Beekeeping for free

How can I be a beekeeper when it costs so much money even if I buy things used?

It doesn’t have to cost a lot, there are alternatives.

You can catch bees for free.

You can build your own beehive

Just buy a veil and gloves

Chop and strain instead of centrifuging, use ingredients from your kitchen.

Catch bees for free

Swarms of bees are natural, they do this all the time, whether in wild or feral hives or despite the best efforts of conventional beekeepers. So if you set up a “bait box” or just build a hive, there may be a good chance that bees will just show up. Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. Something nice, small…ok, that smells good to bees will help.

Here is a video of it

Build your own beehive

There are a number of hive types available around the world that are quite easy to build, even in places where there are legal restrictions on the number of hive types possible. Oddly enough, there are parts of the US where owning an assault rifle is easier than building your own hive. So check out local regulations, although I have no idea who enforces these rules on feral or feral hives.

Skeptical

A nice introduction to Skeps

Kenyan beehives

Very popular, perhaps the easiest to prepare

augustcottageapiary.wordpress.com/…

Warré hive

This is my favorite, very easy to build and manage

see also warre.biobees.com

Just buy a veil and gloves

I bought a hat for £7.50, a veil for £10 and gloves for £15 from the charity shop. Do you need a full suit or armor, no. Bee stings are neither as deep nor as sharp as wasps and hornets, and it is believed that linen, tweed, etc. will thwart their attempts to sting you or even two pairs of socks.

Crush and strain

You can literally spend thousands upon thousands on equipment to get every last cubic millimeter out of the honeycomb. I use a fork, mash the comb and let it drip through a sieve.

Anyone else have any ideas?