Want to start keeping honey bees? If you are struggling to get started in beekeeping, you know it costs a ton of money to buy all the equipment. Shipping charges are increasing every year. Costs continue to go up. Bees, in certain times during the season, are in short supply. But during the spring, you can line up to acquire your bees for "free!" Yes, the bees are free but there will always be a cost in terms of your time and motivation. But the good news is those costs are relative. And the GREAT news is that you can catch swarms of "free" bees without incurring the out-of-pocket cash costs of buying a package of bees or a nuc. You can catch free bees to replace winter dead-outs. You can catch free bees to expand your apiary. You can catch free bees to increase the number of locations where you keep bees or even expand your hives to start a pollination service. In a nutshell, you don't have to buy bees and incur the out-of-pocket expenses that hold a lot of hopeful people back from enjoying a wonderful hobby that holds tremendous business potentials. If that's enough information, I encourage you to order this book. If you're just mildly curious, keep reading. Like a lot of people, we usually have more time than money and the bees are out there for the expense of our time. I've been keeping honey bees since 1981. This book is about my experiences finding, catching and keeping free bees. With this book and the information within, you'll likewise be able to position yourself to receive free bees and save a bunch of money. Or at least you won't have to shell out those hard earned dollars to buy bees. And as you peruse this manuscript, let me give you some great news: never before have there been so many opportunities for free bees. First, the horror stories coming out of the southern United States with respect to "Africanized," or "killer" bees has the general public on high alert. The fear of honeybees, ANY honeybee, is at an all-time high (though I think this fear is rather senseless and irrational). When people see bees, they want someone else to deal with them, and deal with them NOW! And every time I rescue a swarm, I'm bombarded with questions, "Are those the killer bees?" Second, with the loss of honeybees to Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD for short, never has there been a time when people do not want to kill honeybees. They believe there is a shortage of honeybees (a debatable topic skewed by selective reporting from our news media). They want to give the honeybee every opportunity to survive. But not in their backyard. And this is kind of a paradoxical irony: They don't want to kill the bees, but they don't want them around. The bottom line comes to the reality that the general public is looking for people, beekeepers like you and me, to come remove and retrieve honeybees and take them away. Never before has the opportunity for beekeepers been greater than now. The general public goes crazy when they find a swarm of honeybees and they'll make fifteen phone calls looking for someone to take the bees off their hands. It would be easier to kill the bees, but there is a new thread woven into the public consciousness that recognizes it's just wrong to do so. The result is more people in the general population are looking for specialized people (beekeepers like you and me) to come and get rid of their bees. People hail you as a hero! I like doing this because I get free bees out of the deal! This manuscript is about finding those opportunities so people call you. You can acquire a bunch of free bees with a little effort and a little time. I have done this, and I'll show you how you can, too. There are many ways to collect free bees, and ultimately, you'll have to choose the method that works best for you. I'll explain all those details in this book.
Grant F. C. Gillard began keeping bees on the family farm in Glenville, Minnesota, after graduating from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, with a degree in Agriculture in 1981. While in his sophomore year, seeking the easiest class possible to elevate his battered grade-point average, Grant ignored his advisor's derision and enrolled in a seemingly innocuous class entitled, "Entomology 222: Beekeeping," taught by a retired high school biology teacher and adjunct professor, Richard Trump. Without grasping the potential blessings and lifelong implications this providential twist presented to his academic life, Grant was hopelessly inoculated with the desire to keep honey bees, which would later include visions of commercial aspirations. Grant was active during his high school years at the First Presbyterian Church in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where he was baptized and ordained as a ruling elder. Returning to his home church after his college graduation, Grant's church members, along with the Rev. Elmer Bates, convinced him he'd make a better pastor than a farmer. Their encouragement spun his life in yet another improbable direction. In 1987, Grant graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, with a Master's of Divinity degree. It was there he met another Presbyterian student, Kansas City native, Nancy Farris. They married in 1986 during their senior year at Fuller. He later obtained a Doctor of Ministry degree from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2000. He's only served two congregations thus far in his twenty-six years of ordained ministry. With his newlywed wife, the two served as co-associate pastors at the White Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Newark, Delaware. With a desire for more opportunities to preach and teach, Grant moved his young family to Jackson, Missouri in 1993 where he answered a call to serve as the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church PC(USA). His active involvement over the past twenty years redefined his ministry as more of a community chaplain. Grant combines his passion for beekeeping with his pastoral duties at the church. Grant currently operates around 200 hives and produces honey for local retail sales and farmer's markets in southeast Missouri. He also produces nucs, removes swarms and has published several other manuscripts on the topics of beekeeping and personal growth. You may contact Grant for your next conference at: gillard5@charter.net
