About Foxhound Bee Company and How We Started
The People Behind Foxhound Bee Company
What started as one hive in 2012 for the owner, Adam Hickman, has developed into a full-service beekeeping supply company based in Birmingham, Alabama. Just like our bees, we are small (though we like to punch above our weight), and we love their hardworking, never-say-never, keep your nose to the flower passion. Despite being a certified Master Beekeeper, Adam has made plenty of beekeeping mistakes.
They type of mistakes that make your heart sink, like when he left the door to the honey extracting room open after a full day of extracting honey... No big deal right? Well it's not until over 100,000 honeybees find the open door, tell their friends and try to take all their honey back. What a catastrophe. We want to connect you with the world of bees (hopefully without all the mistakes Adam made) through beekeeping supplies, honey, protective gear and beekeeping classes.
Our team is small and we are on your side and want to do everything we can to help you. We remember what it was like getting started so we will always support you and encourage you on your beekeeping journey, regardless of the type hive or style you want use.
When We Started
Taking care of bees has been our thing since 2012, but it was 2014 when Foxhound Bee Company was established. With only $200, we started the business as a side hustle to our other side hustle as a way for Adam and his wife Stephanie to pay off student loans.
Fast forward to 2020, a do and a couple kids later, Adam has left a career developing recipes for our nations largest food brands to run Foxhound Bee Company and serve beekeepers full-time. We look back at pictures like this to remind us of all we can be grateful for. It wasn't that long ago that we were scared and doubted ourselves and our future.
2014 wasn't that long ago when Adam was driving to beekeeping conferences, hoping for good weather and standing in the parking lot trying to sell bee supplies out the back of his truck. To this day, customers still come up and "reminisce" about how we used to be outside and congratulate us on moving inside with all the other vendors.
What We Do
Honestly, we are teachers first, beekeepers second and business owners third. Our business has grown out of the need to fill that gap between good teaching and good beekeeping. We specialize in selling cypress beekeeping supplies, but we often spend more of our time giving general advice to beekeepers and answering their questions.
Answering emails and text messages about beekeeping is a daily occurrence, but most beekeepers come to us for our beekeeping supplies. We sell our supplies through our website and ship all over the country. We have shipped our supplies to every single state except two, South and North Dakota. Really? What's with the Dakotas? If you know a beekeeper there, send them our way for a deal.
We have also hitched our wagon to Jeff Bezos, well, actually his company. Not the space rocket one, but 2-day shipping bahemoth. Many of our supplies can be found on Amazon, so if that is your thing, be sure to check our store there too. You might find a few things on there that we don't sell on our website.
Why We Are In Business
The equipment we sell is very high quality and will work very well for you and your bees. Our beekeeping supplies are made from Cypress wood which is the gold standard for beehives because of its long lasting rot resistant quality. Besides selling equipment, we have worked hard to source high quality tools, beekeeping suits, feeders and much of the other equipment to help you take care of bees. Besides selling beekeeping supplies, we also believe in teaching good beekeeping and educating the public about how great honey bees are. Our owner is a EAS Certified Master Beekeeper and thus education is central to Foxhound Bee Company.
We really enjoy teaching and find ourselves sharing our knowledge about bees and beekeeping whenever we can. You won't find us selling any supplies that we don't full understand. We understand there are many ways to take care of honeybees and do our best to help you find the way that works best for you and your bees.
What Makes Us Different
We got into business because we saw a need among beekeepers in our area of Alabama. There was a need for a local beekeeping equipment supplier and good, patient teaching. These are the roots of why we are in business and we haven't lost sight of the needs of our local beekeepers.
It turns out, our local beekeeping community was not alone in needing quality equipment and education. We still meet those needs locally, but have scaled up our efforts to work with beekeepers nationally. We love to serve soon-to-be and beekeepers who are only a few years into their hobby. It is a joy to us to get messages about customers catching their first swarms and harvesting honey from their own hives.
We are in business to help beekeepers reach those moments and celebrate those achievements with them. We are in business because of customers like the ones in this picture. On a night that the beekeeping club lost the key to the building, they pulled up trucks and blankets so that the show can go on.
We projected our talk onto the building and gave our talk as if all was normal. The subject that night, " Nucleus Hives and Packages, The Major and Minor Differences".
Want To Know More About Us?
There is more to us than what we can put in this little "About Us" page. We would love to be able to share more with you and be your partner in beekeeping. The best way to follow us is through our socials and to subscribe to our email.
Like we said, we are teachers first so you will see much more content that is focused on teaching, tips, tricks then on products. In our personal life and also in business, we play the long game and know that if we continue to focus on teaching, then the sales will come. Come and join our hive!
