What Impact Did The Recent Winter Storm Have On Your Hives?

What Impact Did The Last Winter Storm Have On Your Hives?

Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. For over 12 years my wife and I have introduced and trained hundreds of new beekeepers and countless thousands of others through our online beekeeping lessons and videos.

The number of new beekeepers is a double edge sword. It’s great to see an increased interest in beekeeping but many newbies never receive adequate and thorough training. Consequently, many hives perish during the winter.

The last winter storm brought devastating cold winds and drove chill factors down to 40-50 below zero in Illinois. This was exceptionally hard on colonies which were below 40,000 in population. Many beekeepers followed our new paradigm and raised strong numbers of bees with winter physiology and are feeding their hives our winter-bee-kind feeding system. Here’s an example of a strong colony under one of our Winter-Bee-Kinds in Minnesota!

Colonies that were below 40,000 in population and a low amount of protein will not winter well. Bees need protein during long winters. New beginners fail to control mites and fail to provide protein for their colonies during the winter. The answer to the challenge to protect our nation’s honey bee is making sure beekeepers are well educated because our bees deserve to be managed well. Without our honey bees the healthy foods that we enjoy will be poorly pollinated and we will be without these vital fruits and vegetables. Sheri and I are not giving up. In fact, we ramp up our efforts every year.

In the last few years we have started a mentorship coaching program to educate and support beekeepers. We accept 200 beekeepers into this program each year. Click here for more information.

In 2019 we made all six of our classes available to be taken online from the comfort of your home. Click here for more information.

Many beekeepers keep repeating the same mistakes. Before you make another mistake and lose your hives, please commit to taking my special online course. I have made 3 of my classes in one bundle to help the beekeeper who is just starting or has kept bees for a few years but needs help in figuring out why your bees keep dying.

OUR NEW 3 ONLINE BUNDLED COURSES

This bundle is for 3 of my top courses:

1. Basic Beekeeping

2. A Day In The Apiary

3. Getting Your Bees Through The Winter

These three courses will give you the information you need to be successful. The basic course will ground you in the fundamentals. The Day In The Apiary will show you what to do out in the bee yard. Getting Your Bees Through The Winter will give you the knowledge to get your bees through the winter. Save money when purchasing these courses as a bundle. Still not convinced? Read testimonials from some of our students by clicking here. I am humbled by the overwhelming response I have received from hundreds who have taken my online courses. Thank you.

Here is how you can help save our nation’s honey bees:

1) Start keeping bees. This will help increase colonies in the US. We have only 1/2 of the number of colonies that we had just after WWII in 1946.

2) You can encourage others to keep honey bees. So many people want to keep bees, but they do not know how to get started. You can send them to our special webpage: http://www.honeybeesonline.com/howtostart.html

3) You can stop using dangerous (to bees) pesticides on your gardens, flowers, fruit trees and crops.

4) You can plant and grow more wildflowers native to your area. Why spend the fuel to keep acres and acres mowed? Why not provide food for honey bees by letting wild flowers grow.

I appreciate the fact that many of you reading this are beekeepers. Good for you. But think of the impact you can have by encouraging others to keep bees as well. Think of the impact you can have if you can convince your friends and neighbors and area farmers not to cut down every wildflower.

Winter Storms Are Hard On Bees

Winter weather certainly brings concern to most beekeepers. Although healthy colonies can withstand brutal winter weather, colonies that are low in numbers or food supply can fall victim to such storms as we are witnessing across the Midwest and northeast.

What can you do to help your hives? Heat lamp? Wrap? Carry the hive into a garage? Read more…

We are a family business working hard to earn your trust and have you as a friend and fellow beekeeper.

BUSY BEE SPECIAL

1 Hive plus 1 package of bees with a mated queen.The hives are custom made by hand right here in Central Illinois. The bees are picked up by you at our location in April. CLICK HERE to read more about our BUSY BEE SPECIAL. VERY LIMITED NUMBERS.

Come Join Us For Our Next Onsite Beekeeping Course

We only have 2 Onsite Beginner Courses left for the year. These are taught in our training center near Fairmount, Illinois. Click on the links below to register:

Feb 16th 1pm – 6pm Only 4 Spots left

March 9 th 1pm – 6pm

Want to save travel and time away? Take all of our 6 classes ONLINE, known as our ULTIMATE BEEKEEPING COURSE Click here for more info.