We are all a-buzz about bees!
Next Saturday, April 30, Zan Asha of
The Renegade Farmer will be here - from THE BRONX, folks - to teach us
natural beekeeping!
This is going to be a GREAT class, chock-full of information you won't find elsewhere. Zan is a third-generation beekeeper, and uses techniques her grandfather used! She has extensive experience in urban beekeeping. It is going to be an AMAZING class.
Please note - you do not need a farm to keep bees. You do not need a lot of special equpment, and given the yield, it does not cost a lot. Urban beekeepers are welcome to this class! It's a wonderful class for brand-new beekeepers (such as us at Prairieland Herbs), but will also contain helpful information for experience beekeepers interested in learning more natural techniques.
We have negotiated a "package deal" on a basic beekeeping setup with local bee suppliers at
Spring Valley Honey Farms. Here's the breakdown:
2 deep hive bodies, assembled and painted
20 frames for deep hive bodies
Screened bottom board
telescoping cover
inner cover
2 honey supers, assembled and painted
20 frames for honey supers
smoker
hive tool
All this for $260.
You can choose to buy the hive bodies & supers unpainted and unassembled, and do that yourself. That option costs $214 total.
The bees cost $75, and he would like if you could reserve your package by today. HOWEVER, if you don't reserve your package, he will still be able to supply you with bees after the class.
Last but not least, you will need some protective clothing; however, the cost on that varies, depending on your comfort level. I chose to go with a simple netted hat and gloves and will wear thick white clothing; you can purchase special bee jackets or even full bee suits. The costs on your protective gear will be $40 for the simplest, and up to over $75 for the full suit. That choice is entirely up to you.
This should be everything you need to keep bees!!! Amazing, right??
If you want to take the class you are in NO WAY obligated to purchase anything from Spring Valley; they are just a local option and Curt and Connie have been very helpful to us and have everything needed to get going in beekeeping. Curt also mentioned that the smoker he offered is the most expensive on the market; he said that is because he feels it is the best, and therefore the only one he wants to sell. However he was very clear that you could easily order a cheaper smoker for elsewhere if budget was a concern, so I am passing that information on to you as well.
There are still spaces in the class, we would love to have you come!
Please register here if you are interested. Feel free to contact Spring Valley Honey Farm at (515)480-6076 if you would like to chat with them about gear, or order your supplies. They are located just past Perry on highway 141.
Yesterday started out innocently enough...browsing the craigslist ads, we found some wonderful red raspberry plants! a LOT of red raspberry plants.....I picked them up, and then zoomed off to work to try to get them planted before the rain hit. We decided our new raspberry patch would be near the mini's pen, so I got out the tiller and started tilling....much to the delight of the minis. They lined up to watch as if this was the most thrilling spectacle they'd ever seen!
Pretty soon the sky looked like this...
and then THIS. We managed to get all 62 plants into the ground just as the first raindrops hit. We closed the doors and windows and sprinted for the shop! It was a doozy of a storm...but the berries got watered. :)
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