We are in the process of building our 6thrd prototype hive. Started a blog here. The bees in our first poly-Layens hive decided to leave, but the poly-layens hive worked very well.
We will be displaying a finished prototype hive before year-end 2021. I dropped off my version of the finished prototype hive with a simplified Layens frame (more like the original design) and the company assembling them yesterday. They will be taking a go at replicating my designs.
Once we have something to show you, we will be taking a limited number of pre-orders. Since the Ez-Bees system is based on attracting local bees and the bees do not begin swarming (even in the south) until late March or April, we will use the pre-order excitement to decide how many hives to produce for the 2022 season.
Join The Natural-Bee-Keeping Study
Ez-Bees is in communication with bee scientists at four major research universities about launching a natural bee keeping study early in 2022. The research goal is to establish the validity of housing existing wild bees in a variety of settings (urban, suburban & rural) and different climate zones across North America. Since we’ve gotten so much encouragement from existing treatment-free beekeepers, we will probably start with a survey of what you’re doing now and how well that is working. Participants, if they decide to go forward with us, will receive one specially built bee house and asked to monitor several potential milestones in the lives of bees. There may be a cost associated with participation (we want serious research participants) but it will be less than what beginning bee keepers usually spend to start with bees.
If you are interested in being part of that experiment, send us a note in the comments. We are hoping for many positive experiences both in attracting local bees, seeing them prosper and of course having them survive through the 2022-23 winter.
There are two main areas where we need your help, . The first is helping us get word out to gardeners, homesteaders, farmers and environmental groups. We are hoping to share our story and have you and others pass it along. The second is tooling and materials to build hives. We are working on tooling for our Layens frames. In addition, we may want to send samples to people interested in promoting Ez-Bees to their followers.
What about kickstarter, gofundme, Indigogo or other startup funding? They are mainly just a way of taking pre-orders. They take a healthy share of the money. Years ago it was difficult to set that up. Not any more. For this reason, our business advisers suggested we’d be better off getting organized and letting you know how to help.
Take a minute, send us a note, ask questions, make suggestions or just let us know if we’re crazy or on the right track. We look forward to hearing from you.