Beekeeping

Starting your first hive, building a Langstroth box, harvesting honey and getting a colony through winter.

A first beehive is mostly about timing: when to get bees, when to add boxes, when the honey is really ready, and when it's already too late to treat for mites before winter.

These guides walk through starting a hive, building your own Langstroth boxes, harvesting and extracting honey, and getting a colony through a northern winter.

All Beekeeping guides (4)

Winterizing a Beehive

Why moisture, not cold, kills most wintering colonies, the hive weight to check, and when to treat for mites before it's too late.

Harvesting Honey

The 80% capped rule and moisture test, crush-and-strain vs. extracting, and how much honey to leave the bees for winter.

Build a Langstroth Beehive

Box dimensions, bee space, materials, weatherproofing and hive-stand siting for building your own Langstroth beehive from scratch.

Start Beekeeping

Hive types, how to get bees, startup costs, the first-year calendar and varroa mite basics for new beekeepers, from extension research.