Beginning beekeepers must realize that providing fresh water is mandatory. Summer colonies need a least a quart of water every day. If you do not provide enough water, your bees will wander over to your neighbor’s pool to get water, and then your neighbors might complain to the local city government about your beekeeping efforts.
You want to position your hives in direct sun. The more sun your hive is exposed to, the better it can handle some pests. Your colonies should be in a spot where you can keep some of your beekeeping tools: smoker fuel, old smoker, a few hive tools, a few supers, covers, bottoms, inner covers, and so on. The bee yard should also have easy access all year long.
Hive stands are important to keep the hives away from some pests like skunks.
Tall fences between your colonies and your neighbor’s property are helpful because they force the bees to fly up before they fly out to look for forage. The fences will also visually screen your hives from your neighbors. Therefore, your neighbors are less likely to complain to others about your beekeeping.
When you are ready to start beekeeping, after purchasing the required equipment, you will need to decide whether to purchase a “nuc” (short for nucleus, meaning “small”) or a package of bees.
The advantage of buying a nuc is that it already contains a laying queen, workers of all ages, open and sealed brood, drones of all ages, drone brood, stored honey and pollen, and all or most of the frames have drawn comb. The nuc producer has taken much of the gamble out of starting a colony.
The other common option is to purchase a “package” of bees. In this case, you get a 3-pound package of about 10,000 bees, a can of sugar syrup with food for several days, a separate small container with the queen inside it