The importance of monitoring your hives' food stores and providing supplementary food if needed can't be overstated. Ideally, a beekeeper would make sure that their hives have adequate food stores going into winter, but even then it is still necessary to keep tabs on the food your bees have available all the way up until the flowers in your area are in full bloom. Before then, they won't have much to forage on should they run out of stores in the hive. January/February Generally speaking, you want to avoid adding moisture to your hives during this time, and liquids may also freeze and further ..read more

Easy Steps to Becoming a Beekeeper 1) Check your local bylaws about what is recommended for keeping bees in your area. Most municipalities allow for bees, but not all urban areas are bee friendly. If you don’t own your own property, make sure you have the landlord’s permission to keep bees. Discussing this activity with your immediate neighbours can also be helpful. 2) Take a beekeeping class and research your new hobby. While bees don’t need as much of your time as a typical pet might, they still benefit greatly from your attention, and it’s probably good to have some idea ..read more

Beginners Beekeeping Guide: Tips from The Experts Originally posted on Porch.com thanks to Rocio Espinoza. https://porch.com/advice/beekeeping-tips-experts This article is loaded with interesting and valuable tips for beginner beekeepers! The contributors are a who's who of beekeeping professionals and it is an honour to be posted along with those individuals. Enjoy! Backyard beekeeping is a fun hobby that helps to maintain healthy honeybee populations. People who want to live and eat more sustainably are increasingly drawn to beekeeping. A beehive in your garden pollinates your plants fo ..read more

Harvesting honey is one of the main goals and desired outcomes for most urban beekeepers. Getting honey out of the frames can be fun and usually messy but it is always an experience! In this article, we are focusing on the extraction process. See our other articles if you're interested in dealing with comb honey, or best ways to remove the honey frames from the hives. For now, let the information flow, just like honey! Top tips from beekeepers that have collected honey many times, in several different ways, throughout BC: "Hot" Tip: Speaking of flowing honey, remember that warm honey flows mor ..read more

BC Bee Supply is thrilled to be part of your beekeeping journey, and we remain interested in what brings you to this fascinating hobby. Thank you for sharing any honey collection tales, sting stories and inspection wonders with your fellow beekeepers! Top reasons to become a beekeeper: Help the bees! Honeybees are threatened by sweeping changes to the climate, reduced foraging habitat, wide-spread pests and diseases, and chemical use in food crops. Starting a beehive is a small way to keep the bee population up. Boost the environment! 2020 has been a banner year for planting a garden and im ..read more

Participants will love bees after these interactive talks. Our presentations & workshops incorporate fun games, visual and hands-on learning tools including part of a bee colony to keep the participants engaged and learning!  Our standard presentation starts at $120 per hour or part hour.  These presentations are suitable for all ages.  5-12 year typically runs 45 to 60 minutes.  13-17 year typically runs 60 to 90 minutes.  Adults 60 to 120 minutes.  The focus of the presentation can be tailored to suit different age groups. Venue requirements are flexi ..read more

BC Bee Supply is proud to now carry a selection of "8 frame equipment". Are you considering moving to a lighter and easier-to-manage brood box or honey super? While most hive bodies are built to hold ten frames, an eight-frame box can give you the advantage of being lighter to lift when inspecting the bees or harvesting honey. The bees themselves might also prefer a smaller space to manage and be encouraged to draw out wax a bit quicker. For those backyard beekeepers who would prefer a slimmer version of the standard, deep Langstroth 10-frame boxes, we now stock a supply of: *  8-frame sc ..read more

Well, you did it! You've researched beginner beekeeping until YouTube ran out of videos. You've figured out that a nail gun is easier than hammering together your boxes with nails or glue. You've overcome your fear of stings and you've sweated through the two layers of shirts under your bee jacket. You've avoided squishing the queen bee through all of your inspections (or did you not find her the whole time?) and you've marveled at how productive she's been. You've taken several hundred pictures (or gigabytes) of your flying girls and you're finally ready to take some HONEY! If you've dec ..read more

Purchasing live honeybees can be a tough decision. Here is BC Bee Supply's simple guide to choosing what might be the right bees for you. Two common ways of acquiring a colony of honeybees are: a) a nucleus colony or "nuc", and (click to BUY a nuc) b) a colony that has been "packaged". (click to BUY a package) Each comes with a number of bees including a queen bee, and will generally be available in the springtime. Let us look at the pros and cons of each style of bee product after we define what to expect. A NUC from BC Bee Supply will arrive in a screened wooden box and include 4 frames o ..read more

BC Bee Supply is proud to carry its biggest selection of jars ever. What will you put your honey into? After the bees have converted their collected nectar into honey, beekeepers will typically come along and harvest some of that sweet, "liquid gold". Once extracted from the hive, there are many ways to bottle, store and package honey. Glass containers are often chosen because of the way honey looks in clear jars, the ease of filling and the re-usability of glass. BC Bee Supply sells its jars in sets of 12 or 24, depending on the size, and we always include the lids. We describe our glass jar ..read more