Beekeeping On Orcas Island With Beekeeper Brian Schmitz

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 Man Lake. Today, we're headed to

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the US's Pacific Northwest to discuss what it's

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like beekeeping in that area, in that climate.

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With those kinds of issues, it's not all that

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easy, by the way. We'll discuss everything from

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salmon derbies to yellow jackets, beekeeping

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ethics, and a whole bunch more. But first, let's

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take two minutes to go inside the hive. This

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feature presented by Primal Bee. A colony that

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came through winter with maybe 10 ,000 bees can

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hit 60 ,000 by early summer. That kind of growth

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doesn't happen by accident. As days lengthen

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and the first pollen starts coming in, the queen

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ramps up laying. She might go from a few hundred

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eggs a day to over a thousand, close to even

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two thousand. The colony is betting everything

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on the spring nectar flow. Here's how the math

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works. A worker bee takes about 21 days to develop

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from egg to adult. So the eggs that the queen

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lays in early spring won't become foragers until

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at least three weeks later. The colony has to

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build up its workforce before the big nectar

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flow hits, not during. That's why timing matters

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so much. Colonies that build up too slowly miss

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the flow. Colonies that build up too fast run

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out of space and swarm. taking half your bees

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with them. The trigger for all this is a combination

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of day length, temperature, and incoming resources.

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When the nurse bees have enough pollen to feed

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larva, they signal the queen to lay more. The

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whole colony responds to what's happening outside.

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Experienced beekeepers learn to read their local

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conditions and anticipate when their colonies

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will need more space. Get it right and you've

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got a strong workforce ready for the flow. Get

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it wrong, and you're chasing swarms. I'd like

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to welcome our very famous guest today. Are you

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famous, Brian? No, not at all. Not even infamous.

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Hopefully, I'd rather be famous and infamous,

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but I am not famous. Anyway... We're going to

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have fun today. We're up in the Pacific Northwest

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in the San Juan Islands having a conversation

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with Brian Schmitz. And good morning, Brian.

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Good morning, Eric. I know I put you on the spot

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with that famous one. Well, I am a reigning salmon

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derby winner at the local American Legion. So

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yes. Yeah. I won it in 2019 and they haven't

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had the derby since. So, you know, I am the reigning

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champion. Okay. I promise listeners, we're not

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going to get too far off track of beekeeping,

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but how do you, what is a salmon tournament and

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how do you win it? Well, it was a pay entrance

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fee. You go out and try to catch the biggest

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fish over a period of a couple of days and I

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caught the biggest ones. So yeah, it's, uh, out

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in a fishing boat, trolling that kind of thing.

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Yeah, exactly. King salmon or what kind? King

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salmon. They're the local, uh, King salmon that

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don't leave the area they're called black mouths

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and that's usually you catch them in the winter

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and uh, yeah Well, I love fishing. So that sounds

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fun Yeah, it was it was a good time my buddy

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co -worker. He uh, he took Third or fifth place.

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We we had a couple of we both got checks. That's

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you know, which was all right Yeah All right.

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Let's switch gears Let's not talk about bee hunting,

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but we're going to be talking about everything

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beekeeping up in your neck of the woods. And

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let's start with the climate for a second. I

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know things can be very humid, very wet, a lot

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of rain. Give us an idea of what your whole year

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is like, and does it change much from summer

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to winter, things like that? Yeah, you know,

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we really don't have community like they have

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it, you know, on the American East or the South.

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I remember the first time I stepped off a plane.

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Ronald Reagan Airport is like, whoa, this is

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humidity. Yeah, we really don't have the humidity.

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We are in a bit of a rain shadow in the San Juan's

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Olympic mountain range, which I can see out the

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window. It blocks a lot of the weather from the

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south. We recently got to Time Apple Express,

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that big Kona Lo that created a lot of havoc

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there in the Hawaiian Islands. Kind of the jet

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stream bent it right up and it blocked a good

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bit of it, but there was still some local flooding.

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They had some this winter as well, washed out

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a road to one of our popular ski hills. It was

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a bit of a pain for the people who bought their

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season passes and couldn't get to the mountain

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easily. It's been a warmer winter. We really

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haven't had much of an accumulation of the snow

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as we've had in the past. So we're thinking,

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I'm thinking at least, that wildfire this summer

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could be an issue. And in Vancouver and in Seattle,

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they get their drinking water. supply is from

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winter melt -top of, you know, the winter, or

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summer melt -top of the winter snow. And, uh,

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there's not a lot of snow to fill up the reservoirs

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for Vancouver or Seattle. We're like 40 minutes

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or 40 miles from Vancouver and about, uh, 67

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from downtown Seattle. We're kind of right in

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between the two of those. The ocean is kind of

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a, an air conditioner. It's temperate, so we

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don't have the... Generally don't have the really

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deep freeze or the real high temperatures though.

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It can get periods of it, but it does moderate

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it a bit. There are some health flows from the

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Canadian interior that come down through the

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Fraysia River Valley, which could bring some

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really cold temperatures from us from interior

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Canada. Definitely a fixed frozen pikes more

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than once in my house. So yeah, we're pretty

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moderate as far as temperatures go. Is it moderate

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enough, warm enough that your bees are out flying

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all winter? No, it definitely isn't. It gets

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into the higher 40s, they'll start flying then.

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I like a little darker bees, but they definitely

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cluster up and go broodless. The bees I have

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definitely do have a brood break during the winter.

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That helps. So you have a real live winter. You're

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just not under three feet of snow. I can be.

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Oh, really? Yes. And we live on a hill about

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1200 feet elevation. And I have a land cruiser

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with lockers and the axles and stuff. I get up

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and down in the snow while the neighbors are

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parking. That makes a difference. It does. It

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does. I love my old black dessert. So Brian,

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how long have you been beekeeping? I've been

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beekeeping since 2020. Started right during the

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pandemic. Started seeing if I could make my own

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bread. And it's like, oh, it's got pretty good

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at doing the old sourdough. It got bee - Taylor

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Swift, that trend, but then it's like, no, I

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wonder if I can make trigger. And that's why

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I started keeping these. I thought about it for

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a while. I used to pick berries when I was a

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kid, you know, raspberries and blueberries. And

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you'd see colonies all that hadn't been picked

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up yet. The school kids were picking berries

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in the summer type of thing. And I always kind

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of had an interest in it. Yeah. Well, congratulations,

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because a lot of people picked up new hobbies,

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as you know, during the pandemic, including beekeeping.

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Yeah, and some of them still are a lot aren't

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so yeah good job keeping it up You've obviously

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learned a lot figured it out. You were telling

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me you run 30 colonies roughly Yeah, yeah, I

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the end of last summer going to the fall. I had

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33 Yeah, I'd like to get back up there, you know,

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if had some some losses and uh, Langstroth Nile

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hives links drop deeps for now but in different

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size boxes, a nuke box, five or six spring. Michael

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Palmer, you know, brew factory type of deals,

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those, about five of those. And you use smaller

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honey supers as well? Oh yeah, I, everything's

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10 frame medium and I probably have close to

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30 drawn out supers when I harvest. You know,

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we have such short season, I don't want to have

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my bees to have to drop home to be able to harvest.

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honey every year to draw a new comb. It just

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takes so much of their resources and whatnot

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to do that. So I just, I'll cut off the cappings

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and spin them out and make sure they get cleaned

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up and store them away nice and safe and never

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have root in them. So. And about when do you

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harvest every year? The county fair is in early

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August. I'll do a couple of harvest. I'll do

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stuff for the fair right away. As soon as I see

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some cap brains, I'll just steal those out. and

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do a quick extraction of that. And then I'll

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put those back in the colony and then harvest

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in August for first part of September. And by

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the way, thanks for sending the picture with

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your blue ribbon and congratulations. Oh, thank

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you. Yeah, it was a blue ribbon and a Bespin

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class. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, not just to say

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I'm a Derby winner. Well, congrats. Yeah, you're

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the winner on everything. Things work out for

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me, it seems. As we were chatting the other day,

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you had mentioned that you've got some pests

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that are part of the reason why all your bees

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don't make it through winter. Can we jump into

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that? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. I live in the woods,

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you know, right next to this huge state park,

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probably one of the nicest state parks in the

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state, Moran State Park, named after the former

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mayor of Seattle. The battleship USS Nebraska,

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and it was killing them. And the doctor said,

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you've got a few months to live, bud. He's sighting

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all school. I'm just gonna go up to Orcas and

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live the rest of my days up there. And he ended

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up living for another 40 years. Violins are just

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kind of a magical place. I don't know if it's

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officially a blue zone. There's some evidence

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that it might be a blue zone where people tend

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to live a longer life. Yeah, we live next to

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this forest. And the forest, there's a lot of

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native bees, including yellow jackets. They could

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be rather pesky and I've lost strong highs and

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not just weak highs too. I've lost a couple of

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big booming double deep colonies with really

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reduced entrances and they're still having a

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heck of a time fighting off yellow jackets. It's

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a little crazy. Let's talk yellow jackets for

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a few minutes because it's our number one pest

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here as well. Yeah. When I was fairly new at

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beekeeping and lost my first hive to yellow jackets

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I was told well if it was a strong healthy hive

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yellow jackets wouldn't be able to kill it well

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you and I have both witnessed that is not always

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the case and it is oh man it's a horrible horrible

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thing to watch because you can go out there and

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it looks kind of like robbing and you look closer

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and you just see these yellow jackets taking

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the bees apart and and the guard bees come out

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and they try to do their deal and it's not a

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fair fight. Yellow Jacket can just take them

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out. Now everybody is going to find something

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different that works for them. I'm going to tell

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you what works for me and then I want to hear

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some of the things that work for you. Now I know

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there's all kinds of great robber screens that

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you can buy that make it harder for any kinds

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of flying predators to get inside a hive. With

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where I particularly am, the Yellow Jackets hit

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right around the first of September. So I know

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just before then is the time to prepare. And

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I use an entrance reducer, but it's not a regular

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wooden one. I take hardware cloth that's fine

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enough that bees and Yellow Jackets can't get

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through it. I run that. across the front of the

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entrance and I leave an opening that's only about

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an inch and that's it. Now the reason I use hardware

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cloth is because it's still really hot and so

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whether it's that or some other kind of screen

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the bees definitely need the airflow. I can't

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just put a wooden entrance reducer in. Now with

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a strong hive in my experience they can win that

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battle with that small of an entrance. How about

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you? You mentioned entrance reducer wasn't even

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enough. So tell me what happened. They, uh, just

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over overwhelmed the colonies. And I do have

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a bunch of the, the white, uh, robber screens.

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I won't mention the product names. So I've had

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some success with that, but sometimes it's just,

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it doesn't, it doesn't matter. They just, I don't

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know if there's a pheromone that, uh, is given

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off or maybe a bread. the aggressiveness out

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of the bees where they're just more susceptible

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to that because there's some bees that are right

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next to the ones that are having problems that

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may not even be as strong and they don't have

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any issues. Did you notice that those other bees

00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:50.860
were a little bit hotter and the ones that were

00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:53.460
killed were maybe a little friendlier to people,

00:14:53.460 --> 00:14:56.899
that is? That's right. It's the fortel, the highest

00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.929
in my colony. I'll make a video. diary type of

00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:02.389
thing so I can look at it later. I'm not a very

00:15:02.389 --> 00:15:05.409
good note taker by just fine using my video camera

00:15:05.409 --> 00:15:07.269
on my phone. It's great and I'll mention that

00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:10.929
this colony is hot and that colony was hot at,

00:15:10.929 --> 00:15:13.570
you know, a certain time. I admit a pet peeve

00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:16.769
of mine is that it seems all beehives are white.

00:15:16.990 --> 00:15:20.389
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00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:07.529
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00:17:07.529 --> 00:17:10.769
ones that I made that notation are doing great,

00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:14.309
you know. So I, it's anecdotal, but I think I'm

00:17:14.309 --> 00:17:16.690
going to be be running some hotter bees here

00:17:16.690 --> 00:17:20.289
in the future and maybe use those queens for

00:17:20.289 --> 00:17:23.230
grafting here. Makes sense. And then the other

00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:26.559
thing that a lot of us do And you may be too

00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:30.400
close to the woods, but we try to control all

00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:33.640
of the Yellow Jackets that we can. I mean, I

00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.599
just barely put some traps out to try to get

00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:39.599
the Queens. We're in the spring right now of

00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:44.319
2026. So I do that. And then in the summer, I

00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:48.160
just, I've got Yellow Jacket traps up all over

00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.390
the place. including around the beehives. Some

00:17:51.390 --> 00:17:53.750
people says maybe it attracts them closer to

00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:57.410
the hives. I'll put them like 10 feet away from

00:17:57.410 --> 00:18:00.430
a handful of hives. And, you know, I'm going

00:18:00.430 --> 00:18:02.109
to mention a whole bunch of things and I don't

00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:05.410
know which ones work the best. I think a combination

00:18:05.410 --> 00:18:09.769
of things help. I have also put up those paper

00:18:09.769 --> 00:18:13.890
things that look like a paper wasp hive. Have

00:18:13.890 --> 00:18:17.140
you seen those? No, I have not. You can just

00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.559
get them on Amazon for a couple of bucks. They're

00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:23.279
really cheap and they look almost like a paper

00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.599
lantern or something. And so they're maybe, I

00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.819
don't know, maybe 10 inches high and six inches

00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:34.559
wide or something. And they look like a paper

00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:38.799
wasp nest. I'm told that hornets don't like paper

00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:43.319
wasps. So I will also put those out in the apiary

00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:47.230
by beehives. Maybe hanging from a tree 10 feet

00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:50.690
away or something. Again, I have no idea how

00:18:50.690 --> 00:18:53.970
much that is helping, but I'm doing all the things.

00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:59.450
Yeah. Yeah. I definitely see some things online

00:18:59.450 --> 00:19:01.950
with different traps and the commercially available

00:19:01.950 --> 00:19:04.089
ones. I have some of those and definitely going

00:19:04.089 --> 00:19:06.869
to try the, uh, was it chicken suspended over

00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:10.940
a pool of soapy water upside down. There's a

00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:13.220
bunch of things like that on YouTube that people

00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:17.019
can look up. I just figure the more hornets I'm

00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:19.400
taking out of the atmosphere, the better. Yeah.

00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.000
And it's just so hard to find their nest because

00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.980
yellow jackets nest in the ground. And if you're

00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:29.319
in an area like me, I mean, I'm around acres

00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:33.880
and acres of nothing. And so it's just really,

00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:36.630
really hard to find them. I do every once in

00:19:36.630 --> 00:19:38.710
a blue moon. Once every couple of years, I'll

00:19:38.710 --> 00:19:42.710
find one and take it out. Yeah. I found one last

00:19:42.710 --> 00:19:44.829
year right by my house, right by my foundation

00:19:44.829 --> 00:19:48.150
and gave him a little dawn and water and took

00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.509
that one out. Still had a plague around the highs.

00:19:50.789 --> 00:19:55.690
It was crazy. Well, and you can get 5 ,000 plus,

00:19:55.690 --> 00:19:58.890
right, of yellow jackets in a little underground

00:19:58.890 --> 00:20:01.549
hive like that or nest, whatever they call them.

00:20:02.089 --> 00:20:05.079
Anyway, the chicken thing. If nobody has seen

00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:07.579
this before, let's try to describe it. I haven't

00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:09.759
done it yet, it looks like you've seen it, I've

00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:14.880
seen it. And you take a bin, a big plastic bin

00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:19.220
or bucket or whatever, that's nearly full of

00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:23.799
water. You take a piece of wood, hang it over

00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:28.859
that, and you staple, tie, whatever, some raw

00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:32.910
chicken on the bottom side of that wood. just

00:20:32.910 --> 00:20:37.950
a little bit above the water so that the hornets

00:20:37.950 --> 00:20:42.150
fly in. They munch, munch, take some big chunks

00:20:42.150 --> 00:20:46.049
out of the chicken. They drop slightly before

00:20:46.049 --> 00:20:49.190
they can start flying out. That's when they hit

00:20:49.190 --> 00:20:52.130
the water. And of course you've put a little

00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:57.200
dish soap in the water, right, so that They can't

00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:00.000
easily get back off of it. They drown quickly

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.019
because you've broken the tension in the water.

00:21:03.339 --> 00:21:06.019
And I've seen people catch thousands of yellow

00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:09.700
jackets that way. Yeah. It looked like a good

00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:13.039
way to go, to be honest. Pick your favorite way.

00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:16.259
Hey, this is just me. We love all pollinators,

00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:19.819
but there's some that are hurting our favorite

00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:22.460
pollinators. And so I don't mind getting rid

00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:25.789
of some of those. Yeah, my wife loves hiking

00:21:25.789 --> 00:21:28.109
in the woods and every once in a while comes

00:21:28.109 --> 00:21:30.569
a little too close to a ground nesting yellow

00:21:30.569 --> 00:21:33.950
jacket and Well, we'll find you know, I hear

00:21:33.950 --> 00:21:37.230
about it. So yeah, I don't mind doing something

00:21:37.230 --> 00:21:39.789
with those for sure Yeah, yeah, they don't belong

00:21:39.789 --> 00:21:41.769
on this planet in my opinion. Okay, you didn't

00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:44.569
hear that from me Well, we have some gooseberries

00:21:44.569 --> 00:21:48.569
that are really like that that they're a little

00:21:48.569 --> 00:21:51.319
too early for the honeybees usually Well, and

00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.700
by the way, those yellow jackets, some people

00:21:53.700 --> 00:21:56.380
call bees that don't know the difference. They're

00:21:56.380 --> 00:22:00.140
the ones ruining your picnic as well. Yeah. Yep.

00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:03.160
Yeah. I definitely got a swarm call for some

00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:05.579
honeybees in a wood pile last year. It's like,

00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:08.500
can you send me a picture before I go to another

00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:11.619
island to pick up these three honeybees? Yeah.

00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:13.859
So speaking of islands, so you're on an island.

00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:16.559
Do you take a ferry to get everywhere? Yeah.

00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.240
Yeah. We don't have, there's no stoplights. Uh,

00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.460
on any of the islands, when we go to the mainland

00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:24.960
Anacortes, it feels like we call it going to

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:29.940
America. Just because our little kind of peaceful

00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:33.640
bubble out here. And when you started with bees,

00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:37.940
did you buy your bees from somewhere on the mainland

00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:40.619
and then ship them over with you? Or are there

00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:42.759
beekeepers on your island you were able to buy

00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:46.279
them from? Getting started, I just found a a

00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.720
person who was bringing packages up from California

00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.279
and I went down to the Seattle area and picked

00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:53.700
them up. And of course it was during COVID, so

00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:55.980
they'd bring them out to your car, put them in

00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:59.220
the back and you'd go off. There wasn't much,

00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:01.400
you know, getting out and talking and whatever.

00:23:01.579 --> 00:23:04.960
It was just, here you be, see ya. But yeah, and

00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:07.500
I've also gone down and picked up packages from

00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:10.480
people too in my earlier days. So the thing with

00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:13.480
the packages, we don't have small high beetles

00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.750
on our end. I know they're in the neighboring

00:23:15.750 --> 00:23:19.309
county. Brie Price is our local extension person

00:23:19.309 --> 00:23:21.329
there. Washington State mentions that. Yeah,

00:23:21.329 --> 00:23:23.890
they are in Saskatchewan County. I have sold

00:23:23.890 --> 00:23:27.390
some newts to people on the island just so that

00:23:27.390 --> 00:23:30.849
we don't accidentally get small hot beetles on

00:23:30.849 --> 00:23:34.289
the island or for now, and probably triple elapsed

00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:37.029
in the future would be something to... Good reason

00:23:37.029 --> 00:23:39.410
not to head for the east of the island. You're

00:23:39.410 --> 00:23:42.369
not allowed to say the T word on this show. No,

00:23:42.529 --> 00:23:45.000
geez. Okay. Put me in timeout. No, we're, we're

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:48.440
just avoiding that topic as long as we can. Yeah.

00:23:48.740 --> 00:23:51.700
Well, yeah. Yeah. But, uh, forewarned is. Oh,

00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:54.240
I forget the saying. Anyway, if you know about

00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.559
it, you can do, do things to try to prevent it.

00:23:56.700 --> 00:23:59.880
Yes. I'm being facetious, obviously, but there's

00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:03.079
so much hard stuff to talk about already with

00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:05.940
Varroa and other pests. Glad you don't also have

00:24:05.940 --> 00:24:09.259
small hypias. That's one less. Yeah. It's another

00:24:09.259 --> 00:24:11.759
layer of the onion to peel back with, but you

00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:14.049
don't be keeping it as it seems like. you learn

00:24:14.049 --> 00:24:16.150
something new and you feel a layer of it, and

00:24:16.150 --> 00:24:17.730
you think you're getting closer to the center

00:24:17.730 --> 00:24:20.509
of it, but now there's more layers there. That's

00:24:20.509 --> 00:24:23.089
why it's so interesting. Again, as we were chatting

00:24:23.089 --> 00:24:26.210
the other day, you mentioned something you called

00:24:26.210 --> 00:24:29.529
beekeeping ethics. Would you explain what that

00:24:29.529 --> 00:24:32.789
is? Beekeeping is local, right? The way you keep

00:24:32.789 --> 00:24:35.910
your bees is the way you feel, you know, because

00:24:35.910 --> 00:24:39.940
you have certain beliefs and whatever. I like

00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:42.720
to treat my bees. So I want to protect our local

00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:45.440
native pollinators. We have lots of bubbles and

00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:49.160
mining bees and even yellow jackets. But, you

00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:50.960
know, I don't want to create a mite bomb for

00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:54.900
these other bees or whatever, or hurt the environment.

00:24:55.660 --> 00:24:58.720
I definitely want to actively manage my bees.

00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:02.480
So in a responsible manner, of which to me, I

00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.980
feel is responsible. It's personal, right? I

00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:08.740
feel like I need to be a... beekeeper instead

00:25:08.740 --> 00:25:12.519
of behabber. And to paraphrase Greek philosophers,

00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:15.759
an unexamined hive is not worth keeping. Let's

00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:18.079
have Plato or Socrates. I think they both may

00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:19.799
have said it in different times, but anyway,

00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:24.279
yeah, I, uh, it's just important to me. I see

00:25:24.279 --> 00:25:27.980
some people use, uh, well, actually that sounds

00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:30.140
like a tap, this might sound like a tap, but

00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:33.559
the, uh, the double bubble is like in place of

00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:36.579
an intercovers and it's that plastic with the

00:25:36.569 --> 00:25:39.390
the bubble insulation and used to be some of

00:25:39.390 --> 00:25:41.109
their videos and they peel off and said, oh,

00:25:41.230 --> 00:25:44.309
there's a flake of plastic. I think I just saw

00:25:44.309 --> 00:25:47.690
a fall down in their eye and microplastics. That's

00:25:47.690 --> 00:25:50.329
something you hear quite a bit about being in

00:25:50.329 --> 00:25:52.990
our bloodstream and whatever. And I don't know.

00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:55.710
It's just something that I am not going to do.

00:25:55.930 --> 00:25:58.529
And that's just one of the ethical choices that

00:25:58.529 --> 00:26:02.029
is important to me, not necessarily important

00:26:02.029 --> 00:26:04.390
to other people. And I like the term that you

00:26:04.390 --> 00:26:07.390
used a minute ago which was responsibility or

00:26:07.390 --> 00:26:12.369
responsible beekeeping because let's talk swarming

00:26:12.369 --> 00:26:16.490
for a second. Sure. I know lots of people that

00:26:16.490 --> 00:26:20.549
are into beekeeping just as naturally as possible

00:26:20.549 --> 00:26:25.549
and they let their bees swarm and that's great

00:26:25.549 --> 00:26:29.769
until it shows up at your neighbor's house and

00:26:29.769 --> 00:26:33.089
they're not so happy about it. Yeah. It takes

00:26:33.089 --> 00:26:35.890
common sense. If you want to let them swarm,

00:26:35.990 --> 00:26:38.470
great, but let's somehow make sure they're not

00:26:38.470 --> 00:26:41.569
bothering your neighbors. Yeah. And the same

00:26:41.569 --> 00:26:45.849
with Varroa and the same with spraying all kinds

00:26:45.849 --> 00:26:49.410
of pesticides and herbicides all over everything.

00:26:50.130 --> 00:26:52.490
What we're doing affects other people too. So

00:26:52.490 --> 00:26:54.509
I'm glad you're looking at that and trying to

00:26:54.509 --> 00:26:57.640
be responsible. Yeah. And, you know, making sure

00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:59.299
they have a water source that they like better

00:26:59.299 --> 00:27:02.400
than the neighbor's dog's water bowl. Whenever

00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:04.880
I had one of those issues here a few years ago.

00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:08.000
Yeah. You don't want to upset the apple cart.

00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:10.819
Part of what's fun with this show is just meeting

00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:13.220
beekeepers from all over the place, all over

00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:16.779
the world. And you're in a unique area. What

00:27:16.779 --> 00:27:19.359
other kinds of things have you learned that you

00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:21.839
might be able to share with other people in a

00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:24.559
situation similar to yours? I don't know. I feel

00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:27.339
like our situation is pretty unique from our

00:27:27.339 --> 00:27:30.380
isolation and the fact that there are some beekeepers

00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:32.480
on our island, but there aren't a ton of them.

00:27:32.900 --> 00:27:35.180
It's fairly unique. We don't have traditional

00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:37.680
row crops and we don't have to worry about the

00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:40.980
spring things. We do have some, I do have actually

00:27:40.980 --> 00:27:44.140
organic apple orchard very close to me. A few

00:27:44.140 --> 00:27:46.779
hundred trees. I don't know how big your island

00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:51.220
is, but if I were moving to your island, maybe

00:27:51.220 --> 00:27:54.440
three or four miles away from you. And I was

00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:56.839
already a beekeeper, but I'm like, I'm used to

00:27:56.839 --> 00:27:58.980
keeping bees in the mountains and in the desert.

00:27:59.319 --> 00:28:01.819
What advice would you have for me there? Well,

00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:04.259
there's the universal stuff. It's like, when

00:28:04.259 --> 00:28:06.779
was your last mic count? How many, how many you

00:28:06.779 --> 00:28:10.140
find, you know, that kind of thing. I, I, uh,

00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:13.220
I like to do the tenet singhai, which basically

00:28:13.220 --> 00:28:16.740
insulate a roof. I do wrap the outside. Get a

00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:19.539
lot of lens here. Galeforce lens, small craft

00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:22.759
advisories, that kind of thing. A lens over 50.

00:28:22.910 --> 00:28:25.730
50 knots. I do like, I feel like the slatted

00:28:25.730 --> 00:28:28.329
racks help a little bit with the wind hitting,

00:28:28.529 --> 00:28:31.170
getting up into the brood cones a lot. It was

00:28:31.170 --> 00:28:34.309
something I adopted earlier on in my beginning

00:28:34.309 --> 00:28:38.869
career. Oxalic acid vaporization is a real popular

00:28:38.869 --> 00:28:41.509
treatment. The first one everybody gets is the...

00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:43.700
the one you plug into the deep cycle battery

00:28:43.700 --> 00:28:46.680
and it has a tray. And I felt like I burned some

00:28:46.680 --> 00:28:49.119
cones at one point, so it's like maybe I'll put

00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.559
a little slider rack on there. And there's definitely

00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:54.500
other benefits too, besides a little protection

00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:58.779
from rudimentary OAV applicators. There's more

00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:01.359
room that the cones get drawn out better. If

00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:03.460
you don't have a slider rack on there and I have

00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:06.380
some, my five frame equipment or whatever, the

00:29:06.380 --> 00:29:08.339
bottom of the cones by near the entrance doesn't

00:29:08.339 --> 00:29:10.940
get drawn out so well and you have to... pull

00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:13.799
them up and flip them and whenever you do that,

00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.640
disturb the brood nests, it sets the bees back

00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.740
a bit. So I do like them for that reason as well.

00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:21.579
It gives them a whole more room, a little more

00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:24.140
time to catch them before they fly off into a

00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:27.359
tree as well. Do you have a chance to catch many

00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:32.140
swarms where you are? Yeah. Yeah. Last year I

00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:35.940
caught four. None from my own colonies. Three

00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:37.920
of those was from somebody who overfed their

00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.630
bees and just they backfilled the brood nest

00:29:40.630 --> 00:29:42.910
and they just went to the trees and there's like

00:29:42.910 --> 00:29:45.130
three after swarms and then another one was a

00:29:45.130 --> 00:29:47.490
colony over on a different island. Just started

00:29:47.490 --> 00:29:50.250
drawing comb outside in this apple tree. I do

00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:53.509
catch a good bit of swarms. Yeah, I always put

00:29:53.509 --> 00:29:56.950
the swarm traps in and wherever I have my an

00:29:56.950 --> 00:29:58.890
apiary set up. I feel like it's a responsible

00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:01.109
thing to do. You know, landing in the neighbor's

00:30:01.109 --> 00:30:04.869
bush, an elderberry bush is much nicer for the

00:30:04.869 --> 00:30:07.630
person whose bush it is then versus, oh I found

00:30:07.630 --> 00:30:10.420
a Dead spots in the house where there is any

00:30:10.420 --> 00:30:14.339
insulation and how you're doing a cut out and

00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:16.680
cutting down there their house to retrieve some

00:30:16.680 --> 00:30:20.319
bees But yeah, I think swarm crafts are very

00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:23.099
important for that You seem like somebody that

00:30:23.099 --> 00:30:26.039
would have a really fun wild and crazy beekeeping

00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:29.880
story Were you sure one was this? Yeah, I could

00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:31.920
do that. I could do that. Oh, are you familiar

00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:34.839
with movie Greyhound there with Tom Hanks World

00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:38.950
War two? Sorry, I have not seen it Okay. All

00:30:38.950 --> 00:30:41.869
right. So Tom Hanks is the captain of a destroyer

00:30:41.869 --> 00:30:44.470
protecting a convoy in World War two when there's

00:30:44.470 --> 00:30:48.170
a German wolf pack that are Set out to destroy

00:30:48.170 --> 00:30:50.410
the protection of the convoy and the convoy itself

00:30:50.410 --> 00:30:53.589
So it's a very intense movie at the end of it

00:30:53.589 --> 00:30:56.430
but they let the convoy other ships from the

00:30:56.430 --> 00:30:58.769
English mainland have come and took took over

00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:01.849
for them and They're going into port to get patched

00:31:01.849 --> 00:31:03.849
up because you know, they suffered some damage

00:31:03.849 --> 00:31:06.950
or whatever Tom Hanks goes to his second -in

00:31:06.950 --> 00:31:09.569
-command. It's like, you have the con. That deck

00:31:09.569 --> 00:31:12.069
hostler takes over and commands the ship and

00:31:12.069 --> 00:31:13.809
brings them into harbor, and whatnot, and goes

00:31:13.809 --> 00:31:16.930
off. And that's the end of the victory. My job

00:31:16.930 --> 00:31:20.829
is similar. I'm the second command of a captain.

00:31:21.069 --> 00:31:23.970
I'm Richard Merrier. I'm in charge of a navigational

00:31:23.970 --> 00:31:27.150
watch. And we listen to different things, like

00:31:27.150 --> 00:31:29.150
air traffic control. We have vessel traffic control.

00:31:29.170 --> 00:31:31.029
We have a radio for that. We have a different

00:31:31.029 --> 00:31:34.660
radio for making pi -dows, passing... arrangement

00:31:34.660 --> 00:31:38.240
and also in the corner sometimes we'll have a

00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:40.779
radio on we'll listen to classic rock or whatever

00:31:40.779 --> 00:31:44.420
and every once in a while it'll be during a beat

00:31:44.420 --> 00:31:48.740
club zoom meeting and i'll have that going on

00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:50.859
you know on a level where we could hear all of

00:31:50.859 --> 00:31:52.940
our other radios but we can still pay attention

00:31:52.940 --> 00:31:56.420
to that anyway so this one beat club meeting

00:31:56.420 --> 00:32:00.619
just listen to it the guest came on very respectable

00:32:00.619 --> 00:32:03.609
randy elever It's good stuff for the beekeeping

00:32:03.609 --> 00:32:05.950
community. I think that's indisputable. He came

00:32:05.950 --> 00:32:09.849
on and lit the zoom meeting and he wanted everybody

00:32:09.849 --> 00:32:13.450
in the meeting to see their face. And, you know,

00:32:13.549 --> 00:32:15.910
I've been a darkened pilot since that night.

00:32:16.490 --> 00:32:19.089
Brian, I want you to turn on your camera so I

00:32:19.089 --> 00:32:23.029
can see your face. No, I can't do that. It's

00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:26.390
like, Brian, and he wouldn't let it go. And I

00:32:26.390 --> 00:32:29.230
just, you know, obviously couldn't destroy my

00:32:29.230 --> 00:32:31.900
light. night vision by looking at the thing and

00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:33.779
turning on the light so he could see my face.

00:32:33.779 --> 00:32:36.660
So I just had to reach over and just turn off

00:32:36.660 --> 00:32:39.460
the volume. And I don't know, I hopefully he,

00:32:39.460 --> 00:32:41.920
he, he, he did it safer, you know, asked for

00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:44.460
me to keep doing that for a long time, but I

00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:46.799
don't know. I just turned the volume down because

00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:49.240
that's kind of what I had to do. And I just felt

00:32:49.240 --> 00:32:52.000
so, I still feel embarrassed about it. It just

00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.059
like getting caught out by Andy Oliver. It's

00:32:55.059 --> 00:32:58.220
just not something you want to do as a Vkeeper,

00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:02.660
right? Oh my gosh. But that was my embarrassing

00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:06.019
moment. Your embarrassing moment didn't even

00:33:06.019 --> 00:33:08.819
have any honeybees in it. It wasn't getting stung

00:33:08.819 --> 00:33:12.480
in a weird place or anything else. No, no, but

00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.720
it was just getting called out by Randy Oliver

00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:19.200
and disappointing. I just felt so small, but

00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:22.420
it's what I had to do. Someone like Randy Oliver

00:33:22.420 --> 00:33:25.099
probably has the authority to take your beekeeper

00:33:25.099 --> 00:33:28.970
merit badge away. I'm a boy scout. I guess I'm

00:33:28.970 --> 00:33:32.109
a bad boy scout. I don't know. Probably not the

00:33:32.109 --> 00:33:35.309
first one. All right. Last question and you're

00:33:35.309 --> 00:33:37.349
welcome to think about it for a minute. And that

00:33:37.349 --> 00:33:40.430
is, you know, I can tell that you just really

00:33:40.430 --> 00:33:42.849
love the bees and really enjoy spending time

00:33:42.849 --> 00:33:45.430
with them. What is it about it that you love?

00:33:46.150 --> 00:33:49.710
It just, um, it forces you to be present, to,

00:33:49.750 --> 00:33:52.670
you know, take a deep breath and be calm when

00:33:52.670 --> 00:33:54.589
you're working your bees. You don't want to squish

00:33:54.589 --> 00:33:57.650
them, see what's going on. and react. It's kind

00:33:57.650 --> 00:34:00.349
of similar to my job. Not all the things you

00:34:00.349 --> 00:34:03.009
see out the window you need to react to immediately.

00:34:03.470 --> 00:34:05.210
Some you could just monitor, right, and see what

00:34:05.210 --> 00:34:07.890
happens. But other times there's things where

00:34:07.890 --> 00:34:11.409
you just got to act and make a change. I find

00:34:11.409 --> 00:34:13.550
it really peaceful. I guess that's one of the

00:34:13.550 --> 00:34:15.570
pitches for the Heist for Heroes thing, to help

00:34:15.570 --> 00:34:18.289
people who've faced some adversity and whatever,

00:34:18.929 --> 00:34:21.929
and just kind of help manage your mental health

00:34:21.929 --> 00:34:26.659
a bit, you know? And I find that it... It does

00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:30.420
makes me calm. I like that calm is a good thing

00:34:30.420 --> 00:34:33.619
and you're in a beautiful beautiful place I'm

00:34:33.619 --> 00:34:35.480
gonna have to get up there one of these days

00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:40.019
if you do feel free to Look me up anybody actually

00:34:40.019 --> 00:34:42.079
anybody who comes up to work is right in the

00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:44.159
middle of two World Cup venues in Vancouver and

00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:46.400
Seattle gonna have lots of people in the area

00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:48.219
if there's me beekeepers who want to go through

00:34:48.219 --> 00:34:52.400
a hive drop me an email at I wouldn't be supply

00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:57.150
at gmail .com and to go poke around. All right.

00:34:57.329 --> 00:35:00.449
I want to go salmon fishing too. Okay. All right.

00:35:00.849 --> 00:35:03.389
July. It's a short season these days. They haven't

00:35:03.389 --> 00:35:05.510
been running too many tournaments, but I've seen

00:35:05.510 --> 00:35:08.309
orca whales out there feeding. The southern residents

00:35:08.309 --> 00:35:11.190
were out here just last week and saw those. I

00:35:11.190 --> 00:35:12.869
actually saw a gray whale last week too. That's

00:35:12.869 --> 00:35:15.570
pretty crazy. Nice. Yeah. All right. Take care,

00:35:15.590 --> 00:35:18.429
Brian. All right. Take care. Thank you for having

00:35:18.429 --> 00:35:23.730
me. Thanks again for joining us on Be Love, Be

00:35:23.730 --> 00:35:26.929
Keeping presented by Man Lake. Another big thank

00:35:26.929 --> 00:35:30.199
you goes to V2B Health for their support. Vita's

00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:33.360
Varroa Control Ranger products includes Epistan,

00:35:33.500 --> 00:35:37.820
Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic

00:35:37.820 --> 00:35:40.760
Acids Trips. Hey, thanks a lot guys. And if you

00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:43.239
haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow the

00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:45.440
show, tell your friends about it, and click on

00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.800
over to BeLoveBeKeeping .com to sign up for our

00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:51.760
free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion

00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:54.880
or topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot

00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:58.400
me an email, eric at BeLoveBeKeeping .com and

00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:00.860
remember If you're not just in it for the honey

00:36:00.860 --> 00:36:04.059
or the money you're in it for the love. See you

00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:04.639
next week