Starting Out As A New Beekeeper Can Be So Exciting But So Stressful

How Do You Feel About Your Bees?

Sheri and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our family business. This is our only livelihood so we are highly motivated to show our appreciation to you for every purchase you make with us. We know you have lots of options so we appreciate your purchases from us so much. One of the best ways you can put a smile on our face is to order one of our ONLINE COURSES. Not only is this a huge support, but it also helps us accomplish our passion of informing beekeepers the right way to keep bees.

Beekeepers around the country have recently started with a package or will install  package within the next few weeks. Our packages are on schedule so far, for this Saturday. It is exciting, especially for new beekeepers. With that excitement comes a little anxiety and maybe a tiny bit of fear or uncertainty for what to expect.

I remember when I bought my first package. I wasn't sure if I knew what I was doing or not. Even the whole next month after I installed my bees I kept worrying if I was doing the right thing. What should I do next? Should I keep feeding them? Will the cold nights hurt them? When do I add my next hive body? Do they need a pollen patty? Should I test for mites now, or wait? Since mites are the number one killer of bees, when should I start mite control? It is overwhelming to a new beekeeper. 

If you've started without taking a course you will be even more overwhelmed and your bees will likely suffer from your lack of knowledge and preparation. Two of our six online classes you will benefit the most from are: Basic Beekeeping & Spring Management. Check them out today and ease your mind by gaining the knowledge needed to help build up your confidence.

Okay, it's time for you to learn how to raise your own queens. Join David on May 24th 9am-3pm to learn how to raise your own queens. When you need to purchase a queen they are not easy to find and certainly not always available when you need them. You can raise your own queens and have them available when you need them and save lots of money and time. As an EAS Certified Master Beekeeper David has raised queens a long time. His practical expertise will help you raise just a few queens or hundreds. This is a hands on class with some training both indoors and out in the bee yard. Sign Up Today. Only 4 spots left.

5 Frame Nucs With Bees for Sale

We have 5 Frame Nucs with bees for sale. It's great when bees overwinter so well that we can sell bees from overwintered Illinois hives. These colonies have already been inspected by the Illinois Department of Ag and the inspector wrote on the inspection report, "Hives look very good."

These are 5 frame nucs with a mated Illinois queens. These are notnucs from the south and are not made from packages. These are nucs from Illinois overwintered colonies. Click here for more information.

Package Bee Pick Up This Saturday

DIRECTIONS TO LONG LANE HONEY BEE FARMS

This Saturday is our package bee pickup day. 9am-4pm. Please call first if you are wanting to pick up other items other than packages when you are here so we can be sure to have items in stock. Otherwise, inventory sells very fast to the early birds. Remember to call anytime to listen to a recording updating if Saturday is still a go before making a long trip. If there is any delay we will only place the info on our recording.

Wear rain gear if it rains and try to stay on the gravel if it is muddy. Let's hope for a beautiful day. We recommend wearing protective gear because there can be lots of bees flying around. 

BURNS BEES FEEDING SYSTEM

Our awesome feeding systems are selling faster than we can make them. Another batch should go online today or tomorrow. These are flying off the shelves and inventory is cleaned out as soon as we place them online. So keep checking the website. Click here for more info: Burns Bees Feeding System. 

HOTTEST SELLING ONLINE CLASSES THIS MONTH

Basic Beginners Online Course

Spring Management Online Course

OUR TOP 3 MOST VISITED WEB PAGES

How to Install Packages

Frequently Asked Beekeeping Questions

Beehives For Sale

BEEKEEPING YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Beekeeping Catching A Swarm

How To Start Beekeeping

Do You Have An Amazon Alexa or Echo Dot?

Every couple of days David places helpful beekeeping tips on the Amazon Alexa for you to listen to with your daily briefing. The Amazon Alexa/Echo was a phenomenal hit this past holiday season. If you were one of the millions of people that purchased one of these during the holiday season you can now listen to a daily beekeeping tip from certified master beekeeper David Burns. Just go to your Alexa skills and look for Beekeeping and add it to your daily flash briefing.

I'm glad you are keeping bees or thinking about it. Thank you for supporting our family business for all your beekeeping needs. Our hours today are 10am-4:30pm central time. Give us a call.

Sincerely,

David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms

 

Discovery: New Bacterium May Be Killing Bees In The Winter

3 Pound Packages are available online for purchase, but only around 50 left. Click here to order now. Don't wait too long to order or we may be sold out.

Hello, we are David and Sheri Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms/www.honeybeesonline.com

Serratia marcescens strain sicaria: Killing Bees In Winter?

I worked hard to become an EAS Certified Master Beekeeper so that I can better equip beekeepers on how to do it right. A good master beekeeper is constantly studying new discoveries and reports on honey bees.

Beekeeping is no longer hands-off. You cannot just throw bees in a hive and wait a few months and harvest gallons of honey. 

Beekeeping is more challenging now than it ever has bee. A new bacterium called, 

Serratia marcescens strain sicaria, more simply named sicaria, which means assassin, and Ss1 for short. This bacterium has been found in bees that die in the winter, and in varroa mites. The dying bees seem to drift away from the winter cluster before dying. It still deserves much more research. This should emphasis how important it is to take a beekeeping class. It sounds like keeping mite levels low all year could reduce this bacterium during the winter. Learning how to keep mite levels below 3% all year is essential for the well being of bees.

List of a few of our 2017 beekeeping classes:

Beekeeping For Beginners Feb 18th 1pm-6pm (Only a couple of spots still open)

Beekeeping For Beginners Feb 25th 1pm-6pm

Spring Management March 4th 9am-1pm

A Day In The Apiary With David May 27th 8:30am-11am

Learn To Raise Your Own Queens June 23rd 9am-3pm

See additional classes we are offering for 2017 by clicking here.

SHOP    Freedom Kit Our Freedom Kit has been a top choice for new beginners. Starting with 2 hives is always a better idea. You can share resources between hives and observe difference between hives. Many years ago when we first started beekeeping (24 years now) we called a beekeeping supply company and admitted on the phone that we didn't know what to buy.  The response we got was, well, less than stellar:  "when you figure it out, call us back".  We decided that when we started our company, our customers would never be left to "figure it out".     After seeing what's out there on the market, our customers come here looking for quality, well constructed, made in America Hives....made right here in Illinois.  Our hive kits are assembled and painted.  Made by master craftsmen.  These workhorses will outlast your lifetime. Our boxes are rabbet joints to expose LESS wood to the elements, which eliminates cracks and buckles caused by finger joints. Our telescoping top covers are covered with painted aluminum --which will never rust and will stay looking nice for a long time. We do not cut corners with our inner covers either, these will NOT fall apart on you after the first year as some others do.  Hive boxes come complete with all the frames and foundations so you don't need to spend time trying to figure out which frames go with what foundations and what sizes you need. Complete kits, come with FREE entrance feeder! Allow 2 - 3 weeks for delivery. Pick up available, just call! 217-427-2678 or see all of our hive kits at www.honeybeesonline.com Test Your Beekeeping Skills Take our beekeeping test and see how well you do. Answers are available by clicking here. Jot down your answers on a piece of paper then click the above link to compare and see how well you did. 1. What is the main cause of viruses in a colony? 2. How often should you inspect your hive to verify your queen is laying? 3. List three ways to reduce varroa mites without the use of chemicals or     acids. 4. List two ways to combat small hive beetles. 5. What does one queen cell on the upper section of comb represent? TRUE  OR   FALSE 1. Small hive beetles can not fly, only crawl. 2. Small hive beetles cannot survive a winter inside a clustered colony of    honey bees. 3. Oxalic acid does not kill varroa mites below the capped cell. 4. The universal queen color for 2017 is blue. 5. Honey bees are not on the endangered species list. 6. When a colony swarms they always leave with a new queen and the old     mother queen remains behind with the original colony.  Do You Know What This is? One of the great things about being a beekeeper is that we can continue to learn and become better at what we do. I read that more pilots crash after they have 300 hours of flight time because their confidence exceeds their experience. It's the same for most beekeepers. Keeping bees for a couple of years causes many beekeepers to believe they know every thing there is to know. One of our subscribers recently sent this photo to me wondering what it means to the overall health of her hive. Wouldn't it be nice to have a certified master beekeeper you can get answers from right away? Are you sure you know what you are doing? Once you start beekeeping you will have a ton of questions. Every time you inspect your colony you will have twenty question marks floating above your hat and veil. Is the queen laying enough? Why aren't they building up faster? What does that queen cup mean? What is that worm? When do I put my queen excluder on? Why are they clustered under the hive? Yikes, no eggs! I have expanded my mentorship program to include twenty more subscribers. When you subscribe you become part of our BeeTeam6 mentorship program. Here's what you get for less than $5 a week:     - Access to my personal cell phone to call me when you just don't know       what's going on or you don't know what to do next.     - Access to my personal email to send me photos, videos or questions.     - Access to my cell phone to text question.     - My weekly instructional video.     - A weekly tip, two pages full of new discoveries, best management practices       and more. Example: With spring approaching gain the spring management tips you need to keep your hives healthy. Sign up now for one of these twenty openings before they are taken. Click here now for more information.  Sheri and I want to thank you for the opportunity to help you with all your beekeeping needs. Thank you for supporting a small, family business. We are located in east-central Illinois, about 40 miles East of Champaign/Urbana, Illinois 217-427-2678  or visit us online at: www.honeybeesonline.com SHOP         SHOP

Watch Bees Eating In The Winter

Happy New Year! It's 2017. Hello from David and Sheri Burns and honeybeesonline.com 

Here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms we are gearing up for the 2017 beekeeping season and we hope you are as optimistic and excited as we are. Some of you are brand new to the idea of beekeeping. Good for you. Our ecosystem could stand a boost in honey bees. We need our honey bees to pollinate all the food that is good for us, like fruits and vegetables. We know you have lots of options when ordering hives and bees. We hope you'll choose us. Choosing a small, family business is important. It's not always about saving shipping cost or buying sale items. It's about purchasing hives made here in America, right here in Illinois by hard working family. We hope you'll honor our business. Thank you.

PACKAGE BEES are available online now. They always sell out fast so CLICK HERE to order now.

Your Hives Are Hungry Even In The Winter: We are just barely into winter and your bees are hungry. With several more months of bitter winter left, colonies need a lot of protein (pollen) and carbohydrates (honey) in the winter. We hear so many horror stories of how hives did not have adequate food stored up for winter back in September. Some hives are beginning to perish now from starvation.

Feed your bees in the winter. Watch our video below showing one of our Winter-Bee-Kind boards at work, reducing excess moisture in the hive, feeding bees and allowing an upper entrance.

Winter Bee Kind At Work

Click here to order your Winter-Bee-Kind now. These will only be available a couple more weeks.

Without Taking A Class You Are Taking A Big Risk

It's never too late to learn something new. Beekeeping is more challenging now than ever before. Arm yourself with the knowledge and education you need to give your bees the best chance of making it. Take one of our classes, taught by EAS Certified Master Beekeeper, David Burns.

Beekeeping For Beginners Feb 18th 1pm-6pm

Beekeeping For Beginners Feb 25th 1pm-6pm

Spring Management March 4th 9am-1pm

A Day In The Apiary With David May 27th 8:30am-11am

Learn To Raise Your Own Queens June 23rd 9am-3pm

2017 Beekeeping Institute

The Bee Institute is taught over two days covering in depth teachings on honey bee anatomy, understanding the colony, specialized beekeeping equipment, package bees verses nucs, how and when to feed bees, pests and diseases, best seasonal management practices for each season, how to raise and sell queens, swarm prevention, making splits, field work, mite tests, how bees communicate via pheromones, bee stings and reactions and more. You'll learn how to find your queen, how to mark her, and how to perform a thorough hive inspection, how and when to best add supers for maximum honey production, understanding the waggle dance, catching swarms and removing bees from structures, hive placement, how to work bees with minimal protection, how to move a hive to a new location, robbing and how to prevent it, reversing hive bodies in the spring, what to do about laying workers, royal jelly, characteristics of the different types of honey bees, how to keep bees in the city and much, much more. Sign up now. It fills up fast. 

Order Your Bee Hives And Other Equipment From Us

Several customers dropped in last week and purchased our Freedom Kit. Before you run out to a big box store, why not purchase your beekeeping equipment from us? We are experts in the field. Get started on the right foot. Thank you for supporting our family business for all your beekeeping needs. We do it all. We will educate you through a class, provide the bees and yearly queens and supply you with the hives and equipment you need to be successful.  Here's our most popular Hive Kits:

Our Freedom Kit has been a top choice for new beginners. Painted and assembled our hives are made here in Illinois under David's watchful eye. Starting with 2 hives is always a better idea. You can purchase it with or without bees. And comes with the equipment you need to keep bees. 

2 Hives gives you the advantage to move resources around to keep both hives going strong. Lose a queen? Just move a frame of eggs from the other hive. In a good year you can harvest twice the honey! For more info on our Freedom Kit follow these links:

Freedom Kit With Bees (Bees Are Picked Up Here In Spring)

Freedom Kit With Out Bees

Have a great day!
David and Sheri Burns

www.honeybeesonline.com

Tu-Thu 10-4pm
217-427-2678