Aug. 7, 2025

Dr. Thomas Seeley On Bee Behavior, Swarm Piping, Bee Lining, More

Dr. Thomas Seeley On Bee Behavior, Swarm Piping, Bee Lining, More
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Dr. Thomas Seeley On Bee Behavior, Swarm Piping, Bee Lining, More

Featured Guest: Dr. Tom Seeley – Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, renowned honey bee researcher, and author of six influential books including Honeybee Democracy and Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz Runners.

🐝 Topics Covered:

  • The difference between Langstroth hives and natural bee homes
  • Collective intelligence in bees and parallels to the human brain
  • Worker bee piping: how to know when a swarm is about to launch
  • Bee lining/Bee hunting: how to track wild honey bee colonies using this ancient technique
  • Natural hive insulation and its benefits for overwintering
  • Early experiments with dissecting bee trees
  • Varroa control and genetics-based resistance methods
  • The behavioral genius of honey bees and what it teaches us as beekeepers

🐾 Bonus Story: Meet Maple, the energetic springer spaniel helping detect hive diseases at Michigan State University, sporting a custom-made dog-sized beekeeper suit!

__________________

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/wpjLC9ZpbZk

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

Don’t Miss Part Two! This is only part one of our discussion with Dr. Seeley. Subscribe to Bee Love Beekeeping so you don’t miss next week’s episode where Tom shares even more behavioral insights and his wildest beekeeping story yet!

WEBVTT

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May I have your attention, please? The following

00:00:03.830 --> 00:00:10.910
is not the real Jeff Fox review If you have learned

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the hard way that honeybees don't like internal

00:00:14.449 --> 00:00:19.510
combustion engines like lawnmowers You might

00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:24.710
be a beekeeper If you never ever thought that

00:00:24.710 --> 00:00:27.809
you'd have anything to do with an electric fence

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but you live in bear country? Well, you might

00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.960
be a beekeeper. If you don't remember the last

00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:42.200
time you washed your beekeeping suit, you might

00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:52.700
be a beekeeper. Might be stinky too. Welcome,

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welcome to Be Love Beekeeping presented by Man

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Lake. Today's guest is the amazing Dr. Tom Seeley.

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We're going to be all over the place learning

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about everything from worker bee piping in swarms

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to the differences between Langstroth hives and

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honeybee homes in trees to hive insulation, Varroa

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control, and the one we've all got to try bee

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lining, also known as bee hunting. First, a quick

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feel -good story ripped from the headlines of

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the world of honey bees. Meet Maple, a former

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human remains detection dog, is now a beekeeper

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at Michigan State University's Pollinator Performance

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Center. She's a very energetic springer spaniel

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who really likes to work and have a purpose,

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and so this was a wonderful opportunity for her

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to continue working. said Sue Stakehall, Maple's

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owner, canine handler, and trainer. Maple uses

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her sense of smell to detect American foul brood.

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If she detects the bacteria, she sits. And you've

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got to see the pictures because Sue made Maple

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a custom doggy beekeeping suit. That is, it's

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unbelievable. It's awesome. According to Stakehall,

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Dogs can be trained to detect many things like

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explosives, narcotics, people, leaking pipelines,

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even endangered species, she said. People probably

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don't realize how many different types of detection

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dogs are used. and MSU researcher Megan Milbrath

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says their team is developing an instructive

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manual for professionals to train dogs to detect

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harmful honeybee diseases, which saves both bees

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and time. When you've got tens of thousands of

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colonies to go through, we have to look at ways

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that could process a lot of samples quickly,

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Milbrath said. a dog really can quickly move

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through a yard and identify ones that need to

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be inspected. Love it, great story, way to go,

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Maple. All right, let's get to the interview.

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We have an extremely special guest on the show

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today, Dr. Tom Seeley, coming to us from a beautiful

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spot in Maine. How are you today, Tom? I'm happy

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as a clam at high tide, as they say up here.

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And I know you're from Ithaca, New York. Do you

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spend summers in Maine? Yes, I spend about three

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months in Maine. I married a Maine girl. When

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we got married, she told me, Tom, I'm always

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going to need a sea breeze. So I built a little

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house up here and spend a good part of the year.

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Well you were kind enough to send me a picture

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of the view from where you are and it's stunning

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it's beautiful and I'm glad you're enjoying your

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summer. Hey for those that don't know who Dr.

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Sealy is, Tom do you mind if I embarrass you

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a little bit just by giving people some background?

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I know the most important thing for you is the

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fact that you've been beekeeping for 56 years.

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You started when you were in high school And

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that is so cool. And we're going to get into

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that story in a few minutes, but I want to say

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Dr. Seeley has been a professor at Cornell University

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for his career and has studied everything having

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to do with bees and especially, please correct

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me if I'm wrong, bee behavior and ecology. Yes,

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that's exactly right. Both of those things, behavior

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and ecology. And you're the author of six books?

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I think that's right, six books. The first one

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that I read was Honey Bee Democracy. It sounds

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a little crazy to say it changed my life, but

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wow, it just blew open my brain to bees and so

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much more. And by the way, and I think this is

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your newest book, I'm in the middle of it right

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now, Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz Runners.

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We'll find out a little bit about what that means

00:05:03.589 --> 00:05:06.420
today, but we're not here to pitch books. We're

00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:09.699
here to talk beekeeping and talk honeybees and

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their behavior and I hope that as we get into

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some of the things that may sound at first glance

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like, well what does that have to do with me

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and my beekeeping? The fact that honeybees swarm

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in this particular way and have these behaviors.

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I hope Tom you can help me and our listeners

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come to where we can take those things and internalize

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them into how our behavior is with bees just

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by understanding them better and how we keep

00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:45.350
them. Do you have any particular place you'd

00:05:45.350 --> 00:05:47.709
like to start? If not, I've got a thousand questions

00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:50.329
for you. Well, let's see. You've got more experience

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in organizing these presentations, so I'll follow

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your guidance. Well, I appreciate that. Between

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this and another podcast, I've interviewed quite

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a few hundred people, but I've got to tell you,

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I'm a little nervous because in the beekeeping

00:06:05.310 --> 00:06:10.209
community, Tom Seeley is it. Okay. I hate to

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use hyperbole, but is it possible that you know

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more about bee behavior than anybody else on

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this planet right now? It's possible. Speaking

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of embarrassing you, go ahead and answer. Well,

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I'd say I've made it the focus, the primary focus

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of my 50 -some years of studying the bees. And

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in some sense, it's been a very narrow. There's

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many ways to study honeybees. And I've really

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focused on their behavior and also their ecologies.

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I suppose that does the combination of the many

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years and the focus, particularly on their behavior,

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does make me especially well knowledgeable on

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this topic. But I don't claim by any means to

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say that we fully, I or anybody else, fully understands

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the behavior of worker honeybees. They are the

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most intelligent of all the insects and they've

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got a lot of mysteries still. Well, that's one

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of the things I love about them is we'd never

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fully figure it out. The bees and things like

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Varroa and stuff that make beekeeping tough.

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We never fully have all the answers, I don't

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believe. Yeah, I like to draw the analogy between

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human beings and honeybees. In both cases, we

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are the most complex behaviorally and cognitively

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of the primates, and the honeybees are the most

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complex behaviorally and cognitively of the insects.

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And in both cases, it's because we live in very

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complex societies. It's social living, we know.

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that really builds complex brains. And so that's,

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that's a real parallel between humans and honeybees.

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So on that topic, since you just brought it up,

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I want to read something that you've got posted

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on Cornell's website. I was going to save this

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for later because it sounds very scientific,

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but I absolutely love this. Here we go. Remarkably,

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there are intriguing similarities between how

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the bees in a swarm and the neurons in a brain

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are organized so that even though each unit,

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B or neuron, has limited information and limited

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intelligence, the group as a whole makes first

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-rate collective decisions. For example, in both

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systems the process of making a choice consists

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of a competition between the options to accumulate

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support, B visits or neuron firings, Also in

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both systems the winner of the competition is

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determined by which option first accumulates

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a critical level or quorum of support. Consistencies

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like these indicate that there are general principles

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of organization for building groups that are

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smarter than the smartest individuals in them.

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I totally get that and I think it is so cool

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just like In a group of human beings, it takes

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a hundred different high -tech companies before

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giant leaps in computer technology happen, for

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example, and hundreds of people at each of those

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places to where we now have inventions that one

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person couldn't come up with every part of. And

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I think that's what we're talking about. in the

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consensus of bee colonies is the whole collective

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is so much smarter than one individual bee. Can

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you please explain that better than I just did?

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Well, let's just use an example. I think it's

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the colony as a whole. Let's look at its foraging

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operation. It's spreading its foragers far and

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wide and in many different directions to gather

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the food and the water and the resin that it

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needs. And no one bee can go out and collect

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the information about all the foraging opportunities

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across the countryside. So just right at the

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level of getting the information about the problem,

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which we would call the sensory aspect of it,

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that's dispersed among all of the foragers, so

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thousands and thousands of bees. And then they

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have to somehow have a way to use all that information

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that's been collected, and they do it. in ways

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where the bees come back and they carefully advertise

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what they found in terms of its direction and

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distance and its desirability. And they adjust

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the announcement of the dance announcement's

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strength according to the desirability. So the

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best things get advertised the most strongly.

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And so that gives a bias to sending more bees

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to those locations than to poorer locations.

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It's a very Very sensible, but at the same time,

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wonderful system of organizing, deploying the

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foragers in a colony. Something similar happens

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in a swarm, but the rules are a little bit different.

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And you somehow figured out the rules. That's

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always the challenge. You see, let's go to a

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swarm because it's a little simpler. It's easier

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to envision, I think. You see this mass of bees

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hanging from a tree branch. And if you look closely,

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you'll see Bees these would be the Nessite scouts

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coming back landing on the surface of the swarm

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and doing waggle dances and Some of the waggle

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as the bees do their waggle dance They walk upward

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and others walk sideways and others walk downward

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and some are very excited and some are less excited

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and somehow out of all of that and that's a big

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body of information that's being collected and

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Processed there on the surface of the swarm That's

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a good example of the collectiveness of it. And

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then it's basically a race. The best site gets

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advertised the most strongly. The buildup at

00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:10.950
that site happens the most rapidly. And it's

00:12:10.950 --> 00:12:14.090
the first site to get enough popularity for the

00:12:14.090 --> 00:12:17.830
bees to get nest site scouts to sense, oh, this

00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:21.330
site is a really good one. Let's cut. We don't

00:12:21.330 --> 00:12:23.490
need to talk anymore. We've found a really good

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site. Let's go back and get things organized

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to make the move to this new home. So for beekeepers

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that like to catch swarms, how can they use that

00:12:32.929 --> 00:12:36.070
information that you just gave us? That's a really

00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:38.870
valuable question. There's a couple of things

00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:42.009
a beekeeper can use. One is if they see bees

00:12:42.009 --> 00:12:45.529
performing waggle dances that are where the bee

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as it walks forward and is waggling her body,

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if they're pointing in all sorts of different

00:12:49.950 --> 00:12:52.429
directions, straight up or straight down, left

00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:54.929
or right, That would tell the beekeeper that

00:12:54.929 --> 00:12:58.529
the nest -site scouts are not close to finishing

00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:02.009
the decision -making. And so you don't have to

00:13:02.009 --> 00:13:04.929
really rush. But there's another signal in there,

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Eric, that is even more valuable for a beekeeper.

00:13:08.370 --> 00:13:12.190
It's an acoustical signal called piping. And

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it's the sound that the nest -site scouts make

00:13:15.350 --> 00:13:19.750
when they sense that they're ready to The decision

00:13:19.750 --> 00:13:21.809
has been reached, and they need to go around

00:13:21.809 --> 00:13:24.730
and tell the other bees, the non -scouts bees

00:13:24.730 --> 00:13:27.389
in the swarm, to warm up their flight muscles

00:13:27.389 --> 00:13:30.110
so they can all launch into flight almost within

00:13:30.110 --> 00:13:36.789
simultaneously. And that sounds like this. So

00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.649
if you're a beekeeper and you put your ear up

00:13:39.649 --> 00:13:42.049
next to a swarm and you hear that sound, you

00:13:42.049 --> 00:13:45.309
know that that swarm's preparing to take off.

00:13:45.330 --> 00:13:49.019
And it will probably take off within one to five

00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:52.340
or six minutes. So if you hear that scramble

00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:54.879
and get a hive and shake those bees into your

00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:59.200
hive. Now I've also heard that sound in a hive.

00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.080
Can you explain that? If you hear it in a hive,

00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:06.200
there's queen piping and then there's worker

00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:07.940
piping. They're a little hard to tell apart.

00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.220
You might be hearing queen piping and that would

00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:13.679
be piping between the different virgin queens

00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.480
kind of advertising themselves or it could be

00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:19.289
worker piping. if the colony is preparing to

00:14:19.289 --> 00:14:22.389
swarm, because the worker bees make this warm

00:14:22.389 --> 00:14:26.029
-up or piping signal to get everybody in the

00:14:26.029 --> 00:14:28.450
hive ready to have their flight muscles warm

00:14:28.450 --> 00:14:32.090
enough to fly out to form the swarm. So if you

00:14:32.090 --> 00:14:35.169
hear that, it's either the queens are fighting

00:14:35.169 --> 00:14:38.850
or the workers are getting ready to swarm. The

00:14:38.850 --> 00:14:40.929
first time I heard it, I think it was the queens,

00:14:41.330 --> 00:14:43.370
that former thing that you discussed, because

00:14:43.370 --> 00:14:45.710
they weren't ready to swarm. Tell us about how

00:14:45.710 --> 00:14:49.039
you got into beekeeping. Because this show is

00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.820
all about the love of bees, and to spend your

00:14:52.820 --> 00:14:55.419
whole career with this, you must have some love.

00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:59.639
But where did it start? It started when I was

00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:01.799
a boy, I think I was about 10 years old, and

00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.679
I watched a swarm of bees move into a black walnut

00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.299
tree near my parents' house. Fortunately, it

00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:11.620
was about a big old black walnut tree, but with

00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:14.580
many... big, big tree, but the bees just by chance

00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:17.240
moved into the bottom most limb. They were moving

00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:21.500
in. I was initially scared of the bees, but as

00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:25.740
I got a little more braver or more experienced

00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:27.580
in watching the bees, I realized I could bring

00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:31.860
up my father's stepladder and set it up right

00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:33.720
next to the nest entrance. And I didn't have

00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:36.279
a bee veil or anything, but I could sit there

00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:38.399
quietly and just watch the bees. I think that's

00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.549
what And it was a huge mystery, as I'm sure you

00:15:41.549 --> 00:15:43.809
can see. You see bees coming and going from a

00:15:43.809 --> 00:15:46.210
knot hole, and you wonder, what's going on inside

00:15:46.210 --> 00:15:48.769
there? That really, I think, was the thing that

00:15:48.769 --> 00:15:52.470
got me going, seeing the bees firsthand and up

00:15:52.470 --> 00:15:55.389
close and wondering what on earth is going on

00:15:55.389 --> 00:15:58.929
inside that tree hollow. I think that says a

00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:03.049
lot about you, too, frankly, because I can imagine

00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:07.220
a bunch of 10 -year -old boys Also taking baseball

00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:09.580
bats to that and seeing who dared hit it and

00:16:09.580 --> 00:16:12.200
run the fastest. So you must have really been

00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:14.440
a deep thinker. I don't know if I thought was

00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:17.899
thinking deeply. I like nature. We lived out

00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:20.379
in the country, saw a lot of neat things in the

00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:23.120
natural world. And this was one that was particularly

00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.259
mysterious because there was a lot of action,

00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.879
but it was out of sight. We'll call it a deep

00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:31.320
curiosity. How's that? Yeah, that's right. That's

00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:33.840
it. Exactly. And that was in the Ithaca, New

00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.860
York area. Yeah, it's in the little, a little

00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:40.580
valley just outside of Ithaca called Ellis Hollow.

00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.519
It's where I still live. In fact, it didn't disperse

00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:46.220
well. A few years ago we went through Ithaca

00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:51.980
and talk about a beautiful area. Wow. Green and

00:16:51.980 --> 00:16:54.740
you've got the finger lakes there and yeah, it's

00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:58.539
just beautiful. Yeah. It's remarkable that it

00:16:58.539 --> 00:17:01.419
has this super duper university in the middle

00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:04.480
of nowhere. It's because the founder. Ezra Cornell,

00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:08.039
who made a fortune on telegraph, setting up telegraph

00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:12.039
systems. That's where he owned land. And he was

00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:15.259
a good guy. He said, I got all this money. I

00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:18.720
want to do something good with it. And I'm going

00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.380
to start a university. And he had the brains

00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:23.779
to realize he didn't know how to do it, but he

00:17:23.779 --> 00:17:27.039
hired a very smart guy. I forget from where he

00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:29.720
came from. The two of them together set up this

00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:33.240
very remarkable university in the middle of just

00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:35.440
a tiny little city. And you spent your whole

00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:39.039
career there. Yeah, I spent a few years. My first

00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.799
job was teaching in New Haven, Connecticut at

00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:45.599
Yale University. It's where I had a job offer

00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.400
was given to me. It was a rundown city at the

00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.900
time. Now it's rejuvenated, but it was a difficult

00:17:50.900 --> 00:17:53.079
place to live at the time. Dangerous, in fact.

00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.400
I once got held up at gunpoint. So that made

00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:59.400
me think, I don't think I want to stay here too,

00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.829
too long. Quick break here to thank our presenting

00:18:02.829 --> 00:18:05.589
sponsor, Man Lake. Whether you're a beekeeper

00:18:05.589 --> 00:18:08.869
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00:18:08.869 --> 00:18:11.970
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00:18:12.450 --> 00:18:16.049
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00:18:16.049 --> 00:18:18.630
pollinator -friendly plants that thrive in your

00:18:18.630 --> 00:18:21.769
area, and its plant identification feature is

00:18:21.769 --> 00:18:24.589
super helpful and fun. When I see a plant covered

00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:27.690
in bees, I fire up the app, find out what it

00:18:27.690 --> 00:18:30.289
is, then plant them in my yard. If you haven't

00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:32.450
already downloaded the Man Lake app, give it

00:18:32.450 --> 00:18:35.329
a try today. Oh, and did I mention it's free?

00:18:36.109 --> 00:18:38.230
And if you're shopping for beekeeping supplies,

00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:41.829
don't forget your discount code MLBlove10. It's

00:18:41.829 --> 00:18:45.269
in the show notes for $10 off your first $100

00:18:45.269 --> 00:18:48.309
purchase. All right, let's switch gears for a

00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:51.069
minute. Let's talk about a hobby that I have

00:18:51.069 --> 00:18:55.170
not taken up yet called bee lining or bee hunting.

00:18:56.230 --> 00:18:59.420
For those that haven't heard about this. Tell

00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:03.640
us what in the world this is. Bee lining is an

00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:07.240
old craft that goes back hundreds of years, whereby

00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:10.420
before people had bees and hives, before Langstroth

00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:14.920
invented a hive, the way people got honey was

00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:20.000
to line bees, to follow bees that you see on

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.700
flowers. Follow them back their flight lines

00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:26.680
home to their hive to their usually in a tree

00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:29.339
and then collect the nest and steal the honey

00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:32.000
So bee lining is the process of following the

00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.200
bees from where you first see them on flowers

00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:38.240
Back to their home and it's it's a craft. It's

00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:42.079
a skill and it's another great way to enjoy To

00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.460
have fun with honeybees because when you'd be

00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:46.500
line, you're just you're feeding bees sugar water

00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:49.180
and they're happy and you get to watch how they

00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:51.680
load up and fly away and there's no danger of

00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.940
being stung, anything like that. I'd like to

00:19:53.940 --> 00:19:55.759
say it takes you to places you wouldn't otherwise

00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.480
go. Can you tell me about the process? You just

00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.019
mentioned sugar water. How do you do this? Do

00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:03.900
you just set up in the forest someplace? What

00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:07.619
do you do? You start by trapping bees in a little

00:20:07.619 --> 00:20:11.900
box and it could be just a cardboard box or whatever.

00:20:12.339 --> 00:20:15.759
You go out to find bees on flowers. You trap

00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:18.299
them in a box. It's called a bee box if you want

00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:21.140
to have a special one. And once the bees are

00:20:21.140 --> 00:20:24.680
in there, you put a comb filled with sugar water

00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:28.140
in your little box. The bee box, a bee hunter's

00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:30.599
box, has two chambers. You capture bees in the

00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:33.220
box. You lure them to the rear chamber. That

00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:35.039
allows you to put food in the front chamber.

00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:37.240
And then you let the bees move from the rear

00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.200
chamber to the front chamber. They walk onto

00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:42.859
your comb that's filled with thick sugar syrup.

00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:45.700
They think they've found heaven. You leave the

00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:47.660
box closed for a few minutes. You'll open it

00:20:47.660 --> 00:20:50.079
up. They come out. They're usually not freaked

00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:53.579
out. They circle around. They fly home. And then

00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:55.660
unless there's a honey flow on, they will come

00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:57.880
back. And then once you've got a traffic of bees

00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:01.180
between their home and your bee box, you can

00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:03.180
then see the direction they're flying home. And

00:21:03.180 --> 00:21:06.319
you can move your box step by step, maybe once

00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.579
every hour or so, another 100 yards or more if

00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:13.519
it's open territory. back down their flight line

00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:18.000
and bit by bit you work your way back to their

00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.160
home. Depending on where you are, it might be

00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:22.440
in somebody's apiary or it might be a bee tree

00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.240
in somebody's barn, something like that. So how

00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:28.640
long does that usually take? You mentioned moving

00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.279
it every hour. Is this a whole day, multiple

00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.660
day? Yeah, that's an important question. I'm

00:21:34.660 --> 00:21:36.980
just trying to pull up the numbers. I think the

00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:41.519
shortest bee hunt I ever did was an hour because

00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:47.329
I started the bee line unknowingly, only about

00:21:47.329 --> 00:21:49.650
100 yards from their home. The longest one, I

00:21:49.650 --> 00:21:52.089
think, took two years. I wasn't working at it

00:21:52.089 --> 00:21:56.049
steadily, of course. Two years? Oh my gosh. Well,

00:21:56.069 --> 00:21:58.289
in the sense that I couldn't find it the first

00:21:58.289 --> 00:22:02.049
year, and so I went back and tried again and

00:22:02.049 --> 00:22:05.490
found it in the second year. The bees were...

00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:08.880
nesting very high up in a hemlock tree. So it

00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:11.619
took a couple of tries, basically. But on average,

00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:13.880
I think I've got some words in that book that

00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:19.339
it usually takes me maybe five hours, something

00:22:19.339 --> 00:22:22.420
like that. So not a full day, but a good full

00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:25.140
morning and part of an afternoon. As I say, the

00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:28.200
beauty of it is it takes you to places you wouldn't

00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:31.960
otherwise go to. And there's a kind of an exhilaration

00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:36.029
or a sense of exuberance you feel when you finally

00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:39.730
find the bees home. Because if it's in a forested

00:22:39.730 --> 00:22:41.869
setting, you know, there's thousands of trees

00:22:41.869 --> 00:22:43.670
out there, but there's only one that the bees

00:22:43.670 --> 00:22:46.089
are living in. And when you work your way back

00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:48.049
to it and you find it and you see the bees going

00:22:48.049 --> 00:22:49.789
in and out of a knothole or crack in that tree,

00:22:49.829 --> 00:22:52.690
you realize, I did it! I did it! This is a real

00:22:52.690 --> 00:22:55.789
accomplishment. That, for the modern bee hunter,

00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:57.970
is not the honey at the end of the honey. It's

00:22:57.970 --> 00:23:01.009
the discovery of the bees. But I knew some old

00:23:01.009 --> 00:23:04.250
timers who didn't have much money. That's how

00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:05.970
they would get their sweetener. They would find

00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:08.910
a bee tree. They wouldn't kill the, cut it down

00:23:08.910 --> 00:23:11.130
and they would usually chop it open and take

00:23:11.130 --> 00:23:13.470
out some of the honeycombs, put them in a pot

00:23:13.470 --> 00:23:15.970
and bring it home. That's another approach to

00:23:15.970 --> 00:23:19.150
the whole bee hunting endeavor. That sounds like

00:23:19.150 --> 00:23:22.390
it takes so much patience. It does take patience,

00:23:22.509 --> 00:23:24.789
but sometimes patience is easy to have. If you're

00:23:24.789 --> 00:23:27.029
out in nature, you listen to what the birds are

00:23:27.029 --> 00:23:29.430
calling. You look at the, you study the trees

00:23:29.430 --> 00:23:32.039
around you. You got these neat little bees coming

00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:34.359
and going, and they become individuals because

00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:37.480
you want to figure out how long it takes the

00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.299
bee to go home. and come back, you have to label

00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:43.180
the bees with little dots of paint, and you get

00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:45.980
to really know them as individuals. Some work

00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:48.680
rapidly and efficiently, and some poke around.

00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:51.460
If you're an enthusiast, one would find it very

00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:54.140
interesting. And I think one of the coolest things

00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:56.299
about it, Eric, as maybe I've mentioned this,

00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.700
maybe I'm repeating myself, you're now looking

00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:02.039
at the behaviors of individual worker bees. You're

00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:04.819
not confronted with hundreds of worker bees walking

00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:07.059
around on a comb in front of you. you really

00:24:07.059 --> 00:24:10.160
get to know them as individuals. Yeah and when

00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.740
you're looking at hundreds it's hard to look

00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:15.339
at them as individuals. Right. It's hard to keep

00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:18.859
track of just one. Exactly. I try to do that

00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:21.700
sometimes just observing them outside a hive

00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:25.960
like I want to watch just one it's circling around

00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:30.059
is it coming is it going and it can be very distracting

00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:32.039
when there's a hundred of them doing that it's

00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:35.559
hard to keep your eye on one. So are you following

00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:38.240
this bee lining? You're starting with one bee.

00:24:38.299 --> 00:24:41.960
Does it come back with some of her friends? Yeah,

00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:44.519
unless there's a honey flow on, you are usually

00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:47.019
the best food source around if you're offering

00:24:47.019 --> 00:24:51.140
honey in a comb. And so yeah, she will go home,

00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:53.740
maybe not on her first trip home, but sometimes

00:24:53.740 --> 00:24:56.420
she'll do a dance and advertise your feeder,

00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:59.720
your comb. Other bees start showing up, unmarked

00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:01.660
bees. So, you know, those are novices that she's

00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:05.019
brought to the site. And then you can label them.

00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:08.119
As I say, once you've got a nice little good

00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:11.299
traffic of bees flying between your feeding station

00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:13.160
and their home, then you can move the feeding

00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:18.039
station closer in stages, closer and closer to

00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:20.940
their home. And that's the process of bee lining.

00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:24.640
Okay. Let's shift gears a little bit because

00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:29.559
I'm picturing bees inside of a tree. Can you

00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:33.259
give us an idea of How different is it for bees

00:25:33.259 --> 00:25:36.779
living in a tree versus these man -made boxes

00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:40.359
that we use? I mean, it's obviously a different

00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:43.140
place, but does it affect their behavior also?

00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:46.240
Yes, I think it does. You know, the Langstroth

00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.059
hive is a brilliant invention from the perspective

00:25:49.059 --> 00:25:52.660
of enabling humans to manage in the colonies

00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:56.140
of bees, but it was designed not with a lot of

00:25:56.140 --> 00:26:00.299
consideration of the bees. What's ideal for the

00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:03.960
bees? For example, in nature, when the bees choose

00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:07.079
a home site, they choose sites that are high

00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:09.200
off the ground, so they're safe. They're not

00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:12.460
likely to be detected by bears. They also choose

00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:15.819
sites that are relatively small, cavities that

00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:19.359
are small, only the size of one deep 10 -frame

00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.440
hive body, for example. That's typical in a tree

00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:26.140
cavity. And that means that they don't produce

00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:29.210
huge colonies, but they They have enough space

00:26:29.210 --> 00:26:33.049
to make a colony, to build up, get crowded, produce

00:26:33.049 --> 00:26:36.589
a swarm, store up honey. They still have enough

00:26:36.589 --> 00:26:39.789
space to store up about 40 pounds of honey. And

00:26:39.789 --> 00:26:43.450
as anybody knows, who's got lifted, hefted a

00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:46.690
full 10 -frame honey super. The other thing that's

00:26:46.690 --> 00:26:49.029
really strikingly different is the insulation

00:26:49.029 --> 00:26:52.150
of the nest. In the wild, I've dissected about

00:26:52.150 --> 00:26:55.549
20 bee trees. natural nests. And I think the

00:26:55.549 --> 00:26:58.210
average wall thickness, wood wall thickness was

00:26:58.210 --> 00:27:00.690
about, I can't remember, was four inches or six

00:27:00.690 --> 00:27:04.650
inches, but it much better insulation. So small

00:27:04.650 --> 00:27:07.690
entrance, smallish cavity, really good insulation

00:27:07.690 --> 00:27:11.170
and high off the ground, so less conspicuous

00:27:11.170 --> 00:27:14.529
to predators. So how does that affect their life

00:27:14.529 --> 00:27:17.490
cycle and just their overall behavior? Well,

00:27:17.730 --> 00:27:20.549
with life cycle, the main thing is that Well,

00:27:20.569 --> 00:27:22.569
one of the two main things that I can think of

00:27:22.569 --> 00:27:25.390
at this point is one is it means that colonies

00:27:25.390 --> 00:27:28.829
are gauged or set themselves up for swarming.

00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:32.269
As we all know, so much of our beekeeping management

00:27:32.269 --> 00:27:36.029
is swarm prevention. So we give colonies extra

00:27:36.029 --> 00:27:39.490
space. We also give them extra space for storing

00:27:39.490 --> 00:27:42.430
honey, more honey than they will need. So the

00:27:42.430 --> 00:27:46.450
bees in the wild are small. They're apt to swarm.

00:27:46.509 --> 00:27:48.690
They only store up as much honey as they need.

00:27:49.019 --> 00:27:50.980
And the other thing is one that I've mentioned

00:27:50.980 --> 00:27:54.140
is the safety of being high off the ground and

00:27:54.140 --> 00:27:56.960
in an inconspicuous nest entrance, for example.

00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.000
And then one last thing is a couple more, actually.

00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:04.119
Within the nest, they have They will build as

00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:06.160
much drone comb as they want, which is usually

00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:09.539
about 15 % of their comb area is devoted to drone

00:28:09.539 --> 00:28:12.559
comb. So they will produce, they'll have greater

00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:14.859
reproductive genetic success because they're

00:28:14.859 --> 00:28:18.279
rearing more drones in a wild colonies nest than

00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:21.019
in a managed colonies nest. The other one, maybe

00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:23.420
I'm repeating myself, is the very good insulation

00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:27.500
of a wild colonies nest. So how would you suggest

00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:31.099
hobby or even commercial beekeepers take that

00:28:31.099 --> 00:28:34.400
information? and use it in their beekeeping.

00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:36.980
Now I realize the whole idea of the Langstroth

00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:41.160
hive is, yes, they do pretty well in it, but

00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:44.200
it's really convenient for us for getting that

00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:48.519
honey out, right? So, I mean, for example, it's

00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:51.839
not practical for us to have a four or six inch

00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:56.259
thick walls on a bee box, you know, weigh a couple

00:28:56.259 --> 00:28:59.900
hundred pounds more than it already does. So

00:28:59.900 --> 00:29:02.900
how do we use that information? Well, if you're

00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:05.799
a beekeeper in a northern climate, I think one

00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:07.759
thing you want to do is, or a cold climate, I

00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:10.960
should say, is to add insulation. As you said,

00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:13.720
it doesn't make sense to achieve that insulation

00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:17.339
by adding solid wood, but you can get very good

00:29:17.339 --> 00:29:20.500
foam insulation and put it on the outside of

00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:23.240
a hive, maybe even just for the winter. I've

00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:25.460
modified my hives. I use eight -frame hives,

00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:28.380
and I've put two inches of foam insulation on

00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:30.450
all the sides, and then I've... covered that

00:29:30.450 --> 00:29:32.490
over, that insulation over with quarter inch

00:29:32.490 --> 00:29:35.730
plywood. So it makes the hive a little bulkier

00:29:35.730 --> 00:29:38.269
than it would have without the insulation. But

00:29:38.269 --> 00:29:40.529
I live in a cold climate and the bees, they don't

00:29:40.529 --> 00:29:43.269
even go into a tight cluster in the winter inside

00:29:43.269 --> 00:29:45.309
that hive because there it stays warm enough

00:29:45.309 --> 00:29:47.690
in there. That's one way to do it is to just

00:29:47.690 --> 00:29:50.730
add the blue foam insulation that is used in

00:29:50.730 --> 00:29:53.109
house construction on the outside walls, put

00:29:53.109 --> 00:29:55.589
on an inch or two inches of it and then cover

00:29:55.589 --> 00:29:59.210
it with wood so it's protected. What about ventilation?

00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.039
Do we seal that thing up pretty tight or do they

00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:05.960
need ventilation on the bottom and the top both?

00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:08.660
This has been a controversy on this show. I've

00:30:08.660 --> 00:30:11.180
had people on talk about really different theories

00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:15.059
on this. My answer is going to again come. Eric

00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:17.259
from the bees. The bees tell me they don't want

00:30:17.259 --> 00:30:19.559
a top entrance because they go out of their way

00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:22.259
to seal up as everybody beekeeper in the northern

00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:25.279
cold climates knows. They seal up all those cracks

00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:27.599
on the with the inner cover and the outer cover.

00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:30.819
They don't they don't want a top entrance. And

00:30:30.819 --> 00:30:34.339
I'll tell you and I learned why they don't. It's

00:30:34.339 --> 00:30:37.200
because in the winter, at least in a cold climate

00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.000
setting where they can't go outside to get water.

00:30:40.829 --> 00:30:44.650
They rely on some condensation inside the hive

00:30:44.650 --> 00:30:47.390
for their winter water need. And I know that

00:30:47.390 --> 00:30:50.869
because in my office at Cornell, I keep an observation

00:30:50.869 --> 00:30:53.329
hive. And I like to keep it year round, keep

00:30:53.329 --> 00:30:55.369
the colony in there year round. And what I've

00:30:55.369 --> 00:30:57.950
learned in watching in the winter, because this

00:30:57.950 --> 00:31:00.630
hive is in a heated room, there's no condensation

00:31:00.630 --> 00:31:03.230
inside that hive. And those bees get wicked thirsty.

00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:06.589
And I know that because they, until I got smart

00:31:06.589 --> 00:31:08.960
enough to realize that I wasn't giving them kind

00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:10.940
of that they're having a problem. They would

00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:13.940
go out on the first any warm day in the winter,

00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:17.380
sunny day. And then when there was snow melting,

00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:20.200
they'd go out on the dry, the black asphalt and

00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:22.920
drink, drink, drink water. Then the most vigorous

00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.039
waggle dances I've ever seen, ever, ever seen

00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.460
were performed by winter water collectors. They

00:31:29.460 --> 00:31:31.779
were so thirsty and they really wanted to get

00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:33.819
make sure everybody got the word that the water

00:31:33.819 --> 00:31:36.119
was available. I guess that's a long answer.

00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.220
I respect the bees. They don't want it. They

00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:40.339
don't want air leaking out the top of their hive.

00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:42.920
They seal the top of their hive. If you can let

00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:45.720
them have some water, don't worry about the condensation.

00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:48.759
They want the condensation is useful to the bees,

00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:50.819
at least in cold climates. That's their winter

00:31:50.819 --> 00:31:54.539
water source. So we want some. We don't want

00:31:54.539 --> 00:31:57.200
so much that it's dripping on them. Well, the

00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:59.839
cluster where it's where the bees are and the

00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.740
cluster is, there's enough warmth that there's

00:32:01.740 --> 00:32:03.980
not condensation right above the cluster. So

00:32:03.980 --> 00:32:06.779
it's not dripping on the bees. And if it drips

00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:09.660
on the combs around the bees, no big deal. That

00:32:09.660 --> 00:32:13.819
makes the water that they need for the winter

00:32:13.819 --> 00:32:15.980
more accessible. Because you have to always keep

00:32:15.980 --> 00:32:17.920
in mind, what are these poor bees eating all

00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:23.900
winter? They're eating an 84%, 82 % sugar solution.

00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:27.180
There's almost no water in honey. And they need

00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:30.779
water, just as we need water. And so some condensation

00:32:30.779 --> 00:32:34.519
inside a hive may not look very homey or comfortable.

00:32:34.779 --> 00:32:37.819
or appealing to a human being, but at least in

00:32:37.819 --> 00:32:40.859
the cold climates where I live, it's very important

00:32:40.859 --> 00:32:43.640
to the bees. As I say, it's their winter water

00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:46.539
source. I saw that when I intentionally did an

00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:48.539
experiment where I deprived them of that and

00:32:48.539 --> 00:32:51.559
how desperate they got for water when they didn't

00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:54.859
have it in their hive. You mentioned dissecting

00:32:54.859 --> 00:32:57.859
trees or trees with bees in them. How do you

00:32:57.859 --> 00:33:00.700
do that? Do you just cut it down and chop it

00:33:00.700 --> 00:33:03.329
open or what? This is sort of one of the dark

00:33:03.329 --> 00:33:06.329
sides of my research program. Early on in my

00:33:06.329 --> 00:33:09.430
studies of investigating how bees live in nature,

00:33:10.509 --> 00:33:15.410
a key early step was to go out, find bee trees,

00:33:15.710 --> 00:33:19.289
cut them down. And here it really gets nasty.

00:33:20.049 --> 00:33:23.710
I would put cyanide gas in the tree, go up to

00:33:23.710 --> 00:33:25.450
the tree early in the morning before it was going

00:33:25.450 --> 00:33:27.789
to be cut down. I put in this material called

00:33:27.789 --> 00:33:31.599
cyanogas in there. and stuff a rag in the entrance.

00:33:31.940 --> 00:33:34.160
And I couldn't cut the tree down and collect

00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:36.940
it and do all that with the bees angry at me.

00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.400
So I'd come back later in a few hours, come with

00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:41.640
a chainsaw, cut it down, figure out what section

00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.319
of the tree actually was housing the bees, cut

00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:48.059
that out of the big tree, bring it back to the

00:33:48.059 --> 00:33:50.799
lab, split it open, and dissect the nest. And

00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:52.700
it was very revealing. That's how I learned that

00:33:52.700 --> 00:33:57.480
in nature, bees devote about 15 % of their comb

00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:02.109
area. to drone call. It also became clear how

00:34:02.109 --> 00:34:06.109
important propolis is. Every surface inside those

00:34:06.109 --> 00:34:09.489
tree cavity nests has a thick coating of propolis.

00:34:10.449 --> 00:34:14.710
They very carefully make little passageways.

00:34:15.110 --> 00:34:18.130
They build their combs wall to wall inside that

00:34:18.130 --> 00:34:21.949
cavity, unlike in a hive, but they make little

00:34:21.949 --> 00:34:25.190
galleries, little openings on the ends where

00:34:25.190 --> 00:34:27.809
the combs hit the walls. They leave openings

00:34:27.809 --> 00:34:30.309
so they can get around from one side of the comb

00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:33.510
to the next side. And the entrance is usually

00:34:33.510 --> 00:34:35.730
at the bottom of the cavity so that the heat

00:34:35.730 --> 00:34:38.590
isn't going out the top. Please don't feel guilty.

00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.280
for having to do that. You called it the dark

00:34:42.280 --> 00:34:45.079
side and things like that. And science needs

00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:48.239
to do that sometimes or dissect an animal or

00:34:48.239 --> 00:34:50.239
something. If I wanted to see what the nests

00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:53.099
were, I had to get the tree down. And if I got

00:34:53.099 --> 00:34:55.679
the tree down, there's going to be a bajillion,

00:34:55.780 --> 00:34:57.300
I mean, well, there's going to be thousands of

00:34:57.300 --> 00:35:00.019
stinging insects. And I just, I couldn't do those.

00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:02.260
Yeah, that wouldn't have worked. And I wanted

00:35:02.260 --> 00:35:04.260
to know what the intact colony was. I wanted

00:35:04.260 --> 00:35:06.809
to know. how many workers there were, how many

00:35:06.809 --> 00:35:08.809
drones there were, that sort of thing, how much

00:35:08.809 --> 00:35:11.590
brood there was. That was a limited scientific

00:35:11.590 --> 00:35:14.269
thing. The rest of us aren't going to go out

00:35:14.269 --> 00:35:16.690
and do that kind of thing. We don't need to.

00:35:16.690 --> 00:35:19.730
We can learn from your science and appreciate

00:35:19.730 --> 00:35:25.150
it. I know you are specifically, what's the term

00:35:25.150 --> 00:35:27.869
I'm looking for? Your focus has been more the

00:35:27.869 --> 00:35:31.050
behavior of bees, but as far as the physical

00:35:31.050 --> 00:35:34.739
aspect, Do you have any advice for us on Varroa

00:35:34.739 --> 00:35:38.000
control and maybe relating it to how bees do

00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:41.039
it in a natural environment versus in our apiary

00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:44.280
would give us some direction? Yeah, this is a

00:35:44.280 --> 00:35:47.679
really tricky topic, Eric, because I'll tell

00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:49.539
you what I do, but it's not going to work for

00:35:49.539 --> 00:35:51.900
most people. I guess about, I can't remember

00:35:51.900 --> 00:35:53.719
how many years ago, I just went cold turkey and

00:35:53.719 --> 00:35:56.880
I stopped treating and most of the colonies died

00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:59.460
off, but the ones that didn't. I made splits

00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:01.599
from those. Since then, I've not needed to treat

00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:06.280
for Varroa. I was inspired by this by a beekeeper

00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:10.079
up in Vermont, Kirk Webster, who's a commercial

00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:12.099
beekeeper. He runs several hundred colonies,

00:36:12.139 --> 00:36:14.280
and he did the same thing, but long before I

00:36:14.280 --> 00:36:17.380
did. There are colonies that are resistant to

00:36:17.380 --> 00:36:20.219
Varroa, and what they do, the workers in these

00:36:20.219 --> 00:36:22.579
colonies, they rip apart the Varroa. If they

00:36:22.579 --> 00:36:24.960
get a Varroa, they'll pull the legs off, they'll

00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:29.050
crush the body, and they throw them out. So that

00:36:29.050 --> 00:36:32.250
resistance does exist out there in nature. And

00:36:32.250 --> 00:36:34.389
so if you're a small scale beekeeper and you

00:36:34.389 --> 00:36:37.929
can buy a queen from Kirk Webster, he does sell

00:36:37.929 --> 00:36:40.329
them. Then that's, that's one room. If you can't

00:36:40.329 --> 00:36:42.449
do that, then I think, I think you just, you

00:36:42.449 --> 00:36:45.690
have to treat your colonies. And it's true that

00:36:45.690 --> 00:36:48.789
for a lot of beekeepers, that's just not going

00:36:48.789 --> 00:36:53.510
to be reasonable. And I know of some beekeepers

00:36:53.510 --> 00:36:56.670
that have said, Hey, I'm going to do that. and

00:36:56.670 --> 00:37:01.510
they had 10 colonies and all 10 died and spread

00:37:01.510 --> 00:37:06.309
viroa everywhere else around them too. So that

00:37:06.309 --> 00:37:10.210
isn't an answer for everybody in ideal situations.

00:37:10.349 --> 00:37:13.309
I think it's fantastic. Most of us have to treat

00:37:13.309 --> 00:37:16.969
in some way. Yeah and even if you're a non -treatment

00:37:16.969 --> 00:37:19.949
person you want to do some things like you ideally

00:37:19.949 --> 00:37:22.469
you don't put all your colonies right close together.

00:37:22.489 --> 00:37:26.980
So if one is collapsing the bees that are are

00:37:26.980 --> 00:37:29.800
drifting into your adjacent hives. Right, and

00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:32.219
the treatment -free beekeepers, it doesn't mean

00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:35.900
they don't do anything. They're doing something

00:37:35.900 --> 00:37:38.079
like the genetics that you're talking about.

00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:40.699
They're doing brood breaks. They're doing other

00:37:40.699 --> 00:37:44.960
things that can help those colonies along, just

00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:50.130
maybe not chemically. That's it for part one

00:37:50.130 --> 00:37:53.130
of our discussion with Tom. Next week's episode

00:37:53.130 --> 00:37:55.369
will feature the conclusion of our discussion,

00:37:55.829 --> 00:37:58.730
where we get into a whole other set of topics,

00:37:58.869 --> 00:38:01.190
you're not going to believe how many, and even

00:38:01.190 --> 00:38:03.809
find out his favorite wild and crazy beekeeping

00:38:03.809 --> 00:38:07.429
story. Until then, remember to subscribe and

00:38:07.429 --> 00:38:10.489
follow this podcast. Also a shout out to V2B

00:38:10.489 --> 00:38:13.280
Health for their support of the show. Vida's

00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.679
Varroa control range of products includes Apistan,

00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:20.920
Apigard, and now Varroxan extended release oxalic

00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:24.239
acid strips. Thanks guys, enjoy this beautiful

00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:27.119
summer, enjoy your bees. Thanks again for joining

00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:29.960
us on Bee Love Beekeeping presented by our good

00:38:29.960 --> 00:38:33.039
friends over at Man Lake. And remember, if you're

00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:35.980
not just in it for the honey or the money, you're

00:38:35.980 --> 00:38:38.300
in it for the love. See you next week.