I tried forum search and didn't get much so if I just missed it, I'm sorry. I'm wanting to get a bee hive mostly for pollination, but honey would be a nice secondary benifit. I like the idea of those hives with a tap on the side, but would assume that they are gimmicky and don't work. What would be the best way to get started from a frame and acquiring bees standpoint?

Find a local bee club, watch and learn with a beekeeper for a year before buying anything.

Most clubs are very welcoming to new members and have annual workshops.

Tap on the side appears to be a gimmick but I don't know anyone that has tried one.

It's a fascinating hobby. There are lots of Facebook groups if you do that, but a local beekeepers club is best if you have one available. The Flow hives are something that a lot of people like, but I have never used one. I would recommend at least two hives.

I'm looking into getting in this year, going to go up to 6-7 in the next year once I get it sorted.

Here is one thread I found. Hint search with google not the site search function.

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2959305

Another one

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3093294

BCO07 said:

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I tried forum search and didn't get much so if I just missed it, I'm sorry. I'm wanting to get a bee hive mostly for pollination, but honey would be a nice secondary benifit. I like the idea of those hives with a tap on the side, but would assume that they are gimmicky and don't work. What would be the best way to get started from a frame and acquiring bees standpoint?

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A new hive with a beer tap! Wow, bee keeping has really progressed!!!

S.A. Aggie said:

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BCO07 said:

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I tried forum search and didn't get much so if I just missed it, I'm sorry. I'm wanting to get a bee hive mostly for pollination, but honey would be a nice secondary benifit. I like the idea of those hives with a tap on the side, but would assume that they are gimmicky and don't work. What would be the best way to get started from a frame and acquiring bees standpoint?

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A new hive with a beer tap! Wow, bee keeping has really progressed!!!

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It's a mead tap but just as effective.....

Tap is a gimmick. The hives Tractor Supply sells work fine. You can trap swarms sometimes, but the couple times we did it, they were a little more aggressive. Buying a queen with a nuc is a better way, imo.

If you are in BCS, I've heard a Brazos County bee club advertised on the radio. They seem to have monthly meetings. That's all I know, but it is out there.

Central Texas beekeeping association is pretty awesome. They have an annual workshop (they call it bee school ) weekend and I believe it's April 1st this year. They have workshops/classes where you learn anything and everything about bees, and you can buy everything you'd need. We went when I was at A&M and in the honey bee class. It was pretty awesome.

It is in Brenham.

BeeWeaver in Navasota is a great resource for getting started including lessons and tours. Bee pick ups will start happening in the next month and go through May. You can order all your equipment and be ready to go. You can even drink mead while you learn about bees.

Central Texas Bee School as mentioned is a great learning and networking experience as well.

I second BWeaver. Plus, the species of bee's they raise (Buckfast) are known to be calm. I used to work my Buckfast bees with only gloves and a smoker.

milner79 said:

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If you are in BCS, I've heard a Brazos County bee club advertised on the radio. They seem to have monthly meetings. That's all I know, but it is out there.

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bvbeeks.org Brazos Valley Bee Club (meets at Bryan High lately), website has good info, they host a Bee School in September also. They have a fantastic youth program.

mannlakeltd.com has free shipping on orders over $150.

Flow Hives seem to work, people are on both sides of the fence on them, no one seems in the middle. They are more expensive than other hives boxes.

Check out Texas Bee Supply. They offer classes and put out a informative monthly magazine.
https://thebeesupply.com/

I'm Matagorda county, but could drive

Brazoria County bee club meets at the extension office in Angleton. Their club is good. Kinda weird, but nice group of people. There are local bee vendors down there. But you won't get the service, learning, or experience of up at BeeWeaver.