I'm a newly minted beekeeper! (From Illinois)

Introductions
1

I just set up my hive over the weekend. My husband bravely handled the camera as the bees are “120,000%” all me

if you want to see the installation here’s what we recorded before the battery died on the camera :wink:

2

How exciting! One tip might be to be careful about setting your hive on a cinder block column so high up. The column looks a bit precarious and you wouldn’t want things to fall over as the hive gets heavier and the blocks settle. Also as you add more boxes to the hive it will get taller, making it hard to lift the boxes during inspections. I have my flow hives on a gravel base with two cinder blocks underneath it to keep it off the ground :slight_smile:

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I have another box on order so now I’m debating in which order to install it (before or after the flow.). With a second box removing a couple of cinder blocks is good idea. I just didn’t want skunks, racoons, possums, or deer getting into it.

4

Ah got it. I haven’t had to deal with animals but I’m sure there’s lots of advice out there. It’s probably best to install your second brood box once the first one is about 80% full but that may depend on your local conditions.

5

As long as it is a few inches above their head level, skunk, possums, and raccoons will do limited damage. Deer have no interest.

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6

Welcome to the beekeeping journey! You have an exciting one ahead :slightly_smiling_face:

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7

Welcome! I agree with Mateo & Alok’s input and would add that it can be tricky for a package colony to reach a full buildout of two deeps in one season. It’s still pretty early tho and maybe it’ll be a nice long flow. As Mateo said, keep an eye on how far along the first box is as the weeks progress.

You could adjust your base for stability by placing those cinder blocks on end, with two next to each other and the other pair a few feet apart from those to allow two sturdy lengths of wood to fit into the top holes on each side. Just make sure the planks are level and your hive will be more stable & at a better height for you while still keeping critters from bothering it.

Edit: here’s a post about single vs double brood box info you might like to read:

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8

Thanks for the links and advice!

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