Other Beekeeping Necessities

Anticipating the completion of my hive and the availability of bees from a co-worker's top bar hive, I placed an order for the other equipment I will need.  The necessities are really quite simple:  a veil to cover the face, a smoker for "calming" the bees, and a hive tool for prying the bars free and scraping brace comb and propolis.  I ordered these from H.T. Krantz, a company in Frederick, MD.

HTK Professional Beekeeper's Jacket   - Size: Medium	HK-BKJ	$48.99	1	$48.99
7" HTK Hobby Smoker	HK-SM7	$27.99	1	$27.99
Maxant Hive Tool	MI-MHT	$11.49	1	$11.49
Pure Beeswax - 1LB	HK-BW1	$6.00	1	$6.00
			Sub-Total:	$94.47
			Ups Ground:	$11.09
			Maryland Tax (6%):	$5.67
			Total:	$111.23

Unfortunately, the jackets and hive tools are back-ordered, so nothing has arrived yet.  I'm pretty disappointed that I did not know this before ordering. I would have preferred to pay the slightly higher prices at other suppliers and get my goods sooner.  That being said, the prices are considerably cheaper with H.T. Krantz for what I wanted.

Good news is, I ordered my bees!  I spoke on the phone with a very nice lady (Ruth Seaborn) down in Tennessee at Wolf Creek Apiaries.  I really wanted bees from Draper's Super Bees in PA, but the price just wasn't right.  Wolf Creek's bees are also used to building smaller, more natural cells so I'm hoping they work well in the top bar.  Total price w/ shipping $108.75 for 3lbs. and a queen.  They are set to be shipped May 8th!