Honey Bee Queen Rearing 101 With Dan Long

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May I have your attention, please? The following

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is not the real Jeff Fox review. If you have

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ever considered sewing little tiny uniforms for

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your scout bees, you might be a beekeeper. that

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a bee vacuum is really too big for bees to use

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to clean the floors in their hive. You might

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be a beekeeper. If you have ever said, it'll

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feel good to get stung for the first time this

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spring, and you weren't being sarcastic, you

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might be a beekeeper. You might also be nuts.

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Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping presented

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by Man Lake. Our question of the day is this,

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have you ever created something for your own

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beekeeping or maybe modified equipment to better

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fit your needs? Lots of beekeepers do. Today

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our guest is Dan Long and we'll find out how

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his creativity and his 3D printer created something

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better and more useful for his queen rearing

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operation. But first, While scientists are still

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working hard to figure out the cause of the great

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bee die -off here in the states, another theory

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comes in from some new studies about microplastics.

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Recent studies have shown that tiny pieces of

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plastic, which may originate from everyday products

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such as food packaging, disposable cutlery, or

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plastic toys, anything out there that's plastic

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can make bees more susceptible to bacteria and

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viruses. When, say, a plastic water bottle ends

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up in a ditch or in a river, it disintegrates

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with the help of the sun, water, and wind into

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even smaller pieces which float into the air,

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seep into soils, and settle on vegetation. Other

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microplastics are made minuscule from the start,

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such as glitter or microbeads and body scrubs.

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They make it washed off from our skin into wastewater,

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which is then used for irrigation of crops. Bees

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can accumulate microplastics from many sources,

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like air, water, soil, and also flowers, said

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David Baracci, a behavioral ecologist at the

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University of Florence in Italy. In 2021, a study

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conducted in Denmark detected 13 types of microplastics

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on honey bees' bodies. Since then, other studies

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have confirmed that bees are often covered in

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tiny plastics, which stick to their wings, their

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heads, and their abdomens. Bees can swallow microplastics

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with nectar, too, so that they accumulate in

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their guts. The consequences may be serious.

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A 2024 study by Baracci and his colleagues found

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that certain microplastics mixed together may

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kill bees. In other studies, honey bees fed microplastics

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developed worse infections with a pathogen that's

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been linked with colony collapse. Microplastics

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can also reach honeybee brains and may affect

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their thinking and memory. Microplastic -laden

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bees can also mean microplastic -laden honey.

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Oh man. When Turkish scientists tested samples

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of honey, they discovered that a vast majority

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contained microplastics, with single flower honeys

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the most affected. In Germany, commercial honey

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contained almost 300 pieces of microplastics

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per pound, or about five pieces in each teaspoonful.

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In short, research shows microplastics can enter

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bees' guts and brains, damaging memory, weakening

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immune responses, and increasing death rates.

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Folks, let's get this thing figured out. Alright,

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on a lighter note, let's have some fun. Let's

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head to the southeastern United States for our

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discussion today with beekeeper Dan Long. Hey,

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Dan, how are you? I'm great. Thanks for having

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me on. Good. And we're going all the way out

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to Athens, Georgia, home of the famous Georgia

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Bulldogs. And you're their number one fan, aren't

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you? I'm sorry. I set you in a trap for that

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one. Well, I've been down here for 15 years now,

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and I've learned that that is the equivalent

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of sun. You just got here. So I'm a Northerner

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in Georgia. Sounds like where I live I have people

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down the street from me in their 90s that have

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lived here their entire life and Their parents

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were here their entire life and we've been here

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10 or 12 years. We will always be the newbies

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and Yep. Oh, well, that's life. Hey, we're gonna

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be talking about all kinds of fun stuff today

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Queen rearing we're gonna talk about your crazy

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mad professor Isms that you have developed which

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is awesome and a lot of beekeepers have a new

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product that you've developed and how and why

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and But first if you wouldn't mind, can you give

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us a very brief? What got you started in beekeeping?

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How many hives do you run? Give us an idea of

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who Dan is. Sure. Well, I started beekeeping

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officially in 1996, but I wasn't really serious

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about it until I moved to Georgia again about

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about 15 years ago. And it was essentially born

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out of the idea of homesteading. You know, we

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have a big vegetable garden. We have some fruit

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trees that have chickens, that kind of thing.

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And I thought, well, you know, I need a couple

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of hives and. I found I absolutely loved it.

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It is challenging, frustrating, hot, sweaty,

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hard lifting, getting stung. But when you get

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the hang of it, it's absolutely wonderful. You

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have really hot summers out there, don't you?

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We do. It gets pretty brutal here in the summertime.

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So what's it like? quote overwintering, since

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you don't have a real winter, but you certainly

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have a downtime. Do you do your bees run through

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a long dearth during the winter? Actually, we

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get a pretty short nectar flow followed by a

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long summer dearth, and then it stays warm enough

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that the queens often don't shut down entirely.

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But we hit brood minimum, you know, right around

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the just before the winter solstice. which is

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obviously a great time to treat with oxalic acid.

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Yeah. We haven't talked much about queen rearing

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on this show yet. That's something that you have

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some experience with. If somebody has never done

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it before, can you give us a little background?

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And I know you're not like a professor, but from

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your experience, what kind of method do you like

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to use? How does it work? Give us a little tutorial.

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Sure. Well, what's really cool about it is that

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the beekeeper can work with the bees own instinctive

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responses to being queenless in order to generate

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new queens in various ways. Basically, when she's

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gone, they know it right away and they can start

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to raise their own replacement queens. And if

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you do that under the right conditions, you can

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use a colony or you can set up a particular box.

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to create high quality queens at larger numbers

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than they would normally do. It wouldn't be a

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unreasonable thing for a backyard beekeeper to

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produce 30 queens at a time. I guess I've tried

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different techniques before. I tend to fall back

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on the cloak board method. Harry Cloak, I believe

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out of New Zealand, developed this. And it's

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essentially an opening and closing double screen

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board technique. where you create, the hive is

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called a starter finisher at that point, and

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you create a queen -less condition in the upper

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box of a double deep. You can use an 8 frame

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or a 10 frame. You create a queen -less condition

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with a lot of young bees up top. You feed them

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very well, and then you graft, and then sort

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of graft frame into that top box. and they go

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to town on it, and you leave it there for usually

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24, sometimes 48 hours. Then you reintegrate

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the lower box by opening up the door, in essence,

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and it becomes just queen excluder there. So

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it becomes queen right, which tends to finish

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better. And then after a few days, they've capped

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those off. You can pull them out to an incubator.

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You can protect them with cages in the finisher

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if you want. There are different techniques used

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from there to finish. You use some terms that

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some people haven't heard of yet. And by the

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way, we have on this podcast, we have listeners

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that are commercial beekeepers that know a hundred

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times more than I ever will. We also have beginners.

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So give us an idea what the heck is grafting

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and a couple of the other terms you used. Sure,

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right. Yeah, grafting. is basically transferring

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larvae from a frame that you've chosen. And they

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have to be very young larvae, just one day hatched,

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basically. You want them, if you're looking visually,

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you can see how larvae are. They're C -shaped

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when they develop. You want to get them when

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they are comma -shaped, not even a C -shape yet.

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So very, very young, recently hatched larvae.

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And you carefully scoop them out of the cell.

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and you put them into a cell that you choose

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that is on a bar that then faces vertically downward

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like a queen cell, they will under those conditions

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I mentioned before about good nutrition and being

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queenless, they will create a queen cell from

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that and you can put whole bars of 15, 30, 45

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at a time depending on the strength of your starter.

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the strength is determined by how many nurse

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bees you can pack in. So that's grafting. Double

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screen board, I mentioned that. It's important

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in this starter -finisher box that if you're

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going to have a queen in it, in the lower box,

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they can't communicate pheromones to the upper

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box. So in the case of the cloak board, there's

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actually a slide that acts as a door that closes

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the upper box from the lower box so that Pheromone

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is no longer being transmitted back and forth.

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They believe they're queenless upstairs and they

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will then generate queen cells. You don't want

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to provide them with any brood of their own to

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do that. You want the larvae that you have chosen

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only. Not only because you're looking for your

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favorite queen, your favorite hive, the genetics

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you're after, various other selected traits,

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but you want them to focus only on the larvae

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that you have put in there for that. If you leave

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other open larvae in the upper box, they'll continue

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to feed them. And you want those nurse bees,

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those worker bees, to do nothing but focus on

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your grafts. And how are they going to be doing

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that? What exactly are they going to do to your

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grafts? They are going to feed the heck out of

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them with royal jelly. and they're going to pack

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those cells full of royal jelly hopefully more

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than the larvae will ever possibly consume and

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they're going to make a big beefy happy virgin

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queen for you all right any secrets after that

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you've got these virgin queens what are you doing

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next well if you once you open that slide door

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back up again you want to finish off those cells

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for a few days until they're capped now there's

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some Conditions that can occur in there, cold

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nights, sometimes workers will tear cells back

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down again, sometimes you can get a rogue queen

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flying into the upper box. There are any number

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of things that can put those cells at risk. So

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what I like to do after they're capped, all they

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need is warmth and humidity. I like to pull them

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out and put them into an incubator. I prefer

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93 Fahrenheit. Some people go a little warmer,

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some people go a little cooler. And the choice

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of incubator is up to you. It depends on how

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many you have, whether you need portability.

00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.600
Some commercial guys have giant ones that look

00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:15.659
like the size of a refrigerator. Some people

00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:19.879
use chicken egg incubators, for example, or reptile

00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:22.480
egg incubators. Anything will work as long as

00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.960
it holds a steady temperature. And then these

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queens hatch. And then what are you doing with

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them so they go out and get mated? Right. So

00:13:29.980 --> 00:13:33.629
once they emerge, Sorry, emerge, not hatch. Thank

00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:36.570
you for correcting me on that one. I didn't mean

00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:39.309
to use the wrong term there. Yeah. Yeah. Thank

00:13:39.309 --> 00:13:42.169
you. Yeah. Yeah. Eggs hatch, virgins emerge.

00:13:42.889 --> 00:13:45.509
Yeah. So the virgins will emerge. I like to emerge

00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:48.190
them and look at them. Now you talk to the commercial

00:13:48.190 --> 00:13:50.870
guys and they're like, no, that's a lot of extra

00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:52.809
work. We don't have time for that. And they're

00:13:52.809 --> 00:13:56.590
right. Time is money. In my case, what I really

00:13:56.590 --> 00:13:58.909
like to do, I like to emerge those virgins. I

00:13:58.909 --> 00:14:01.620
like to get a good look at them. make sure they've

00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:04.080
got all six legs, all their wings are looking

00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:07.039
good, they're big fat healthy girls, and cull

00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.899
the ones that don't meet the standard. Let me

00:14:11.899 --> 00:14:13.899
just take a minute here to thank our presenting

00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:17.120
sponsor, Man Lake. One of the things I love about

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00:14:54.629 --> 00:15:02.269
purchase. Now, back to the guest. So once I've

00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:05.710
got those virgins, I can put them into mating

00:15:05.710 --> 00:15:09.169
nukes. And a mating nuke is just a nucleus colony

00:15:09.169 --> 00:15:12.700
that you've got set aside. that you rotate virgins

00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:16.779
in and mated queens out. Mating nucs are on a

00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:19.340
commercial scale or teeny tiny little styrofoam

00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:21.960
things, but it can be a full -size colony if

00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:25.559
you really want it to. What I prefer is a five

00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:29.039
frame nuc box with a gallon and a half feeder

00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:33.000
in place. So I've really got a three frame box,

00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:35.500
but I can put some feed in there when needed.

00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.259
I like working with the deep frames. I like a

00:15:38.259 --> 00:15:41.019
bigger mating nuc than normal. It is a little

00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:43.600
harder to find the queen, but you've got a little

00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.600
buffer here and there on the timing on pulling

00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:49.679
those queens back out again once they're mated.

00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.120
I find it's a little more comfortable to use

00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:54.440
three deep frames. How do you know when those

00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.480
queens have successfully mated? Oh, well, you

00:15:57.480 --> 00:15:59.919
definitely check back on them after a while.

00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:02.200
It takes them a little time to mature. Then they

00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:04.259
go on mating flights and then they come back.

00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:08.600
What I like is to see a really good pattern of

00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:11.019
brood. You need to make sure they're not drone

00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:14.519
layers. You need to make sure they've come back

00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:16.600
from their mating flight. Sometimes they don't

00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:19.360
make it home. They get pecked off by a bird or

00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:21.559
something. And I like to see a good pattern develop.

00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:25.279
I believe the science has shown that the queen

00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.600
will be healthier if she's got a three -week

00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:31.500
cycle between installing and pulling or catching.

00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:34.500
That there is some maturation. You can see that

00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:37.679
she's a good queen after a couple of weeks, but

00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.179
waiting a little bit longer. she'll mature a

00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:42.679
little bit more. So it takes a little bit longer.

00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.580
Again, time is money. And the commercial beekeepers

00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:49.120
are like, no, we don't have time for that. We

00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.000
see that she's a good queen. We can we can send

00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.360
her on. I'm not on such a tight schedule. So

00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:56.860
I like a three week schedule. All right. I like

00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:59.879
it. I called you earlier mad scientist. That

00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:02.559
was a loving term, not a discriminatory kind

00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.700
of thing. OK, let's explain why now, because

00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:09.400
like a lot of beekeepers, you found, oh, here's

00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:11.880
something I like, but I can make it better. Go

00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.700
for it. Tell us what you've created. Right, right.

00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:16.559
Well, a lot of us, you know, beekeepers were

00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:18.859
tinkerers in a lot of different ways. We were

00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:22.500
either building boxes or making gizmos and gadgets.

00:17:22.579 --> 00:17:26.319
And I'm a big fan of the JZBZ Queen Cell Cup.

00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:28.779
That's for grafting. That's the larval transfer

00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:32.519
we talked about. But JZBZ does not manufacture

00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:37.460
a corresponding cage. So I had to rig up this

00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:41.000
and that and use other manufacturers' components

00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.660
to properly cage those cells to emerge the virgins

00:17:45.660 --> 00:17:48.660
safely to protect them from each other. Because

00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:50.740
as you know, but maybe some of the audience don't

00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.900
know, when those virgins emerge, if they're out

00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:55.559
there running around with each other, they're

00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:58.460
going to fight each other to the death. So I

00:17:58.460 --> 00:18:00.779
want to protect them from each other and from

00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:03.420
being torn down in the finish or all that So

00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:05.519
I fiddled with this and that and the other thing,

00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:09.000
you know duct tape and wire mesh and what we

00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.460
call roller cages and a few other ideas and then

00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:16.119
I learned how to 3d print and Then I learned

00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:22.180
how to design 3d models for 3d printing and Developed

00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:24.539
over time and with help and input from other

00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:28.670
beekeepers a cage that works very well for the

00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:34.849
JZBZ Queen Cell Cup and goes on the bar and since

00:18:34.849 --> 00:18:37.589
then I've developed an entire line of accessories

00:18:37.589 --> 00:18:41.049
to help make your beekeeping, help make your

00:18:41.049 --> 00:18:46.190
queen rearing easier. And I named it EZPZ. You

00:18:46.190 --> 00:18:49.809
can keep going. Well, I think you can tell us

00:18:49.809 --> 00:18:52.670
more about it. I'm looking at your website right

00:18:52.670 --> 00:18:54.490
now, and that'll be in the show notes, by the

00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:57.089
way, so everybody can look it up. I know these

00:18:57.089 --> 00:18:59.430
aren't in mass production yet. In other words,

00:19:00.430 --> 00:19:02.890
a lot of the suppliers are not going to have

00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:04.369
these. They're going to have to go to your website

00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:07.230
if they want to take a look at them because they're

00:19:07.230 --> 00:19:12.230
individually 3D printed at this point. But yeah,

00:19:12.230 --> 00:19:13.990
I'm scrolling through. This stuff looks pretty

00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:16.299
cool. Tell us about some of the things you have.

00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:19.579
Sure. Well, it all started with the cage and

00:19:19.579 --> 00:19:22.259
the original idea of protecting the virgin when

00:19:22.259 --> 00:19:25.680
she emerged. But then I realized, well, now that

00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:28.559
same cage could be used for introduction. So

00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.680
I developed a candy cap that you take the JZBZ

00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.339
cell cup out and plug it with the candy cap so

00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:38.279
that it can be used either for releasing the

00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.960
virgin slowly, which isn't normally necessary,

00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:44.799
or for releasing a mated queen slowly. can also

00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.980
be used for transport. Then I got a different

00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:52.940
kind of incubator and realized that a tray to

00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:55.859
hold these cages would be really handy. And so

00:19:55.859 --> 00:19:58.079
there's a tray that goes with it as well now.

00:19:58.279 --> 00:20:02.299
And then I designed and built a bracket device

00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:09.180
that holds the JZBZ cell bars and a little grafting

00:20:09.180 --> 00:20:12.410
stand, you know, You can buy a really, really

00:20:12.410 --> 00:20:15.809
fancy grafting stand or grafting station as they're

00:20:15.809 --> 00:20:17.910
called, but all you really need is something

00:20:17.910 --> 00:20:21.269
that'll hold your frame for grafting. You just

00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:23.369
prop it up just nicely, and it doesn't have to

00:20:23.369 --> 00:20:26.390
be all that fancy to work right. So those are

00:20:26.390 --> 00:20:31.250
the main products, and more and more things have

00:20:31.250 --> 00:20:35.269
kind of spawned from that. I don't know if you

00:20:35.269 --> 00:20:37.269
know about the yellow -legged hornet down here.

00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.359
We've talked about it on the show. Yeah, it's

00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:43.920
pretty scary. It's coming over from Europe, originally

00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.960
from Asia. Tell us how much of it's going on

00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:50.859
there. Well, it's confined so far to the coastal

00:20:50.859 --> 00:20:53.380
area of Georgia and South Carolina down near

00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:57.000
Savannah. What I did was I developed an easy

00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:00.200
little track device that works with mason jars

00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.319
and donated a bunch of them to beekeepers down

00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:07.680
in the Savannah area. In order to help them monitor

00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.680
it was a it's a monitoring device. I suppose

00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:14.039
that you could spin it out for a full effective

00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:19.880
not eradication, but reduction of The population

00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:23.339
of the actual insect I just wanted some kind

00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:26.059
of a zapper right one of those yellow -legged

00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:29.279
Hornets gets around one of my colonies. I just

00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:33.670
want to zap it Can you develop that for me? If

00:21:33.670 --> 00:21:36.309
only it could be that selective, that would be

00:21:36.309 --> 00:21:39.650
pretty awesome. And that simple, nothing is.

00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:42.170
A couple of the other things that I've developed

00:21:42.170 --> 00:21:45.470
with the input from other beekeepers, oftentimes

00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:47.609
existing customers will say, well, you know,

00:21:47.609 --> 00:21:50.289
I'd really like to do this. Once those queens

00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:54.269
are mated, a lot of folks like to bank them in

00:21:54.269 --> 00:21:58.569
either a queenless upper or a queenless hive

00:21:58.569 --> 00:22:03.019
entirely. And so I developed the banker that

00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:05.519
goes on a frame, either a Langstroth deep or

00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.339
a Langstroth medium that will hold a number of

00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:12.440
the easy peasy cages. And then just recently,

00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:15.700
this is a really fun thing, just recently I was

00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:18.579
contacted by a guy in Florida who's really good

00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:22.240
at cutting queen cells off of foundation. And

00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.259
he said, I really want to try to figure out a

00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:28.160
way to make your cage work so that I can... do

00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.599
more, you know, when I've got five really nice

00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:35.259
looking cells on a frame, in order to really

00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:37.200
get the most out of that, instead of just putting

00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.220
that whole frame into a queen -less nuke, I want

00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:43.180
to be able to make five queen -less nukes out

00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:47.799
of that instead. And so I developed a cage that

00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:51.740
you put the, you harvest the queen cell off of

00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:54.420
the foundation, and you put it in the cage and

00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.480
it closes over clamshell fashion. and you can

00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:00.720
emerge the virgin safely in that cage as well.

00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:04.220
I call that one the cut cell cage. That's something

00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:07.019
I haven't done yet. Once you cut those cells,

00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:11.640
how difficult is that to successfully stick them

00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:15.700
to another frame somewhere or foundation? That's

00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:17.700
just it. It's depending on how it is hanging.

00:23:17.950 --> 00:23:20.710
You can put it on another frame. You can kind

00:23:20.710 --> 00:23:22.509
of mash it in there as long as you don't mash

00:23:22.509 --> 00:23:25.490
the cell itself. But what he likes to do is he

00:23:25.490 --> 00:23:29.009
also likes to emerge those virgins just as if

00:23:29.009 --> 00:23:32.390
he wanted to use the easy peasy cage. But I developed

00:23:32.390 --> 00:23:35.529
this entire cage that it closes over. Instead

00:23:35.529 --> 00:23:38.089
of trying to stick it down the opening, it closes

00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:42.390
over the entire cell and encases it and holds

00:23:42.390 --> 00:23:45.569
it steady for that virgin to emerge in the cage.

00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:48.519
It's been surprisingly popular. We're going to

00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:50.880
have to start adding video to this podcast in

00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:53.460
the future so that you can actually demonstrate

00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.200
some of that stuff. It would be cool to see.

00:23:56.579 --> 00:24:00.299
It would be. It would be. Tell us about Tallahassee

00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:04.819
Highlands. Oh, sure. Well, that's the the name

00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:07.099
of the official name of the area is Tallahassee

00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:11.140
Highlands Apiary. The area right here is high

00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:14.140
ground just outside of Athens, Georgia. We're

00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:16.910
right at the edge of the county. The Talisie

00:24:16.910 --> 00:24:20.329
King was a Native American chief who lived here

00:24:20.329 --> 00:24:24.349
many, many years ago. And the area is, it's really

00:24:24.349 --> 00:24:26.730
informally known as Talisie Highlands, but we

00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:29.589
liked it a lot. So we chose that as the apiary

00:24:29.589 --> 00:24:33.289
name. I like it. Do you mind telling us what

00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:35.130
you know, you don't have to tell us any secrets

00:24:35.130 --> 00:24:37.869
or anything, but I think it's good for beekeepers

00:24:37.869 --> 00:24:40.190
to hear a little bit about the business model

00:24:40.190 --> 00:24:44.430
of other beekeepers. Or is this your full time

00:24:44.430 --> 00:24:49.250
gig? And if so, how do you make money? I like

00:24:49.250 --> 00:24:52.690
to refer to it as my obsession. I actually I

00:24:52.690 --> 00:24:55.650
own and operate a mail order plant nursery. So

00:24:55.650 --> 00:24:59.740
I am. super busy in the springtime. I probably

00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:02.480
shouldn't even be a beekeeper, but I can't help

00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:08.200
myself. I just, I love it way too much. So I

00:25:08.200 --> 00:25:13.759
manage about 50 colonies and I would say 25 of

00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.960
them are what I would consider to be in actual

00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.839
honey production. And our nectar flow is on right

00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:24.119
now. It's on strong right now. It won't last

00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:28.809
very long. And I am a small producer. I produce

00:25:28.809 --> 00:25:30.809
in the hundreds of pounds, not the thousands

00:25:30.809 --> 00:25:33.769
of pounds. The local wildflower honey is pretty

00:25:33.769 --> 00:25:38.670
tasty here. And then I also will, after we pull

00:25:38.670 --> 00:25:43.509
supers and bottle up the local wildflower honey,

00:25:43.630 --> 00:25:47.049
I will take a number of hives up into the Blue

00:25:47.049 --> 00:25:51.099
Ridge Mountains for the sourwood flow. and it's

00:25:51.099 --> 00:25:54.099
a lot of work hauling bees. And to ask any migratory

00:25:54.099 --> 00:25:55.859
beekeeper, it's a lot of work and I don't even

00:25:55.859 --> 00:25:59.140
move that many, but I just, I love sourwood honey

00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:02.960
and it commands a premium price. I'm a little

00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:05.680
low for boutique. I'm at $12 a pound for the

00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:09.319
wildflower and $18 a pound for the sourwood,

00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:12.099
but it's profitable enough for me. I make a decent

00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:15.980
amount of money on it. Most years I'll sell a

00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:19.720
couple of dozen nukes as well. as a part of swarm

00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:23.380
prevention, and it's profitable. I like selling

00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:26.839
bees. And then hopefully I'm going to be ramping

00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:29.680
up queen sales. I've had a bit of a rough time

00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:31.940
getting started this spring for various reasons,

00:26:32.019 --> 00:26:35.160
but hopefully we'll get going. This year, I hope

00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:39.000
to produce 150 vaccinated queens. From Dalen?

00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:42.259
Yes, the Dalen vaccine. Yeah, they've been on

00:26:42.259 --> 00:26:46.000
this podcast too. So if anybody wants to hear

00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.589
more about the vaccine, Go back to that episode.

00:26:49.589 --> 00:26:51.930
I don't know the number off the top of my head,

00:26:52.009 --> 00:26:54.890
but we had a couple of people from Dalen on and

00:26:54.890 --> 00:26:58.250
they were excellent explaining how that works

00:26:58.250 --> 00:27:01.809
and explaining how you don't have to catch each

00:27:01.809 --> 00:27:05.130
queen and get a needle and vaccinator like that.

00:27:06.829 --> 00:27:09.609
All right. Yeah, it's pretty cool stuff they're

00:27:09.609 --> 00:27:12.630
doing. It's time, Dan. Have you thought of a

00:27:12.630 --> 00:27:18.299
wild and crazy story yet? Oh, no, no. You know,

00:27:18.900 --> 00:27:22.000
again, migratory beekeepers would say, oh, that's

00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:26.000
nothing. But I always think of how crazy it is

00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.619
driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains with

00:27:28.619 --> 00:27:31.759
a trailer load full of bees weaving and turning

00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:36.099
in the mountain roads at night. And it's classed

00:27:36.099 --> 00:27:38.519
as a temperate rainforest. So it's usually pretty

00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:41.819
wet up there, too. And we haven't lost anything

00:27:41.819 --> 00:27:44.440
yet, but it gets a little bit hairy sometimes.

00:27:44.809 --> 00:27:47.849
I wish I had something better for you. I really

00:27:47.849 --> 00:27:52.269
You keep thinking about it for a minute Anyway,

00:27:52.269 --> 00:27:55.369
I need to try that sour wood honey. I'll have

00:27:55.369 --> 00:27:58.069
to can I order some from your website? I'd be

00:27:58.069 --> 00:28:00.769
happy to send you some it's it's delicious. I

00:28:00.769 --> 00:28:04.069
can't wait to try it I love tasting honey from

00:28:04.069 --> 00:28:07.970
all over Every place that I travel it is so fun

00:28:07.970 --> 00:28:10.990
to try different honeys and I don't mean infused

00:28:10.990 --> 00:28:13.529
honeys because you can do that anywhere, but

00:28:13.529 --> 00:28:17.599
honey's from Different local pollination so and

00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.900
in different nectar flows. So anyway back to

00:28:20.900 --> 00:28:24.160
your wild and crazy beekeeping story Can you

00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:26.799
tell me what is the most times you've been stung

00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:29.779
in one day? Oh, well, there was the time my wife

00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:34.339
had my veil and jacket in the back of the truck

00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:38.559
and There was a swarm it had it had formed the

00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:41.940
bivouac on a branch very high up I it was early

00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:44.180
on in my beekeeping. I think I had probably had

00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:46.039
you know, just a few years under my belt and

00:28:46.039 --> 00:28:49.039
I needed that swarm. I needed it badly. You know

00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:52.740
how it is. Got my Poland bucket and got it extended

00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:54.960
up and it was right near a power line too. So

00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:57.000
I was being a little bit careful how I was handling

00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:00.160
things. I bopped that branch with the bucket

00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:05.180
and I missed and the entire bivouac came down.

00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.539
It seemed like about half of it came down on

00:29:07.539 --> 00:29:10.500
me. You know a bivouac is pretty peaceful until

00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:14.059
it drops 30 feet down hard. Yeah. I got stung

00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:16.640
up, as they say here in Georgia, I got ed up.

00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:19.539
Probably, I don't know, probably 25, 30 stings

00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:22.940
before I got out of there. Yeah, that's a that's

00:29:22.940 --> 00:29:25.440
a pretty crazy thing. When you're up there and

00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.480
you're not suited up and all of a sudden you

00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:30.279
realize that thousands of bees are falling on

00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:33.400
you. You know, at least I didn't climb 30 feet

00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.099
in the air. You know, I always I hear these people

00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:40.140
that have fallen off of their ladder over. You

00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:42.099
know, a swarm is a beautiful thing, but it's

00:29:42.099 --> 00:29:44.900
not worth a trip to the hospital. Now, the long

00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:47.599
poles make a lot more sense than 20 foot tall

00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:51.700
ladders. Yeah. Yeah. Safety wise. Absolutely.

00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:54.680
Hey, Dan, I appreciate your time today. Your

00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:57.859
knowledge, your insights. Thank you so very much.

00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:00.480
Keep in touch with the show. People can find

00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.599
you in the show notes and we'll talk again soon.

00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.880
All right. Thanks very much. Thanks again for

00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:11.400
joining us here on Be Love Beekeeping, presented

00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:15.339
by Man Lake. Remember right now to follow or

00:30:15.339 --> 00:30:18.920
subscribe and share this podcast. Also a quick

00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.359
shout out to Vita Bee Health for their support.

00:30:22.140 --> 00:30:25.000
Vita's Varroa Control range of products includes

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.339
Apistan, Apigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release

00:30:29.339 --> 00:30:33.319
Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. Enjoy spring

00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:36.380
everybody, enjoy your bees, and remember, if

00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:38.640
you're not just in it for the honey or the money,

00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:41.440
you're in it for the love. See you next week.