6 Essential Tools & Accessories For The Beginner Beekeeper

Beekeeping can be a fulfilling hobby that can potentially be turned into a business. But, as a beginner, getting started can be daunting and confusing (as with most new experiences, am I right?)

The unwitting novice can easily fall into the trap of buying anything and everything on offer because it all looks essential, new and exciting.

So, before you break your budget before you even begin, here are a few essentials every beekeeper needs (almost on a daily basis).

These tools will allow you to get started and make the most of your beekeeping experience whether you have 1 hive or 100.

#1 Beesuit

I know you’re probably going “Duh!” because if anyone thinks of a beekeeper they see the ghostly white figure of a madman in a netted cricketer’s hat…

But, yes. A bee suit is obvious and essential.

Depending on where you find yourself in the world, the ‘suit’ may be as simple as a hooded jacket, or as hardcore as a full-on cover-all with ventilated padding and pockets galore!

Here in South Africa we use full cover-all suits with the traditional cricketer’s veil.

These suits work well for most day-to-day beekeeping activities, although they do have their limitations at times. Here in Zululand it gets hot. Really hot. So these suits are rather stifling on some days. Luckily, most beekeeping happens at night, so this can be overlooked.

Another issue I have (as a girl) is my hair. This suit is fine on short hair because it all stays under the cap. Once you have even a suggestion of a fringe or ponytail it becomes a pain. The hat can become tight and lob-sided with buns and ponytails, so plaits are the most practical hairstyles, and then there’s the matter of turning your head.

As soon as you need to look around, you forget the hat is attached to a veil that is rather rigid and attached to your suit, so the hat remains in place while your hair becomes the slide-mechanism beneath which your head turns… Yep. Your hair ends up in your face.

So, I would definitely recommend wearing a bandanna or such over your hair to keep it in place, OR choose a hooded veil suit like this clever man below. Just keep in mind you may have to wear a cap anyway because the wind can push the veil onto your face… story for another time…

Also, if you can, get a suit with a couple of deep pockets, so your hive tool & brush has a place to go when you’re not using them. Or have a look at #6 below to see our solution to a lack of pockets…

#2 Limb Coverings (Gloves & Shoes)

I’m lobbing these two together, because why not?

Once again, depending on where you find yourself, you may or may not have to suit up as much as I’m recommending here.

We work with the Apis mellifera scutellata bees (AKA African honey bees or killer bees depending on how dramatic you want to be). They can and they will sting if they feel the situation calls for it.

So we tend to cover up as much as we can. Our favourite gloves are these leather gloves with the ventilated cuffs. As you can see they have been used a bit.

I know some overseas beekeepers use plastic surgical-type gloves or rubber gloves. As far as my recommendation goes, I would suggest something that covers well over the cuff of your suit underneath. We have another pair of leather gloves that look great at first glance, but the hand covering only just goes past the base of the palm and the fabric making up the cuff of the glove is thin cotton, so the bees have a jolly time stinging the crap out of our wrists.

Have a look at the comparison below. You’ll see both gloves have leather hands, but the one on the left immediately has a thin weave material sleeve, whereas the one on the right first has a thick weave material, followed by the ventilated ‘window’ and then only has the thin weave material.

When it comes to foot covering, good old fashioned gumboots do the trick. We’ve experimented with safety boots and police boots and such, but always come back to gumboots.

They go up high over the pants of your overalls so the bees can’t get in and sting your ankles, or worse, crawl up and sting somewhere else… and they’re suitable for all terrain.

#3 Smoker

I don’t know of any beekeepers who will open a hive without a smoker. Without the smoke you can end up getting stung way more than you would’ve done with it.

The smoke’s main purpose is to simulate a fire. As with you and me, bees don’t like fire coming toward their home. So, when they smell the smoke, they go inside and drink as much honey as they can to prepare to abandon the hive when the flames arrive. This does slow them down a bit in the same way a big lunch slows us down.

The other purpose of the smoke is to mask the pheromones of the guards and the bees that have already gotten stings in. This is why you will often see beekeepers smoke the areas where they’ve been stung.

There’s not really much difference between the various smokers on sale. What matters is what you’re using inside.

Obviously, you don’t want to use something that has chemical compounds that can harm your bees.

In our experience the best thing to use is cardboard. We make rolls out of strips of cardboard and then light them on one end and place that end bottoms first into the smoker. We’ve found the more densely packed the material, the better the smoke and the longer it lasts.

You don’t have to use cardboard though. You can also make use of any dry combustible material such as grass, pine needles, leaves etc.

#4 Hive Tool

There are a bunch of different hive tools on offer. No you don’t need one of each.

Most beekeepers settle for one of two… The standard stainless steel hive tool with a curved end and bevels on both ends, or the J-type hive tool with two beveled edges on one end and, well, a J-type hook on the other.

Either one of these is great for a beginner. If I have to choose a favourite, it would be the J-type. I find it easier to lift frames with the J-hook and have less damage to the combs if the tool slips and pokes into the comb.

#5 Brush

The beekeepers brush is something I’m sure could be left off this list, but I thought I’d mention it since we do use it.

The brush is there to literally brush bees off the frames or out of the way when you’re working in the hive. If you had to use your hands, you will end up damaging the combs or squashing a bunch of bees.

The reason why I’m not too concerned about it being on the list is that a clump of grass or a branch with soft leaves can do the trick as well. However, the brush is effective and if you don’t want to go around pulling grass or picking branches, I will recommend you getting a brush.

#6 Beekeeper’s Toolbox

Now, this isn’t something I’ve really seen for sale anywhere in South Africa, but I have seen the odd Insta post or YouTube video with something similar.

Morgan built this for us so that we don’t have a billion bits and bobs in our pockets that end up left behind in the field after use.

This is our beekeepers toolbox, or carrier.

Isn’t it glorious?

It has 2 large compartments that fit our smokers and then 4 smaller ones for all bits and bobs we need, depending on what we’re going into the field for.

Then on either side there’s a compartment for our hive tools and brush, and hooks for things like elastics or propolis bucket to hang from.

If you want one, let me know and I’m sure I can twist his rubber arm to make one 😉

There you have it, the 6 essential tools and accessories for the beginner beekeeper to get going.

Obviously having a swarm of bees will really get you off the couch, but if you’re on the fence and unsure of how much “other stuff” you need, now you know.

Drop a comment below and let us know if this was useful to you, and what else you may have questions about.

Until next time!