Fake Honey • 70% Bee Loss • ABF President Debbie Seib

WEBVTT

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in a world brimming with complexity few creatures

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embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless

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precision she dances from bloom to bloom each

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motion guided by millennia upon millennia of

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instinct each act in service to the whole and

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then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards

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of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist,

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part poet, they move along their hives with the

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efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to

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the bees' needs as best they can comprehend,

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and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the

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Sahara, sometimes running off, flapping and flailing

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like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their

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journey. We are so fortunate to have today's

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guest, Debbie Saib, president of the American

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Beekeeping Federation. We'll be discussing everything

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from adulterated and fraudulent honey to varroa

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and tropimites, basically anything and everything

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that's important to today's beekeeping. Also,

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hey, I just wanted to mention that last night

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I saw the first episode of National Geographic's

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new Secrets of the Bees documentary series. And

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I must say the videography is beautiful and amazing,

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especially being able to see many things from

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the perspective of actually being inside the

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hive. Highly recommended. Give it a look and

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let me know what you think. And speaking of inside

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the hive, great segue, huh? Let's take a minute

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for our very own inside the hive feature, which

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is brought to us every week by Primal Bee. Here

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is something amazing about honey bees. The temperature

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inside the brood nest has to be exactly 95 degrees

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Fahrenheit, that's 35 degrees Celsius. Not about

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or close to 95, not maybe in the area, but exactly

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95 degrees. Baby bees developing inside their

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cells are incredibly sensitive. Drop the temperature

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just a few degrees and you start seeing problems.

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Wings don't form right, shorter lifespans, bees

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that can't learn navigation as well, which means

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they get lost on foraging flights and never come

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home. Drop at a few more degrees and a lot of

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them don't even make it out of the cell at all.

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So the colony pays whatever cost it takes to

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keep that temperature in the right range. In

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cold weather, nurse bees press their bodies against

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cat brood cells and vibrate their flight muscles

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to generate heat. They are living space heaters.

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In hot weather, they fan and spread water to

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bring the temperatures back down. This effort

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runs around the clock and it's one of the biggest

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energy drains or as we like to say energy bills

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in the whole hive. In the wild bees choose nesting

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spots with thick walls that hold temperature

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naturally. The less work they have to do to hit

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95 degrees, the more energy they have for everything

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else. Making honey, raising brood, fighting off

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problems and beekeeping, thermodynamics really

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do matter. I'd like to welcome our very special

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guest today, Debbie Seib. How are you, Debbie?

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Great. Nice to see you. Coming to us from the

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very, very cold Indiana right now. Yes. I know

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you've had some crazy storms out there this winter.

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We're going to be talking about everything from

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ABF because you're the new president. Congratulations

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to your own beekeeping business and your own

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love of bees and a little bit of everything in

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between. Where do you want to start? Well, I

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could start with introduction. I would love that.

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Tell us a little bit about you. Yeah, my name

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is Debbie Seib. I am co -owner of Seib's Fisher

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Honey and I am currently the new president for

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the American Beekeeping Federation. I got started

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in bees about 37 years ago, about 39, oops, when

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I met my husband and he was a beekeeper. So on

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one of our dates, he said, let's go get into

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some beehives. And I turned it in and said, are

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you crazy? But I did fall in love with them.

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They're very cool. I like the little creatures.

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I have went through a transition of where when

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I first started, I wore a full suit, gloves,

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hat, veil. And it was the old hot cotton ones

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to graduating to a ventilated. suit and then

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graduating to a ventilated jacket. And that was

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a big thrill for me many years ago. Yeah. So

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that's, that's pretty much how I got into beekeeping.

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How are you with gloves? I use gloves all the

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time. I always use gloves. We've talked about

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this, it seems like a lot recently. PPE. I don't

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want anybody to feel like they are not the coolest

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beekeeper around if they're decked out from head

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to toe. I think everybody should be comfortable

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and if that means just a jacket or if that means

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just a veil or if it means head to toe and thick

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leather gloves, good for you. There's no shame

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and there's also no prizes for some of the people

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on YouTube that are trying to look like they

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can wrangle any kind of bees they want with perfect

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hair and makeup and everything else. Yeah, I

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do not look like this when I'm in the beehives,

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I will tell you that. But I will also tell you,

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this is the fun fact that you will know and a

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lot of people are shocked at. I've never been

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stung by a honeybee. And after doing it for 39

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years, I get the eyebrow raise just like what

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you did. Basically is because I love my bees.

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I'm very comfortable with them. I can go out

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there and I have no problem getting into the

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hives. I can pop them open. I can get, I can

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help my husband do splits. I cannot raise queens.

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I'm not very good at that because I don't have

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the eyesight for it. I wear a jacket with hat

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that has the veil on it, the fencing veil, and

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I wear gloves. They're not heavy, but they're

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heavy enough to where I'm comfortable to not

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get stung. I don't have heart palpitations when

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I go out there because I'm suited. I wear jeans,

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of course, and when it's really hot, I wear a

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short sleeve t -shirt underneath my jacket. That

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is why I do that because I've tried once before.

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not doing it and I got about halfway down to

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the apiary and I could hardly breathe and I'm

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like, why am I doing this to impress somebody

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else who's not even here? So yeah, I'm very comfortable.

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I love my bees. Good for you. Sounds like they

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love you too. If you ever get down to Texas or

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Southern California or Arizona where they have

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Africanized bees, hopefully you still won't ever

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have a sting. We'll see. Well, I have some friends

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that were around Africanized bees and they suited

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up and they had two layer of gloves on and said

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they still got stung. So I'm not sure if I want

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to try it, but someday I may. Well, I want to

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hear a little bit about your beekeeping business

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first. So I will tell you that we grew from having

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just 10 hives to around 150 to 200. Depending

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on the time of year, sometimes we get up to 250

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or three because we split our hives and sell

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off nukes. We have eight different apiaries.

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We do pollination, but we keep all our pollination

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in the state of Indiana. We have never taken

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our bees outside. So some of them, when my husband

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lived in Kentucky, originated down there. Of

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course, those bees... are gone now but they did

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come up into Indiana they were inspected and

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then they were came up to Indiana but we don't

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take them outside for pollination or anything

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like that we sell honey we sell high products

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we have people that stop by the our home to get

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our high products and our honey so we're pretty

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just all around beekeeping we are a man -like

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dealer so we sell equipment so once a year we

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would do what was called the newbie day we would

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bring new beekeepers to our home, and we would

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do about two hours of education session, and

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then we would take them out, we would do a ram

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-robin. So we would teach them about different

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types of equipment, show them how to put it together,

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do some hands -on, and then the third part was

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we take them out and do a hive inspection. Basically

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what we're looking for is a couple things. First

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of all, are they really interested, and they

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so scared that this is really just not a hobby

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for them to get into because I hate getting somebody

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started into it and then a couple years later

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you see all their equipment on Facebook marketplace

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or you know being sold somewhere and I'd really

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like not to do that but so far we've had really

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good luck because all of the people when going

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through our school are still beekeepers That's

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really good that education really makes a difference

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I have a friend who got started in beekeeping

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and I had no idea that he was doing it and After

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his second season I ran into him at another place

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doesn't matter And he said oh, yeah, I tried

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that beekeeping didn't work for me All we did

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is we got one jar of honey and all the bees died

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and I'm like I didn't even know where to start

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because You know the education is just such an

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important part to being not only successful But

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dealing with loss when loss happens So you're

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not just giving up and I like to ask people.

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What is your why? Why are you getting into it?

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If it's only for the honey and that's all you

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care about I Tell people to go to the store and

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buy some Yeah, interestingly, one of the slides

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that we have in our education class was talking

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about why are you getting into beekeeping? Is

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it because love of the bees? Do you want to see

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in help with pollination? Is it to make money?

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And if it's to make money, you're probably in

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the wrong business, unless you want to go really

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big. So those are things that you need to know

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before you get started. Most beekeepers that

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start out, if you don't get them past their third

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year, they will stop being beekeeping. And so

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a couple pieces of advice we always tell them

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is find a local club. That is key. Get around

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other people that are excited about beekeeping.

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Find a mentor. Some people say that they will

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educate, but they will not mentor. And that's

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great. Other people are great mentors. The biggest

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thing is just have somebody that works with you,

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that works your same schedule. So if you're an

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on 12 hours and off 12 hours, you need somebody

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else that can do that. well. And then somebody

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that's like you. So for instance, if you're someone

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who wants to get the bees, but you want to kind

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of joke around a little bit, you need a mentor

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that's going to do that. Because if you've got

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a mentor that's just, you know, let's just do

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this and this and this, that's not going to be

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as much fun for you or them. So you can make

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it work. You can always make beekeeping work.

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And I challenge everybody out there. You can

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do it. What's the fun part for you? Oh, wow.

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Spring. Spring when you start seeing these hives

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start busting out and the queens are laying again

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and the bees are out. Today you cannot see it,

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but it is snowing here. Yesterday we had 70 degree

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weather. So I always say our bees are so confused

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right now, but yesterday as I was standing out

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in the yard and I could see the bees going in

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and out, it was really cool. That's the fun part

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for me. It's making sure that the fun part is

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to see hives that made it through the winter.

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All the things that you do, no matter what, that

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they made it through the winter. That's the fun

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part. Let's talk about spring for a minute. We

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all know that is a time that if we're not careful

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those bees are actually going to starve and it

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is heartbreaking if they make it through winter

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and then come March they starve out. So would

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you just tell me some of the things that you

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and your husband do this time of year and and

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this is being recorded in the second half of

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March 2026. What kinds of things do you do as

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far as Varroa and food and I don't know when

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it's time for splits in your area, but kind of

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run us through some of that Gosh, let me start

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with the things that you ask and hope I don't

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forget any actually our spring starts in the

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fall Because if you don't have enough food on

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the bees in the fall They're not gonna make it

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to winter and if they make it through winter

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They may not make it through the springtime when

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you have cold and hot days You have to make sure

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that the food source is close enough to them

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because bees will move up in a ball as you know.

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So if you have a small frame, if you have a 10

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deep, 10 wide, and you've got two deep boxes

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on it, they'll go up. So once they go up, if

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it's not warm enough to them go to the side,

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they keep going up and at some point if you don't

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have food on the top, that's when they start

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starving. And that can happen anywhere in March

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when it starts warming up and they start getting

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more active and they need food and yet nothing's

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out there. So that's one thing that we want to

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make sure of is that we have enough food on it

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in the fall. But we do on a warm day, we'll go

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out and pop the top or we will, if it's too cold,

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we'll lift the back just to see if we feel like

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there's enough weight on there that they've still

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got food in there. We don't use candy boards,

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but we do something that's more like an igloo.

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We'll make an igloo of sugar and we'll put that

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in there. So it does a couple things. First of

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all, the bees will go up into the sugar. and

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they'll eat from the inside, that sugar will

00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.899
absorb moisture, so it does the second thing,

00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:50.379
but it gives them food if they get a warm day,

00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:52.019
but they can't, it's not warm enough for them

00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:54.399
to go outside of the hive, they can actually

00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.019
have some food source. We put in things like

00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:01.980
additives, Honey Bee Healthy, we use some supplements

00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:08.789
from Micro - Hive Alive. Yes, thank you. Yeah,

00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.470
so we put that in there as well to make sure

00:15:11.470 --> 00:15:13.929
that they're healthy because healthy bees make

00:15:13.929 --> 00:15:16.970
good bees. Basically, if they're not healthy,

00:15:17.090 --> 00:15:19.590
it doesn't matter. So that's a couple things

00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:22.210
that we do. And then the other thing you ask

00:15:22.210 --> 00:15:26.409
is, what do we do for treatments? This past summer,

00:15:27.289 --> 00:15:29.049
we, you know, you hear all these new treatments

00:15:29.049 --> 00:15:30.710
that are coming out and are they good or are

00:15:30.710 --> 00:15:32.389
they bad or are they working or are they not?

00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:35.230
So we wanted to do some tests. So with eight

00:15:35.230 --> 00:15:37.730
different apiaries, we can do tests on different

00:15:37.730 --> 00:15:40.809
ones and see which ones works, which ones didn't

00:15:40.809 --> 00:15:44.490
work. And the ones that worked, we didn't have

00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:47.720
any that didn't work. If you follow the directions,

00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:50.799
I just can't say that enough. Follow the directions.

00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.759
We use oxalic acid, we rotate. So sometimes we

00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:58.200
use oxalic acid and sometimes we use other, but

00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.980
we check. And that's the key. If you're going

00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:05.000
to treat, you have to check. Was it effective?

00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:06.879
Because it wasn't effective, then you need to

00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.200
treat again. And so that's something too, is

00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.870
make sure your mic counts are low. or as low

00:16:11.870 --> 00:16:14.049
as you can possibly get them. You certainly do

00:16:14.049 --> 00:16:16.850
not want, you know, 10. You don't want to do

00:16:16.850 --> 00:16:19.690
a mite count of 10. And then looking at other

00:16:19.690 --> 00:16:22.169
pests and diseases, it's not just the Varroa.

00:16:22.529 --> 00:16:25.210
You need to look, have they already spread some

00:16:25.210 --> 00:16:27.649
of the diseases? Do you have other pests in there

00:16:27.649 --> 00:16:30.230
you need to keep down? A lot of that is just

00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.909
keeping a healthy hive. So we had one hive this

00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:36.330
year. Actually, there was three of them in a

00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:40.759
row. They were just overridden by yellow jackets.

00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:44.740
So what, and yellow jackets and a healthy hive

00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:47.340
usually do not kill the hive, but the inside,

00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.639
the inner cover, inside the frames was just full

00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.759
of yellow jackets and it was a dead out. So when

00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:56.220
we got to looking around, we're like, oh, something's

00:16:56.220 --> 00:16:59.279
going on here. There was a yellow jacket nest

00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.860
right next to the hive in the ground and it was

00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:06.299
huge. So those are things other pests can also

00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:09.099
bother them. Scratching on the side says you've

00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:11.200
either got you know raccoons or something like

00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:13.359
that trying to get in the hives So in the spring

00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:15.900
we want to make sure we've got healthy hives

00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:19.000
We've got a healthy environment for them on warm

00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:22.480
days. We do go check them As much as we can if

00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:24.200
it's gonna be cold, we don't want to break the

00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.559
cluster But those are things we do to try to

00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.480
keep them alive in the March time frame because

00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:31.500
it is devastating We don't count our losses.

00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:33.900
We personally don't count our losses till the

00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:36.799
beginning of April, but it's devastating to go

00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.059
out Let's say you go out in February and you've

00:17:39.059 --> 00:17:41.779
got 90 % of your hives have made it and you're

00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:44.220
like woohoo. I only have a 10 % loss This is

00:17:44.220 --> 00:17:47.180
great. And then you go out in April and you see

00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:51.910
now you're at 50 % it it is It's sad and it is

00:17:51.910 --> 00:17:54.430
devastating to see that. You know, people come

00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:56.329
to me and say, hey, Debbie, what'd you think

00:17:56.329 --> 00:17:59.109
about this treatment or what would you recommend?

00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:02.769
I like to, I don't recommend a brand either.

00:18:02.829 --> 00:18:04.289
I don't think that's right and I don't think

00:18:04.289 --> 00:18:06.670
it's fair. I will tell them my experience with

00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:09.130
each one and I can't give them an experience

00:18:09.130 --> 00:18:11.990
if I haven't tried it. So. Well, and one thing

00:18:11.990 --> 00:18:14.309
that we learned especially last year is that

00:18:14.309 --> 00:18:17.160
we need to rotate treatments. Right. Something

00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.440
that worked three years ago may not work this

00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.019
year. There may be a resistance built up, or

00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:24.960
there may be something else going on. If we were

00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.720
naming brands, we would never say there's one

00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:31.099
and I'll be all for everything Virola. Because

00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:33.559
there isn't. Just doesn't work that way. Right.

00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:36.619
I wish it were that simple. Yeah, if something

00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:39.339
worked that well. I've had people tell me they've

00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:41.299
never lost their hives for Virola, they don't

00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:45.410
have mites. If that were really true, then that

00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:48.029
person would be a multi -billionaire because

00:18:48.029 --> 00:18:50.450
everybody would be doing what they're doing.

00:18:51.309 --> 00:18:54.170
And that's right. When something that works really

00:18:54.170 --> 00:18:56.529
well this year, you need to rotate so they don't

00:18:56.529 --> 00:19:00.369
get resistant. When do you do splits in your

00:19:00.369 --> 00:19:02.730
area? And I know it's weather dependent. This

00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:04.650
year with all the snow, it may be later than

00:19:04.650 --> 00:19:08.029
usual, but give me an idea of average. Ours is

00:19:08.029 --> 00:19:10.730
usually in May. We wait until we know that we

00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:13.150
have purple -eyed drones. Purple -eyed drones

00:19:13.150 --> 00:19:15.500
are drones that when you you know, open up the

00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:17.700
cell that got pupilized so far. Because that

00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:20.380
means they'll be sexually mature when your splits

00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:22.019
are occurring and you're having to graft for

00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:24.420
queens. You're grafting for queens, you have

00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:27.140
to get them mated. And if you don't have good

00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:29.519
drones, then you can't make them. So that's when

00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.319
we do splits. And again, everything is weather

00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.400
dependent. We've done them as early as April

00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.119
before because the weather was just great. But

00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.900
I don't know, this weather this year, we're gonna

00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:42.900
hold off. Yeah. You should come out here to the

00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:46.000
Rocky Mountains because I live in a high mountain

00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.980
valley, 5 ,700 feet elevation and we've had hardly

00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:52.400
any snow at all this year and it is supposed

00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.900
to get into the upper 70s this week. Wow. It's

00:19:56.900 --> 00:20:01.099
crazy. But there's nothing in bloom yet. So I

00:20:01.099 --> 00:20:04.039
have to make sure those foragers that are going

00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:06.259
out and burning up all those calories that they

00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:08.259
have something to eat when they get back home.

00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:12.029
Right. Yeah, we're a little concerned about that.

00:20:12.109 --> 00:20:15.390
It's such a different year. Well, that is one

00:20:15.390 --> 00:20:17.589
of the things that hurt some of the hives that

00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:20.089
were in sheds this year, is it just didn't get

00:20:20.089 --> 00:20:25.230
cold like it was supposed to. Let's talk about

00:20:25.230 --> 00:20:29.009
ABF. When did you get started with ABF and why?

00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:34.599
15 years ago, I went to my first ABF. Was encouraged

00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.180
to go by someone who is in our state association

00:20:37.180 --> 00:20:38.859
and said, oh you got to go You're just gonna

00:20:38.859 --> 00:20:42.960
love this and I'm like, okay, we'll go. I'm not

00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:46.680
real big on all those Sessions and going to session

00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:48.890
after session with something You know, I got

00:20:48.890 --> 00:20:51.390
to have something fun in between. Because you

00:20:51.390 --> 00:20:54.130
have to remember, I was not the original beekeeper.

00:20:54.269 --> 00:20:57.710
I was the married into beekeeper. So I went,

00:20:57.890 --> 00:20:59.569
my husband wanted to go. He's pretty excited

00:20:59.569 --> 00:21:02.789
about it. And that's how I got into it. I got

00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:08.509
into it more on the more level when I was walking

00:21:08.509 --> 00:21:12.259
by. and Michael North was standing outside of

00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:14.339
a door, and Michael North is, you know, part

00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:18.259
of ABF, and he said, are you from Indiana? And

00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:20.319
I said, well, I am, because I had a little name

00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:21.700
tag on it, and he said, oh, you have to come

00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:24.099
in here to the State Delegates Assembly. And

00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:26.579
I said, I have no idea what that is, and he said,

00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:29.480
well, let you know, so come on in. I admit a

00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:32.240
pet peeve of mine is that it seems all beehives

00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.319
are white. Yeah, boring old white. And just when

00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.480
I get a pet peeve, Man Lake comes to the rescue

00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:42.700
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00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:56.960
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00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:05.880
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00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:10.160
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00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.420
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00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:18.140
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00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:21.519
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00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:25.160
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00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:34.039
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00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:43.460
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00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:46.819
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00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:56.539
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00:23:16.410 --> 00:23:20.849
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00:23:20.849 --> 00:23:24.670
and use code be love at checkout. That's that

00:23:24.670 --> 00:23:27.529
kind of hooked me unfortunately that kind of

00:23:27.529 --> 00:23:29.730
hooked me and then I went back every year I went

00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:31.569
back to see friends I would never get to see

00:23:31.569 --> 00:23:34.329
if I didn't go there and I went back to see the

00:23:34.329 --> 00:23:36.269
the first time I went I did the kids and bees

00:23:36.269 --> 00:23:38.349
thing and I got all these ideals that he took

00:23:38.349 --> 00:23:40.210
back to Indiana and I said oh you guys you got

00:23:40.210 --> 00:23:42.690
it we got to do this for the kids and the auctions

00:23:42.690 --> 00:23:45.589
oh my gosh you know they always say women get

00:23:45.589 --> 00:23:49.089
crazy at auctions let me tell you those men those

00:23:49.089 --> 00:23:52.880
men get like that too but yes so I I that That's

00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:56.680
how I got in it and I absorbed everything. So,

00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:59.740
of course, once you go and you do that and you

00:23:59.740 --> 00:24:01.559
experience all the things about ABF at their

00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:03.839
conference, you're going to go again. And then

00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.859
you get more hooked into ABF and you want to

00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:09.240
get involved and you want to help out on committees

00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:12.019
and you just realize all the stuff that we do

00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:14.579
and you want to be a part of that. So I'm sure

00:24:14.579 --> 00:24:17.759
most commercial beekeepers know who and what

00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:21.339
ABF is. If somebody is a hobbyist out there,

00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:23.519
is this something they should get involved with?

00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:27.180
What can it do for them? So absolutely, ABF represents

00:24:27.180 --> 00:24:30.460
all levels. We represent a small scale, which

00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:32.980
would be hobbyist. We represent sideliners, which

00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:35.299
are the people that are hopefully growing into

00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:38.200
commercial beekeepers. And we represent our commercial

00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:41.259
beekeepers as well at all levels. So a lot of

00:24:41.259 --> 00:24:43.559
people think that we only do things for commercials,

00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.339
but about 10 years ago, I want to say, there

00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:49.240
was a bill going through Congress and one of

00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:52.000
the bills said that they wanted us to put added

00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.279
sugar onto our labels for honey. That meant everybody

00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:57.359
that meant everybody who was selling anything

00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.539
in a farmers market had to put added sugar Well,

00:25:00.539 --> 00:25:02.859
of course if you add sugar onto your label No

00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:04.440
one's gonna want to buy that because they think

00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:06.339
it's adulterated honey and you've done something

00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:09.259
to it. Why would I buy that? So we thought that

00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:12.599
I'm sorry to interrupt but it's also not true.

00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:15.880
It's true It's not true. You're not adding sugar

00:25:16.670 --> 00:25:19.589
Sorry, keep going. No, you're absolutely right.

00:25:20.049 --> 00:25:22.069
So those are some of the things. That's a small

00:25:22.069 --> 00:25:24.150
piece of what we do. The other thing that we

00:25:24.150 --> 00:25:30.109
do is we are constantly trying to get bills and

00:25:30.109 --> 00:25:33.069
research money passed when we go to Congress,

00:25:33.150 --> 00:25:35.549
when we go to Washington every year, and that

00:25:35.549 --> 00:25:39.470
helps small and small -scale beekeepers as well.

00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:42.539
You have some beekeepers that say, I don't want

00:25:42.539 --> 00:25:44.579
to treat. I want to be treatment -free. I want

00:25:44.579 --> 00:25:47.059
to be all -natural. And that's great. I am no

00:25:47.059 --> 00:25:50.160
problem against that. But I will tell you that

00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:54.619
if every hive was able to sustain by doing that,

00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:56.400
then we wouldn't have the problems that we have.

00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:59.240
And so what ABF does for the small beekeepers

00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:04.920
is we help with some of the research. And if

00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:06.640
you think about it, this is how this trickles

00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:09.720
down. What we do for commercial beekeepers helps

00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.599
commercial beekeepers stay in business and commercial

00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:15.099
beekeepers are where you get your hives from

00:26:15.099 --> 00:26:17.880
if you're a small scale or if you're a sideliner

00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:21.269
in small scale. Small scale can grow their own,

00:26:21.430 --> 00:26:23.789
but they normally, especially when they get started,

00:26:24.150 --> 00:26:27.069
will get them from either a sideline or a commercial.

00:26:27.509 --> 00:26:30.849
So all of that works to where we need all levels.

00:26:31.130 --> 00:26:34.589
And as a small scale beekeeper, the other things

00:26:34.589 --> 00:26:37.089
we do for small scale beekeepers is we put out

00:26:37.089 --> 00:26:39.789
a quarterly magazine. That quarterly magazine

00:26:39.789 --> 00:26:42.309
tells you a lot of different things that are

00:26:42.309 --> 00:26:44.690
in your area, things that are estate delegates,

00:26:44.849 --> 00:26:47.329
things are about a conference that are specifically

00:26:47.329 --> 00:26:50.660
for small scale beekeepers. We have workshops

00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:54.319
at our conference and these workshops are things

00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:56.359
that commercial beekeepers probably won't do

00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:59.079
anymore, like make lip balms and things like

00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:02.839
that, but render wax. Small -scale does and they

00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:04.480
need to know how to do that. Someone needs to

00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.660
teach them. So that's what we do for them as

00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:11.160
well. And we do a state delegates assembly which

00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.680
takes information back of what's going on in

00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:15.779
the industry and they take that back to all their

00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:19.940
states. We have 87 of them. So each of the states

00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:23.799
are mainly a small -scale and that's how they

00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:26.039
get the information back from ABF as well. So

00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:29.779
we do absolutely a lot. We have a monthly eBuzz

00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:34.420
that goes out. We have a lot of people that small

00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:36.819
-scale beekeepers can contact us. They can say,

00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:39.279
hey, we need a speaker. Can you help us out here?

00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:42.180
Myself and some of my other people on the board

00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:45.299
have went to talk to a lot of the state associations

00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:47.900
at small scale. So there's just a lot of things

00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:51.019
we do. What are some of the really pressing issues

00:27:51.019 --> 00:27:55.079
right now that you're lobbying for or either

00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:58.299
laws that you're seeing that may be a problem

00:27:58.299 --> 00:28:02.369
or laws that we need? Well, there are a lot of

00:28:02.369 --> 00:28:05.269
things that are hurting our industry right now.

00:28:05.569 --> 00:28:08.269
The first thing is that we are losing way too

00:28:08.269 --> 00:28:11.829
many bees. We cannot sustain the loss last year

00:28:11.829 --> 00:28:14.869
that we had. Over 70 % of our bees were lost

00:28:14.869 --> 00:28:17.730
last year. There's disputing whether it was 70

00:28:17.730 --> 00:28:21.880
% or 60%, even if it dropped to 50%. It's way

00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:24.880
too many. And if you took any other industry

00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:28.460
that lost that much in production, they'd be

00:28:28.460 --> 00:28:30.480
screaming all over the place and you'd have lots

00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:32.180
of money thrown at them. And yet beekeeping,

00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:34.880
we just can't get that. We need research on some

00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.380
of the pests and diseases that we have, and we

00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:40.319
need to put more research out there. The second

00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:43.259
big thing that's just really hurting a lot of

00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:45.680
our commercial beekeepers is fraudulent honey.

00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:49.039
We've got honey dumping going on from out of

00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.619
country. We've got fraudulent honey. We've got

00:28:51.619 --> 00:28:55.359
what we call fake honey is actually lots of different

00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.980
things number one It could be blended where if

00:28:57.980 --> 00:29:00.099
it's blended it says it's a hundred percent when

00:29:00.099 --> 00:29:04.359
it's really not the other is mislabeling Right

00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:08.740
now a big thing for Consumers is to say something

00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:12.339
organic if I say it's organic. You'll pay double

00:29:12.339 --> 00:29:15.150
price for it because you think it's better So

00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:18.170
when you see in a store anywhere where it says

00:29:18.170 --> 00:29:21.910
organic honey and you read the label and it says

00:29:21.910 --> 00:29:27.069
USDA grade a Organic honey you automatically

00:29:27.069 --> 00:29:30.990
know one thing that's imported It's imported

00:29:30.990 --> 00:29:34.589
because we do not have a standard in the United

00:29:34.589 --> 00:29:38.440
States for organic honey And we're not allowed

00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:41.720
to label our honey like that. So we're not allowed

00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:44.980
to partake in the additional price increase that

00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:47.559
we could get for organic honey. And in addition

00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:50.059
to that, it's false advertising because as a

00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:52.700
consumer, if I'm not a beekeeper and I don't

00:29:52.700 --> 00:29:56.299
know that, I think I'm getting a very good local

00:29:56.299 --> 00:29:59.460
product from the US that's really healthy for

00:29:59.460 --> 00:30:03.000
me. And that may not be the case. So that's one

00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.299
thing that's hurting our industry a lot. Fake

00:30:05.299 --> 00:30:09.619
honey, the anti -dumping, the dumping that's

00:30:09.619 --> 00:30:11.960
going on right now with things that are not really

00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:14.779
honey. Other countries have that issue as well.

00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:18.119
It's not just the U .S. So they're trying to

00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:20.019
clean up their act as we're trying to clean up

00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:22.859
ours. So we've got a lot of collaboration going

00:30:22.859 --> 00:30:25.299
on between us and Europe right now, which I'm

00:30:25.299 --> 00:30:28.029
very excited to see. The other thing that we

00:30:28.029 --> 00:30:30.569
have is a lot of our research funds are drawing

00:30:30.569 --> 00:30:33.670
up. As you know right now, they've got lots of

00:30:33.670 --> 00:30:36.650
tightening of belts, and I understand that, but

00:30:36.650 --> 00:30:38.589
why are we not tightening the belt somewhere

00:30:38.589 --> 00:30:42.180
else and still helping? food source that is going

00:30:42.180 --> 00:30:44.900
to be a food security issue if we don't keep

00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:47.180
our bees alive. And that's basically the thing.

00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:49.460
If we can't keep our bees alive, we can't make

00:30:49.460 --> 00:30:51.700
honey. If we can't make honey, then the beekeepers

00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:54.720
can't stay in business. It's just a very, it

00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:57.980
seems like it's so simple, but yet people really

00:30:57.980 --> 00:31:00.440
make it complicated. The other thing that we

00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:03.400
have a huge issue on is we don't have a standard

00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:06.380
of identity of honey. And I'm shocked about that.

00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:08.579
I'm a farm girl that's very black and white.

00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:12.240
And it says, If it's not from honeybee, it's

00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:15.099
not honey. And if you put something else in it,

00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:18.160
it's not honey. So stop calling it that. And

00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:20.619
yet we don't have that standard of identity.

00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:23.279
So we have worked with some of our senators,

00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:25.779
some of our congressmen. We've got a couple bills

00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:28.880
out there and we're trying to get them passed,

00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:31.779
but we're not making a whole lot of head headway

00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:33.839
right now. We keep pushing for it and we're going

00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:36.200
to keep pushing for it. But just so you know,

00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:39.140
that's a huge issue for us. That's some of the

00:31:39.140 --> 00:31:42.759
big ones. biggest one I guess I would say. Two,

00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:45.319
number one is we need to raise the awareness.

00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:47.880
We need to raise the awareness of the issues

00:31:47.880 --> 00:31:50.539
that the beekeepers are having about the honeybees

00:31:50.539 --> 00:31:53.220
that are dying every year and about adulterated

00:31:53.220 --> 00:31:56.720
honey. That's a huge thing. Just get that awareness

00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:00.240
out there. But I will tell you one of the, in

00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:03.180
my mind, again, my opinion is the biggest issue

00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:06.319
we have is ourselves as beekeepers. That seems

00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:09.319
kind of funny. But basically what happens is

00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:12.549
We can't work together. We just can't seem to

00:32:12.549 --> 00:32:14.829
play in the same sandbox without throwing sand

00:32:14.829 --> 00:32:18.869
in somebody's eyes. And until we learn to do

00:32:18.869 --> 00:32:21.690
that much better than what we are now, we are

00:32:21.690 --> 00:32:25.089
only hurting ourselves. We can't continue to

00:32:25.089 --> 00:32:28.269
divide. And one of the things that we need to

00:32:28.269 --> 00:32:31.789
do is we need to learn that when we go to Congress,

00:32:32.069 --> 00:32:35.450
we need to go to Congress as one entity and one

00:32:35.450 --> 00:32:39.269
voice and one industry. We are so small footprint.

00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.940
They just gnat us off like flies and we need

00:32:42.940 --> 00:32:44.940
to be able to grow together and we just don't

00:32:44.940 --> 00:32:46.819
seem to be able to do that yet. If you go out

00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:51.559
to Facebook, what I noticed, because I see some

00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:54.859
of the small scale or the newbies, the new beginner

00:32:54.859 --> 00:32:57.359
ones, they're so nice. They ask a question. You

00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.380
got like 20 people helping them out and giving

00:32:59.380 --> 00:33:01.339
them ideas. And you know, well, this is how I

00:33:01.339 --> 00:33:04.299
do it. May not be the only way. The higher up

00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:08.440
you go, it is vicious. Someone asked a question

00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:11.700
and you've got 20 people just knocking them down

00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:14.220
and I'm like, yeah That's not really helping

00:33:14.220 --> 00:33:17.480
us any so I will tell you in my opinion. That's

00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:20.619
one of our big issues is ourselves People don't

00:33:20.619 --> 00:33:23.299
like to hear that No, I appreciate you bringing

00:33:23.299 --> 00:33:27.240
all that up. I mean, that's a lot a lot to deal

00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:30.640
with and We appreciate you and the whole group

00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:33.759
doing something about it the whole organic thing.

00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:38.799
I think some beekeepers just don't know because

00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:42.680
I've seen at local farmers markets honey with

00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:46.400
an organic label on it. And I don't think they're

00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:49.559
trying to be deceptive. I think they go, well,

00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:52.519
I'm treatment free, therefore it's organic. Well,

00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:56.200
half a mile from you is a field being bombed

00:33:56.200 --> 00:34:00.559
with whatever kind of chemicals. That's a big

00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:04.319
deal. And I think probably some people, when

00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:06.900
you were talking about organic, were saying,

00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.260
well, wait a minute, I go to Costco and there's

00:34:10.260 --> 00:34:13.820
honey with an organic label on it. And that's

00:34:13.820 --> 00:34:17.210
because it's not from here, right? It'll say

00:34:17.210 --> 00:34:22.010
USDA grade A organic honey and you flip it over.

00:34:22.309 --> 00:34:24.670
One of the things I will tell you a mantra is

00:34:24.670 --> 00:34:27.449
know where your honey comes from and know what's

00:34:27.449 --> 00:34:30.570
in it. You flip it over and it'll say from Argentina,

00:34:31.190 --> 00:34:34.690
China, Brazil. I'm not knocking those countries,

00:34:35.110 --> 00:34:39.050
but if you think you're getting US organic honey,

00:34:39.510 --> 00:34:42.880
you're not. Think about even In order for you

00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:45.980
to have organic bees fly anywhere from debatable

00:34:45.980 --> 00:34:49.400
two to four miles in any direction. So in order

00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:52.500
for you to guarantee that that bee didn't get

00:34:52.500 --> 00:34:56.280
anything that had not been sprayed or treated,

00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:59.440
you would have to be a beehive in the middle

00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:03.780
of like thousands and thousands of acres. One

00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:06.800
beehive. So you can't be producing all this honey

00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:10.190
if that's the case. And you couldn't have a stream

00:35:10.190 --> 00:35:12.590
running through all those acres that came from

00:35:12.590 --> 00:35:14.949
somewhere else That may have gotten a little

00:35:14.949 --> 00:35:17.530
chemicals in it or something else He found an

00:35:17.530 --> 00:35:20.250
orchard and the orchard blooms were about done

00:35:20.250 --> 00:35:23.010
And so now they've been sprayed for because orchards

00:35:23.010 --> 00:35:24.989
do have to spray It's not a bad thing that they

00:35:24.989 --> 00:35:26.710
don't have to spray to keep the worms out because

00:35:26.710 --> 00:35:28.769
you won't buy an apple with a worm in it You

00:35:28.769 --> 00:35:31.250
know, so it's kind of a catch -22 that your bee

00:35:31.250 --> 00:35:35.090
went over and flew on and then came back so That's

00:35:35.090 --> 00:35:38.409
that's why people when they say organic I try

00:35:38.409 --> 00:35:40.730
not to say much, but my husband says, Debra,

00:35:40.730 --> 00:35:43.369
your face says it all because I kind of chuckle

00:35:43.369 --> 00:35:46.670
and walk on by. The thing that I tell everybody

00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:50.630
if they're going out to buy honey, so non beekeepers,

00:35:51.789 --> 00:35:55.070
is get to know the beekeeper. Farmers markets

00:35:55.070 --> 00:35:57.650
are great because you can talk to them and you

00:35:57.650 --> 00:36:00.309
can say, gee, where do you keep your bees? What

00:36:00.309 --> 00:36:02.989
kind of treatment do you use? Now, non beekeepers

00:36:02.989 --> 00:36:05.570
probably won't even understand that answer. But

00:36:05.570 --> 00:36:08.900
if the answer is well we use this and this and

00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:10.860
this then you know they're using chemicals if

00:36:10.860 --> 00:36:12.699
it is we don't use anything you know they're

00:36:12.699 --> 00:36:16.480
not etc etc. Anyway the more questions you ask

00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:19.800
the better decisions that you can make so be

00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:23.099
careful and look at labels carefully and yes

00:36:23.099 --> 00:36:27.360
USDA doesn't mean it was grown in the US. Correct.

00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:31.119
I noticed that you missed some other things that

00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:33.940
I assumed you were going to talk about like tropimites

00:36:33.940 --> 00:36:37.940
and yellow -legged hornets. Yeah, we do have

00:36:37.940 --> 00:36:40.400
a lot of invasive, we have a lot of pests that

00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:42.719
are here already that are invasive like Varroa.

00:36:42.820 --> 00:36:45.659
Varroa has been here for many years and we don't

00:36:45.659 --> 00:36:49.360
seem to have enough research to get rid of it.

00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:51.880
We can knock it down, we knock the levels down,

00:36:52.179 --> 00:36:54.179
but remember it's usually not the Varroa mites

00:36:54.179 --> 00:36:56.820
that kill the bees, it's the viruses that they

00:36:56.820 --> 00:37:00.719
vector. So when you're looking at your hive,

00:37:00.780 --> 00:37:02.480
that's why I said you need to look in the fall,

00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:05.599
you need to look in before the mites got in there

00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:08.360
and multiplied and passed all those viruses in

00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:11.699
there. The other thing was the yellow -legged

00:37:11.699 --> 00:37:15.159
hornet, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina now.

00:37:15.219 --> 00:37:18.019
It just seems to be spreading further and further.

00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:21.199
And I've heard people say, well, I think we've

00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:24.300
eradicated it here. It's not eradicated till

00:37:24.300 --> 00:37:27.059
it's all gone everywhere because it just, it's

00:37:27.059 --> 00:37:29.260
like, oh, it just moves. It started out in Florida,

00:37:29.340 --> 00:37:32.880
moved up to Minnesota, and then it just went

00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:35.190
from there. They've tried in the past things

00:37:35.190 --> 00:37:38.989
like burning hives, isolating hives for treatment,

00:37:39.250 --> 00:37:41.869
and that just doesn't work. We have to go after

00:37:41.869 --> 00:37:45.190
something that's going to kill the mites. And

00:37:45.190 --> 00:37:46.929
like I said, what the treatments are that we

00:37:46.929 --> 00:37:49.829
have right now, knock them down, but they don't

00:37:49.829 --> 00:37:52.329
really kill them. So that's another thing that

00:37:52.329 --> 00:37:56.849
we'd like is speedier ways to get any kind of

00:37:56.849 --> 00:37:59.820
mite treatment through the process. yellow -legged

00:37:59.820 --> 00:38:02.679
hornets the same way. You can put out century

00:38:02.679 --> 00:38:05.280
hives. Those are things that are being done right

00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:08.300
now. Interestingly enough, APHIS is one of the

00:38:08.300 --> 00:38:11.599
groups that monitors invasive species, but APHIS

00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:14.239
cannot really do anything until after the species

00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:18.199
is in the United States. So one of the projects

00:38:18.199 --> 00:38:20.639
that I was on, I know it seems kind of silly,

00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:23.900
One of the projects I was on, I went to Thailand

00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:26.579
with Jeff Williams and his group and 10 apiary

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:29.559
inspectors. Eye -opening when I saw choppy mites

00:38:29.559 --> 00:38:32.340
over there. It was more than eye -opening. It

00:38:32.340 --> 00:38:35.780
was shocking and gravely concerning. Number one,

00:38:35.780 --> 00:38:38.480
they're very, very fast and they multiply every

00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:42.239
24 hours. So Veroa takes, gosh, I'm going to

00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:46.099
go back and say 16 days, 18 days. Oh, well, they

00:38:46.099 --> 00:38:51.099
go inside the drones for 18 days, but... Trophy

00:38:51.099 --> 00:38:54.820
mites will go every 24 hours. They'll reproduce.

00:38:55.880 --> 00:38:58.380
So, interestingly enough, if they ever got here,

00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:02.300
if we don't have some kind of plan, we will be

00:39:02.300 --> 00:39:06.059
in really bad, bad trouble. Now, again, aphids

00:39:06.059 --> 00:39:09.179
can't get involved until they're here. Well,

00:39:09.639 --> 00:39:12.820
that's kind of a catch -22. So I will tell you

00:39:12.820 --> 00:39:15.539
that APHIS has actually worked on having a plan

00:39:15.539 --> 00:39:17.840
in place. So it's not like they're just sitting

00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:19.920
back and going, okay, we're gonna wait and see

00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:21.360
when they get here and then we'll come up with

00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.139
something. They have a plan in place. A lot of

00:39:24.139 --> 00:39:27.119
the states have a plan in place. Most of the

00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:29.719
states cannot or will not share that plan with

00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:34.730
you. I will tell you for a fact that if you come

00:39:34.730 --> 00:39:39.309
up with something that is going to detrimentally

00:39:39.309 --> 00:39:44.349
destroy a commercial beekeeper's business, then

00:39:44.349 --> 00:39:47.230
you're going to have less involvement for them.

00:39:47.909 --> 00:39:49.909
They're not going to be as willing to help you

00:39:49.909 --> 00:39:54.530
out. That's just a livelihood. So when they decided

00:39:54.530 --> 00:39:56.610
with Roa, they were down in Texas and they decided

00:39:56.610 --> 00:39:58.590
they were going to isolate, and this again was

00:39:58.590 --> 00:40:02.519
many years ago, there were hundreds of thousands

00:40:02.519 --> 00:40:04.960
of colonies that were lost down there because

00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:07.179
they would not let them move out of Texas and

00:40:07.179 --> 00:40:09.659
there was no forage for them so they starved

00:40:09.659 --> 00:40:12.980
and So a lot of commercial beekeepers will now

00:40:12.980 --> 00:40:15.880
say I'll be honest with you. I'll tell you I'll

00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:19.820
tell you but okay I have a mortgage a car payment.

00:40:19.820 --> 00:40:23.900
I have food to buy I have kids to feed You know,

00:40:23.900 --> 00:40:26.039
you have to kind of look at that way. So we need

00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:28.880
something in place before they get here and my

00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:31.590
whole point was We need to do research and we

00:40:31.590 --> 00:40:33.690
need to do something that will stop them. Not

00:40:33.690 --> 00:40:36.409
just wait until they get here and our plan is

00:40:36.409 --> 00:40:39.530
going to be do this or do that. I couldn't agree

00:40:39.530 --> 00:40:44.769
more. And we don't want to be reactive like how

00:40:44.769 --> 00:40:48.210
Australia was with Varroa. And no offense, we

00:40:48.210 --> 00:40:50.929
have a lot of listeners in Australia and love

00:40:50.929 --> 00:40:53.849
Australia. But the way that whole thing went

00:40:53.849 --> 00:40:56.150
down where all they did was they freaked out

00:40:56.150 --> 00:40:59.630
and burned hundreds of thousands of hives. and

00:40:59.630 --> 00:41:03.750
then kept sending hives out all over the country

00:41:03.750 --> 00:41:07.130
for pollination. It just didn't work. We just

00:41:07.130 --> 00:41:09.670
need a better plan so that we don't get in that

00:41:09.670 --> 00:41:12.570
kind of situation. We are just about out of time

00:41:12.570 --> 00:41:14.929
and I told you I wouldn't take too much time

00:41:14.929 --> 00:41:18.610
today. So I want to end with something fun. I

00:41:18.610 --> 00:41:21.349
want to hear your wild and crazy beekeeping story.

00:41:22.170 --> 00:41:25.389
Oh, wow. I will tell you and I still see it today

00:41:25.389 --> 00:41:30.300
in my mind. We were in the hives and I had my

00:41:30.300 --> 00:41:35.460
jacket zipped up thought I had my helmet zipped

00:41:35.460 --> 00:41:39.739
on to my jacket and it was not and I'm down in

00:41:39.739 --> 00:41:42.579
this hive and it's in the spring and so there's

00:41:42.579 --> 00:41:44.260
a lot of bees in there and they're coming out

00:41:44.260 --> 00:41:48.420
and I look and there's a bee inside my veil so

00:41:48.679 --> 00:41:51.739
I do talks with people who are linemen, like

00:41:51.739 --> 00:41:54.599
who climb poles and things like that, and I teach

00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:57.380
them what not to do if you come across a hive.

00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:00.079
Bee hive, wasp nest, doesn't matter. And I tell

00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:03.139
them the worst thing you can do is panic and

00:42:03.139 --> 00:42:06.300
you jump in your truck and there's three or four

00:42:06.300 --> 00:42:08.559
bees flying around and then you jump out of your

00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:10.900
truck and there's hundreds because you panicked.

00:42:11.179 --> 00:42:13.739
Don't do that. Just, you know, calmly get in

00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:16.019
your truck. If there's three or four, you know,

00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:18.920
take the hit or try to get them down, but don't

00:42:18.920 --> 00:42:24.820
go swatting. So what did I do? Human nature took

00:42:24.820 --> 00:42:28.440
over. I ran around the truck screaming, there's

00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:31.000
a bee, there's a bee in my suit. And my husband

00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:34.679
kept, and I flew, I threw off my veil and my

00:42:34.679 --> 00:42:37.440
husband kept saying, stop running, stop running.

00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:41.320
So I have to tell you, in my mind, it happened

00:42:41.320 --> 00:42:44.099
yesterday. It was many years ago, but it happened

00:42:44.099 --> 00:42:48.219
yesterday. I'll never forget that. You know,

00:42:48.260 --> 00:42:51.039
sometimes it's a little bit hard to tell whether

00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:53.420
the bee is outside the veil or inside the veil.

00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:57.260
And the secret is, and you don't want to have

00:42:57.260 --> 00:43:00.280
to learn this, if you can see the underside of

00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:03.519
the bee, like the legs, you know it's outside.

00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:06.280
If you're seeing the back of the bee and its

00:43:06.280 --> 00:43:10.760
wings, Time to panic. The other thing is if you

00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:14.239
just tilt your head up, it'll go toward the sun

00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:16.480
or to the light and then you can lift it up and

00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:19.659
it'll go away. I knew how I got down there. I'd

00:43:19.659 --> 00:43:23.920
pulled my jacket down too far, but boy, I laugh

00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:27.159
about it today, but I still remember it like

00:43:27.159 --> 00:43:29.539
it was yesterday. If you don't mind I know you're

00:43:29.539 --> 00:43:32.199
about out of time but I would like to we didn't

00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:36.840
really talk about ABF that much and I would like

00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:40.800
to share that ABF does some other things for

00:43:41.079 --> 00:43:44.519
not only beekeepers but researchers. We have

00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:46.699
scholarships, four scholarships that we give

00:43:46.699 --> 00:43:49.739
out. We are involved with 4 -HSA Contest right

00:43:49.739 --> 00:43:55.019
now. Deadline is May 1st. So I would love for

00:43:55.019 --> 00:43:57.900
people to go out to our website and take a look

00:43:57.900 --> 00:43:59.980
at all the things that we do out there. We have

00:43:59.980 --> 00:44:02.239
research, the latest research we put out there

00:44:02.239 --> 00:44:04.940
every month. It's just a great way for you to

00:44:04.940 --> 00:44:07.119
know everything we do. And if you have any questions,

00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:10.590
certainly feel free to contact us. Fantastic.

00:44:10.590 --> 00:44:13.889
And what link should they go to to find your

00:44:13.889 --> 00:44:19.170
website? It's abfnet .org. That'll be in the

00:44:19.170 --> 00:44:22.510
show notes too, in case you forget. Debbie Seib,

00:44:22.610 --> 00:44:25.150
thank you so much for being with me today. Well,

00:44:25.150 --> 00:44:27.070
thank you Eric for having me. I really appreciate

00:44:27.070 --> 00:44:32.210
it. Thanks again for joining us on Be Love, Be

00:44:32.210 --> 00:44:35.429
Keeping presented by Man Lake. Another big thank

00:44:35.429 --> 00:44:37.690
you goes to Vita B Health for their support.

00:44:38.150 --> 00:44:41.050
Vita's Varroa Control Ranger products includes

00:44:41.050 --> 00:44:45.309
Epistan, Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release

00:44:45.309 --> 00:44:48.909
Oxalic Acids Trips. Hey thanks a lot guys. And

00:44:48.909 --> 00:44:51.489
if you haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow

00:44:51.489 --> 00:44:53.769
the show, tell your friends about it, and click

00:44:53.769 --> 00:44:57.050
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00:44:57.050 --> 00:45:00.250
our free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion

00:45:00.250 --> 00:45:03.349
or topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot

00:45:03.349 --> 00:45:08.800
me an And remember, if you're not just in it

00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:11.480
for the honey or the money, you're in it for

00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:13.099
the love. See you next week.