Steps for Setting Up a Beehive

  • Consider hiring a professional beekeeper if you feel you need help.
  • Place cinderblocks on the ground to keep the hive dry and out of any rainwater.
  • Place the baseboard on top of the blocks.
  • Place the Langstroth bee box on the bottom board.
  • Hang the new ‘frames’ by the rabbit ears.
  • Hang the older, pre-started frames from another hive.
  • Spray your 3-lb bee package with sugar water, coating the bees.
  • Remove the Queen cage, take out the plug and hang the Queen box in the middle of the frames with the candy-side facing down.
  • Don protective clothing and pour the bees into the box of frames.
  • Use a Bee brush to gently brush the bees off the top of the frames and into the hive.
  • Place the inner cover on top of the box.
  • Add the internal feeder and fill with a mixture of a pound of sugar to one pint of water. You’ll need roughly a gallon.
  • Place the internal cover and external cover on the hive to protect the bees.
  • Put a rock on the top to make sure the cover stays on.
  • Leave the bee package next to the hive so any remaining bees can find their way to the hive
  • In a month, add another bee box layer with frames as the hive grows.

Tools and Materials

Project details

Skill

Cost

Estimated Time

Related

How to Harvest Honey from a Beehive

Tools & Materials

  • Protective Beekeeping suit
  • Sprayer filled with sugar water
  • Bee brush
  • Hive tool