Thursday, February 5, 2009

Lesson 48: Snap Shot Of Getting Started Keeping Honey Bees

Hello Everybody! We are David & Sheri Burns, taking all the confusion out of beekeeping. Our goal is to help more people start keeping bees! And it is working. More and more people have taken up beekeeping because of our efforts. We are trying to spread the word about how important honey bees are to all of us.

Yesterday, out of the blue, I was asked by FOX NEWS to do a live interview on the Neil Cavuto show. I welcomed the opportunity to get the word out on national news about the plight of the honey bee. Click here to watch the interview.

Many people want to start keeping bees, but are clueless as to when to start, what to buy, how to do it and where to buy everything. Then, there is the huge learning curve of knowing what you are doing.

Here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, we know these are challenges to prospective beekeepers, so we are doing our part to walk you through how to become a beekeeper. We want to make it simple and easy to understand.

Beekeeping is a wonderful hobby, and can become a home-based business as your hives expand. Many customers tell us how much they enjoy beekeeping and how relaxing it really is.

So in today's Basic Beekeeping Lesson #47, we want to give you a snap shot of how to start keeping honey bees. Are you ready? Let's go!

1) Buy Your Equipment, called Woodenware because most bee hives are made of wood. Our cost of a complete hive is $249, assembled and painted. Nothing to build or paint! When should you buy your hive? NOW! Jan- May

2) Buy Your Bees. We ship your bees to you through UPS if you also order a hive, otherwise plan to pick up at our facility. You receive
3 pounds of bees, which is about 10,000 bees and 1 queen. The package is about the size of a shoe box with a screen around it. Within the package there is a can of sugar water that the bees eat while being shipped to you. The typical cost of our package of bees including shipping is $96. Bees must be purchased between Jan-April. Most packages of bees sell out fast, so it is important to order your bees in the winter months!

3) Buy Your Tools. Basic equipment includes a hive tool to help separate the frames and hive boxes when you look inside your hive, a smoker which is used to puff smoke into the hive to calm the bees before you open up to look and a hat and veil to give you protection and increase your confidence in working your bees. Our cost of all of these pieces of equipment is $59 for the hat/veil, smoker and hive tool. Timing: Make sure you have your equipment on hand prior to getting your bees :)

4) Once you order your items, review our online FREE lessons. Our lessons are very easy to follow and will answer all your questions. Each lesson will walk you through the entire process of keeping bees. For example, our
Lesson Seven will walk you through how to install your first package. It is simple and easy to understand.

5) We are your mentors! Every new beekeeper needs someone to call or email with questions. We are here to answer your questions. When you purchase your items from us, we'll be your personal mentor. Believe me, this is a huge sacrifice of our time, but we do it because we appreciate our customer's business and we want our customers to feel comfortable in keeping bees.

Check out our New STUDIO BEE LIVE BROADCAST!
In our next lesson, I'll talk about feeding bees Fondant in late winter/early spring and give you some Fondant recipes. And I'll calm your fears about spotting on your hives on warm winter days.

Until next time, remember to Bee-have yourselves.

David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N. 1020 East Road
Fairmount, IL 61841
PHONE: 217-427-2678
David's EMAIL:
david@honeybeesonline.com