Commercial Queen Bee Producer - Tips & Secrets to Success

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 bee's 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. The Big Island of Hawaii

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is home to some of the best queen bee breeders

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in the world. Today we're going to have a conversation

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with one of the best of the best, Rebecca Cronus

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from Hawaiian Queen Company. I recently visited

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their facility then had a chance to sit down

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and discuss what goes into the queen producing

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business, how it's done, why genetics matter,

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and why the Big Island may be the best place

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on the planet to raise queens. First, a big shout

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out to 9 -year -old Nicholas Bart of Santa Rosa,

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California. If you haven't heard his story yet,

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let me just give you a brief summary. The city

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of Santa Rosa stirred up a hornet's nest of outrage

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after ordering a 9 -year -old boy to remove a

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4 -H beekeeping project from his home. But after

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the beekeeping community and other residents

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accused officials of overreacting, it appears

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the city is reconsidering its position. Here's

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a little more detail. When Nicholas Bard first

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began raising bees in his backyard as a 4 -H

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project, he had no idea what a learning experience

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it would be. An incredible one, he said. It's

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probably the biggest and best decision I've ever

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made. His parents, Zachary and Sarah, they help

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him, especially when the heavy boxes need to

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be lifted. In fact, the entire family fell in

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love with the bees. But at some point, a general

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fear of bees led Santa Rosa to ban beekeeping.

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And in March, after a neighbor complained, the

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bards received a letter calling Nicholas's 4

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-H project an illegal home occupation. The letter

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demanded the removal of the bee colony and threatened

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that a warrant would be issued. In the city's

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ordinance it classifies honey bees in the category

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of property nuisances. The bards appealed the

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decision but the city stood firm. I think maybe

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they just thought they would enforce it on us

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and the problem would go away said Zachary Bard.

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So we had them look back 30 years and you know

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what they have never enforced the code until

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now. That's when the beekeeping community got

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involved including Etta Marie Peterson who mentors

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young beekeepers throughout the county and is

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affectionately known as Sonoma's queen bee. Peterson

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estimated there are more than 100 hives currently

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in Santa Rosa and she said it seemed like the

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city officials she spoke to were surprised to

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even discover that beekeeping was illegal in

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their city. I said, this boy is nine years old.

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This is not an occupation. It's a learning experience

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through 4 -H. Peterson said the next guy up the

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line disagreed and said that Nicholas had to

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get rid of the bees. And I said, oh my goodness,

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we have got to do something about this. But now

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it looks like there's been a change of heart,

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which could lead to a change in the law. We received

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over 100 emails from people in support of beekeeping

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in the city said Santa Rosa Public Information

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Officer Misty Wood. We decided that instead of

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going through that process we were going to find

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a better path forward and that path forward was

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a staff initiated zoning code amendment. Wood

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said staff is now consulting with a local beekeeping

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group to draft a new ordinance that would allow

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limited beekeeping within the city limits. She

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said it will probably be submitted to the City

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Council for approval sometime next year. In the

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meantime, Nicholas gets to keep his beehive.

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And in wrapping up, I love this little Nicholas,

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when he was asked which ran smoother, his beehive

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or City Hall, he said a beehive definitely. I

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mean they don't have waste, they're not bullying

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anybody, and they don't even fight at all. So

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maybe this is just a good lesson for all of us.

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If you're having problems with your local government

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over some outdated ordinances, get involved.

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Get your whole beekeeping community involved

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and see what you can accomplish. All right, now

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sit back, relax as we spend more time on the

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Big Island with another great and interesting

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beekeeper. Hey, I'd like to welcome to the show

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today Rebecca Cron. How are you Rebecca? I'm

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doing well. Thank you so much for having me Eric

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and I appreciate you taking the time for us to

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talk for a while today because A couple of days

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ago I got to spend a little time with you and

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your husband Luis at your beautiful place in

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Captain Cook on the Big Island of Hawaii at Hawaiian

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Queen Co. That's you guys and you are a big Queen

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producer and and really well known. as one of

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the best out there and that's what we're going

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to be talking about today is everything A to

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Z about how to produce queens, what makes a good

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queen, so that there's going to be good helpful

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information both for people listening who may

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need to buy some queens either for a commercial

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operation or even as a hobby beekeeper if they

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need a few queens or if you want to produce some

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of your own queens. I'll bet Rebecca is going

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to share some good tips. So that said, Rebecca,

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give us a little background because your company's

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been around for a while, your second generation.

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Give us a little history. Yeah, great. So Hawaiian

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Queen was founded in 1997 by my father, Michael

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Cronus. He started it basically from ground zero.

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He had been a beekeeper previously and saw a

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perfect opportunity for producing queens in Hawaii.

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Hawaii is a very unique place for producing queen

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bees because of our weather. So we can produce

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queens early in the year. We start shipping in

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January when most of North America is still very

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cold. able to produce queens in time for the

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spring pollination, most specifically for the

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almonds in Northern California. But Hawaiian

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Queen was started by my father. He since has

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passed away. My husband and I took over several

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years ago and have kept the business running.

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We have many, many years of experience in producing

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queen bees that we've learned from my father

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and from other really great employees that we

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have, longtime employees that work with us in

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this process. And I need to just interject a

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quick apology. I believe I pronounced your last

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name, Crone, and it's Cronus? Correct, yes, no

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problem. It is a problem. I need to get this

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stuff right, so I'm sorry about that. No worries.

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Doesn't sound like a Hawaiian name, by the way.

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How many queens do you produce every year? You

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know, it depends on the year, like anything in

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agriculture, but it's roughly around 60 ,000.

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I know there are other queen producers on this

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island that people have heard of, and I'm sure

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they're all good, but... I'm trying to think

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of a nice way to say this. I'm just going to

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say it flat out. Why are yours the best? Or as

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we say here, noca oi. So we focus specifically

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on quality queens. So we're not a huge producer

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of queens that makes us able to produce very

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quality queen bees. We focus on the genetics.

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That is fundamental in our operation. For the

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last over 20 years, we've worked with Dr. Joe

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Latchaw. He's out of Ohio. and he brings genetic

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material, semen, over to Hawaii Island and artificially

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inseminates all of our breeder queens. So that's

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really specific to Hawaiian queen. We're able

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to carry the genetics that Joe very carefully

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selects in our line of queens. So we produce

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Italians and Carniolans, and they all come from

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Latchaw stock. Our queens are bred for gentleness,

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productivity, and being able to hold up under

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commercial conditions. I know many of your listeners

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are hobby or sideline beekeepers. Many of our

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customers are in that category, but a lot of

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them are commercial. And our queens go to places

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where they have to work really hard for pollinating

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contracts. Our queens are good for that type

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of commercial environment. And I would imagine

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if they're strong enough to hold up in a commercial

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environment, they're strong enough for a hobbyist

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where it's a lot easier on them. Maybe I should

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put it that way. Yeah, your hobby beekeepers

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will love our genetics because they're so gentle.

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I mean, most of our employees, they don't even

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go out in a bee suit a lot of the time. They're

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very, very gentle. All right, let's get into

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the process. Tell us... maybe what a calendar

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year is like for you. When are you doing what?

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And you mentioned the winter months you're producing

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the most bees, especially to be sent to the almonds.

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Give us an idea of what's going on all year.

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Because when I was there and this was October,

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it was not all that busy. You sounded like you

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were just ready to ramp up for your busy time.

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That's right. Yeah. So Our season really runs

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from producing big time as January through the

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middle of June. That's when we are opening yards.

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We started January with opening many of our mating

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yards. We have eight to nine mating yards. And

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we start steadily opening them in January so

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that we are at our peak production by March,

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which is the busiest time of year for shipping

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queen bees. That's when the biggest demand is

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on the U .S. mainland and into April for Canada.

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So we ship all over the mainland U .S. and, as

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I mentioned, into Canada via UPS or FedEx. You

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know, after June, we're still we're still shipping,

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but we're starting to close down our mating new

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yards, some of them. So right now in October,

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we're planning. It's amazing how much planning

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is involved in producing queen bees. You really

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have to have a year calendar to coordinate everything

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that has to go into producing your queens. So

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right now we're planning our calendar on how

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to open all the yards with our employees, with

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our manager, and we are getting everything ready.

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to produce the Queen. So there's a lot of cleaning

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up and just shop work that goes into it. So that's

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October. That's when also we get all of our H2A

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employees back. We have a lot of local US workers,

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but we augment our workforce with international

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workers. So our visa begins now in October for

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them. So there's a lot of coordination where

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that's concerned. They come in, we start getting

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the groundwork in place for grafting. making

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sure that our cell builders and our breeders

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are in good condition, making sure everybody's

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getting fed if they need to be fed. January,

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we hit the ground running. It's just an endless

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cycle of grafting and catching queens, grafting

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and catching queens through, like I said, the

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middle of June. And then things start to die

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down a little bit. In the process, we're obviously

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treating for mites, keeping out an eye for small

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hive beetle. Those are two. big pests that we

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always have to keep an eye on here. It's harvesting

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honey, pulling honey. We've got the three main

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flows during the year. Our bees have access to

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natural pollen and nectar almost year -round.

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So starting in January, really starts in February,

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but that's when our macadamia blossom honey starts

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to come in. And that's so great for our queens,

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for the production of our queens, because when

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there's natural pollen and nectar out there,

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there's so much there's so much more willing

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to get started in producing queens. The bees

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get really happy. They get outside and start

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pulling in that pollen and the nectar from the

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macnuts. That flow goes into our Lihua honey,

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which starts in June. My personal favorite, by

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the way. Yeah, it's lovely. Lihua honey is a

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flower on an endemic tree called the Ohia tree.

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It's a Native Hawaiian species and it produces

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beautiful white creamy honey And that's a short

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flow and then we move into Christmas berry, which

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is where we are now So we just actually finished

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extracting our probably our last round of Christmas

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berry for this year So as you can see, we've

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got we've got you know Honey and pollen and nectar

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coming in almost all year long, which is great

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for producing queens So yeah, just a lot of coordination.

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I don't know if that answered your question Yeah,

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that's a lot. Yeah, that's definitely a full

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-time, full -time, full -time business. When

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you're very busiest and you have all the workers

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in, about how many employees do you have at that

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time? About 14. I know that Queens is the main

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part of your business, but I saw your honey house.

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It was beautiful. You can obviously extract a

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lot. Do you extract three different times in

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the year based on those flows, or do you just

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mix it all together? No, we do. I mean, we do

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extractions as needed, but there's three distinct

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flows. And yes, we keep them separate. Yeah.

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I mean, they get into the drum labeled as a separate

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varietal, if that makes sense. Give us an idea

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of the flavor profile. Start with the macadamia

00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:36.070
nut. Yeah, mac nut is an amber honey. It's very

00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:40.330
kind of rich and mellow. It's very smooth. It

00:15:40.330 --> 00:15:45.610
crystallizes relatively quickly. The lehua is

00:15:45.610 --> 00:15:49.210
very light and sort of floral. It's totally unique.

00:15:49.429 --> 00:15:52.309
It's unlike any other honey I've ever had. And

00:15:52.309 --> 00:15:55.870
it crystallizes very, very smoothly. So it's

00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:58.029
almost like a creamed, a naturally creamed honey.

00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:01.049
And then our Christmas Berry, which is my personal

00:16:01.049 --> 00:16:04.870
favorite, has got a little bit of a, almost like

00:16:04.870 --> 00:16:07.669
a little bit of a bitter taste to it. It's an

00:16:07.669 --> 00:16:10.809
amber honey as well. Some people say it has like

00:16:10.809 --> 00:16:13.230
almost like a little bit of a spicy quality to

00:16:13.230 --> 00:16:16.970
it. Christmas Berry is, it's not a member of

00:16:16.970 --> 00:16:19.870
the Pepper family, but it's kind of in that vein.

00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:21.759
So I don't know if that has anything to do with

00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.720
it, but I really like it. I'm gonna have to try

00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:28.159
more of that one. Give it a chance. I get hooked

00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.240
on the Lehua and don't branch out far enough

00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:33.620
like I need to. So Christmas Berry, that's the

00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:37.350
next one I'm going to get. Do you find, you know,

00:16:37.429 --> 00:16:39.529
some people are really kind of soars and they

00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:42.169
take different honeys with different cheeses.

00:16:42.629 --> 00:16:45.070
Do you do any of that? Do you find like the Christmas

00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:47.789
Berry is really great with sharp cheese or anything

00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:50.230
like that? Yeah, Christmas Berry lends itself

00:16:50.230 --> 00:16:53.129
really well to savory applications. So it's great

00:16:53.129 --> 00:16:56.070
in salad dressings or in marinades. I don't know,

00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:58.769
I just, I think it has has a little bit of that,

00:16:58.769 --> 00:17:01.750
um, almost brown sugar taste to it. So that's

00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:06.160
very nice. I'll bet it's good on pizza. Maybe.

00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:09.539
You haven't had honey on pizza? I have not had

00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:12.880
honey on pizza, no. OK, it's time for you to

00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:15.059
try honey on pizza. Well, I mean, I guess if

00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:17.059
you're mixing, you know, honey and cheese, that's

00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:20.960
not super of a far far idea. And you don't like

00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.059
spread on a big thick layer. You just sort of

00:17:23.059 --> 00:17:26.579
drizzle it over it and it can be fabulous. It

00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:30.079
can really add to the flavor. We we have definitely

00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:32.140
tried it with like a manchego cheese is very

00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:36.259
nice. or macadamia nut with goat cheese is really

00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:39.700
good, or with a brie. I think those are all really

00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:43.220
nice cheeses. So you are the connoisseur. I like

00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:45.700
that. One of the things that we were talking

00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:50.059
about when I was down at your place was it's

00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:53.380
important that you introduce queens in the right

00:17:53.380 --> 00:17:58.039
way. Now talk about that a little bit, both for

00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:01.220
the commercial beekeeper and for the hobbyist

00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:04.750
that hasn't done much of it. Yeah, longest conversation

00:18:04.750 --> 00:18:10.490
with my customers all the time and It's so important

00:18:10.490 --> 00:18:14.329
introducing a queen bee into a host hive is a

00:18:14.329 --> 00:18:16.690
little bit of Almost maybe more of an art than

00:18:16.690 --> 00:18:18.529
a science a lot of the time You have to really

00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:21.529
read so many different cues into how the host

00:18:21.529 --> 00:18:24.309
type will be accepting that new Queen Are you

00:18:24.309 --> 00:18:27.509
a beekeeper who loves sharing tips, asking questions,

00:18:27.730 --> 00:18:29.930
and showing off your latest honey haul? Then

00:18:29.930 --> 00:18:33.150
join The Hive, introducing the Man Lake beekeeping

00:18:33.150 --> 00:18:36.809
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00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:40.039
honey bees. Whether you're struggling with mites,

00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.059
trying a new winterization method, or just need

00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:46.259
to know what that weird thing on your frame is,

00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.720
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00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:52.559
beginners and pros alike. Stop scrolling through

00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:55.339
endless forums and connect directly with beekeepers

00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.359
and the professionals at Man Lake in one buzzing

00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:00.900
place. We'll put a link to it down in the show

00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:06.490
notes. Just click over and join up. So in general,

00:19:06.910 --> 00:19:10.650
beehives prefer a queen that is produced by their

00:19:10.650 --> 00:19:14.109
own colony. So introducing a new queen, what

00:19:14.109 --> 00:19:16.509
you're doing is bringing in new pheromones from

00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:19.269
a queen that they don't know. And so that in

00:19:19.269 --> 00:19:23.089
and of itself can be complex. They know that

00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:26.670
she is not one of theirs. So what we try to do

00:19:26.670 --> 00:19:30.150
is make that process as smooth as possible. The

00:19:30.150 --> 00:19:32.109
first thing you got to know is when you're making,

00:19:32.390 --> 00:19:34.829
most of our customers are making splits or divides

00:19:34.829 --> 00:19:38.369
and introducing that new queen into them. You

00:19:38.369 --> 00:19:41.910
want to make sure that that divide is not next

00:19:41.910 --> 00:19:45.069
to the hive that you split it off from. So that's

00:19:45.069 --> 00:19:47.029
the first thing. You know, a lot of people move

00:19:47.029 --> 00:19:49.670
it to a different yard, for example. You want

00:19:49.670 --> 00:19:52.869
that split to be about two thirds power, meaning

00:19:52.869 --> 00:19:56.970
it's not like a huge, strong split. We found

00:19:56.970 --> 00:20:01.190
that when the bees are less strong, they're more

00:20:01.190 --> 00:20:04.309
receptive to a new queen. You know, a lot of

00:20:04.309 --> 00:20:07.009
beekeepers, old timers will tell you that when

00:20:07.009 --> 00:20:09.049
you make that divide, if you're making multiple

00:20:09.049 --> 00:20:13.130
divides, you can take frames from different colonies

00:20:13.130 --> 00:20:17.089
and mix them up. So it's almost like the bees

00:20:17.089 --> 00:20:20.269
in that new split, none of them own the queen.

00:20:20.349 --> 00:20:22.589
They're all kind of a mix from different colonies.

00:20:23.230 --> 00:20:27.980
You can also... spray the split with some Bee

00:20:27.980 --> 00:20:31.700
Healthy or some customers I've heard will mix

00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:34.440
some water with like peppermint oil or a little

00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:37.359
bit of vanilla extract and spray it over the

00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:39.619
divide so that you're kind of masking that pheromone

00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:42.799
that the queen is bringing with her. Once you

00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.339
introduce the queen, when you put her in, typically

00:20:45.339 --> 00:20:48.420
she'll come in a mini cage. So it has a candy

00:20:48.420 --> 00:20:51.500
plug. Ours come with a candy plug. When you introduce

00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:54.710
the queen in with that candy plug, A strong hive

00:20:54.710 --> 00:20:58.250
can let her out in about 48 hours. They'll eat

00:20:58.250 --> 00:20:59.970
through that candy plug pretty quickly and she'll

00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:03.009
be released into the hive. And we like it to

00:21:03.009 --> 00:21:06.150
take about four to five days. So especially if

00:21:06.150 --> 00:21:08.630
your divide is really strong, you want to put

00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:12.089
some, we always recommend trying to slow the

00:21:12.089 --> 00:21:14.529
process down of letting that queen out by putting

00:21:14.529 --> 00:21:16.609
some masking tape or some painter's tape over

00:21:16.609 --> 00:21:18.710
that candy plug and poking a little hole in it

00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:21.730
with maybe like a hive tool. So the bees have

00:21:21.730 --> 00:21:23.609
to actually chew through the masking tape to

00:21:23.609 --> 00:21:25.730
get to the candy plug to let her out So that

00:21:25.730 --> 00:21:29.529
buys you another 48 hours that time What you're

00:21:29.529 --> 00:21:31.950
doing is allowing the host hive to get used to

00:21:31.950 --> 00:21:35.690
the pheromones of the queen bee So they are more

00:21:35.690 --> 00:21:37.970
willing to accept her when she is released and

00:21:37.970 --> 00:21:39.829
you can really see that when you put the queen

00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:42.549
bee in and if if they're You know balling it

00:21:42.549 --> 00:21:44.769
balling the cage and really acting aggressively

00:21:44.769 --> 00:21:47.440
towards her. You don't want to let her out But

00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:50.380
typically if you're following these steps, she'll

00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:52.380
be released in four to five days and she will

00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:56.240
be accepted by the colony. You obviously, most

00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:57.559
people already know this, you want to make sure

00:21:57.559 --> 00:21:59.740
you don't have any natural queen cells in the

00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:04.279
colony before she is released. So you want to

00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:08.130
get rid of those. And the other big pieces. What

00:22:08.130 --> 00:22:09.910
time of year are you putting these queens in?

00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:12.730
So if there's lots of natural forage available

00:22:12.730 --> 00:22:15.829
for your bees, they're going to be way more willing

00:22:15.829 --> 00:22:18.049
to accept that new queen than if there's nothing

00:22:18.049 --> 00:22:19.990
else out there for them. They're much happier

00:22:19.990 --> 00:22:22.529
when they're foraging. It's almost like they'll

00:22:22.529 --> 00:22:24.210
accept her and they're happy going out and coming

00:22:24.210 --> 00:22:26.990
back. And so again, there's a lot of factors

00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:29.390
involved in it. And a lot of them have to do

00:22:29.390 --> 00:22:32.869
with the environment and the beehive that you're

00:22:32.869 --> 00:22:36.390
introducing them into. A well -mated queen will

00:22:36.390 --> 00:22:39.250
be accepted by a colony that doesn't have a queen.

00:22:39.410 --> 00:22:41.430
They'll know that she's healthy and well -mated,

00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:44.950
and they'll let her get started. You keep talking

00:22:44.950 --> 00:22:48.210
about acceptance, and for anybody who's new to

00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:51.029
beekeeping, if you don't understand how important

00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:55.549
that is, the consequence isn't like, oh, we'll

00:22:55.549 --> 00:22:57.789
just sort of nicely kick her out of the hive

00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:01.369
or something. The consequence is... She'll get

00:23:01.369 --> 00:23:05.420
killed. Yeah. Yes. And that's a big investment.

00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:08.220
Yeah, I mean, a lot of our customers are commercial

00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:11.700
beekeepers. They buy hundreds, 100, 200, 300

00:23:11.700 --> 00:23:13.500
queens at a time. And so that's a lot of money

00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:15.680
for them. So you want to make sure that they're

00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:18.440
successful when they're introduced. And commercial

00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:21.339
beekeepers are moving a mile a minute. And so

00:23:21.339 --> 00:23:23.380
sometimes implementing a lot of these steps is

00:23:23.380 --> 00:23:26.200
challenging, but it is protecting your investment.

00:23:26.730 --> 00:23:30.309
Yeah. Well, and even if you're a hobbyist, you

00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:33.529
may be paying retail in a 50 bucks or whatever

00:23:33.529 --> 00:23:37.690
for a new queen. That's an investment. Absolutely.

00:23:38.049 --> 00:23:43.559
Absolutely. So if you have time. To go in and

00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:46.740
really look at what's happening. How do you know?

00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:49.319
What do you see to know that they are accepting

00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:52.180
this queen and it would be okay to let them know

00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:55.779
either you could manually let her out or Okay,

00:23:55.779 --> 00:23:58.259
go ahead and chew through the rest of that candy

00:23:58.259 --> 00:24:01.039
And if you see her lame that way, you know, she's

00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.019
there. You know, she's been accepted and she's

00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:06.799
doing well Yeah, so you definitely want to see

00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.829
eggs Okay Let's say you have somebody that lives

00:24:10.829 --> 00:24:15.849
in a cold environment. Logic would say, I don't

00:24:15.849 --> 00:24:17.950
want to get a queen from Hawaii because that

00:24:17.950 --> 00:24:21.690
queen is not going to be able to survive or raise

00:24:21.690 --> 00:24:26.549
the right kind of stock for my winters. Is that

00:24:26.549 --> 00:24:30.309
correct? No, that's not correct. So we ship our

00:24:30.309 --> 00:24:32.529
queens up to Canada, which pretty much doesn't

00:24:32.529 --> 00:24:34.890
get colder anywhere else on the planet than Canada.

00:24:35.410 --> 00:24:38.069
And we sell a lot of Italians and carniolans

00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:40.970
of truck dating customers. What I have found,

00:24:41.029 --> 00:24:43.930
and they'll take both stock, but a lot of beekeepers

00:24:43.930 --> 00:24:48.589
in Northern climates prefer the carniolans. And

00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:52.109
that's because genetically they are more receptive

00:24:52.109 --> 00:24:55.019
to cold weather in terms of not continuing to

00:24:55.019 --> 00:24:58.480
lay. They're more conservative so they will stop

00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:00.940
laying and kind of hunker down. The Italians

00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:03.700
will just keep, they'll just keep laying no matter

00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:07.000
what. Carniolans do very well in cold environments

00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:10.359
like Canada or the Pacific Northwest or Minnesota.

00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:13.680
RV keepers really love them and they're very

00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:16.779
gentle. Carniolans have a little bit of a reputation

00:25:16.779 --> 00:25:19.279
of being maybe a little spicier than Italians.

00:25:19.609 --> 00:25:22.670
But ours are very gentle, despite the fact that

00:25:22.670 --> 00:25:26.589
genetically they can do very well in a snowy

00:25:26.589 --> 00:25:29.569
environment, cold environment. So you produce

00:25:29.569 --> 00:25:32.829
both Italians and Carniolans then? That's correct.

00:25:33.630 --> 00:25:35.630
All right. Any advice for someone that's trying

00:25:35.630 --> 00:25:38.829
to produce their own queens? I would recommend

00:25:38.829 --> 00:25:41.450
you do a lot of reading and educate yourself

00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:45.230
on the process because again, there's a lot to

00:25:45.230 --> 00:25:48.960
the art of producing a queen bee. It takes some

00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.980
time to master. The grafting is probably one

00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:55.660
of the more challenging parts, making sure that

00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:58.420
your larva is the right age and making sure that

00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:00.299
when you are transferring that larva, you're

00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:04.519
not damaging it. So it really takes a lot of

00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:06.960
practice to do that. You know, you don't know

00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.779
how well your graft is going to take until several

00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:13.119
days later. So it's a question of practicing

00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:17.240
it and mastering that technique. But I would

00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:19.720
recommend reading a lot about the process, and

00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:23.059
if possible, going and seeing how the process

00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:25.460
is done before you get started. I guess there's

00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:28.059
probably a lot online that you could learn, you

00:26:28.059 --> 00:26:31.980
know, watching master crafters do their work.

00:26:32.539 --> 00:26:34.900
It's a skill that is developed over a lot of

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:37.299
time, but it's certainly something that anybody

00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:40.240
can learn to do. And a good mentor like anything

00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:44.259
always helps. Absolutely. I didn't want to forget.

00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.960
wild and crazy beekeeping story. And we're usually

00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:51.420
talking to regular beekeepers. So in your business,

00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:53.160
maybe you have some things that are different.

00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:55.880
Yeah, they, you know, I was thinking about this

00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:59.339
question and it's, it's so interesting to me

00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:02.559
how, you know, our, our Achilles heel as a queen

00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:06.160
breeder is the shipping of the queens because

00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:09.119
we produce really good quality, well -mated queens,

00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:11.440
but then we put them in the hands of a shipping

00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:14.799
company to get them to our customers. And sometimes

00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:16.920
the shipping companies unfortunately do not do

00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:18.920
their job as well as we would like them to do.

00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:23.920
A crazy bee story is a customer of mine sending

00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:27.839
me a picture of a box of bees. It's probably

00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:31.339
about 150 queen bees that he had received. And

00:27:31.339 --> 00:27:34.160
there was a plastic bag over them and they were

00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:37.109
in his living room. And so I don't know if anyone

00:27:37.109 --> 00:27:39.789
has ever, I mean, your customers, I'm sure they've

00:27:39.789 --> 00:27:41.950
probably seen these special boxes that are made

00:27:41.950 --> 00:27:44.529
for shipping queens. They have screens on the

00:27:44.529 --> 00:27:47.289
outside of them for ventilation and they're double

00:27:47.289 --> 00:27:49.809
screened. The bees can knock it out. We ship,

00:27:49.809 --> 00:27:52.609
you know, as I said, thousands of queens like

00:27:52.609 --> 00:27:55.849
this every year and they don't get out. But the

00:27:55.849 --> 00:27:58.849
shipping company, whoever was the driver was

00:27:58.849 --> 00:28:02.450
scared stiff of these bees. And so they thought

00:28:02.450 --> 00:28:05.000
it would be a good idea. to put them inside a

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:08.279
plastic bag so they wouldn't get out. Did it

00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:12.900
kill them? Yeah. They suffocated. Oh my gosh.

00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:17.099
Yeah. So, you know, it's interesting. There's

00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:21.200
not a lot of common sense sometimes. And we have

00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:24.200
these conversations with our drivers and with

00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:26.519
the personnel at the shipping companies. And

00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:29.240
I try to educate them. You know, I say, you guys

00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:32.779
are a really important part of the food production

00:28:32.779 --> 00:28:36.690
in our country. So if you get these queens to

00:28:36.690 --> 00:28:38.509
our customers, they're going to be able to pollinate

00:28:38.509 --> 00:28:41.950
the food that you eat. And they learn and they

00:28:41.950 --> 00:28:43.730
see it and they say, oh, you know, then I get

00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:47.789
the flip side. I get, you know, UPS drivers that

00:28:47.789 --> 00:28:50.750
call me on their personal cell phones to make

00:28:50.750 --> 00:28:52.569
sure that they're doing the right thing for the

00:28:52.569 --> 00:28:54.670
queens. And so, you know, there's people who

00:28:54.670 --> 00:28:57.769
really care out there, too. So it's amazing.

00:28:57.930 --> 00:29:00.339
I mean, every year. it's a roller coaster of

00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:02.960
these shipments and who along the line is going

00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:05.279
to be handling them and how well do they do that.

00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:09.059
And you know, we're really lucky 90 % 95 % of

00:29:09.059 --> 00:29:12.660
the time they do great. But sometimes it's, it

00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:15.319
turns out to be a wild and crazy story. And do

00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:18.480
you guarantee live delivery? Absolutely. Yes.

00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:21.400
So all of our queens are shipped with a live

00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:23.799
delivery guarantee. So once you pick them up,

00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:25.819
if there's something that doesn't look right

00:29:25.819 --> 00:29:29.420
to you, we would replace them at no cost. Sounds

00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:31.980
perfect. I don't want to turn this into an infomercial,

00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:36.000
but you guys do a great job. It was really fun

00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:39.039
seeing your place. Yeah. Eric, thank you very

00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:41.319
much for taking the time to learn about what

00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:43.799
we do. And you know, we're, we're just a small

00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:46.220
family farm trying to, you know, keep it going.

00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:50.279
So I'm highlighting it. We're humbled. We appreciate

00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:54.079
it. If somebody does want to get ahold of you

00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:56.420
or some of your Queens, how do they reach out?

00:29:56.990 --> 00:30:00.089
Yeah, they can go to hawaiianqueen .com and our

00:30:00.089 --> 00:30:02.809
phone number is there and I'm the person who

00:30:02.809 --> 00:30:05.049
answers the phone. I'm the only one. So they

00:30:05.049 --> 00:30:07.609
can talk to me. And if you're a hobbyist that

00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:10.029
just needs a few queens, should they go to Man

00:30:10.029 --> 00:30:12.970
Lake or what should they do? Man Lake does carry

00:30:12.970 --> 00:30:16.170
our queen bees. They have some now. And yeah,

00:30:16.250 --> 00:30:17.710
that would be a great place if you just want

00:30:17.710 --> 00:30:20.930
to buy one or two. Our minimum order during the

00:30:20.930 --> 00:30:23.150
offseason, which is April through December, is

00:30:23.150 --> 00:30:26.349
five queen bees. During the busy season, which

00:30:26.349 --> 00:30:29.069
is January through April, our minimum is 25 queens.

00:30:29.210 --> 00:30:31.130
So if you're part of a bee club or something

00:30:31.130 --> 00:30:33.589
like that, a lot of people will get a few beekeepers

00:30:33.589 --> 00:30:36.230
together to be able to purchase that volume at

00:30:36.230 --> 00:30:38.970
once. But if you just want one or two, manlike

00:30:38.970 --> 00:30:41.589
will help you out. And you can look at the different

00:30:41.589 --> 00:30:44.890
kinds of queens that they have on there. And

00:30:44.890 --> 00:30:48.769
I believe if it says Hawaiian Queen, and it'll

00:30:48.769 --> 00:30:51.549
say carniola in her Italian. I believe if it

00:30:51.549 --> 00:30:54.670
says Hawaiian, it's from you, right? That's wrong.

00:30:54.890 --> 00:30:58.609
Yeah. Okay. All right. You get the last word.

00:30:58.789 --> 00:31:01.130
I want you to leave us with one piece of great

00:31:01.130 --> 00:31:05.069
beekeeping advice. Don't assume that last year

00:31:05.069 --> 00:31:07.710
is going to be like this year or that I should

00:31:07.710 --> 00:31:09.410
say that the other way around. Don't assume that

00:31:09.410 --> 00:31:12.130
this year is going to be like last year. You

00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:14.529
always have to read. what's happening. Everything

00:31:14.529 --> 00:31:16.890
is changing all the time and you have to stay

00:31:16.890 --> 00:31:20.029
on your toes. That is more true than people will

00:31:20.029 --> 00:31:23.190
ever know. We all wish it was going to be the

00:31:23.190 --> 00:31:26.150
same as last year, but it usually isn't. Well,

00:31:26.150 --> 00:31:28.829
and it's good to take notes from last year, right?

00:31:29.009 --> 00:31:31.150
All the way along so that we learn from last

00:31:31.150 --> 00:31:33.410
year. But yeah, this next year is going to be

00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:36.670
different. I promise it always is. All right.

00:31:36.869 --> 00:31:38.730
Thank you so much, Rebecca. It was great talking

00:31:38.730 --> 00:31:44.029
to you. Appreciate your time. Thanks for joining

00:31:44.029 --> 00:31:47.089
us on Be Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake.

00:31:47.529 --> 00:31:49.609
If you like this content I hope you'll share

00:31:49.609 --> 00:31:52.470
it with a friend, follow and subscribe to this

00:31:52.470 --> 00:31:55.849
podcast and even sign up for our newsletter at

00:31:55.849 --> 00:31:58.920
BeLoveBeekeeping .com Also, just a shout out

00:31:58.920 --> 00:32:01.460
to Vita B Health for their support, we appreciate

00:32:01.460 --> 00:32:04.500
them. Vita's Varroa Control range of products

00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:08.759
includes Apistan, Apigard, and now Veroxan Extended

00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:12.619
Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And

00:32:12.619 --> 00:32:15.119
remember, if you're not just in it for the honey

00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:18.099
or the money, you're in it for the love. See

00:32:18.099 --> 00:32:18.880
you next week.