Fire Engulfs Entire Beekeeping Business - What Now?

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. One of the best things about beekeeping

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is the community. Beekeepers are always willing

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to help each other, share information, and even

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to step up when needed. And today I'll be having

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a conversation with a beekeeper in Utah that's

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learning that lesson in a big way. First just

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one brief new amazing thing about honeybees.

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Research published in the journal Biology Letters

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shows that bees possess a sophisticated sense

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of time, yes time, and it makes perfect sense

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as bees must carefully manage their time while

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foraging to maximize rewards and minimize the

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costs of energy and time in returning to the

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nest. The results of the research help us better

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appreciate that bees are quote Not simple machines

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essentially driven by instinct, but rather complex

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animals with inner lives that have unique experiences.

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In fact, according to the research, they have

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complex cognition with flexibility in learning,

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memory, and behavior. Honey bees never cease

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

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today Really special guest someone that I've

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been wanting to talk to here for a couple days

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and that is Trenton Frazier And he's coming to

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us. He's beekeeper in Utah Trenton. How are you

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today? I've been better doing okay. That's probably

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the worst question I've ever asked somebody in

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your shoes Because this has not been a fun week

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for you. And you know what? I want to just jump

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right into it Would you give us one minute just

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one minute of? what kind of a beekeeping operation

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that you have, and then tell us about the phone

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call you got Sunday morning and let's go from

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there. Okay. All right. Well, the operation that

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we had is of course commercial. It's large scale,

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but I feel like we do it a little differently.

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I focus really on honey and I'm going to find

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a way to talk about honey even with this topic.

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You watch. And it's been about the quality of

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honey. We used to keep bees in our backyard and

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then we kept them in our shed and then it moved

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to the shop and the shop and the driveway and

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then the whole street. We were just getting big

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and had to move out. So we moved into this, our

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warehouse facility about 15 years ago. It's a

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multi -generational operation. My father, he

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kept bees with his grandfather and that went

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back five generations. It's been a hobby thing,

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but we really turned it back into a commercial

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business about 15 years ago under the name Beehive

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State Honey. But we didn't want to just move

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into the typical commercial space where we are

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processing the honey, selling it off to pay for

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operating expenses and things like that. My father

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got to the age of retirement and wanted to continue

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to do something of value. And since beekeeping

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was a hobby, word my father obviously does not

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know the meaning, the definition of 60 hour a

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week hobby. Well, it's a good way to keep busy.

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And it really feels good when you are doing something

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of a farming type of type of nature. And so we

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really hit that pretty hard at first. realizing

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that there's a lot about beekeeping that we did

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not know and grew the business to the point it

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is today. But then again, did not want to change

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the nature of honey. I noticed early on that

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there was a difference between our backyard honey

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and commercial honey, historic honey, and wanted

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to preserve that natural, organic, whatever it

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was that didn't fully understand, but came to

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quickly realize had to do with heating, filtration,

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and things like that. So we yanked all of the

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heating elements, put away all of the filters

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and the strainers. We don't even strain our honey.

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And started to change. And it took about 10 to

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15 years to develop something that is actually

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quite the antithesis of what honey product is.

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Most beekeepers would like a translucent, clear,

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liquid, nice amber honey. I want an opaque, creamed,

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not amber and doesn't matter the color. I think

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honey varies just like people do in personality

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and color and flavor. That's natural. And you

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have to embrace those things. And that's what

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we did. That's what we found to be is really

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kind of a unique thing. And so we coined the

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phrase cold extracted honey, because raw wasn't

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really covering all the bases. Yes, raw means

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that it's not cooked, but raw can be everything

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from 115 degrees to cold. And I just didn't think

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that that was a fair comparison. even if you're

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warming it, you're still adding some heat and

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I finally worked it down to the definition that

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was human integrity or human interaction. So

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I figured if we just cut that out, there is no

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heating element involved, plus we were to store

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it in some sort of an acid proof container, then

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we could preserve that beautiful flavor and that

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texture that I was familiar with all growing

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up. So for me, raw backyard honey was just natural.

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That was part of my life and I just didn't want

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to compromise that but Fortunately in the process

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we were able to learn and define a lot more science

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and chemistry behind honey and how it crystallizes

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get down into the the molecules and how how the

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chemicals work out and separate and how they

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can actually cream and And so we develop we just

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keep developing that until we get a nice good

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opaque creamed kind of like peanut butter Honey

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that is a wide variety of multi floral textures

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and just give it more of a sophisticated flavor

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and every little trick that we learn we implement

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it and Really had something that the community

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and our customers are really starting to just

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appreciate and love so I could you could say

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that developed something that really was meaningful

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and Every day I'd get up and find that I had

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purpose. I was starting to do some more value

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-added products like honey fizz soda, naturally

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carbonated, not mead, but more like kombucha

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or honeycomb. Kombucha is actually the label

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we gave that. And things like that, just a lot

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of meaning, a lot of value. One morning, rudely

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get woken up, 4 a .m. Looks like a sales call

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or something. I don't even know why I answered

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it, but something told me to answer it. 4 .30

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in the morning. I just want to give people perspective.

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This is just three days ago, right? Yeah, Sunday

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morning. I never answer my phone call in the

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morning. Ever. I put it on silent or whatever,

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but it was just brrrr -rung and, uh, wife's tapping

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me. Turn your phone off. and I answered it and

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it looked like a weird, it was a restricted number.

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So again, another reason why not to answer it.

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But I just felt like what's going on here, answered

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it. And then I hear this bleep. I'm like, oh

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brother, this is just a marketing call. And by

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now it was dispatch and they said, hey, is this

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the owners of Beehive State? What's going on?

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Oh, we're reporting a fire. And what, what do

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you mean? Oh shoot. Someone called in a fire

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and now I'm awake and I'm asking what's going

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on. There's a fire Do we know how big it is?

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Where is it? Is it is it in the building and?

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says yes, there's a there's been a fire reported

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and I said where and she's What side of the building

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is it on and she just said the whole thing? so

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that is pretty much where My final blanked out

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like Couldn't wrap my mind around that. It's

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really hard to comprehend that everything you

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have worked for and put together for the last

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decade plus is just up in smoke, gone. You live,

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what, 10, 15 minutes from there? It's about,

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well, it used to be a 15 minute commute. Now

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it's 20, 25. There's been a lot of development

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around us. Well, without traffic at 430 in the

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morning, hopefully you got there quick. What

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did you see when you arrived? Couldn't even get

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there. Policemen were not letting cars down the

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road, but you could see the flames from our driveway.

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There were videos coming in on social media showing

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this humongous flame at night all the way across

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the valley. It was going way up into the sky.

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So that right there gave something for us to

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just sob over the entire way down. Arriving,

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we had to get past the security. They let us

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through once they knew I was the owner. I get

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right up to the gate and just start talking with

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the fire marshals, just seeing all of the flames

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and the smoke and the smell. I can hardly even

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recall everything. It was just so So overwhelming

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that I guess a lot of details have kind of left

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me now I realize I'm having a hard time even

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remembering those first hours but I do know that

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there was a lot of talking with police and the

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fire chief and We were beginning to bring in

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hives Beehives from our yards. We have more than

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50 locations run over a thousand between thousand

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to fifteen hundred colonies Among those, we have

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our yard stretched to 100 miles from Bountiful

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down to North Juab County out to Price, mostly

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throughout Utah County. And we have these yards

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every mile, two miles separated so that we can

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have the bees foraging without being oversaturated.

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But here in the fall, we're starting to bring

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them back. And so we had more than 100 colonies

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lined up right down one of the buildings. that

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were separated by a distance. They were saved

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by the fire department because when the firefighters

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first got there, they had to park their trucks

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and their ladders in between these rows of beehives.

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And they're stretching their hoses all through

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the property and try not to knock over any beehives.

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And the chief firefighter is actually a beekeeper.

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He knew my father. He had spoken with us before.

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He's like, yeah, your father's a great guy. And

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we showed up and I saw those bees. It was because

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of that that he zeroed in and he focused on those

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bees. They got a ladder up over one of the adjacent

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buildings on a neighboring property and they

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just started spraying the walls. And because

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of that, there were maybe two or three hives

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that got toasted. But they were going along and

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opening lids and checking and spraying down the

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building, which was just boiling over. I mean,

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the flames were about They were 50, 60 feet in

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the air by the melting ingots of copper. It appears

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that the flame got well over 2 ,000 degrees,

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2 ,200 degrees. And all of our wax, all of our

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honey, all of, I mean, the whole building plus

00:13:33.669 --> 00:13:36.149
was up in flames. And they're these firefighters,

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these brave, brave firefighters are saving the

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bees. I didn't hear about any of them getting

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stung. But some of the news articles reported

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that the firefighters were severely stung and

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fighting the flames. I'll tell you what, these

00:13:52.710 --> 00:13:55.250
guys were so proud of those stings if that was

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the case. I didn't hear it from them. They're

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just like, yep, we saved your bees. And so I

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was really grateful, really grateful for that

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and for those heroes that stepped in and took

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care of that. But really, there wasn't a lot

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they could do about the flames. Everything has

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just been reduced to rubble. Tell me print and

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what all was inside that building why a rough

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estimate that the building was about 37 ,000

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37 ,000 square feet we had three parts of the

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building and We didn't we didn't need all of

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it We repurposed the building when we first purchased

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a prop property and it came with these buildings

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But we had a few very key portions. One was the

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middle section. That was our wood shop where

00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:45.740
we built and fixed B frames the portion that

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was north where we had our wax rendering and

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our extraction center as well as our bottling

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room. We had all of our palletized wax or wax

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renderings or wax blocks and then our prefab

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which is to be melted down all there including

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our entire harvest which is in drums so that's

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about 20 drums of honey this year which is Kind

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of a low yield, but we lost so many bees last

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year that we weren't able to get as much of a

00:15:15.970 --> 00:15:18.230
honey yield this year. It's a great year this

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year was, but we just didn't have the bees to

00:15:19.889 --> 00:15:22.909
accomplish more. It may seem early, but right

00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:26.029
now is a great time to order your live bees for

00:15:26.029 --> 00:15:30.210
2026 because they do sell out and because Man

00:15:30.210 --> 00:15:33.250
Lake is offering a discount for Be Love podcast

00:15:33.250 --> 00:15:36.340
listeners. Wait, what? I know, you're saying

00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:39.679
live bees, they never go on sale. Well, they

00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.139
are now. Click on over to Man Lake, order your

00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:46.919
bees any variety, nukes or packages, and anything

00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.120
in the beginner essentials category. And when

00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:53.279
you check out, use the code GETSTARTEDINBEEZ,

00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:55.279
it's down in the show notes so you don't have

00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:58.980
to remember, for a discount on everything. So

00:15:58.980 --> 00:16:03.000
get your orders in early and save. And then we

00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.940
had our stockroom. And the stockroom had a collection

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of residuals of honey harvests over the years.

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There were more than 40 or 45 pallets of honey,

00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.620
including some barrels right there that we would

00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:25.120
sell throughout the year and then restock and

00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.700
sell. So it was always kind of growing. I mean,

00:16:26.700 --> 00:16:28.299
for the first 10 years we were there, we weren't

00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:30.159
really selling a lot of honey. We weren't well

00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.830
known. So we had some honey in there that was

00:16:33.830 --> 00:16:37.830
several years old, but all bottled in glass in

00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:41.850
boxes on pallets. And honey has no shelf life

00:16:41.850 --> 00:16:44.370
and it never even degraded in color. Over 10

00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:47.950
years, there was no change in hue or color. You

00:16:47.950 --> 00:16:50.029
can't tell the difference between those jars

00:16:50.029 --> 00:16:53.889
and the jars that we just harvested. And then

00:16:53.889 --> 00:16:57.889
there were the shop section where we repaired

00:16:57.889 --> 00:17:00.519
boxes and And then there were other places where

00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:03.080
we just stored. Everything else was for storage

00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:06.420
areas, just for whatever purposes we needed.

00:17:06.740 --> 00:17:09.140
But it was everything, our whole operation. I

00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:12.220
just realized today that we lost our bee nets.

00:17:12.859 --> 00:17:14.779
Every step I take through the rubble, I remember

00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:17.740
something else that we no longer have. And that's

00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:20.839
bad because we no longer have our ability to

00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:24.480
migrate. I could get into some of the really

00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:27.099
neat things that people have done to step in

00:17:27.099 --> 00:17:30.559
to make that short, just needed to get some bee

00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:34.500
nets for the next stage, which is migrating the

00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:36.500
bees that we have, because all our bees have

00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:40.059
survived, so we've got to keep them going, but

00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:43.819
we just don't have the resources and the materials

00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:47.559
to do so. It's all gone. We have our truck and

00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:50.509
forklift. So we can palletize our bees and bring

00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:52.650
them in, but we need to start bringing them in

00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:56.109
from all of our locations. And once they're in,

00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:58.910
now what do we do with them? We don't have our

00:17:58.910 --> 00:18:02.509
hanger where we actually will keep the bees inside

00:18:02.509 --> 00:18:05.190
a climatized environment so that they can survive

00:18:05.190 --> 00:18:09.569
cold winters. Here in Utah, it can get down below

00:18:09.569 --> 00:18:12.109
freezing, and that's harsh on the bees, especially

00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:15.799
in the bee boxes. It's a typical Langstroth setup.

00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:18.380
So unless we're migrating the bees to California

00:18:18.380 --> 00:18:22.019
we could lose a lot of bees to cold and So now

00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:24.480
we have to start investing into getting some

00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:28.160
insulation blankets and things to wrap the hives

00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:30.140
Well, that's a good concept but try wrapping

00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:33.700
a thousand hives Yeah, and you can still lose

00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:36.380
them. Hey on a personal note print into you and

00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:40.190
your family. Let me just say I'm I'm so sorry

00:18:40.190 --> 00:18:43.769
that this horrible thing happened to you. I can't

00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:46.930
imagine how devastating that must be. These sorts

00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:50.410
of things are very emotional. It's not just the

00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:53.450
business and the money lost, right? There's such

00:18:53.450 --> 00:18:56.829
an emotional connection when that's your family

00:18:56.829 --> 00:18:59.009
and your family business and it's what you do

00:18:59.009 --> 00:19:03.470
all day every day. And so from an emotional standpoint,

00:19:03.630 --> 00:19:05.569
how are you and your family getting along now?

00:19:06.600 --> 00:19:10.319
Mostly worried about my father. He's 81 now we

00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:13.759
began the business at his retirement of 65 And

00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.380
we got to a place to where he was just really

00:19:16.380 --> 00:19:19.359
comfortable and in routine He had a little corner

00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:22.839
that he loved to go and repair frames at that's

00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:26.880
that's gone And so the last few days he has been

00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.940
taking the role of just driving and doing errands

00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:34.859
we need Anything he's going to the store. He's

00:19:34.859 --> 00:19:39.269
going to the shop to get tires fixed and or buying

00:19:39.269 --> 00:19:41.849
materials and we really haven't gotten into a

00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:44.190
lot of needs of materials. We're trying to gather

00:19:44.190 --> 00:19:46.549
things. People have been donating things. I've

00:19:46.549 --> 00:19:51.829
been overwhelmed with the amazing generosity

00:19:51.829 --> 00:19:57.210
and outreach of people all around that didn't

00:19:57.210 --> 00:20:00.009
even know existed before. So making friends,

00:20:00.009 --> 00:20:03.329
but it's been hard on him for us, the rest of

00:20:03.329 --> 00:20:08.250
our family. We're doing Fairly well, I mean better

00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:11.670
now than I thought I would be here it was really

00:20:11.670 --> 00:20:14.670
emotionally devastating and it was a wreck and

00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:16.990
I've gone through a lot of those things, but

00:20:16.990 --> 00:20:20.089
it's it's very very interesting when you are

00:20:20.089 --> 00:20:25.029
forced to begin from the ashes how resilient

00:20:25.029 --> 00:20:29.430
the the mind and the heart is you have no choice

00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:34.109
so You start to quickly look forward to the future

00:20:34.329 --> 00:20:37.829
and to try to put together some plans. And as

00:20:37.829 --> 00:20:41.829
much as you have lost an identity or a lifestyle

00:20:41.829 --> 00:20:47.529
or a routine, you quickly pick up on what is

00:20:47.529 --> 00:20:52.450
to come. And that's started, I mean, I'm really

00:20:52.450 --> 00:20:56.549
mostly spending my days on the phone and doing

00:20:56.549 --> 00:21:01.549
emails, dealing with contractors, electricians,

00:21:01.670 --> 00:21:04.279
and excavators. trying to work out insurances

00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:09.180
and figure out if there's anything that we can,

00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:11.559
you know, just trying to get the whole thing

00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:14.839
picked up and rolling. So I almost feel like

00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:19.400
I haven't really had time to sit and grieve much.

00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:23.039
But I would say that I've had those moments where

00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.420
I just had no choice when it gets quiet and there's

00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:29.400
nothing to do. There's no one to talk to. And

00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:32.789
suddenly it's now time to sleep. That's where

00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:35.589
you really know where you're at I'm glad you

00:21:35.589 --> 00:21:39.390
mentioned the generosity of people Because one

00:21:39.390 --> 00:21:42.710
of your friends set up a GoFundMe page And that's

00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:45.869
one of the reasons I wanted you on here was to

00:21:45.869 --> 00:21:48.690
let people out there know about the GoFundMe

00:21:48.690 --> 00:21:52.890
that there is so that anybody whether you're

00:21:52.890 --> 00:21:57.650
in Utah or Montana or New York or New Zealand

00:21:57.650 --> 00:22:00.450
or whatever else if you want to help out a fellow

00:22:00.450 --> 00:22:04.099
beekeeper I'll put a link to that GoFundMe down

00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:06.759
in the show notes. This isn't something that

00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:10.680
Printen posted or did. It's the community wanting

00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:12.640
to step up and do it for them and we can all

00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:15.900
step up and help. Do you have any idea is the

00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:18.339
insurance company going to be able to cover much

00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:22.720
of this for you? Well probably to make it short

00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:28.400
and for lack of better explained words we're

00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:33.500
under insured. A quick explanation would be beekeeping

00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:36.880
is not a very lucrative business model as it

00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.039
is. You can ask any commercial beekeeper. In

00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:42.519
fact, one of the ingeniouses of beekeeping is

00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.460
that we can figure out how to make raw materials

00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:49.079
work out of nothing and get the operation to

00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:53.539
float and make it pay. And so when it comes to

00:22:53.539 --> 00:22:56.200
insurance, you're trying to cover your basic

00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.599
needs. Now we inherited a property or rather

00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.660
when we first purchased the property and inherited

00:23:02.660 --> 00:23:06.859
the buildings that are part of it, it was a lot

00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:10.279
larger than what we really needed. So I would

00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:12.700
say that we really operated our basic operations

00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:16.619
out of maybe 60%, which if we were strategic,

00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:20.480
we could reduce down to maybe 45 or 50%. of the

00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:24.500
actual place. And to go over the insurance and

00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:29.019
cover all of the building loss, and the only

00:23:29.019 --> 00:23:30.359
reason I say this is because I've worked this

00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:34.539
out a lot with the insurance, but it's not gonna

00:23:34.539 --> 00:23:37.480
cover. In fact, it doesn't even cover close to

00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:42.960
even half. And so we were insured and most of

00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.960
that was liability. So that was really important

00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:49.569
for us to get Make sure you have general liability

00:23:49.569 --> 00:23:52.289
that if there's any other damages or injuries

00:23:52.289 --> 00:23:54.869
to somebody else or anything that we're covered,

00:23:55.329 --> 00:23:58.210
of course. But then when it comes to beekeepers,

00:23:58.349 --> 00:24:01.369
we kind of have a tendency to, and not just beekeepers,

00:24:01.690 --> 00:24:06.569
but everyone has a tendency to undervalue themselves

00:24:06.569 --> 00:24:09.930
and to say, look, what is the worst case scenario

00:24:09.930 --> 00:24:12.910
and how could we survive through it? Let's set

00:24:12.910 --> 00:24:16.279
the bar there because we really don't have the

00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:20.480
money to pay for this level of insurance for

00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:23.839
potential damages. And so that's really the reality

00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:26.099
of what I'm sitting at now. I'm looking in saying,

00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:30.200
okay, we're now reduced to get whatever money

00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:33.240
the insurance can give us and go from there.

00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:38.680
And that is the very basics. That's the baseline.

00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:44.480
And it neglected a lot of things. For one, disaster

00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:46.799
cleanup could just swallow that all completely.

00:24:47.859 --> 00:24:51.400
And we had about 37 ,000 square feet, as I mentioned,

00:24:51.980 --> 00:24:55.799
of building space. So all that roofline and all

00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:59.279
that debris and all that trash, I can't get in

00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:02.019
there with a backhoe and a trailer and take care

00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:05.799
of that and be done anytime soon. In order for

00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:07.420
us to get back up on our feet, we need to have

00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:09.980
that cleared out in within a couple of months,

00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:11.599
a month or two, that's got to be cleaned up.

00:25:11.900 --> 00:25:15.660
starting to look at contractors and excavators

00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:18.039
and things that can do that. And that quickly

00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:22.059
just, I mean, those prices, no one considers

00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:25.339
that as part of the, well, you should. And I

00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:28.380
think I'm being pretty open and transparent here.

00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:32.299
I don't think most people would want to divulge,

00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:36.079
but I really feel like if there are other beekeeping

00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:39.480
operations out there, that what I have learned

00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:42.990
over the last few days, they really would want

00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:46.789
to listen to and take in some advice because

00:25:46.789 --> 00:25:49.769
if anything were to happen, you know, I mean,

00:25:49.829 --> 00:25:52.269
you are dealing with wax, you are dealing with

00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:55.130
smokers. That's what I hear a lot of the time

00:25:55.130 --> 00:25:57.910
people are asking or speculating, did you forget

00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:01.349
to put out your smoker or were you melting wax?

00:26:01.430 --> 00:26:04.849
And actually, no. Investigation is inconclusive

00:26:04.849 --> 00:26:08.859
as to what caused the fire. However, the Area

00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:11.819
of origin that they found the fire in there were

00:26:11.819 --> 00:26:14.460
there was not an area where we use any kind of

00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:17.240
flame There's no wax stored there. There's no

00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:19.839
honey stored there. We don't even have any power

00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:23.079
tools in that area that would cause That kind

00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:25.460
of friction that was actually a corner of the

00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:27.460
room where we stapled together frames with a

00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:32.740
pneumatic stapler So it's just an air hose What

00:26:32.740 --> 00:26:35.180
caused the fire right there in that corner is

00:26:35.180 --> 00:26:38.819
just a mystery to me according to surveillance

00:26:38.819 --> 00:26:43.140
and everyone's alibi, I guess if you say their

00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:48.559
story, there wasn't anyone in that shop for three

00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.619
days. The last anyone had been in there, I had

00:26:51.619 --> 00:26:54.019
been in there Friday, no one came in Saturday.

00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:57.980
And the last that anyone had worked in that corner

00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:03.019
doing stapling or framing was Wednesday. So you

00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:04.359
would have had to either have something that

00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:08.430
was smoldering for three four days to finally

00:27:08.430 --> 00:27:11.410
go up Sunday morning or you have someone who

00:27:11.410 --> 00:27:14.970
sneaks in and they didn't rule out Larson but

00:27:14.970 --> 00:27:16.829
someone really would have had to you know come

00:27:16.829 --> 00:27:20.230
in through the back gate jump the fence crawl

00:27:20.230 --> 00:27:24.109
in there and do something and either way it's

00:27:24.109 --> 00:27:30.009
very unexplained. The need to clean up a mess

00:27:30.009 --> 00:27:33.839
is included in what you get from insurance. So

00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:36.000
if you're going to use part of that money to

00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.519
pay for cleanup, you have that much less money

00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:42.579
to pay for like rebuild. So there really is no

00:27:42.579 --> 00:27:46.960
money for rebuild. Along with that was something,

00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:51.700
and I'm not an insurance expert, and maybe some

00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:56.180
people are better informed by their agent, but

00:27:56.180 --> 00:27:59.900
there's something called loss potential. which

00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:03.200
is the income or income loss potential that you

00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:06.940
had for the following year or up to a year after

00:28:06.940 --> 00:28:10.700
the disaster. So how are you going to pay for

00:28:10.700 --> 00:28:13.900
employees? How do you usually make your money

00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:16.180
and are you going to now be able to do that?

00:28:16.619 --> 00:28:19.720
Beekeeping is half pollinating and fulfilling

00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:23.500
contracts. The other half is honey sales. So

00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:26.380
all of the other associates and colleagues that

00:28:26.380 --> 00:28:28.940
I have know of in the beekeeping field are producing

00:28:28.940 --> 00:28:32.599
honey and selling that all off at bulk to packers

00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:34.980
so that they can pay for the other half of their

00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:37.680
operational expenses. And both of these together

00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.200
don't amount to much of a living. It mainly pays

00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.279
up the operation expenses. And if you're really

00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:47.019
good at cutting corners and you're doing everything

00:28:47.019 --> 00:28:51.089
yourself, then you're gonna be taking that money

00:28:51.089 --> 00:28:53.210
for yourself. So that's one of the reasons I

00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:56.690
think why beekeepers all have to be really hard

00:28:56.690 --> 00:28:59.970
workers is because we have to make things work

00:28:59.970 --> 00:29:02.289
ourselves in order to keep the business model

00:29:02.289 --> 00:29:06.230
going. By all intents and purposes, having something

00:29:06.230 --> 00:29:08.549
like this happen, there's really no reason for

00:29:08.549 --> 00:29:10.869
me not to close up shop and say, look, I'm gonna

00:29:10.869 --> 00:29:13.569
go do something else besides beekeeping. This

00:29:13.569 --> 00:29:15.829
is not something that we can recover from. I

00:29:15.829 --> 00:29:19.900
mean, if I'm sane, that's what I would be saying,

00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:27.700
but I can't imagine doing anything else. I have

00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:31.480
employees, I have foremen and others who rely

00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:35.720
on this as their full -time living and their

00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:38.579
income. I have too much of a community and too

00:29:38.579 --> 00:29:42.119
many customers who have grown to love our product

00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:44.900
and our business. Even if I didn't want to do

00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:48.420
it anymore, we have too much of intellectual

00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:51.759
asset properties and customers and value there,

00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:54.759
our business name and our logo and just being

00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:58.299
known in the community to just let it go. I would

00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:02.319
sell it to somebody else who wants to try. But

00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:05.440
beekeeping has been in our family for five generations

00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:11.900
and I can't be the one to just let that end.

00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:14.880
It's not the only thing, but it's one thing that

00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:18.480
keeps reminding me that hey there's purpose in

00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:21.779
this. I appreciate you sharing all of that so

00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:25.160
much. I know it's hard and hopefully it's a little

00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:27.859
bit therapeutic talking about it just a little

00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:30.339
bit and I know there's people out there that

00:30:30.339 --> 00:30:32.799
are going to want to step up and help. If there's

00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:36.000
any other thing else that you can think of that

00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.559
people can do to help you know get with me on

00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:41.900
that we'll post it on social media or wherever.

00:30:42.329 --> 00:30:45.509
But let's end up the interview today with just,

00:30:45.670 --> 00:30:48.329
I can tell how much you love beekeeping. This

00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:51.849
isn't just a responsibility that you have to

00:30:51.849 --> 00:30:54.890
keep doing it. This is something that you must

00:30:54.890 --> 00:30:58.890
really love and it's genetic for you now. This

00:30:58.890 --> 00:31:01.650
has been passed down all these generations. Give

00:31:01.650 --> 00:31:05.170
me an idea on a perfect beekeeping day. Maybe

00:31:05.170 --> 00:31:08.009
it was last summer sometime. What's your day

00:31:08.009 --> 00:31:10.630
like? What do you love about it? That is a very

00:31:10.630 --> 00:31:15.849
good question. I have grown to love the whole,

00:31:15.930 --> 00:31:20.910
when you get to pick up a subject and learn about

00:31:20.910 --> 00:31:24.430
it, you find out that there's far more to it

00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:27.910
than you ever thought possible. Take the simplest

00:31:27.910 --> 00:31:34.849
concept, in this case bees, and bees are the

00:31:34.849 --> 00:31:39.740
producers of more than six products. No other

00:31:39.740 --> 00:31:42.380
insect on the planet produces more than one for

00:31:42.380 --> 00:31:46.539
human consumption. Bees produce six, including

00:31:46.539 --> 00:31:50.039
wax and honey and propolis, which are the main

00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:54.440
big three. Each one of those is a very deep topic.

00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:57.539
You could get into the nutritional benefits and

00:31:57.539 --> 00:32:00.960
all the practical uses for these products and

00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:04.720
how they are good for health or good for value

00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:08.589
barter trade to prepare against disaster. And

00:32:08.589 --> 00:32:11.069
they're just, they're topics that lead to so

00:32:11.069 --> 00:32:14.690
many other things. And then learning about bees

00:32:14.690 --> 00:32:17.349
and getting to know bees, we're actually beginning

00:32:17.349 --> 00:32:21.789
to do a lot more with bee therapy, where the

00:32:21.789 --> 00:32:24.609
environment around bees is healing and cleansing.

00:32:25.549 --> 00:32:28.230
And the last year of my life has actually been

00:32:28.230 --> 00:32:32.250
developing a program around that, including making

00:32:32.250 --> 00:32:36.170
a honey fizz soda, like honey kombucha. It just

00:32:36.170 --> 00:32:39.829
doesn't end. So for me, the warehouse was more

00:32:39.829 --> 00:32:43.930
than just a turnkey operation. It was a playground.

00:32:44.809 --> 00:32:48.109
It was a sandbox. It was the opportunity to explore

00:32:48.109 --> 00:32:52.230
and build. The last thing that I built in that

00:32:52.230 --> 00:32:56.950
shop before it closed down was a little contraption

00:32:56.950 --> 00:32:58.730
that you could put against the entrance and the

00:32:58.730 --> 00:33:01.349
bees would come and fly up into a jar so that

00:33:01.349 --> 00:33:04.309
you could unscrew that and put it into a little

00:33:04.309 --> 00:33:07.990
container. that people could take away because

00:33:07.990 --> 00:33:10.089
I would sell bees to people who wanted to buy

00:33:10.089 --> 00:33:13.750
bees, just a few bees. I sell it to them as pets,

00:33:14.690 --> 00:33:18.970
but what they use them for is bee venom therapy.

00:33:19.849 --> 00:33:24.309
They have Lyme's disease, which bee sting therapy

00:33:24.309 --> 00:33:28.930
has proven to relieve. By proven I mean there

00:33:28.930 --> 00:33:32.950
is a chemical in honey in the bee apatocin called

00:33:32.950 --> 00:33:38.309
melaton Which is the primary? compound for dealing

00:33:38.309 --> 00:33:41.529
with the bacteria infection that is in the Lyme's

00:33:41.529 --> 00:33:43.990
disease and just kills and breaks down that shell

00:33:43.990 --> 00:33:47.069
on that bacteria and it just relieves the symptoms

00:33:47.069 --> 00:33:50.730
these customers are either taking a Beasting

00:33:50.730 --> 00:33:54.289
every other day for only three seconds up to

00:33:54.289 --> 00:33:57.289
30 bee stings a day and leaving those stingers

00:33:57.289 --> 00:34:00.589
in there for up to 30 minutes and finding incredible

00:34:00.589 --> 00:34:02.849
relief to the point to where the bee sting isn't

00:34:02.849 --> 00:34:05.769
anything compared to the symptoms. I mean, they're

00:34:05.769 --> 00:34:08.349
going to those extents to relieve those symptoms.

00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:13.769
So now I'm feeling like this is even more than

00:34:13.769 --> 00:34:18.130
just what bees are supposed to be. And for me,

00:34:18.130 --> 00:34:22.849
it is a journey of life. I could begin on a study

00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:26.769
of just water alone. and learning about distilled

00:34:26.769 --> 00:34:31.289
water and end up learning about space in the

00:34:31.289 --> 00:34:35.030
universe. Any topic that you get started on,

00:34:35.150 --> 00:34:38.409
no matter how small it is, it's so complex that

00:34:38.409 --> 00:34:41.150
it leaves me from beekeeping into gardening,

00:34:41.550 --> 00:34:45.010
regenerative gardening, and creating nutrient

00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:51.269
dense foods to therapy and medicine. It does

00:34:51.269 --> 00:34:56.679
not end. On the one end where we are working

00:34:56.679 --> 00:34:59.659
with private landowners who want to host our

00:34:59.659 --> 00:35:03.539
bees and love the barter trade that we have going

00:35:03.539 --> 00:35:05.280
with them and the connections that we have with

00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:09.239
so many friends and colleagues to just our personal

00:35:09.239 --> 00:35:11.559
exploration with our interests in life, there

00:35:11.559 --> 00:35:16.079
is just an endless topic. And so for me, it's

00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:19.400
my day -to -day life is about exploration, about

00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:24.849
learning and about personal development. And

00:35:24.849 --> 00:35:30.369
I wish that everybody could have that freedom

00:35:30.369 --> 00:35:33.969
to do what they want, the kind of work that they

00:35:33.969 --> 00:35:36.250
want to do, to get up every day and say, this

00:35:36.250 --> 00:35:38.769
is the career that I have chosen. I'm not going

00:35:38.769 --> 00:35:42.510
to a job that pays, but I hate, and I can't wait

00:35:42.510 --> 00:35:45.150
until Friday. My least favorite day of the week

00:35:45.150 --> 00:35:48.769
is Saturday. And my favorite day of the week

00:35:48.769 --> 00:35:52.730
is Monday. And I'm saying that with absolute

00:35:52.809 --> 00:35:56.090
sincerity and truth. In fact, I can't tell you

00:35:56.090 --> 00:35:58.389
how many times I'm like, ah, Saturday night and

00:35:58.389 --> 00:36:01.889
the week is over. I'm just, you know, because

00:36:01.889 --> 00:36:07.750
we close up our shop on Sunday and we don't go

00:36:07.750 --> 00:36:10.590
in. We don't allow anyone to open the gate. We

00:36:10.590 --> 00:36:13.949
take that day to rest. And then come Monday morning,

00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:17.230
it's like, yeah, I got to get back on that project

00:36:17.230 --> 00:36:19.409
because I'm focused. I was focused on something

00:36:19.409 --> 00:36:24.199
I did want to mention. And I'd be remiss not

00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:28.179
to mention a couple of things that came out of

00:36:28.179 --> 00:36:30.300
this. There have been an incredible outpouring

00:36:30.300 --> 00:36:33.159
of generosity. But I did want to mention a couple

00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:36.800
of scenarios, a couple of examples, if that was

00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:41.260
OK. The first one was us not being able to winter,

00:36:41.460 --> 00:36:43.300
overwinter, and house our bees the way we typically

00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:48.599
do. There was an outreach of some beekeeper in

00:36:48.599 --> 00:36:53.429
California. who has yards where they've invited

00:36:53.429 --> 00:36:56.829
us to be able to send our bees so that they can

00:36:56.829 --> 00:37:00.570
be down there for the winter. This is a huge

00:37:00.570 --> 00:37:04.070
blessing and a big potential help for us because

00:37:04.070 --> 00:37:07.630
not only are the bees kind of in our hair now

00:37:07.630 --> 00:37:09.889
where we're trying to clean up, we've got thousands

00:37:09.889 --> 00:37:12.030
of bees all over the place. In fact, You know,

00:37:12.030 --> 00:37:14.510
on a warm day, we get tens of thousands of bees

00:37:14.510 --> 00:37:17.769
all over the ash and rubble sitting there licking

00:37:17.769 --> 00:37:19.829
up the honey. And I'm thinking, well, great,

00:37:19.849 --> 00:37:23.550
that's one way to reclaim all the honey. But

00:37:23.550 --> 00:37:25.650
what kind of toxins are they bringing back to

00:37:25.650 --> 00:37:29.349
the hive? And it's going to snow. We have somebody

00:37:29.349 --> 00:37:31.670
who has just said, hey, we want to help. We'll

00:37:31.670 --> 00:37:33.590
let you we'll open up a yard and have you bring

00:37:33.590 --> 00:37:37.849
your bees down here and you can feed them down

00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:41.480
here and and they'll be they'll be able to you'll

00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:46.099
be protected there and that is just one miracle.

00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:49.239
The other one was I got a call from a gentleman

00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:55.360
who saw the news report and immediately called

00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:58.920
us and said that he was a beekeeper. He had been

00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:03.019
a beekeeper with his father and he had recently

00:38:03.019 --> 00:38:07.300
retired and he wanted to just help us out and

00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:11.969
donate his equipment and that was just me just

00:38:11.969 --> 00:38:14.809
almost just got overwhelmed with the emotion

00:38:14.809 --> 00:38:19.829
there just because thinking about it he and I

00:38:19.829 --> 00:38:23.590
went and I met him one of the most sincere generous

00:38:23.590 --> 00:38:28.130
people who I've ever talked to and so on the

00:38:28.130 --> 00:38:31.030
one hand this tragedy has left us devastated

00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:33.289
but on the other hand it has opened up a pathway

00:38:33.289 --> 00:38:37.969
to meeting people and creating connections that

00:38:37.969 --> 00:38:42.719
are incredible. and wildly supportive and comforting.

00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:45.239
So I just wanted to mention a couple of things.

00:38:45.460 --> 00:38:50.599
Those are only two. We've had dozens of incredible

00:38:50.599 --> 00:38:54.119
things that I could go over. Whenever you have

00:38:54.119 --> 00:38:59.440
to rise from the ashes, there are always new

00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:02.019
windows and opportunities that open to make that

00:39:02.019 --> 00:39:05.639
happen. And you can't work it out in your mind,

00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:11.190
but it always comes. And I would encourage people

00:39:11.190 --> 00:39:14.269
to really honestly, let's make it real. Look

00:39:14.269 --> 00:39:17.449
at your insurance. Make sure you not only have

00:39:17.449 --> 00:39:20.789
the coverage that you're going to need for equipment

00:39:20.789 --> 00:39:26.409
and for buildings, but make sure your agent is

00:39:26.409 --> 00:39:30.170
explaining to you other options. For example,

00:39:30.769 --> 00:39:34.880
income loss potential and Especially on your

00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:36.739
large pieces of equipment because there's there's

00:39:36.739 --> 00:39:38.920
a material loss and then there's building coverage

00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:41.420
and then there's general liability and Things

00:39:41.420 --> 00:39:44.340
like that. Yeah, it's a good lesson, you know

00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:46.159
really check and make sure everything's being

00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:48.480
done, right? Well print and I appreciate your

00:39:48.480 --> 00:39:51.639
fantastic attitude so much It's a great example

00:39:51.639 --> 00:39:54.500
for all of us and from the beekeeping community

00:39:54.500 --> 00:39:57.340
and from my family our love and support to you

00:39:57.340 --> 00:40:00.420
and your family I know you're gonna bounce back

00:40:00.420 --> 00:40:03.750
right on your feet and be going going forward

00:40:03.750 --> 00:40:07.090
fantastic so keep it up my friend. Thanks again

00:40:07.090 --> 00:40:13.329
we'll talk soon. Okay. Thanks for joining us

00:40:13.329 --> 00:40:16.130
on Be Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake.

00:40:16.570 --> 00:40:18.650
If you like this content I hope you'll share

00:40:18.650 --> 00:40:21.510
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00:40:21.510 --> 00:40:24.889
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00:40:24.889 --> 00:40:27.929
BeLoveBeekeeping .com Also, just a shout out

00:40:27.929 --> 00:40:30.510
to Vita B Health for their support, we appreciate

00:40:30.510 --> 00:40:33.530
them. Vita's Varroa Control range of products

00:40:33.530 --> 00:40:37.809
includes Epistan, Epigard, and now Veroxen, Extended

00:40:37.809 --> 00:40:41.670
Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And

00:40:41.670 --> 00:40:44.150
remember, if you're not just in it for the honey

00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:47.150
or the money, you're in it for the love. See

00:40:47.150 --> 00:40:47.909
you next week.