10 Decisions To Make BEFORE You Start Beekeeping

WEBVTT

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in a world brimming with complexity few creatures

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embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless

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precision she dances from bloom to bloom each

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motion guided by millennia upon millennia of

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instinct each act in service to the whole and

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then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards

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of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist,

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part poet, they move along their hives with the

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efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to

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the bees' needs as best they can comprehend,

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and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the

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Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing

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like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their

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journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping

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presented by our great friends and partners in

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beekeeping, Man Lake. Today we'll have a discussion

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with two of the most fun beekeepers around, Kim

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and Steph. If you're thinking about getting into

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beekeeping, believe it or not there are some

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big decisions you need to make before you take

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the leap. What kind of honey bees should you

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start with? What kind of hive design? Why are

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you getting into beekeeping in the first place?

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In this multi -episode series we're taking a

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deep dive into the 10 decisions you need to make

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before you start your beekeeping journey. But

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first let's take just a minute to go inside the

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hive this feature presented by Primal Bee. So

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you see a cloud of bees pour out of a hive and

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land on a tree branch in a big clump and your

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first thought is oh something has gone very wrong.

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Actually it's the opposite swarming is how a

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healthy colony reproduces. When a colony gets

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strong enough, starts running out of room or

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is just ready to reproduce, the workers raise

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new queen cells. When those queens are almost

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ready to hatch, the old queen takes off with

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about half the bees in the colony. That terrifying

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cloud of bees, they're actually in a great mood.

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They've gorged on honey before leaving and they're

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not defending anything. They're just temporarily

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homeless. They'll cluster on a branch while scout

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bees go house hunting and those scouts are incredibly

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picky. They want thick walls, a small entrance,

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the right amount of space. When a scout finds

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a good spot, she comes back and does a waggle

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dance to pitch it to the rest of the group. Sometimes

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you even have multiple scouts lobbying for different

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locations at the same time. The colony basically

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votes. Once enough bees agree, the whole swarm

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lifts off, flies together to the new location

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and moves in. Back in the original hive, a new

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queen hatches and takes over. Now there are two

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colonies instead of just one. In bee terms, that's

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a success story. Next time on Inside the Hive,

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we'll take a deeper dive into the waggle dance.

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Bees literally give each other GPS directions

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by dancing. Now how about a warm welcome for

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our very special guests. I am so happy to have

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on the line with us today Kim and Steph from

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Mandalay, Clearback in Pennsylvania. How are

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you two this morning? Good, how are you? Fantastic.

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You were asking about our weather earlier and

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I am so happy to report here in the mountains

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of Utah we are finally getting winter. We have

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a big snowstorm going on and it's fantastic.

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You guys already got yours a while ago, now it's

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our turn. We did we did so now we're just enjoying

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a rainy day today. It's a little drizzly out

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there What are your bees doing today right now?

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Well, if I had to think about it, I would say

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they're probably still a little clustered up

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It's been a little chilly. Well yesterday was

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a little warm but with the rain They're probably

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taking it easy today. They were out yesterday

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foraging. I'm sure so today. They're probably

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taking it easy after those cleansing flights

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and little foraging they may have done. I wish

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you would have asked me yesterday. Yesterday

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they were all out and about but today they are

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safely in their hives. Cleansing flights are

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such a good thing but I worry a little bit about

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my bees on some of the really warm winter days

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that we've had here because they go out foraging

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and obviously there's absolutely nothing for

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them to find and I'm afraid they're wearing themselves

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out. That is something that we do worry about.

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And in fact, seeing them all out yesterday, taking

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the dead out, their movements you can see around,

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sometimes they'll drop in the snow and not be

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able to get back out. We know this time of year

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is very tricky in February because they'll be

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going out on warmer days, but less and less will

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be coming back to the hive to keep that cluster

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and keep the queen warm. All right well I want

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to jump into today's topic because we have a

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lot lot lot to talk about. What we've come up

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with is everything that you need to know before

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you take the leap into beekeeping. So for seasoned

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beekeepers out there you might think this is

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a little boring but hey don't go away because

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you'll probably be helping somebody or there

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may be some gaps in your knowledge that you need

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to fill in too. But especially if you're new

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to beekeeping or just thinking about it, this

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is your big list of things to do first. And that's

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why I have Kim and Steph with me today, because

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they know what they're doing. They've been beekeeping

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for a long time. Have you guys taught classes

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too? No, we haven't taught classes, so to speak.

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It's something to think about. We teach more

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of what we do on TikTok. And you've got a lot

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of fun content out there. And this is not a beginner

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beekeeping class today. That's not what this

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is. This is a whole different thing about things

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to think about first. And I have a whole big

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list here. You guys are welcome to jump in with

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whatever you want. Now these are in no particular

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order. So I think people should define why they

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want to get into beekeeping before they do it.

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Why is that a big deal? Kim and I were discussing

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this and it's important to understand why you

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want to do it because you're going to invest

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a lot of time in doing it. You're going to invest

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your summer days, you're going to invest your

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spring, you're going to invest a lot of energy

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into doing it. So it's important to really think

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about, are you doing this for the honey yields?

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Are you doing this to pollinate your garden?

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It's just important to have a, you know, why

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you're doing it. I do it. for a little bit of

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everything. I like the honey. I like a pollinated

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area. I like that we're helping our food sources

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out there. And of course you invest a lot of

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money into it. There's that. Let's be honest.

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There is a financial investment here. Yeah. What

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would you say for your average beginner jumping

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in with two hives, what's their investment? Give

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us a round number. First year. I'm gonna say

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easily could be a thousand dollars. Easy. And

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that's your full setup, though. So that's going

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to be with us. That's everything with your bees

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and your heads. A thousand dollars is a very

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good starting point. Just to get into a little

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bit more of the why, I think another reason why

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people need to define their why is because beekeeping

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is harder than most people think it is. You may

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get stung. You may get stung a few times. You

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may have bees die. You may have neighbors mad

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at you. There are things that can happen and

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with that really defined why it helps you keep

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coming back. It helps you put in the effort that

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you need to learn what you need to learn. Instead

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of avoiding, oh man, I don't even want to deal

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with varroa. I don't even want to know what it

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is. No it'll help you go, I need to figure out

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Varroa, I need to figure out the climate where

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I am, I need to do my homework to do this right.

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Because being an irresponsible beekeeper, that

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doesn't make a lot of sense for anybody. Not

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for you, not for the bees. So to find that why,

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like for me it was hey seasonal allergies, and

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I had read a whole bunch of things about how

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raw local honey can really help those allergies.

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And I'm the kind of person that just likes to

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test stuff. So I bought some raw local honey.

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It was from some beekeepers about 150 miles from

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me. And I religiously like ate some of this honey

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every day and it didn't do anything. Have you

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heard this before? Okay, and so I read more and

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it said no really local like hyper local honey

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Because what I have growing around me is not

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the same thing growing around that guy 150 miles

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from here That's why I got bees at first and

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I'll tell you what it helps in a big -time way

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My allergies are so so much better. They're not

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gone They're not cured. They're like 75 % better.

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For me, that's a huge thing. Then, like you said,

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there's other reasons too. Maybe we can actually

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help the bees some. We can help pollinate our

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orchard that we have at our house, whatever it

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is. And most of us love honey too. Yeah. Yes.

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I was going to say that that's one of the reasons

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why I got into it. I have seasonal allergies

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very badly in the fall. And I remember years

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ago, riding my bike to a few miles down the way.

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There's a backyard beekeeper. I would buy their

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raw honey. And I wanted to be able to use it

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in things that I make. I like to make a lot of

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skin care and natural products and the food.

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It did help some. But when we moved and I started

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working at Man Lake and I realized what local

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truly meant, then yes, I wanted to have bees

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on my property that would forage in my area.

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And I have noticed the same, that I hardly have

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any allergies in the fall. It's really helped

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tremendously with that. To add on to the benefits

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of that, I find that beekeeping keeps me grounded

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in a healthier state of mind. That's one reason

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I really got into it. I was, you know, not as

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healthy as I could have been. And then I got

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into the beekeeping from working where I'm at.

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And I found that It really put me at ease and

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all the other added benefits. It's very therapeutic

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for me personally. That is so true. I've had

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a guest on the show from Hives for Heroes and

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we talked about the therapeutic aspect and dealing

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with PTSD and stuff and beekeeping is such a

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good hobby for that, for your mental health.

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It truly, truly is. Let's just go with our next

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thing again in no particular order. One of the

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decisions that you need to make when you first

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get into beekeeping is what kind of beehive design

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or style or philosophy of the hive itself, the

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box, what kind do I want to get into. Would you

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ladies just tell us what are some of the different

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options and then we'll talk about some pros and

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cons of them. Sure. Yeah. So we work with the

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Langstroth hives. That's what I am most familiar

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with because that's what I've used throughout

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my entire journey. There are so many different

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types of hives out there. Just this year alone,

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I learned about hives that people who are not

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as able to walk around can use themselves just

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by opening and looking. So there's so many different

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kinds of hives out there. I'm just personally

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know more about the Langstroth than anything.

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I have used Langstroth. I've had a top bar hive

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and I really enjoyed that. We had talked about

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that a little previously before recording. That

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one is great. I will say that in using that style,

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you really need to make adequate weekly inspections.

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You don't want to miss any inspections because

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in a top bar hive, you'll want to add a little

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bit of wax to the top of the top. far and then

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the bees will draw everything out themselves.

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However there's a lot of cross comb that can

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happen in that situation where they start out

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really well and then they're going to start cross

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combing meaning they put comb on one but slide

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it down to the other and then when you try to

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lift that out you get a lot of breakage you know

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and you don't want that to happen but To say

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I really enjoyed my top bar hive, and I would

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definitely go back to that method again. Along

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with that would be the horizontal hive. So that's

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also great for those that don't want to do any

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type of heavy lifting, but you want to be able

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to use the same frames that are in a Langstroth

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hive. That would be probably a little bit easier

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to work with. It's still that long horizontal.

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hive, but you can put regular frames in there,

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which would be easier for inspections. I know

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there's a few others like the Flow Hive, which

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I think is just beautiful. I've done research

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on it. I found it to be a little too expensive

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for me at this time, but I do, I love watching

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videos of people using it. And I know it's great

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for getting that honey and the, I think it was

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the RZ method where it's in. Primarily in Europe,

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which just reminds me of like a library where

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you're just pulling out the droid But I don't

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have too much familiarity with that one So I

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know there's many different methods and I would

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say you know as much as we always say this do

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your research On the different methods out there

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to see what you think you might want to work

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with and also cost -wise Some things might will

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be more expensive if you take a first -year beginner

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beekeeping class They may push one kind over

00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:39.539
another. If you happen to have a mentor, they're

00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:43.480
probably more familiar and like one kind of hive

00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:47.399
more than another. I will say that Langstroth

00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:51.200
is really the standard. It is probably, what,

00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:55.100
90 % of the hives in the United States and Europe

00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:56.960
and other places. We have a lot of listeners

00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:59.820
in Australia. Theirs are very similar. The sizes

00:14:59.820 --> 00:15:02.100
might be a little bit different, but basically

00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:06.649
the design is the same. There are AZ hives. and

00:15:06.649 --> 00:15:09.289
a lot of other kinds of hives. We've talked about

00:15:09.289 --> 00:15:12.830
poly hives which are basically a Langstroth but

00:15:12.830 --> 00:15:15.629
not made out of wood. There's the primal hive

00:15:15.629 --> 00:15:18.190
which we've talked about on here too. I better

00:15:18.190 --> 00:15:20.549
not go down that road I could spend 20 minutes

00:15:20.549 --> 00:15:23.070
on that. But it's a little bit different but

00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:26.350
the beekeeping is quite similar to Langstroth

00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:28.850
kind of beekeeping. There are a lot of different

00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:32.049
designs and part of it's going to be how are

00:15:32.049 --> 00:15:35.070
you going to learn and how easy do you want it

00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:37.899
to be to buy equipment. Langstroth in general

00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:40.759
is a pretty good place for most people to start.

00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:44.039
It's easy to get the equipment. Mann Lake and

00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:46.799
a lot of other places are going to stock it.

00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.159
And then you have to decide do I want to use

00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.860
10 frame or 8 frame. Why don't you talk about

00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:56.679
the difference there? Sure. So I started out

00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:01.220
using 10 frame equipment and just this past season,

00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:04.299
I adopted an eight frame hive and I'm glad I

00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:06.720
did because now I'm going to be able to, for

00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.220
me, it's going to be easier for me to lift just

00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:12.019
the supers and the box in general. So with the

00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:14.820
eight frame hive. that's something to look at.

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:16.980
Do you want as much weight? The eight frames

00:16:16.980 --> 00:16:19.179
not going to give you as much weight as a 10

00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:21.700
frame would. So it might be easier for some people

00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:24.860
to have an eight frame as opposed to the 10 frame.

00:16:25.259 --> 00:16:27.399
I'm excited to see how much honey I get in that

00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:29.679
eight frame though. And then most people are

00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:33.639
going to use deep boxes for their brood boxes.

00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:37.240
I'm transitioning towards mediums for the very

00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:39.419
reason that you just talked about, which is the

00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:41.980
weight issue. And that changes things up a little

00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:44.460
bit. So there's a lot of things going on and

00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:47.100
a lot of decisions to make even as far as this.

00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:49.519
I think, yeah, just just how much weight do you

00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.159
want to manage? That's most important because

00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.700
you don't you're going to you don't want to be

00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:55.980
out there struggling with a heavy honey box.

00:16:56.019 --> 00:16:59.230
That's why I switched from one deep. brood box

00:16:59.230 --> 00:17:02.570
to then the rest medium boxes. Same. And I will

00:17:02.570 --> 00:17:05.150
say real quick before we move on, when I was

00:17:05.150 --> 00:17:08.650
a brand new beekeeper, before I knew really anything,

00:17:09.190 --> 00:17:11.529
I had no idea the difference between 10 frame

00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:14.170
and eight frame, no idea that it was even a different

00:17:14.170 --> 00:17:17.730
box. And so I remember asking some people I work

00:17:17.730 --> 00:17:20.650
with, like, do you just put eight frames in there?

00:17:20.650 --> 00:17:24.990
Or how does that work? So yeah, it's not as complicated

00:17:24.990 --> 00:17:27.940
as it seems to begin with. But the answer is

00:17:27.940 --> 00:17:30.160
no, you don't just put eight frames in a 10 frame

00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.559
box. You'll be sorry, we'll leave it at that.

00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.400
Are you planning on expanding your apiary this

00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.759
year? Or are you a beginner thinking about jumping

00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.779
into beekeeping for the very first time? Take

00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:45.400
it from someone who's purchased beekeeping equipment

00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:49.420
from many different suppliers. If you want made

00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:53.500
in USA woodenware, premium feeds, top quality

00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:56.599
and great prices on everything, give Man Lake

00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:59.579
a try. And whether or not you're a beekeeper,

00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.279
you can help honey bees and other pollinators

00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:05.700
by planting bee -friendly forage. Man Lake has

00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:08.339
that too. In fact, download the free Man Lake

00:18:08.339 --> 00:18:11.259
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00:18:15.259 --> 00:18:18.420
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00:18:18.420 --> 00:18:21.480
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00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:26.279
beginner kits, and even seeds. Temperature management

00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:29.759
inside a hive isn't just a winter problem. In

00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:32.519
summer your bees work overtime keeping things

00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:36.599
cool. You see brood needs optimal temperatures.

00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:40.559
Primal bees insulated hives buffer against temperature

00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:44.500
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00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:48.109
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00:18:59.309 --> 00:19:03.730
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00:19:03.730 --> 00:19:06.630
you're gonna love it. Let's move on from there.

00:19:06.710 --> 00:19:09.529
Let's talk about different kinds of bees. What?

00:19:09.690 --> 00:19:12.759
There are different kinds of bees? I know, right?

00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:15.859
That's amazing. They're not just honeybees. There's

00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:19.380
many kinds of honeybees, for sure. Another thing

00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:21.940
I have no idea about, I was thinking, what do

00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:25.200
you mean? There's there's Buckfest and there's

00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.559
Italian and there's Southern Italian. What? And

00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:30.319
there's California Italian. What? And there's

00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.200
Russian and there's hybrids. There's a few others

00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:36.819
in between. Where do people go find information

00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:40.019
to figure that one out? So actually, if we could

00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:43.119
just St. Man Lake is a great place to get that

00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.839
information. We've broken it down so well for

00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:48.460
the different types of bees that we carry. When

00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:51.240
you go to the website, you can take a look at

00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:54.720
the different attributes, their energy levels,

00:19:54.859 --> 00:19:57.140
how they're going to act as far as swarming.

00:19:57.460 --> 00:19:59.680
So we've really broken that down for you and

00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.299
put that right out there. Our website is full

00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:06.680
of so much rich, just educational knowledge and

00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:09.779
just so much stuff out there. About all the bees

00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:12.599
really and you can call us and you can call him.

00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:16.779
We would be happy to discuss it further So just

00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:19.099
to give people an idea of what you're talking

00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:22.619
about. You've got a chart that will say something

00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:25.980
like Italian bees have more swarming behavior

00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:29.119
or less swarming behavior and and this kind of

00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.079
bee does better in cold weather, and this kind

00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.160
of bee may be better in warmer weather. This

00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.980
kind of bee, speaking of Russians, they're a

00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:41.140
little bit cranky. This kind of bee, like Buckfast,

00:20:41.539 --> 00:20:43.400
they're just sweethearts and they'll come give

00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:45.859
you a kiss on the cheek. So you can look through

00:20:45.859 --> 00:20:48.680
all those traits, find out which are the most

00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:52.000
important to you, and which fit best with where

00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.819
you live. Hopefully talk to somebody in your

00:20:54.819 --> 00:20:58.220
area too. that's a beekeeper to make the right

00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:01.000
decision. I had somebody call me a couple of

00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:04.420
years ago from up in my area saying, ah, can

00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:06.640
you come help me? I don't know what's going on

00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:10.359
with my bees, but they're just mean. And she

00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:13.019
was a first year beekeeper and turns out she

00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:15.319
had bought Russian bees and I wouldn't recommend

00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:18.240
that for first year beekeepers. Right. And they

00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.680
were just, they were very aggressive and she

00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.519
was scared and I don't blame her. And that's

00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.079
important when you're, you don't want to be scared.

00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:28.000
You don't want to have that mindset when you're

00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.859
going into your hives. So to be scared, that's,

00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:32.980
that's not enjoyable. You're not going to enjoy

00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:35.460
yourself and ultimately beekeeping should be

00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:38.119
enjoyable. So what are your favorite bees, by

00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:42.200
the way? Well, funny you say that because I actually

00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:45.000
have Russians. They're my partners, but we've

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:47.380
loved them. They haven't attacked us. They haven't

00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:50.269
attacked him. They haven't attacked me. They're

00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:53.569
just sweet. They're amazing what what they do.

00:21:53.890 --> 00:21:56.750
But aside, but not for a beginner beaker. I did

00:21:56.750 --> 00:21:59.710
wait. I did wait. I will preface that with it.

00:21:59.710 --> 00:22:02.329
I think it was my third year before I got Russians

00:22:02.329 --> 00:22:05.589
or before we got them. I started with the Carniolans,

00:22:05.690 --> 00:22:11.029
which are beautiful, gentle, docile honey makers.

00:22:11.289 --> 00:22:14.930
They go out on cool days to forage early. So

00:22:14.930 --> 00:22:18.740
Carnolians, beautiful breed. We are Carnolean

00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:22.380
lovers over here. Yeah, we are. I haven't worked

00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:25.700
with Buckfast yet. Do you like them? Well, we

00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:29.339
haven't either, but this is going to be our first

00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:31.819
year doing it. We are actually getting a package

00:22:31.819 --> 00:22:35.480
of Buckfast so we can take Everyone along with

00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:38.799
us, we plan on showing some footage of that and

00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.880
going along this season with our buck fast. And

00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:43.079
we're going to be putting them in an eight frame

00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:45.559
hive, which is also going to be new for me. So

00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.440
a lot of new experiences. And so even beekeeping

00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:50.880
for years, you know, you're still going to have

00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:54.759
new experiences. And we hope to really enjoy

00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:56.400
working with the buck fast. And then we'll be

00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:59.059
able to talk a little bit more about that breed.

00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:01.599
Absolutely. I'm really looking forward to the

00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.200
buck fast this year. I haven't heard. anything

00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.440
but good things about them. So I'm really excited

00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.099
for our bug fast journey. I don't need new bees

00:23:10.099 --> 00:23:13.140
this year, but maybe I should get some of those

00:23:13.140 --> 00:23:15.200
too, just to give them a try. I think you should

00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.339
try them. We could talk about our experiences

00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:21.240
together. That'd be fun. Yeah. We'll have a part

00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:25.079
two of this. Now you mentioned the term package

00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:28.539
a minute ago, package of bees. There's another

00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:30.920
term that if you're new, you're going what? And

00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:33.609
that is a nuke of bees. Why don't you explain

00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:37.269
what those two things are and why you need to

00:23:37.269 --> 00:23:40.250
order one or the other? Sure. So I'll actually

00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:42.890
show a package if you want to explain about it.

00:23:42.890 --> 00:23:45.349
I'll grab one. Yeah, that's another thing that

00:23:45.349 --> 00:23:48.069
can be a little confusing to someone who's just

00:23:48.069 --> 00:23:50.829
trying to order for the first time. This stuff's

00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:54.089
going to show you can get a package of bees which

00:23:54.089 --> 00:23:56.589
come in a bee bus. We like to use a fun little

00:23:56.589 --> 00:24:00.089
term. They'll be either in a white plastic bee

00:24:00.089 --> 00:24:04.089
bus such as this one, which essentially is a

00:24:04.089 --> 00:24:07.549
brand new bunch of bees, about 10 ,000 bees,

00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:10.710
roughly three pounds. They've just been put together.

00:24:11.420 --> 00:24:13.819
Right then and there they put them in the package.

00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.420
The queen is separate will come in a queen cage

00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:19.220
So has not been acclimated with that particular

00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:22.940
colony They do come with a syrup can so you can

00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:25.960
get those either by picking them up at a facility

00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:29.039
Or you can actually get them by USPS through

00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.920
the mail they go to your local post office where

00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.660
you can just go there and Pick up your bees and

00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:37.339
bring them home within the bee bus. They're pretty

00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:40.210
secure in there. So they won't be able to really

00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:42.609
get out and fly around. The one thing I like

00:24:42.609 --> 00:24:44.569
about the bee bus too when you're getting the

00:24:44.569 --> 00:24:46.809
package is you actually get a chance to see what

00:24:46.809 --> 00:24:49.089
a cluster of bees looks like in your hive in

00:24:49.089 --> 00:24:51.950
the wintertime too. They make such a beautiful

00:24:51.950 --> 00:24:56.009
cluster so it's fun to see. It's nice if you

00:24:56.009 --> 00:24:59.089
really want to experience it from the very beginning.

00:24:59.329 --> 00:25:01.849
If you want to really grow along with your bees,

00:25:02.450 --> 00:25:04.890
a package will help you do that because you're

00:25:04.890 --> 00:25:07.569
going to take them home. You'll have your hive

00:25:07.569 --> 00:25:10.690
set up and you just gently put the bees in there

00:25:10.690 --> 00:25:14.549
and you all start together really. And a package

00:25:14.549 --> 00:25:17.349
of bees you can put in any of the hive styles

00:25:17.349 --> 00:25:20.099
that we talked about. Whether it's top bar, length,

00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:24.559
trough, AZ, whatever it is, primal hive, they'll

00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:27.579
work in anything. Now a nuke is a little bit

00:25:27.579 --> 00:25:30.920
different. Explain a nuke. So a nuke is going

00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:35.099
to be a set of bees. So it comes in a nuke and

00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:37.519
it's usually four or five frames that's already

00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.440
been started. So think of it as a package that

00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:42.640
has a jumpstart because you're getting a queen

00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.319
that's already been introduced to her fellow

00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:48.339
bees in there. There's already brood in there.

00:25:49.059 --> 00:25:52.059
There's nurse bees ready to go. So your frames

00:25:52.059 --> 00:25:54.200
and then you have you generally have a frame

00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:56.559
of honey in there too. They'll give you frame

00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.819
of honey. So then that's where you probably will

00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:02.859
need a Langstroth because these nukes come on

00:26:02.859 --> 00:26:04.779
frames already. So you want to make sure you

00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.480
have equipment that those frames are going to

00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:10.299
fit. These bees are ready to go. So they're going

00:26:10.299 --> 00:26:13.079
to go out foraging faster. They don't need to

00:26:13.079 --> 00:26:15.859
do a whole lot to get ready there. That's why

00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:18.660
a nuke is sometimes a good jumpstart. If you

00:26:18.890 --> 00:26:21.650
want to see maybe honey production that year.

00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:24.490
You want to, you know, maybe harvest a little

00:26:24.490 --> 00:26:27.769
more. A package might be somewhere to start as

00:26:27.769 --> 00:26:30.609
well. Or a nuc, I'm sorry. A nuc is, yeah, ready

00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:34.529
to go. And nuc stands for nucleus colony. It's

00:26:34.529 --> 00:26:38.369
basically a small colony of bees. It's like a

00:26:38.369 --> 00:26:41.230
small beehive. You're going to then take the

00:26:41.230 --> 00:26:44.089
frames, put them into your full -size equipment.

00:26:44.230 --> 00:26:48.099
And if you're using traditional 10 frame boxes.

00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:50.119
Well, they don't even have to be 10 frame boxes.

00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:52.119
They could be eight, but they need to be deep

00:26:52.119 --> 00:26:56.380
boxes. Then a nuke could work for you. Can you

00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:59.940
have a nuke ship to you? No, that is never a

00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:03.359
good idea. These bees have already, they're probably

00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:05.720
a little, you know, they want to get to their

00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:09.140
permanent home. So you can only pick up a nuke

00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:11.599
from us, but you wouldn't want to ship a nuke

00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:14.140
anyway. You'd be on the receiving end with some

00:27:14.140 --> 00:27:17.619
angry bees. Well and it would weigh more and

00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:19.740
be bigger and all that kind of stuff. It's just

00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:22.579
not really practical. So a nuc you're gonna pick

00:27:22.579 --> 00:27:26.660
up from a local supplier like a man lake in your

00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:29.720
area or some other bee supplier in your area

00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:33.519
or even a local beekeeper might be selling nucs.

00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.299
And that's also a really great way to get bees

00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:39.920
because they're probably acclimated to your climate.

00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:45.779
Thanks again for joining us on Bee Love Beekeeping,

00:27:45.819 --> 00:27:48.359
presented by our great friends over at Man Lake.

00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.099
Hey, and don't forget to order your bees. And

00:27:51.099 --> 00:27:53.519
a shout out to Vita Bee Health for their support.

00:27:54.019 --> 00:27:56.440
Vita's Varroa Control Ranger products includes

00:27:56.440 --> 00:28:00.779
Epistan, Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release

00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:04.079
Oxalic Acids Trips. Thank you so much, guys.

00:28:04.430 --> 00:28:07.789
If you haven't yet, please subscribe and follow

00:28:07.789 --> 00:28:10.150
the show, tell your friends about it, and click

00:28:10.150 --> 00:28:13.230
on over to BeLoveBkeeping .com to sign up for

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our free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion

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or topic that you'd like discussed on the show,

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shoot me an email, eric at BeLoveBkeeping .com.

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And remember, if you're not just in it for the

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honey or the money, you're in it for the love.

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See you next week.