Honey Lemonade, Honey Kettle Corn, Honey Straws • Sticky Bee Honey Farms

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. Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping

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presented by our great friends over at Man Lake.

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By the way, if you haven't yet, please subscribe

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to and follow this podcast, tell your friends

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about it, and click on over to BeLoveBeekeeping

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.com to sign up for our free newsletter. Today's

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guest comes to us from the Midwest and has a

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wealth of knowledge on everything from sideline

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beekeeping to farmers markets, winter beekeeping,

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3D printing, even writing bee related children's

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books. That's right and we'll discuss all of

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this but first let's take just two minutes to

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go inside the hive, this feature presented by

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Primal Bee. The standard beehive design is about

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170 years old. It was built for the beekeeper

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not the bee. Easy to inspect, easy to harvest,

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easy to stack and ship. What it wasn't designed

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for was thermal efficiency. You see in the wild

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Bees choose nest sites with thick walls, tree

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cavities, hollow logs, spaces inside buildings.

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They're looking for insulation because maintaining

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brood temperature is one of the most energy expensive

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things a colony does. A thin -walled wooden box

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loses heat fast. The bees compensate by burning

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through more honey, clustering tighter, working

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harder. It is doable, but it drains resources

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that could go toward building population or fighting

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off mites. That's the thinking behind primal

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bee. Thick insulated walls designed around how

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how beekeepers prefer to stack boxes. after 10

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to Alaska to the Middle East. Primal Bee just

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running to these hives now. If you want to give

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primalbee .com slash Bee Love and be sure to

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use discount code Bee Love at checkout. I'd like

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to welcome our very special guest today Bob Ford

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is coming to us from what the southern part of

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Minnesota Bob Yeah, well between Austin and Albert

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Lee we live on the country between Austin and

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Albert Lee and this is gonna be interesting today,

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I think because We just have so much to talk

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about we are gonna be running the gamut From

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the kind of beekeeping you do to how you've figured

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out how to make money selling hive products And

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also, you're now an author, and I think that's

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really cool and fun. And we're going to be talking

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about the books that you've written. But I want

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to start with this. Your place is called Sticky

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Bee Honey Farm. How'd you come up with the name?

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That's really fun. I tried to figure out a way

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to have a mascot that would be something of a

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branding for Sticky Bee Honey Farms. I wanted

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a funny kind of catchy name. And I spent probably

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two, three weeks of going through dictionaries

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and looking at words and things like that. Once

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I heard Sticky Bee in my head, I just all of

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a sudden, boom, that was it. And that's what

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I chose. And I also wanted somehow to include

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it with a... mascot for the books to write some

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children's books to help children get more involved

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into beekeeping. And so I came up with characters,

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Sticky of course, and one of the first names

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I kept coming up with was Stinger Honey. But

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there's so many people have Stinger Honey that

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I've seen out there and it's kind of an obvious

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name. So. So I have Stinger as one of the characters

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and not in the books yet, but in the books to

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come. So Sticky, she goes on adventures and stuff.

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And that's why I picked Sticky Bee Honey Farms.

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I just thought it was a cute name for a little

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honeybee. As long as we've jumped to that point

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already, we don't have to go through your topics

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in any particular order. Let's talk a little

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bit about the books. I'd like you to tell me

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why you decided to start writing some books,

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who they're aimed at, their children's books,

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but a little more specifically about that and

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where they're going from here. I started out,

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I started making presentations on the computer

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to teach children, especially the younger kids,

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about bees. and try to make them more comfortable

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with these, because every time you mention the

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word honeybee to kids, they love the honey, but

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they're afraid of the bee part. And so I figured

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that I would write these books and take a character

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sticky and let her go on adventures to help promote

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beekeeping to younger children. I made sure that

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every book had a lesson to be learned in each

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story, kind of like the traditional books that

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I used to have when I was a kid. and that there

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was always some lesson at the end that you learned,

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you know, learn to be nice or learn to help others,

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things like that. Just simple lessons learned

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at the end of the story. They're kind of cute,

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but short. And it's just a lot of fun to do it,

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too, as well. And I think you'd mentioned to

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me the other day that you were injured and kind

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of needed something that you could do without

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being outside hauling around beehives and stuff.

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Is that kind of what prompted you? Correct. Yeah,

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I probably could have started a little earlier

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in the story, but I was a general contractor

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for many years. I did commercial construction,

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a lot of hospital and school work and stuff like

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that. And anyway, I had several back surgeries

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over the years and I took and had a major back

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surgery about three years ago. And I had to lay

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flat on my back for about nine months. I'd had

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a surgery the prior year before COVID hit. It

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didn't heal correctly. And that's the long story

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I won't get into it. I had a contractor back

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out on me on a project. So I ended up three weeks

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out of back surgery. I ended up having to do

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the project myself because there was a $5 ,000

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a day penalty for every day that I didn't get,

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or that I went past the six weeks. So I ended

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up doing everything myself, even laying the carpet

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and painting and everything. So I tore everything

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that they did in my back all out. So that's why

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it was such a major surgery to tear it all out.

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And then 10 days later, I went back and they

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put it all back in. So I vowed that I was not

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going to work. I was going to let it heal. And

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I did. And while it laid flat on my back, I thought,

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you know, what a better thing to do than to sit

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down and start writing some books. So I wrote

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25, 30 children's books and started doing all

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the drawings and the poses for Sticky in the

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books so that it would be easier for each page.

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I could bring her in and just post different,

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you know, surprise looks and this and that. And

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it was just fun to do. I enjoyed doing it. So

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anyway. So now no more construction. Yeah, no,

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please. Yeah, so you're the illustrator as well.

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That's awesome. One of the things that I love

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about what you've done here is most of us realize

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we need to get more younger people involved in

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beekeeping. And what a way to start at a very

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young age. So thank you for that. I have now

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children involved and grandchildren involved.

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And I don't know that there is an age that's

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too young to get. Kids involved in beekeeping.

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What do you think? I don't think so either. And,

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um, I've had a lot of people because I told them

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at the range for kids, age -wise, even when I

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published them on Amazon, they even sent me a

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thing back saying that the books were advanced,

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too advanced for that age. And that, that there

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was a few words that I used that were more advanced

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for the age. My thought was, and they agreed

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with me actually, was that parents mostly read

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children the books. That's part of the book experience.

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is having the parent read the book to the child

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and the child starting to see the words and hear

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the words as they're watching them go across

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the page. So that's kind of what I think that

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being the younger kids, they learn the bigger

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words and start, because they're going to ask

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questions while you're reading it. They're going

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to say, Oh, what was that word nuisance? You

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know, what was this word? And so I think it's

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a learning experience for younger kids. And I,

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I'm a firm believer in that kids. up to the age

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of probably eight, nine years old, most of their

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parents are reading them in their books at night

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before they go to bed or just during the day.

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I know when I've gone to visit some of my sister's

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grandchildren and you read them a book, it's

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always that you read it, you read it, you read

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it, and not that they're reading it. And then

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you kind of transition into them reading a little

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bit of it. Some of the best part of parenting

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too. Sure. I love it. Those are some great memories.

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All right. I want to jump into some things that

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we can learn from your experience. They're in

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a pretty cold climate there. Now most of us,

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when this is going live, it's going to be in

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the spring of 2026. So for those of us in the

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northern hemisphere, we're coming out of winter.

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We're looking and seeing how many bee colonies

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made it, how many didn't make it. our friends

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in the southern hemisphere that are listening.

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Of course they're the opposite. They're thinking

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about winter right now. What kinds of things

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have you done for your bees to help them get

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through winter and maybe preface with how many

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beehives did you run in the past before the injury

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and how many do you run now? Well I started out

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I just was gonna have two beehives. Of course

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within two months there was so much fun and so

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exciting. I started splitting hives and creating

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more and more. And of course, being in the construction,

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I had plenty of extra wood to build more hives.

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And so I got up to, I think the most I've had

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was 65 to 80, something like that. But I found

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that it was just too much work for my back being

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that bad. So I figured I'd have to back it down

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a little bit. But I had enough equipment for

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400 hives. I still do. It was my goal of Being

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that I was in construction, I had a semi already,

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and I've already got a semi trailer to haul bees

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to do pollination. And that was my ultimate goal.

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But of course, my back kind of held me back on

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that. Still to this day, I still kind of hope

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to be able to do that, to be able to haul, not

00:11:45.429 --> 00:11:47.769
so much to California, but, you know, to Wisconsin

00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:50.429
or Michigan, I think would be kind of fun to

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do it. Of course, I already had forklifts and

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skid loaders and all the equipment necessary

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to do it, but my back is what held me back. No

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pun intended. Currently, I have 40 to 45, something

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like that, hives. I treat my hives as best I

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can. Sometimes I miss the date because of pain

00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:10.159
issues or something like that, but I do try to

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treat them. And the worst part about being in

00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:14.179
Minnesota is that you get through the winter,

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you think, oh, geez, I only lost 25%. It was

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a good year. You'll go through three weeks of

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good weather and then all of a sudden, boom,

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you'll have another half die off. That's the

00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:27.019
weird part about Minnesota. But yeah, we always

00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:29.940
usually end up, I anyway, usually end up between

00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:33.639
25 and almost 60 % loss every winter. So you

00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:36.019
got to get busy splitting and cleaning out nukes

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and getting everything back ready again. So hopefully

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I can do it on a bigger scale here soon. That's

00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.360
what I'm hoping anyway. And I know I'm kind of

00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.720
asking too many questions at one time. We're

00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.059
going to come back in just a second to what to

00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:50.720
do to prepare for winter. But you mentioned you

00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:55.299
have maybe 25 % loss. Three weeks later you find

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another bunch of loss. Why is that? What is the

00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:02.080
second round of loss from? I think it's what

00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.980
they call colony collapse disorder I think it's

00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:07.600
just because in in Minnesota our weather is kind

00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.340
of weird We get like a warm spell and then a

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cold spell and you know, and you kind of misjudge

00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:17.559
when That collapse is going to be because we'll

00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:20.159
lose some over the winter I believe the disease

00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:21.840
just finally gets to them. And in the spring,

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just when they're starting to want to build up,

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they just don't build up and they just die out.

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But I honestly believe it's because we have a

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kind of a false spring. And so what we consider

00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.080
spring here, like right now it's been 70 degrees

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for the last two, three days, but it's going

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to turn into 50, 45 as highs later in the week.

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I think that these that are overwintered into

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that. with the disease and stuff they get from

00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.279
the mites, they just finally just, and it's weird

00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:54.860
because they all collapse at the same time. It's

00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.039
not that you just lose this one this day, another

00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.860
one this day. It's, you go down one week. I walk

00:14:00.860 --> 00:14:02.120
through and make sure they have enough food,

00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:04.220
you know, to keep them through the winter. And

00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:06.980
then you go back again a week later and you'll

00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:10.460
have 10, 15 hives that are, that are gone and

00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:12.419
that I have to clean out. Anyway, it's just amazing

00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:15.080
how quickly the mice move in afterwards as well.

00:14:15.309 --> 00:14:17.629
Well, and my first question was going to be,

00:14:17.870 --> 00:14:19.809
did they need food? Did they have plenty of food?

00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:22.450
Because that's often a cause for a spring collapse.

00:14:22.629 --> 00:14:25.230
It's just running out of food. I make sure they

00:14:25.230 --> 00:14:26.669
have enough honey to make it through the winter.

00:14:26.710 --> 00:14:28.929
So I leave them with enough honey. But a lot

00:14:28.929 --> 00:14:30.970
of times they can't, they don't move from one

00:14:30.970 --> 00:14:32.990
side of the frames to the other, you know, that

00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:34.870
they stay centered and then they would starve,

00:14:34.950 --> 00:14:38.429
so to speak. But I always in the closer to spring,

00:14:38.470 --> 00:14:41.210
I will go and open up to make sure. And I dumped

00:14:41.210 --> 00:14:43.590
sugar on the just plain sugar on the frames.

00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:47.100
so that they have food if they need it and there's

00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:48.899
always plenty of moisture of course in the hive

00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:51.159
so they don't have to worry too much about moisture

00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:53.039
but usually they're not dead with their heads

00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:55.720
stuck into the cells they're usually just dead

00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.639
like in a cluster or just fanned out on the what's

00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.120
left of them fanned out on a frame because usually

00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:03.620
when they when they starve out there they got

00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:06.059
their heads all stuck in you know in the in the

00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:08.799
cells that as far as i'm aware anyway yeah that's

00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.940
kind of a good indication is heads in butts out

00:15:11.940 --> 00:15:14.740
they're probably hungry Right. Yeah. You might

00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:16.820
want to have it at the inspector or somebody

00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:19.740
take a look at some time at one of those dead

00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.679
outs and give you an idea. Was it deform wing

00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:26.200
virus was something else going on? Yeah. If I

00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:28.600
could catch it soon enough, like I say, because

00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:30.480
of the temperature swings, they get a lot of

00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.639
mold on real fast. And, uh, otherwise I would

00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:34.299
try to put them under a microscope and take a

00:15:34.299 --> 00:15:36.360
better look. Some of them that I've noticed didn't

00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:38.720
have queens. So the queen must've died sometime

00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:40.720
through the winter or something. There's all.

00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:43.620
kinds of different things that I see. But the

00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:46.480
thing that is alarming is that you don't see

00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.460
too many mites on the bees themselves, but you

00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:51.820
do see them on the bottom board of the hive.

00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:55.159
I don't know if treating more or maybe a better

00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.379
treating, I would have better luck with that.

00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:00.600
A lot of that is a matter of where was the mite

00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.039
load in the fall? Correct. Did you test in the

00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:06.580
fall? Did you have a pretty good idea? Yes. But

00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:08.559
like I said, with the back injuries, I'm not

00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:11.100
timely. Cause I always set myself to seven day

00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:15.779
time to do the exoc acid or to do formic pro,

00:16:16.019 --> 00:16:18.539
you know, things like that. Most of the people

00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:21.340
in this area that I, and almost everybody in

00:16:21.340 --> 00:16:23.799
our bee club, they lose almost a hundred percent

00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:25.980
of their hives. I actually thought I was doing

00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:29.080
fairly well. Like my neighbors and people around

00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:31.600
me, they just, they buy just buy new hives every

00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.480
spring. They don't even treat, which is hard

00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:36.700
for me because then I get their mite load coming

00:16:36.700 --> 00:16:40.539
from their hives. And so it's just kind of a

00:16:40.539 --> 00:16:44.320
never ending struggle. I do believe that chemical

00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:47.899
free beekeeping. I do believe in that. I haven't

00:16:47.899 --> 00:16:50.580
done it because it's, you have to be really timely

00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:53.360
with that and make sure that you can get out

00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.840
and, uh, and do that at the correct time. I don't

00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:58.059
know. It's just been a struggle, especially in

00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:01.399
colder weather. I hate to sound, well, I don't

00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:03.600
mean this to sound rude in any way, shape or

00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:07.140
form, but it's like welcome to beekeeping. It

00:17:07.140 --> 00:17:10.119
is so much harder than people think it is. And

00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.720
so many people get into it thinking, you know,

00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.660
that it's like chickens. I just feed them and

00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:16.839
water them and they're going to be fine. And

00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.200
beekeeping is not that easy, folks. Yeah, it's

00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:23.259
not. I do notice a lot of people, they make it

00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:26.039
easy and that's all they do is they just take

00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:28.440
all the honey in the fall and they just let the

00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:32.539
bees go and The next spring they right back buying

00:17:32.539 --> 00:17:35.640
packages again I mean, I think it's sad but that's

00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:37.420
what a lot of people do that I know of around

00:17:37.420 --> 00:17:40.559
here I admit a pet peeve of mine is that it seems

00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:44.579
all beehives are white. Yeah boring old white

00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:48.200
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00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:50.799
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00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:22.880
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00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:30.980
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00:18:34.619 --> 00:18:39.119
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00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:43.460
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00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:48.160
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00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:53.039
.com discount code show me the color. I try to

00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.779
do the best I can to keep them going. It's nice

00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:58.339
to have those hives that that do make it through

00:18:58.339 --> 00:19:01.259
the winter and they just burst in the spring

00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:03.720
and you can split and you can do all kinds of

00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:06.789
just exciting. to do instead of starting from

00:19:06.789 --> 00:19:08.829
a package and then sitting back and waiting for

00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:11.730
them to You know takes two months for them here

00:19:11.730 --> 00:19:14.750
to start building up to even to you know to move

00:19:14.750 --> 00:19:18.069
on Especially if you don't have wax. I have probably

00:19:18.069 --> 00:19:21.769
a hundred and some hives worth of wax that's

00:19:21.769 --> 00:19:24.849
drawn out so that that helps considerably because

00:19:24.849 --> 00:19:26.910
then they don't have to draw wax out but if yeah,

00:19:26.990 --> 00:19:29.609
if you're if you're new and And you're starting

00:19:29.609 --> 00:19:31.630
to try to build up, and you're just buying packages

00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:33.630
every spring. You're waiting first two months

00:19:33.630 --> 00:19:36.130
just to get wax built. And the other exciting

00:19:36.130 --> 00:19:38.289
thing about those that make it through winter

00:19:38.289 --> 00:19:42.109
is we can kind of assume they probably have good

00:19:42.109 --> 00:19:46.109
genetics. So we want to split those. We really

00:19:46.109 --> 00:19:48.130
want to make sure that we're nurturing and taking

00:19:48.130 --> 00:19:50.589
care of those colonies. Yeah, those are the ones

00:19:50.589 --> 00:19:55.069
you paint gold before you leave. Yeah, absolutely.

00:19:55.589 --> 00:19:58.670
So a lot of people in cold climates will wrap

00:19:58.670 --> 00:20:01.369
their hives with tar paper, will put some kind

00:20:01.369 --> 00:20:04.329
of insulation around, even hay bales. What do

00:20:04.329 --> 00:20:07.609
you like to do there? I myself, I kind of do

00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:10.349
a, I like to get them out of the wind and you

00:20:10.349 --> 00:20:13.369
can put a windbreak up, but the wind usually

00:20:13.369 --> 00:20:15.349
comes from every different direction anyway.

00:20:15.750 --> 00:20:17.769
So you almost have to put a U -shaped windbreak

00:20:17.769 --> 00:20:20.730
around them. But I think that when you do the

00:20:20.730 --> 00:20:23.109
wind breaks, that you're still getting wind,

00:20:23.109 --> 00:20:25.910
you know, filling in and going up and over the

00:20:25.910 --> 00:20:28.210
wind breaks and stuff. So what I do is I actually

00:20:28.210 --> 00:20:30.269
wait till it's going to be consistently below

00:20:30.269 --> 00:20:33.890
56 degrees. And I put them inside of a pole shed

00:20:33.890 --> 00:20:37.289
that's out of the wind so that I think that's

00:20:37.289 --> 00:20:40.609
99 % of what helps to keep them warm is they

00:20:40.609 --> 00:20:43.019
don't have that. that wind when you put up a

00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:44.740
windbreak I believe that when you have wind blowing

00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:47.500
across the top you'll get a negative air pressure

00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:50.440
inside as well and I think that that helps to

00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:52.460
fluctuate and sucking air in and out of the hives

00:20:52.460 --> 00:20:56.240
and kind of like a sandblaster but where you're

00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:59.420
blowing air across the top of something and it

00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:02.140
sucks the sand out of the out of the bottle that

00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:05.740
you're you're sandblasting with so that's why

00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:07.859
I put mine in a building so they're out of the

00:21:07.859 --> 00:21:09.500
wind and then when the temperature gets looks

00:21:09.500 --> 00:21:11.950
like it's going to be 56 or above well actually

00:21:11.950 --> 00:21:14.150
lower than that, but because I've tried to be

00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:16.829
proactive, and then I'll set them back out again.

00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:19.990
I find that there's less condensation in the

00:21:19.990 --> 00:21:23.470
hives with that, and I don't wrap my hives. I

00:21:23.470 --> 00:21:27.109
use pallets for all my hives. I put a wood fiber

00:21:27.109 --> 00:21:29.690
board on top. It helps to not let the water,

00:21:30.190 --> 00:21:31.990
because you want some condensation in the hive

00:21:31.990 --> 00:21:34.849
for them to have water, but it doesn't drip like

00:21:34.849 --> 00:21:37.509
other products that are out in the market, like

00:21:37.509 --> 00:21:40.289
wood would drip. it actually absorbs most of

00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:42.109
the moisture but it doesn't literally get drops

00:21:42.109 --> 00:21:44.190
on it like you would see when you lift off like

00:21:44.190 --> 00:21:46.390
your styrofoam of people that use foam on the

00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:48.490
top if you lift the foam up you'll see the water

00:21:48.490 --> 00:21:51.569
run you know down the face of the foam the moisture

00:21:51.569 --> 00:21:54.450
that's why i use wood fiber it just doesn't seem

00:21:54.450 --> 00:21:56.650
to drip on the bees that way they can just go

00:21:56.650 --> 00:21:58.490
to the hive especially the edges and get the

00:21:58.490 --> 00:22:00.730
water and moisture that they need to to keep

00:22:00.730 --> 00:22:03.049
on going and there are a lot of good products

00:22:03.049 --> 00:22:06.210
out there yes if you go to a place like manlakes

00:22:06.210 --> 00:22:09.430
website There are things that wrap all the way

00:22:09.430 --> 00:22:12.349
around the hive that block the wind and have

00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:15.710
insulation. There's things that go on top. There's

00:22:15.710 --> 00:22:18.930
a hive heater, which is a solar thing, which

00:22:18.930 --> 00:22:21.130
I've had really good luck with. We'll have to

00:22:21.130 --> 00:22:23.529
try that. We'll have to look into that one. Definitely

00:22:23.529 --> 00:22:25.910
insulating definitely helps. I don't personally

00:22:25.910 --> 00:22:28.450
insulate mine. I guess I don't know why, just

00:22:28.450 --> 00:22:29.910
probably because I have so many of them, but

00:22:29.910 --> 00:22:31.990
it would take quite a while to insulate and a

00:22:31.990 --> 00:22:33.990
lot of material to insulate them all. I do have

00:22:33.990 --> 00:22:36.670
concrete blankets. There are big, huge blankets.

00:22:36.890 --> 00:22:39.150
They're like 40 foot by 60 foot. Uh, and they're

00:22:39.150 --> 00:22:41.230
insulated with plastic on the top and bottom,

00:22:41.430 --> 00:22:44.130
like a tarp, insulated tarp. And a lot of them

00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:46.190
are, you know, three, four inches thick. And

00:22:46.190 --> 00:22:48.130
I do it sometimes when it's going to get really

00:22:48.130 --> 00:22:50.049
cold, I'll literally roll that out over the top

00:22:50.049 --> 00:22:52.769
of all of them. And that I'm sure helps quite,

00:22:52.849 --> 00:22:55.410
quite a bit. So insulating does help. So if you

00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:58.450
have, or able to, you know, I would think that

00:22:58.450 --> 00:23:01.170
most folks with 30 highs, maybe at max would,

00:23:01.470 --> 00:23:03.170
I don't know, it must take a long time to wrap

00:23:03.170 --> 00:23:05.769
a hive. I would think. to do individual hives.

00:23:06.190 --> 00:23:08.210
That's why you don't see commercial beekeepers

00:23:08.210 --> 00:23:11.309
wrapping up 10 ,000 hives. It's easier to just

00:23:11.309 --> 00:23:14.789
put them someplace warmer. There are, yeah, lots

00:23:14.789 --> 00:23:16.730
of other products out there and I think it's

00:23:16.730 --> 00:23:19.609
great to just try them, see what works for use

00:23:19.609 --> 00:23:22.130
and the way that you bee keep and the way that

00:23:22.130 --> 00:23:25.849
your weather is. This last winter I also tried

00:23:25.849 --> 00:23:28.099
a Primal Beehive, and people have heard about

00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:31.299
this on this podcast, had super good luck with

00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:34.740
that, but it's really, really thick insulative

00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:36.740
kind of material that it's made out of, didn't

00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:39.180
need to be wrapped with anything. And by the

00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:42.220
way, I happen to know what a construction blanket

00:23:42.220 --> 00:23:46.160
is, but it's not, in case you don't know what

00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:49.440
it is, I mean a concrete blanket. It's not a

00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:52.799
blanket made out of concrete. Go ahead and mansplain

00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.730
that for us for just a second, Bob. Oh, it's

00:23:55.730 --> 00:23:57.869
a tarp that we use like when we pour concrete

00:23:57.869 --> 00:24:01.549
in the fall, when it's getting cold out and it

00:24:01.549 --> 00:24:04.190
helps to keep the concrete warm. So you roll

00:24:04.190 --> 00:24:06.829
out, we usually have plastic down after we spray

00:24:06.829 --> 00:24:09.569
our sealer on the concrete. Then we'll throw

00:24:09.569 --> 00:24:12.049
the blankets on top to help keep the concrete

00:24:12.049 --> 00:24:14.970
to stay warm. So it cures longer. You want it

00:24:14.970 --> 00:24:18.170
to cure up to 26, 28 days. I'm getting old, I

00:24:18.170 --> 00:24:20.369
can't remember. But the longer you can get it

00:24:20.369 --> 00:24:22.529
to cure up to 26, 28 days, the better as well.

00:24:22.569 --> 00:24:25.000
So sometimes even. If it's in direct sunlight,

00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:27.799
we will put blankets on it for the first few

00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.740
days or several days so that the sun doesn't

00:24:30.740 --> 00:24:33.039
just dry out the top surface right away and it

00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:35.059
cracks. Sometimes we use it to keep the concrete

00:24:35.059 --> 00:24:37.880
cool. Sometimes we use it to keep it warm. But

00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.200
most of the time it's in the winter or in the

00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:43.519
fall to keep it warm. We usually don't pour concrete

00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:45.279
in the winter because then the ground is froze.

00:24:46.019 --> 00:24:48.579
And then when you get shifting and movement from

00:24:48.579 --> 00:24:51.200
thawing in the spring, it's not a good deal.

00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.680
So usually it's mostly used in the fall. Yeah,

00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:56.200
it's just two pieces of tart with insulation

00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:59.220
in between and then they saw it like almost like

00:24:59.220 --> 00:25:01.759
a quilt bottom line It's a giant weatherproof

00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:05.460
blanket. Yep has no concrete inside of it when

00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.920
you and I were chatting the other day you were

00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:09.599
telling me about some of the things that you

00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.839
do at farmers markets and Other places and how

00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.319
you're growing that side of the business. I think

00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:18.289
this is great information because there's beekeepers,

00:25:18.809 --> 00:25:20.970
especially hobbyists and sideliners are always

00:25:20.970 --> 00:25:24.150
looking for, wow, I need to make a few bucks

00:25:24.150 --> 00:25:26.470
at this. It's a pretty expensive hobby. And if

00:25:26.470 --> 00:25:28.529
you're a sideliner, you want to do more than

00:25:28.529 --> 00:25:31.390
that. So fill us in on some of the things that

00:25:31.390 --> 00:25:33.809
you've done. Maybe it'll help spring some ideas

00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:37.329
and others. Well, what happened was is that we

00:25:37.329 --> 00:25:39.549
used to have honey. I'd have 900 jars of honey

00:25:39.549 --> 00:25:41.269
in my living room and we used to just give it

00:25:41.269 --> 00:25:43.269
away, believe it or not. So that's how much I

00:25:43.269 --> 00:25:45.230
enjoyed beekeeping. We just gave the honey away

00:25:45.230 --> 00:25:47.789
to every book. friends neighbors with a mailman

00:25:47.789 --> 00:25:49.869
the postman would stop by we just give them all

00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.430
honey anyway after a while you kind of look and

00:25:52.430 --> 00:25:55.349
go well I'm not gonna have a retirement if I

00:25:55.349 --> 00:25:57.150
keep just buying bees and giving the honey away

00:25:57.150 --> 00:26:00.710
so I thought you know I'll start going to some

00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:03.549
farmers markets so I made bound labels and branded

00:26:03.549 --> 00:26:06.109
it and with the sticky bee this is all before

00:26:06.109 --> 00:26:09.849
sticky the books but went to like a small town

00:26:09.849 --> 00:26:12.250
farmers markets the ones that we could get into

00:26:12.250 --> 00:26:14.529
a lot of them only allowed one honey person so

00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:17.559
they wouldn't allow two So I had to find other

00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:20.299
markets to go to. So I was traveling 30, 40 miles

00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:22.559
just to get to a farmer's market to where I could

00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:25.119
actually sell the honey. That was probably the

00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:28.319
biggest issue to overcome. Then when I did do

00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:30.500
farmer's markets, I would sit there all day and

00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:32.160
you would sell like a hundred dollars worth of

00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:34.279
honey. Well, number one, it's sad that most people

00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:36.779
don't go to their farmer's markets to buy a lot

00:26:36.779 --> 00:26:39.240
of their food and things like that. But I thought,

00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:42.880
well, the mayor that I talked to. In a couple

00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.099
of the places, counties and cities that I went

00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:47.759
to and there are townships. The mayors would

00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:50.240
say, well, if you stay here longer, the longer

00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.339
you're here, they get to know that you're here.

00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.200
And then, you know, it will build up, which is

00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:57.220
true. It was true for the first two or three

00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:00.599
times I went. I did get more people, but then

00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:04.059
after that third or fourth farmer's market, those

00:27:04.059 --> 00:27:06.619
were the customers that I had. It was 80 to a

00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:08.420
hundred dollars worth of honey from then on all

00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:10.990
the way through the whole summer. And so I stayed

00:27:10.990 --> 00:27:13.009
the whole summer because I dedicate myself to

00:27:13.009 --> 00:27:15.710
a farmer's market. I'm going to stay. So I thought,

00:27:15.710 --> 00:27:17.170
you know, there's gotta be a better way to make

00:27:17.170 --> 00:27:19.650
money with the honey than sitting at the farmer's

00:27:19.650 --> 00:27:21.609
markets doing that. And I thought, you know,

00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:24.049
honey straws, the honey sticks, the flavored

00:27:24.049 --> 00:27:26.250
honey straws that people sell. I thought, you

00:27:26.250 --> 00:27:28.529
know, those, they must sell like crazy, but the

00:27:28.529 --> 00:27:30.170
only thing is you're selling them at 50 cents

00:27:30.170 --> 00:27:33.630
a piece or less to folks. And it takes a lot

00:27:33.630 --> 00:27:35.630
of honey sticks to even get to a hundred bucks.

00:27:35.869 --> 00:27:38.089
But I thought it would draw more people in to

00:27:38.089 --> 00:27:40.859
buy the honey. So I started doing that. And of

00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:42.400
course, the people that have made them before

00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.440
know what a labor intensive thing that is to

00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:49.200
make honey straws. So I actually bought a 3D

00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.500
printer designed on the software. It could be

00:27:52.500 --> 00:27:54.640
in a construction. I knew how to do AutoCAD and

00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:00.519
Fusion 360. So I designed a straw machine and

00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:05.129
I bought a pottery wheel for doing pottery. with

00:28:05.129 --> 00:28:07.789
the variable speed pedal. And then I 3D printed

00:28:07.789 --> 00:28:10.829
this circle on a piece of plexiglass, because

00:28:10.829 --> 00:28:13.150
my printer wasn't big enough to do a two -foot

00:28:13.150 --> 00:28:15.630
circle at one time. So I did it in pie shapes,

00:28:15.650 --> 00:28:18.450
like a pizza shape, so that you could have a

00:28:18.450 --> 00:28:21.069
pot in the middle. And then when it spun, the

00:28:21.069 --> 00:28:22.950
honey would go out into the straws, and the air

00:28:22.950 --> 00:28:25.990
would come out through the ends. So I made it

00:28:25.990 --> 00:28:29.049
so I could clip in 40 straws. And then I think

00:28:29.049 --> 00:28:31.269
it's 40. Yeah, 40 straws. And then I pour the

00:28:31.269 --> 00:28:33.319
honey in the middle. and then when it spins the

00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:35.500
honey goes in and then when you're done you just

00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:37.579
pinch the straw to get that last half inch of

00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:40.279
honey out of the end so you can reseal them so

00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:43.680
then i 3d printed these little holders that would

00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.119
hold the straws so i could have 16 of them in

00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:48.559
and then seal 16 of them at a time to make it

00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:51.799
go faster without buying a 20 000 machine i don't

00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:53.880
know the way that you could go much faster i

00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:58.220
i tried using a pressure cooker and i tried using

00:28:58.220 --> 00:29:00.500
air pressure and put the jar on the inside with

00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:02.220
the hose coming out of the center of the jar

00:29:02.220 --> 00:29:05.920
and then I had electric solenoid with the brass

00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:07.880
valve coming out of the end and I could stick

00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:09.799
that in the end of the straws and fill you know

00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:12.420
and just hit a pedal and it would squirt in to

00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:14.960
the straws so that works probably almost just

00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:17.839
as fast as the spinning one but it was messier

00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:20.039
so I took you had to clean straws and stuff when

00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:23.160
you were done but the only problem I had with

00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:26.670
this is a funny story with the spinner was that

00:29:26.670 --> 00:29:28.369
I had it set up in the middle of our kitchen.

00:29:28.609 --> 00:29:30.470
And when we moved into our house, I tore all

00:29:30.470 --> 00:29:33.130
the walls out in the whole main area here, so

00:29:33.130 --> 00:29:35.410
that we have open living room, dining room, kitchen

00:29:35.410 --> 00:29:36.750
area, which I'm sure you're probably knowing

00:29:36.750 --> 00:29:39.349
where this is going. But once one straw popped

00:29:39.349 --> 00:29:43.869
out of the hole. No, no, no. You had a line of

00:29:43.869 --> 00:29:46.289
honey all the way completely around the windows,

00:29:46.430 --> 00:29:48.849
the back of the chairs, all the way around the

00:29:48.849 --> 00:29:53.369
walls. So I actually took a hula hoop that kids

00:29:53.369 --> 00:29:56.700
use for playing. and I put it on at my stands.

00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:58.579
I used to play in a band, so I have these light

00:29:58.579 --> 00:30:01.559
stands. And so I put it on the two light stands,

00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:03.559
and I put a shower curtain all the way around

00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:06.099
it. So then whenever anybody visited us, I always

00:30:06.099 --> 00:30:08.519
tell them, yeah, we're getting down to the point

00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:09.579
where we have to take a shower in the middle

00:30:09.579 --> 00:30:13.099
of our kitchen. But the shower curtain definitely

00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:15.380
helps when I have a failure on the straw spinner.

00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.480
So I thought, you know, try the straws. We did

00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:21.420
the straws. That helped with getting kids involved

00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:23.059
and the parents come and then see if like the

00:30:23.059 --> 00:30:24.579
kids want straws and the parents then would take

00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:26.960
a honey home. And that's probably doubled our

00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.640
sales, but it still was a lot of time that you

00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:32.000
were spending. And I drive a one ton dually.

00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:34.039
So I had a lot of money and fuel just going to

00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:36.519
some places and back. So I decided, you know,

00:30:36.819 --> 00:30:39.460
I'm going to start a little food thing inside

00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:42.359
a tent. And so I went and I got licensed for

00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:45.559
the, with a food license to sell honey lemonade.

00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:48.759
And so we sold flavored honey lemonade. And of

00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:51.319
course that more than quadrupled our sales. People

00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:53.200
were just all excited and then they would actually

00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:55.039
buy honey and to make their own. And we'd always

00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:57.480
give them the recipe for, for the honey lemonade.

00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:00.400
So that worked out well till up to, I believe

00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:02.720
it was last year, the year before last year,

00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:06.099
we decided we'd get a food trailer and start

00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:08.819
doing that. So I built a food trailer to do the

00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:12.680
honey lemonade. And we also made honey kettle

00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:14.680
corn. So it's kettle corn, like they make at

00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:17.599
the fair. But we make it with honey instead of

00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:20.279
sugar. Boy, that was really good. And it took

00:31:20.279 --> 00:31:22.279
a while to get it so that, you know, things didn't

00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:24.819
burn or you didn't get, you know, there's a trick

00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:27.900
to it, to getting it right. But we started doing

00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:30.519
that honey kettle corn. And of course that just,

00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:32.619
you know, you're back to making a living now

00:31:32.619 --> 00:31:35.859
instead of just a side hustle. So that's kind

00:31:35.859 --> 00:31:38.460
of what I did to build it up. We've tried doing

00:31:38.460 --> 00:31:41.859
honey cotton candy. But that was really tricky.

00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:44.039
If there's any moisture in here at all, that

00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:47.660
turned to sticky too quick. Sticky as in the

00:31:47.660 --> 00:31:51.500
bee back there. Yeah. I've got to say, I have

00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:54.980
to interject something here. Beekeepers are the

00:31:54.980 --> 00:31:58.559
smartest. Entrepreneurialist, if that's a word.

00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:03.279
Inventors, they can come up with anything. to

00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.799
make stuff happen. And you're such a good example

00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:11.000
of that. How about you sent me a picture of your

00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:15.059
3D printed mason jar honey dippers. Oh, yeah.

00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:17.660
We sell our honey in jars, in mason jars. So

00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:19.660
when we sold it in the mason jars, a lot of people

00:32:19.660 --> 00:32:22.359
wanted to know what they could use. A lot of

00:32:22.359 --> 00:32:23.940
people asked me the question about the spoon,

00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:26.599
that putting a metal spoon in your honey would

00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:29.619
kill enzymes in the honey. There's some truth

00:32:29.619 --> 00:32:31.420
to that and some not truth to that because a

00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:33.920
lot of your honey It starts out in a steel pot

00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:36.480
and you've stored in steel containers things

00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:38.339
like that. Anyway, it's a long story I won't

00:32:38.339 --> 00:32:40.579
get into that but so I thought you know How could

00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:42.160
you make it so that you didn't have to keep dipping

00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:44.700
a spoon in all the time? So I 3d printed these

00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:48.160
little Honey dippers with a handle on the top

00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:49.859
so that people could take and dip your honey

00:32:49.859 --> 00:32:51.519
out and then turn it your sideways and drizzle

00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:53.589
it on your toast Anyway, they worked out really

00:32:53.589 --> 00:32:56.210
well. I got my logo printed on the top and we

00:32:56.210 --> 00:32:57.809
make them for all the different sized jars that

00:32:57.809 --> 00:33:01.089
we have, even quart jars. Anyway, I just thought

00:33:01.089 --> 00:33:04.769
it was kind of a way to solve a problem. So I

00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:06.730
designed that a little bit, I guess. Can you

00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:09.789
make some of those with my logo on top? Oh, sure.

00:33:10.329 --> 00:33:13.309
OK, we'll talk after. Yeah, no, it's fun to do.

00:33:13.369 --> 00:33:16.829
I enjoy it. I actually have all four 3D printers,

00:33:17.109 --> 00:33:19.430
four of them now sitting here. I made them all

00:33:19.430 --> 00:33:21.049
so that they were the same so that I could actually

00:33:21.049 --> 00:33:24.609
make that. process easier instead of having different

00:33:24.609 --> 00:33:26.529
files and different things for each different

00:33:26.529 --> 00:33:28.549
one. If you're into 3D printing, you'll know

00:33:28.549 --> 00:33:31.250
why. But, but, uh, so now I have them all upgraded

00:33:31.250 --> 00:33:33.450
so that they're all exactly the same. So that'll

00:33:33.450 --> 00:33:36.369
help in the future as well. And hopefully I'll

00:33:36.369 --> 00:33:40.589
put them on Amazon handmade here soon. That's

00:33:40.589 --> 00:33:43.769
what I'm hoping for. Maybe Pinterest. Well, that's

00:33:43.769 --> 00:33:45.950
another one. Yes. Yeah. I got a, I'm not very

00:33:45.950 --> 00:33:49.119
computer savvy. I was just to be able to do construction

00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:51.759
work, but a lot of the social media and the stuff

00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:54.380
behind it, I just, I have a lot of, I struggle

00:33:54.380 --> 00:33:56.700
through it and I should just find somebody that

00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:59.200
knows all about it and hire somebody to do it.

00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.039
But I'm kind of the person that I want to, if,

00:34:02.119 --> 00:34:03.599
even if I have somebody doing it, I want to know

00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:05.619
how they're doing, you know, I got to know what

00:34:05.619 --> 00:34:07.000
they're doing. You know, I got to know the information

00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:09.559
behind it anyway. So I just try to learn it myself.

00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:13.000
So find a 14 year old girl to handle your social

00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:14.880
media for you. There you go. That's what I need.

00:34:15.179 --> 00:34:17.699
Think the computer stuff you can handle if you

00:34:17.699 --> 00:34:21.000
can design and print things with 3d printers

00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:25.219
It's not like you're not smart computer wise

00:34:25.219 --> 00:34:27.260
a long time though to learn how to do some of

00:34:27.260 --> 00:34:29.719
that stuff and then a lot of it to me gets to

00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:33.380
be steps and then you go from like I 3d printed

00:34:33.380 --> 00:34:37.599
a CNC machine and Most of it's all 3d printed

00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:40.360
except for the electrical of course, and I printed

00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:43.039
that and designed it and built it blah blah blah

00:34:43.710 --> 00:34:47.469
but then that's a whole other set of different

00:34:47.469 --> 00:34:50.090
knowledge it's a whole different set of knowledge

00:34:50.090 --> 00:34:53.289
to try to figure out that whole thing and try

00:34:53.289 --> 00:34:55.630
to remember by the time you get done doing that

00:34:55.630 --> 00:34:57.389
to go back to 3d printing and then you're back

00:34:57.389 --> 00:35:00.269
to rewiring yourself to okay now I got to have

00:35:00.269 --> 00:35:03.690
this as what kind of file? anyway so it just

00:35:03.690 --> 00:35:06.050
and I'm getting older too my memory fails me

00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:09.130
so it gets to be kind of a struggle sometimes

00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:11.920
I have trouble just remembering all the passwords

00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:14.500
to all these different sites and stuff that you

00:35:14.500 --> 00:35:16.739
have to get on. Just do one, two, three, four

00:35:16.739 --> 00:35:19.519
like everybody else. Yeah, there you go. Okay.

00:35:20.179 --> 00:35:22.659
We're not giving that kind of advice here on

00:35:22.659 --> 00:35:26.739
this show. Before I let you go. I would love

00:35:26.739 --> 00:35:29.659
to hear a wild and crazy beekeeping story that

00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:32.840
you've had. You already gave us a crazy story

00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:36.039
about putting honey in straws and the big mess

00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:38.860
that it made. Can you think of anything fun or

00:35:38.860 --> 00:35:41.400
unusual like that that you've had actually with

00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:45.239
bees? Oh my gosh, yes. It was actually this,

00:35:45.340 --> 00:35:48.840
well, this spring, last spring. I can't remember

00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:53.989
now, but anyway, I went to go. do mowing. I also

00:35:53.989 --> 00:35:56.590
have a bee farm down in Iowa. Anyway I went down

00:35:56.590 --> 00:36:00.329
there to go mow and when I went to go mow I was

00:36:00.329 --> 00:36:02.250
flying across the yard to go to the spot where

00:36:02.250 --> 00:36:04.250
I was going to start mowing and I actually hit

00:36:04.250 --> 00:36:07.829
a stump and it threw me off the lawnmower and

00:36:07.829 --> 00:36:09.909
I hit my head on another stump of course so now

00:36:09.909 --> 00:36:12.250
I have a pinched nerve in my neck so if I look

00:36:12.250 --> 00:36:15.489
funny that's kind of why. Anyways right after

00:36:15.489 --> 00:36:17.989
that happened of course I got the bees boxes

00:36:17.989 --> 00:36:22.000
ready for The new packages that were coming and

00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:25.260
I think I added 16. So so now I got like 45 But

00:36:25.260 --> 00:36:29.360
I added like 16 or 12 Hives and it must be 16

00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:31.760
because it was four pallets So I had the boxes

00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:33.659
and I went to go take out all this stuff from

00:36:33.659 --> 00:36:36.260
winter, you know out of the boxes They were semi

00:36:36.260 --> 00:36:37.739
cleaned one night when they die I try to clean

00:36:37.739 --> 00:36:39.139
them out right away So you don't end up with

00:36:39.139 --> 00:36:41.420
a bunch of mold and stuff in there, but mice

00:36:41.420 --> 00:36:45.940
there was mice flying everywhere when I was pulling

00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:48.869
frames out And it's just amazing how they can

00:36:48.869 --> 00:36:51.630
get in that little tiny slither under and so

00:36:51.630 --> 00:36:53.889
many of them get in. So anyway, after all the

00:36:53.889 --> 00:36:55.710
mice, I thought, you know, the bees are coming

00:36:55.710 --> 00:36:58.989
within two days. So I'm going to set the covers

00:36:58.989 --> 00:37:02.030
and instead of putting both covers on both on

00:37:02.030 --> 00:37:03.909
each, I didn't want the mice moving back in right

00:37:03.909 --> 00:37:06.650
away. And they will go back in right away. So

00:37:06.650 --> 00:37:09.670
I set the two covers halfway on each. So there

00:37:09.670 --> 00:37:11.349
was half of the hive showing on the left and

00:37:11.349 --> 00:37:13.909
half on the right on the pallet. So I did that.

00:37:14.059 --> 00:37:15.940
leaving them open so that the mice wouldn't move

00:37:15.940 --> 00:37:17.539
back in because the bees are only going to be

00:37:17.539 --> 00:37:19.599
another two days and then I'd have the hives

00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.519
to put or the packages to put in anyway so I

00:37:22.519 --> 00:37:24.679
went and I picked up the packages and I went

00:37:24.679 --> 00:37:28.460
to go put the packages in and not only did a

00:37:28.460 --> 00:37:31.099
mouse one moved in already and had a nest made

00:37:31.099 --> 00:37:34.019
with two little babies in it and anyway so I

00:37:34.019 --> 00:37:35.659
had to take the nest and set it by the tree where

00:37:35.659 --> 00:37:37.960
the mouse kind of went down a hole that hopefully

00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:41.059
could get the babies and move them or whatever

00:37:41.059 --> 00:37:43.500
the case may be. But a raccoon had evidently

00:37:43.500 --> 00:37:46.500
came and pulled every frame out and scratched

00:37:46.500 --> 00:37:49.260
the wax and chewed up some of the frames. So

00:37:49.260 --> 00:37:52.699
in beekeeping, you end up with a lot of grief.

00:37:53.130 --> 00:37:54.849
I'm trying to remember the rest of the stories,

00:37:54.989 --> 00:37:57.150
but there's like four items that just all happened

00:37:57.150 --> 00:37:59.869
all in a row. Five items that you just stop and

00:37:59.869 --> 00:38:01.989
you just go, why do I keep doing this? And then

00:38:01.989 --> 00:38:05.030
when it comes time to open up and put those bees

00:38:05.030 --> 00:38:07.690
in, it just makes it all worth it, I guess, in

00:38:07.690 --> 00:38:11.150
the end. But yeah, it was quite an eventful spring.

00:38:11.690 --> 00:38:14.429
And you just led up right to where I wanted to

00:38:14.429 --> 00:38:17.590
finish up, which is you obviously love the bees

00:38:17.590 --> 00:38:21.679
because You're not, I mean, you mentioned that

00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:23.880
you had done it even when you were going backwards

00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:25.880
because you were giving honey away and stuff.

00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:28.760
So just what is it about the bees that Bob loves?

00:38:29.320 --> 00:38:32.440
Well, I like the stories behind it. I like talking

00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:34.460
to people about them. That was the biggest thing.

00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:36.179
I think that that turned me was that so many

00:38:36.179 --> 00:38:38.199
people were interested that, oh, you have bees

00:38:38.199 --> 00:38:40.400
and the questions that they would ask when you

00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:43.000
go for coffee, even tables that were two tables

00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:46.380
away. Oh, you have, you know, local honey and,

00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:48.699
uh, you know, Oh, they say the bees do this.

00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:50.960
They say the bees do that. I listened to a lot

00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:54.219
of podcasts, especially yours as well. And Jamie's

00:38:54.219 --> 00:38:57.219
I tried to learn everything I can from professional

00:38:57.219 --> 00:39:01.199
folks. And that way that the wives tales that

00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:04.760
you hear about beekeeping, a lot of those I found

00:39:04.760 --> 00:39:06.739
after two years of beekeeping that they weren't

00:39:06.739 --> 00:39:08.980
a lot of things I learned weren't true and things

00:39:08.980 --> 00:39:10.980
like that. And, uh, you kind of learn on your

00:39:10.980 --> 00:39:14.869
own and it. It's constantly evolving and constantly

00:39:14.869 --> 00:39:17.849
moving to a direction and you're not bored with

00:39:17.849 --> 00:39:20.170
it. And it's always a challenge too, as well.

00:39:20.250 --> 00:39:22.130
And that's what I think I like best about beekeeping

00:39:22.130 --> 00:39:25.889
is just the knowledge, the learning and the new

00:39:25.889 --> 00:39:28.510
things that come out and, uh, you know, adapting

00:39:28.510 --> 00:39:32.070
to issues. I can't adapt to falling off a lawnmower,

00:39:32.130 --> 00:39:35.190
but I could adapt to the raccoons, you know,

00:39:35.349 --> 00:39:37.570
tearing my frames out. I know next time I'm not

00:39:37.570 --> 00:39:40.019
going to do that. So. It's a learning curve.

00:39:40.219 --> 00:39:41.880
You never stop learning. That's one thing about

00:39:41.880 --> 00:39:43.679
beekeeping I found is that even I've been doing

00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:46.079
it for what, 10, 12 years now, and you just don't

00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:47.940
stop learning. You constantly are learning new

00:39:47.940 --> 00:39:51.219
things and new things happen as well. So, so

00:39:51.219 --> 00:39:53.960
true. All right. Appreciate your time, Bob. It's

00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:56.559
been fun. Let's meet up sometime. That sounds

00:39:56.559 --> 00:40:01.480
great. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks again

00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:04.019
for joining us on Be Love Beekeeping presented

00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:07.300
by Man Lake. Another big thank you goes to V2B

00:40:07.300 --> 00:40:10.389
Health for their support. Vita's Varroa Control

00:40:10.389 --> 00:40:13.989
Ranger products includes Epistan, Epigard, and

00:40:13.989 --> 00:40:18.170
now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic Acids Trips.

00:40:18.389 --> 00:40:20.670
Hey, thanks a lot guys. And if you haven't yet,

00:40:20.969 --> 00:40:23.349
please subscribe to and follow the show, tell

00:40:23.349 --> 00:40:26.090
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00:40:26.090 --> 00:40:29.789
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00:40:29.789 --> 00:40:33.130
have a guest suggestion or topic you'd like discussed

00:40:33.130 --> 00:40:36.489
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00:40:36.489 --> 00:40:39.829
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00:40:39.829 --> 00:40:42.909
the honey or the money you're in it for the love.

00:40:43.050 --> 00:40:44.030
See you next week