a mentor can help prepare you to successfully capture a swarm! Most swarms are other local beekeepers’ healthy bees who decided to swarm and start a new colony. It happens to all of us and honestly, it’s fascinating to watch! Hopefully, you are lucky enough to see your bees swarm so that you can retrieve them. If not, we can only hope that another beekeeper was lucky enough to capture them and give them a good home! 

Beekeeping on a Budget

One of the best ways to save money on beekeeping supplies is to buy used. The disadvantage to buying used equipment is that you will likely end up with a variety of styles. In our apiary, we have both 8-frame and 10-frame boxes because we bought used. If you choose to buy new you can stick to one style, however, shopping local markets or resale pages are a great way to get equipment at significant savings! 

When it comes to saving money on bees catching a swarm is your best bet! Your local beekeeping association may often receive calls about bee colonies taking up residence in unwanted locations. With your beekeeping experience gained by working with a mentor, you can try your hand at bee retrieval as a means of growing your apiary.

Your First Hive

Philip recommends that new beekeepers start with two colonies. While I realize the total startup cost for two hives may be overwhelming, having two hives will help you as you navigate your first year in this great hobby. With two hives an inexperienced beekeeper is more likely to discover an issue when observing very different activity between the two colonies. The unusual activity can alert a new beekeeper to seek help. Additionally, if one of the colonies is struggling, a beekeeper can use resources such as removing eggs or honeycomb from a strong hive to assist a weaker hive.

Keep in mind, your goal for your first year of beekeeping is to nurture healthy bees. While most beekeepers highly anticipate the opportunity to produce their own honey. Most new colonies will not produce enough honey to share. Remember, bees produce honey as a means to put food up for the winter! While beekeepers can pull excess honey, the honey is the bees’ way of preparing for the parts of the year when food sources are scarce. 

For consistency, all prices were quoted from Mann Lake Beekeeping Supplies.

Beginning of the Adventure

Keep in mind, this post reviews the very basic equipment that a new beekeeper will find helpful. Maintaining and caring for an apiary including treatments for varroa mites and other pests will increase your total cost. As you dive into other aspects of beekeeping such as honey extraction, the list of helpful tools continues! Raising honey bees, like other animals, requires care and maintenance. While beekeeping is NOT a cheap hobby, we hope that we can help you navigate the beekeeping store with confidence as you prepare for your first colony of honeybees. 

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About the Author: Barbra-Sue Kowalski grew up on a small hobby farm. She was always drawn to farm life, however, she was stuck in an urban life far from her roots. Barbra-Sue was a single mom for 13 years, raising her 3 children on her own. She met Philip in 2018 and they married in 2021. Between the two of them, they have 5 grown children and 5 grandchildren. These empty nesters are following their dreams! As they both turn 50, they are building their off-grid homestead to live the life that they dream about. Learn more about Philip and Barbra-Sue here. Contact them here. To leave a comment on this post, please scroll down.