What to prepare before buying your first colony

Most beginners buy the colony first and work out where to put it afterwards. The box gets propped somewhere temporary, and a few months later the colony is gone. The order should be the other way round.

Finish before you pay a deposit

• Choose the site. Shade from ten in the morning until three, no standing water, flowering plants within three hundred metres, and not beside sprayed farmland.
• Ask the neighbours. Does anyone spray insecticide on a schedule? If so, change the site before buying bees.

Finish before the colony arrives

• Stand built. Waist height, four legs standing in water cups or carrying grease bands.
• Roof up. At least ten centimetres above the lid, overhanging the entrance by about twenty.
• Ground cleared. No dry leaves, no tall grass, nothing stacked around the legs — that is where predators hide.

What you do not need to buy

Protective clothing, expensive tools, machinery. Stingless bees do not sting and handling is simple. The only additions needed, and only when harvest time comes, are a clean syringe and a dry glass jar.

Prepare your expectations too

The first year usually yields no honey. It is the year the colony builds and you learn to read an entrance. Beginners who start expecting honey immediately are disappointed, then intervene too much, and lose the colony.

How many to start with

Two. With one you have nothing to compare against when something looks wrong. Three or more is beyond the observation capacity of someone still learning.

Frequently asked

How much time does this take each week?

Very little. A few minutes watching the entrance and checking the water cups. More during the splitting and harvesting seasons, but only for a few days a year.

Is it safe with children around?

Yes — they cannot sting. Still place the box off the daily play route so it is not knocked constantly.

Where should I buy?

From a keeper you can visit, who offers support afterwards. Cheap colonies bought from photographs online are the biggest risk for a beginner.