You can buy a lot of different pieces when you’re setting a beehive. After seeing a local hive with the bottom board upside down and the slatted board in a wrong place, I was glad we learned where and why the boxes stack up as they do. How does a beehive work? The hive sits…

What are the basic beekeeping tools? After getting the necessary equipment of hives and protective clothing, the only beekeeping tools you really need are a hive tool and a smoker.

The essential five pieces you want to have in a beekeeping suit are a hat, a veil, a jacket or full body suit, gloves, and foot gear.

The minimum equipment to start from scratch with one hive is: a complete hive with two deeps and a honey super or two, bees, protective clothing, a few beekeeper tools, sugar for feeding and medication for varroa mites for a cost of about $600.