How to Save the Honey Bees, and Butterflies, and Other Pollinators

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 Lovey Keeping

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presented by our good friends over at Man Lake.

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I'm not in my normal place today, in my office.

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As you can see, we're at Appamondia Congress,

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which is in Copenhagen, and we had a great first

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day yesterday. Can't wait to see what's on tap

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today. We're gonna have all kinds of learning

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sessions and see all the new products. Someone

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keeps walking in the frame. That's okay, this

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is natural going on back here. And we're not

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gonna try to film the whole conference for you.

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But just to let you know in the coming weeks

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we're going to have people on the show that we're

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speakers here. We're going to be showing all

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kinds of new products and it's going to be a

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ton of fun. So let's go for it. Fast forward

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a few days, I'm back home. The conference was

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amazing. Epimonia is really a blend of where

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beekeeping meets science. There were hundreds

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of different speakers talking about their science

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that they're working on and all of the things

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that they're learning that are going to help

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us with ViroA and all kinds of other things in

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beekeeping. And the expo, wow, it had so many

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businesses from around the world, all kinds of

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new things for beekeeping. We'll talk about some

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of those in the future, but since my voice isn't

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going to last long, let's get to the interview

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pre -recorded. Here it comes and it's a nice

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feel -good story today. I'd like to welcome Elsa

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Gallagher to the show today. Elsa, you are, are

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you in North Dakota? I'm in Missouri. You are

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not in North Dakota. I wasn't even close, but

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the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund, that's where

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you're headquartered, right? Yeah, yes. We have

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a big reach and everyone works remotely in our

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team. Well, give me an idea of what you do for

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the fund. So I'm our habitat program director.

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I work with landowners that we work with to put

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projects on the ground. So I work one -on -one

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with individual landowners, corporations, companies,

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corporate campuses, cities, parks, conservation

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departments, and we work to put good quality

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pollinator habitat on the ground. at a reduced

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rate for those partners that we work with, the

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land partners that we work with. So let's start

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with a 30 ,000 foot view and then we'll narrow

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down to a bunch of topics, talk more detail.

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But in general, why should a beekeeper or somebody

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that's thinking about it or someone that just

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loves honeybees, why should they care? Sure.

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Well, it's not just the honeybees and the bees

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these days. You know, the monarch butterfly is

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about to be listed. as either an endangered or

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a threatened species through the U .S. Fish and

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Wildlife Service. We've got multiple bee species

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that are in jeopardy, in danger, not just for

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our food supply and for things like that, but

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just general biodiversity and having those species

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out there. To me, that's an important thing.

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And I think most beekeepers would agree that

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having great pollinator services is also a benefit

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that certainly the honeybee provides. Boy, there's

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just been so much that keeps hitting the beekeeper

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these days and die -offs. We want to focus on

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what we think is one of the bigger issues and

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that is having high quality habitat or high quality

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forage for bees. So let's be more specific. What

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do you guys get into as far as habitat and forage?

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So what we do is we develop a pollinator seed

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mix for a landowner. Say a landowner comes in,

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you know, Joe Bob Smith is coming in tomorrow

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and he wants to work with us on developing habitat

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or forage in his area. So we develop a plan for

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him to get the site prepared, get the site ready,

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and if his site is between two acres and 25 acres

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in size. we provide free seed for that project.

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And we break the project up into two pieces.

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So if he's doing 20 acres, we give him 10 acres

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of a very high diversity seed mix that's native

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to his local area. And then the other 10 acres

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is planted separately. to a bee mix. And that

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bee mix has a lot of clovers in it, has a lemon

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balm in it. There's a lot of different... Fasalia

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in some states is included in that bee mix, but

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the bee mix is really very forage rich for honeybees

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especially. And then the other mix is more of

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a diverse native mix that takes a couple more

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years to establish, but eventually provides a

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ton of diversity for that site. So let's say

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I have a 10 acre place and I'm growing corn or

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alfalfa or soybeans or something like that. And

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I realized the benefits of having a border of

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some kind of forage for pollinators. Can I get

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with you and say, hey, I'm going to plant this

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whole 10 acres, but I want a ring. Everything

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was some good habitat. Is that something that

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would qualify and how would you figure out what

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I need to do? It would qualify if it met our

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minimum of two acres. So we we don't do projects

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smaller than two acres in size. That's just not

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our niche. We do projects larger than 25 acres

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in size though with more of a cost share approach

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where we have you pay for part of it. However,

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if you had an existing area and you wanted to

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put in like you're talking about like a buffer

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the habitat buffer around the outside and that's

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that's kind of how we encourage our landowners

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to plant anyway is to plant our our honey bee

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mix our bee mix around as a as a border around

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the native mix, which is usually planted in the

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middle. So it's like a picture in a picture frame.

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The frame is the bee mix around the outside and

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the inside is the actual picture or the native

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planting. And then that helps us, like if you

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say you ever wanted to manage your site with

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prescribed fire and manage that native planting

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using burning, you can use that nice green strip

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of clover. species, your bee mix, as a green

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fire break. So it works really well. But in a

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situation where you're just wanting to plant

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like a border around a crop field, you can definitely

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do that with both of our seed mixes. That can

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work as well, as long as we can come up with

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that two acre. Or, you know, you could do an

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acre on your place and the neighbor could do

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an acre on his place. We've done many projects

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like that as well. Let's say I live in more of

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an urban area and I want to get my city leaders

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to realize Hey in some of the park strips or

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along the highways and along the roads We need

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to have this kind of stuff planted You have any

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guidance for me or do you reach out to those

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people for me or how does that work? It's easier

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if a local person reaches out just because they

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have those connections in the community and At

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least with the beekeeping groups that I've worked

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with come and given programs to and worked with.

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They all seem to ask that same question and want

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to be more active locally with their city. So

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I'll give you an example of a Quincy Illinois

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project that we worked on. The beekeepers came

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to me, I came and gave a program about our habitat

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program and No one in the room really raised

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their hand and said, you know, I've got four

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acres or two acres to do this. But one of the

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guys said, you know, I know the parks guys. And

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the parks guys might be interested. And so we've

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ended up planting, working with their local parks

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group on planting two different projects now

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over the past couple of years for their pollinators.

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And it was all because of that beekeeping club,

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the Quincy Beekeepers. They did a really great

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job of kind of communicating and trying to. open

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a few doors for us. But we did do a few Zoom

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calls with the city and I've also talked to folks

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at universities. There's just a lot of different

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opportunity and we're happy to get on a call

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and try and help make something happen. But usually

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those kind of things do better locally. We have

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one project in Ohio that became a Bee City, a

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certified Bee City. After doing our planting,

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and we worked with them, they worked with their

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FFA students, and the FFA students in the high

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school actually did the planting. They did the

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site prep, they did the planting, so any way

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that we can get the community more involved in

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the project, people have a little more buy -in

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and are more interested in it. And so, for example,

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we had a local beekeeper come out and bring an

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observation hive when we did the planting that

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day, and we had the local homeschool kids do

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the planting. So we've done quite a few. different

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things. People are excited about bees, really.

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It's interesting to me. I think there was a lot

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of really bad things about COVID. I think a few

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of the good things are that people got a little

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more interested in the homesteading movement

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and really trying to keep bees. And so if we

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can keep those people educated and they can be

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good beekeepers and go through a mentor program

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and learn how to do it right, I think it could

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be a great thing for someone to take on and make

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a part of their life. Okay let's talk for a minute

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about just a lot of people out there that okay

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they're not on 10 or 20 acres they live in much

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more of a suburb kind of place and their house

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is on a quarter acre and and they have one beehive

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in the backyard. or they have no beehives but

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they care about the pollinators. And on their

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quarter acre they've got this beautiful Kentucky

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bluegrass that some people call a green desert.

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Give us an idea. What can we do? We may not be

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able to get seeds from you but that's okay. There

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are things that we can do. Give us some advice

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here. There are. So cut that mowing down. I'm

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not a fan of the lawn. As a wildlife biologist

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my entire career, I do not see much benefit in

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a lawn. There's bee -friendly things that you

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can do to lawns. You can add a lot of species

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to a lawn to make it a little more bee -friendly.

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I would be tempted to kill off a portion of the

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lawn and to plant something that would have more

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pollen benefit, that would have more nectar resources

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for migrating insects. So for me, that's what

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I would do on a small site. You know, I would

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go ahead and do a little planting. I think you

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can have good habitat and provide a resource

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for your pollinators that are moving through

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the area, even if you can't keep them there full

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time, you know, in your area, because you don't

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have a large enough space, but you can always

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do something. And you'll be amazed at the way

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the insects start to use the area when you've

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got more diversity. you know, less pesticide

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use, those types of things. Just be aware of

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those types of things on your property. And I

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think if you can get some different species in

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there, try and get as many different types and

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varieties as you can because that benefits, you

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know, more species. There's new research out

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there that shows a little bit and I could talk

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to you a little bit about that, Eric, but it

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was I saw a really great talk just recently at

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the Minnesota Honey Producers Association meeting

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from Louis Bartlett down at UGA. and he talked

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at length about how, even if the forage was better,

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so better quality, more protein, more carbs,

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it was just a better quality forage, but it was

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a monoculture, just one, it was one planting,

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that bees always do better, even if the forage

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is lower quality, they always do better if there's

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more diversity. So they showed that if there's

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a lot more diversity in the pollen, and they're

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bringing in food from lots of different plants,

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that they always do better than they do on a

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strict monoculture diet of just one species.

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And I thought that was really interesting, and

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he spoke right before I did, so it worked really

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well when I was talking about trying to get people

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to plant more diverse species and to get our

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seed mixes are... A minimum, the native mix is

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a minimum of 40 native species. Our Missouri

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mix is 69 native species. Yeah, that just makes

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sense. Not only for honeybees, but honeybees

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are sharing their area with other native pollinators.

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The state that I live in, we have 2 ,000 native

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bee species, for example. And if you want, I'll

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name them all alphabetically in just a minute.

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kidding, but we see so many of them around here.

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For example, I've mentioned on this podcast before

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one of my favorite things in our yard, and I'm

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planting more of them because the pollinators

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like it so much, is a pussy willow tree. And

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it doesn't just attract honeybees. It's the first

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thing that they're attracted to in the spring.

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But I go out there and there are I don't even

00:14:36.190 --> 00:14:38.769
know how many different species of native bees

00:14:38.769 --> 00:14:43.330
and bumblebees and butterflies. And it's just

00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:47.409
really cool to see. And one doesn't exclude the

00:14:47.409 --> 00:14:49.950
others. I know there have been some articles

00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:54.159
recently about honeybees. Well, just Taking all

00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.480
that forage and then the native bees are dying

00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:01.379
off. I Don't know where I am I see them all working

00:15:01.379 --> 00:15:03.759
together and having fun together and singing

00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:07.559
kumbaya together and maybe I'm naive but But

00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:11.200
I see a lot of synergy between all of them some

00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:14.659
of the things that we've planted here Specifically

00:15:14.659 --> 00:15:18.659
for honeybees this particular summer. We're covered

00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:23.730
with bumblebees cool, okay At the Be a Waterfly

00:15:23.730 --> 00:15:26.629
Fund, Eric, we really do believe that a high

00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:30.250
tide floats all the ships. You put in a lot of

00:15:30.250 --> 00:15:32.149
different habitat, you put in a lot of diversity,

00:15:32.470 --> 00:15:34.549
you are going to help a lot of different species.

00:15:35.850 --> 00:15:39.070
And I do know, and I can't even quote it for

00:15:39.070 --> 00:15:41.809
you because I think it was just in a recent meeting,

00:15:42.169 --> 00:15:44.730
we work with a group called Farmers for Monarchs,

00:15:44.730 --> 00:15:47.110
and they were just talking about some recent

00:15:47.110 --> 00:15:49.929
research that was showing that there isn't as

00:15:49.929 --> 00:15:54.159
much truth to the old wives' tale that honey

00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.799
bees are using up all the resources. And we should

00:15:57.799 --> 00:15:59.539
worry more about native bees. You know what?

00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.320
I am happy that somebody's worried about a bee.

00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.700
If they get started with honey bees and then

00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:07.580
they become more interested in other pollinators,

00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:09.600
that's great. If they get started with honey

00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.299
bees and they're very interested in honey bees

00:16:11.299 --> 00:16:14.919
and they become a quality beekeeper that takes

00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:18.179
good care of their hives and provides a resource

00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:20.830
out there, that's great too. If you're a beekeeper

00:16:20.830 --> 00:16:23.610
like me, we're getting into that favorite time

00:16:23.610 --> 00:16:26.649
of year, honey harvest. But it can be a lot of

00:16:26.649 --> 00:16:29.669
work. That's where Mad Light comes in. They have

00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:32.730
everything you need to make the job easier, cleaner,

00:16:33.149 --> 00:16:36.820
and more efficient. Removal aids, refractometers,

00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.840
uncapping tools, extractors, tanks, wax melters,

00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:43.460
even the jars and labels. Plus they have free

00:16:43.460 --> 00:16:45.940
shipping on glass containers. Whether you're

00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:49.320
a hobbyist with two hives or a full -blown commercial

00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:52.399
operation, Man Lake has it all. And don't forget

00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.500
your discount code MLBLove10. It's in the show

00:16:55.500 --> 00:16:59.179
notes. For $10 off your first $100 purchase.

00:16:59.629 --> 00:17:02.330
Yeah absolutely we believe that if you put that

00:17:02.330 --> 00:17:04.289
habitat out there they're going to come in and

00:17:04.289 --> 00:17:06.049
a lot of different species are going to be using

00:17:06.049 --> 00:17:09.410
it as well. Let's get back to this quarter acre

00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:12.789
example for a second because I want people to

00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:19.049
not be afraid of this. We used to live in a neighborhood

00:17:19.049 --> 00:17:22.970
where it was almost a competition whose grass

00:17:22.970 --> 00:17:27.400
looked the best and the most perfect. And I had

00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.960
neighbors that would mow in diagonal directions

00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:33.960
and try to make it look like a baseball field

00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.980
and perfect edging and all that kind of stuff.

00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:40.279
And if you didn't do that, you were almost looked

00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:44.220
down upon in the neighborhood. I live in a more

00:17:44.220 --> 00:17:48.720
rural kind of area now, but I've done some of

00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.940
the things with my yard that I wanted to do there

00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:54.579
and that I know are okay to do there. For example,

00:17:54.970 --> 00:17:58.190
Before we knew better, we started with a whole

00:17:58.190 --> 00:18:00.650
front yard of just regular green turf grass.

00:18:01.589 --> 00:18:05.089
The last few years I've been overseeding with

00:18:05.089 --> 00:18:08.710
clover. I didn't have to rip out or kill all

00:18:08.710 --> 00:18:11.390
of the grass, which some people do to plant clover.

00:18:11.829 --> 00:18:15.269
just over seeded with clover or here's a bare

00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:17.589
spot I'm gonna put some clover seed down and

00:18:17.589 --> 00:18:21.009
that kind of thing and I would say if you were

00:18:21.009 --> 00:18:24.289
to look really closely now at the grass you would

00:18:24.289 --> 00:18:28.630
see grass and clover roughly 50 -50 it's a beautiful

00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:32.230
lush lawn from the driveway it just looks green

00:18:32.230 --> 00:18:35.269
that's what people care about and the other thing

00:18:35.269 --> 00:18:37.549
that is great about that here and in some other

00:18:37.549 --> 00:18:41.740
places is it uses a lot lot less water I just

00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:44.279
want people to not be afraid of it. If you live

00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:46.579
in one of those picture -perfect neighborhoods,

00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:50.599
be the rebel, plant some clover or something,

00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:53.160
and it still is going to look beautiful. I'm

00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:55.000
with you, Eric, because I don't believe that

00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:58.019
you don't have to go out there and plant a native

00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:03.480
five -foot tall grass with sunflower plantings

00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.140
to provide a benefit. You can go in and put some

00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:08.940
of these smaller, shorter growing things into

00:19:08.940 --> 00:19:12.119
your lawn. The bee lawn program in Minnesota

00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:14.599
is really active. The Minnesota Bee Lab works

00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:17.599
with them and they just do a great job of trying

00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:21.359
to get people to add something to that grass

00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:23.519
mix. And I think you're exactly right. Mike,

00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.299
I have a dog yard where I let my dogs run every

00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:29.900
day and it's about an acre and fenced in and

00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:31.960
I've been doing just what you're doing. I'm taking

00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:34.779
Dutch white clover and I am just broadcasting

00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:37.380
it in any of the bear spots and the bees just...

00:19:37.230 --> 00:19:39.529
Love it. Now it drives my husband absolutely

00:19:39.529 --> 00:19:42.650
nutto because I will avoid some of the bigger

00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:45.549
patches if they're really dense and there's bees

00:19:45.549 --> 00:19:47.490
using them a lot. I'll avoid them when I mow

00:19:47.490 --> 00:19:50.789
and he just he prefers to be more of a strict

00:19:50.789 --> 00:19:54.789
mower but I'm enjoying it very much and I think

00:19:54.789 --> 00:19:58.170
the bees are too. And I find when I mow and it's

00:19:58.170 --> 00:20:00.849
not all that often anyway but when I do if I

00:20:00.849 --> 00:20:03.130
just leave the lawnmower set as high as it'll

00:20:03.130 --> 00:20:06.170
go it leaves a lot of those clover flowers in

00:20:06.170 --> 00:20:08.660
there. it doesn't cut them all off. The other

00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:11.460
thing that we've done that everybody can do is

00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:14.480
there's some things that pop up on their own

00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:17.440
you can call them weeds whatever that we used

00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:21.279
to rip out or heaven forbid spray with something

00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:23.700
which we don't anymore and now some of those

00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:26.059
things we just let grow like one of the things

00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:28.240
that we have here sunflowers they grow native

00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.859
we don't have to water them they'll grow in the

00:20:30.859 --> 00:20:33.299
middle of a gravel driveway if you don't care

00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:37.250
and It's okay to leave some of that stuff. And

00:20:37.250 --> 00:20:39.349
it'll be covered up with insects. I mean, you'll

00:20:39.349 --> 00:20:42.390
just be amazed. I was down in Oklahoma last weekend

00:20:42.390 --> 00:20:45.309
and my sister has a bunch of just common sunflower

00:20:45.309 --> 00:20:48.950
growing along her road ditches. And it was just

00:20:48.950 --> 00:20:52.690
covered in all kinds of a lot of butterflies.

00:20:53.650 --> 00:20:55.690
There was just there was a lot of bees in there.

00:20:55.750 --> 00:20:58.650
It was just amazing to me how how much diversity

00:20:58.650 --> 00:21:01.299
there is. when you leave a little bit of something

00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:04.000
for them. You don't have to do these larger projects.

00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:05.960
As long as you do a little bit of something,

00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:10.099
you can make a benefit to the pollinators. And

00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:12.319
you had mentioned monarchs a few minutes ago.

00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:17.359
We used to kill milkweed because it was a weed.

00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:20.960
My wife is now trying to find some to plant.

00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:24.140
Tell us about milkweed and monarchs. Well, one

00:21:24.140 --> 00:21:26.339
I'll tell you about where she can get it to plant

00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:30.339
because Monarch Watch is the name of the organization

00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:33.500
out of Kansas. They do a really great job of

00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:36.759
providing milkweed plugs, small milkweeds. Don't

00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:40.940
know if Utah is in their range, but I'm guessing

00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:44.140
it might be. But common milkweed. So the life

00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:46.740
cycle of the monarch butterfly is really incredible

00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:49.680
for people that don't know. They're hatched all

00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.660
the way from Texas all the way up into Canada

00:21:52.660 --> 00:21:56.599
and the monarch butterfly overwinners in the

00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:59.980
OML for forest in Mexico one spot like what literally

00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:02.420
when I say one spot I mean just a couple acres

00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:04.519
in one spot That's where all the monarchs go

00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.700
to every year on the top of this forest. So they'll

00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:09.740
fly up to Texas They'll lay an egg and then that

00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:12.859
monarch dies the egg hatches and then that egg

00:22:12.859 --> 00:22:16.380
will fly up to Missouri Or as a as an adult it'll

00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:18.539
fly up to Missouri and then it lays an egg and

00:22:18.539 --> 00:22:21.019
then it dies and then that egg that is hatched

00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:24.660
in Missouri flies up to say Minnesota and then

00:22:24.660 --> 00:22:27.140
it will on the fourth generation which is happening

00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:29.920
right now as we're going through the fourth generation

00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:33.160
is being hatched right now it's that fourth generation

00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:35.759
will head all the way back to that OML fir forest

00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.359
in Mexico which I mean to me though that's a

00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:41.920
migration incredible story that this species

00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:46.420
has adapted It's never seen the OML fir forest.

00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:48.579
It's four generations removed from anybody that

00:22:48.579 --> 00:22:51.640
ever has. And then all these generations are

00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:55.839
built just to lay eggs and let them move forward

00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.900
and then they die. So it's just an incredible

00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:02.779
story. And the number one food source for monarch

00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:05.400
caterpillars is common milkweed, which is the

00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:08.519
one that you said, Eric, is every farmer had

00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:11.319
their kids out there. cutting milkweed plants

00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:13.779
for years and years and years. We didn't understand

00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:16.839
the importance of that milkweed to the monarch

00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:20.079
butterfly, and it's mostly common milkweed. There's

00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:22.759
a lot of other prettier ones you can plant, but

00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.480
common milkweed is probably 90 % or more of the

00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.579
monarch caterpillars are raised on a common milkweed

00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:32.539
plant. I was mowing earlier and I just went around

00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:34.759
two little baby, I'll send you a picture later,

00:23:35.019 --> 00:23:37.460
but I literally went around these two little

00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:39.480
milkweeds and I was gonna, I was like, nope,

00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:41.299
they're in the, he's gonna get mad if I don't

00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:43.619
mow it. And I was mowing and I looked down and

00:23:43.619 --> 00:23:45.440
I saw two caterpillar and they're good sized

00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.039
right now. I was like, whoa, look at that. I

00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:50.680
just went right around them. So, yay. And I haven't

00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:52.779
seen a monarch butterfly around here in a few

00:23:52.779 --> 00:23:56.319
years, unfortunately. So if I plant a milkweed,

00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:59.170
is it even gonna do anything? because how's a

00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:02.049
monarch going to find it to lay eggs? I bet they

00:24:02.049 --> 00:24:04.890
will find it. I'm telling you. Yeah, they'll

00:24:04.890 --> 00:24:07.130
find it. They really do. It's amazing to me how

00:24:07.130 --> 00:24:10.109
they will find and plant a couple. And if you

00:24:10.109 --> 00:24:13.049
and if you don't like the look of the. Common

00:24:13.049 --> 00:24:15.630
milkweed as much it's a little scruffier of a

00:24:15.630 --> 00:24:19.509
plant the swamp milkweed is probably number two

00:24:19.509 --> 00:24:23.009
in their preference range Swamp and swamp milkweed

00:24:23.009 --> 00:24:24.950
is a little shorter and it's a little prettier

00:24:24.950 --> 00:24:27.589
of a plant I really like and it likes a little

00:24:27.589 --> 00:24:30.430
wetter area So it may not work real well everywhere

00:24:30.430 --> 00:24:32.930
in your area But it might work in some places

00:24:32.930 --> 00:24:34.750
where you've got like a depression or something

00:24:34.750 --> 00:24:37.789
or just water it more But yeah swamp milkweed

00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:41.240
is a good one as well, but common milkweed I

00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:43.500
will tell you, I challenge everyone listening

00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:46.119
to this podcast, when the common milkweed is

00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:49.400
in bloom, go out there and smell it. It is the

00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:52.839
best smelling plant I think we have on the planet.

00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:55.559
I mean, I seriously believe that. It smells so

00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:58.859
great when it's in bloom. It's surprising. We're

00:24:58.859 --> 00:25:00.839
gonna find some milkweed. We're gonna get it

00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:03.940
planted. It may be a little bit ugly. I have

00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:06.220
enough room. I can put it out of the way. That's

00:25:06.220 --> 00:25:09.539
fine So but I'm gonna watch and we're gonna look

00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:12.740
for those monarchs. I can't wait Alright next

00:25:12.740 --> 00:25:17.400
on my list Pesticide use what are we going to

00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:20.960
do? A lot of people live in places like I do

00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.980
where the county goes around and sprays the side

00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:26.920
of the roads and not only do they do that but

00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:29.720
they do it on days where it's too hot for the

00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:32.819
chemicals they're using so there's a lot of drift

00:25:32.819 --> 00:25:37.839
and and we get 2 ,4 -D and Roundup everywhere.

00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.000
As a wildlife biologist who does as part of my

00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:45.809
career have used chemical to Alter the landscape

00:25:45.809 --> 00:25:47.970
to get something better out there than what we've

00:25:47.970 --> 00:25:50.849
had or to deal with invasive species or even

00:25:50.849 --> 00:25:54.549
to get the site prepped and ready to go so that

00:25:54.549 --> 00:25:57.869
we don't have to use it anymore. You know, so

00:25:57.869 --> 00:26:00.450
we've gone from a soy say a soybean field to

00:26:00.450 --> 00:26:03.230
a pollinator planting. Well, we have used, you

00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:05.930
know, herbicides to get us from one point to

00:26:05.930 --> 00:26:08.569
the next point. But then in the future, you know,

00:26:08.569 --> 00:26:11.890
you're you're taking that chemical use almost

00:26:11.890 --> 00:26:14.069
totally out of that. project once you've got

00:26:14.069 --> 00:26:16.589
the good pollinator habitat established. I think

00:26:16.589 --> 00:26:18.569
that has to be a local thing. Again, Eric, like

00:26:18.569 --> 00:26:21.430
I said earlier, it has to be a local. We have

00:26:21.430 --> 00:26:25.730
to talk to our leaders in our cities and in our

00:26:25.730 --> 00:26:28.609
counties. I don't know as much about the Bee

00:26:28.609 --> 00:26:31.730
City program as I probably should. I just know

00:26:31.730 --> 00:26:33.750
that two of our cooperators who are both working

00:26:33.750 --> 00:26:37.109
with cities have both signed the Bee City Pledge

00:26:37.109 --> 00:26:40.690
and that they are working as a Bee City. My guess

00:26:40.690 --> 00:26:43.769
would be that there's something in there. When

00:26:43.769 --> 00:26:46.750
we have mayors sign the Mayor's Monarch Challenge,

00:26:47.109 --> 00:26:52.750
we ask for things like judicious use of herbicides

00:26:52.750 --> 00:26:54.829
if they need to use them or pesticides if they

00:26:54.829 --> 00:26:57.170
need to use them. But I can't even imagine being

00:26:57.170 --> 00:26:59.670
in a city like Houston, for example. I was visiting

00:26:59.670 --> 00:27:02.670
a friend and they were coming around and spraying

00:27:02.670 --> 00:27:06.319
for mosquitoes. She's like, well, we have to

00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:08.380
go in now. And I'm like, why are we going in?

00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:09.900
She goes, we have to go in now because they're

00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:11.859
spraying. And I'm like, what are they spraying?

00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:14.099
And why do I need to go inside? And what's happening

00:27:14.099 --> 00:27:17.640
here? To me, that's more of a local situation

00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:20.099
for people. And that's where people should get

00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:22.759
involved. I mean, I know where my legislators

00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:25.500
are. I go down to our Capitol and talk to them

00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:28.279
about conservation issues. I'm not afraid to

00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:31.109
do that. And I think... Once they learn your

00:27:31.109 --> 00:27:34.289
story and they can put a face to it, I think

00:27:34.289 --> 00:27:36.269
it makes a lot of difference. There are places

00:27:36.269 --> 00:27:38.670
around here that do the same thing with spraying

00:27:38.670 --> 00:27:41.190
the mosquitoes. I haven't talked to the administrators

00:27:41.190 --> 00:27:44.349
directly. It's not in a city that I live in.

00:27:45.170 --> 00:27:49.390
But what I have been told and seen in the news

00:27:49.390 --> 00:27:51.950
is they think they're fine because they're spraying

00:27:51.950 --> 00:27:54.700
at night. So they'll actually take helicopters

00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:57.579
at night and fly over huge neighborhoods and

00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:00.019
just bomb the whole thing for mosquitoes. And

00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:01.720
they say, well, your bees aren't flying at night,

00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:05.960
so they're fine. Is there no residue left anywhere

00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:09.160
that bees are going to get into? Let's think

00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:11.799
through this, people. And I don't know. I am

00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:14.940
not as educated on this as some folks really

00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:18.160
are. You know, as a as kind of a habitat person,

00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.430
I deal mostly with habitat. projects and plantings

00:28:21.430 --> 00:28:24.269
and seed mixes, that type of thing. As a young

00:28:24.269 --> 00:28:26.369
person, when I first started my career as a wildlife

00:28:26.369 --> 00:28:29.630
biologist, I netted Indiana bats in Missouri.

00:28:30.970 --> 00:28:33.329
And netting bats that are out feeding at night,

00:28:33.450 --> 00:28:36.230
that are eating those insects, that gives me

00:28:36.230 --> 00:28:38.390
a little bit of pause. What's happening there?

00:28:38.549 --> 00:28:40.990
What's that food chain look like? What are we

00:28:40.990 --> 00:28:43.799
doing? Maybe an unintended consequence. All right,

00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:46.440
enough preaching. I didn't mean to go down any

00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:48.599
kind of negative road here. Really this is all

00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:52.900
positive because your group, the Bee and Butterfly

00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:56.119
Habitat Fund, is doing good things for honeybees

00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:59.440
and other native pollinators and that is a fantastic

00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:02.420
thing. And I want you to leave us with some kind

00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:06.180
of a good wrap up here. Of how we can help whether

00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:08.420
it's and we'll put a link to your website by

00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:10.759
the way in the show notes if people want to donate

00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:13.539
Or just get more information they can get it

00:29:13.539 --> 00:29:16.700
there. But how else can we all help? Yeah, that

00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:20.299
is a good question. I think Everyone can do something

00:29:20.299 --> 00:29:22.720
and if you're in a situation where you can't

00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:27.579
plant something good for For your bees for the

00:29:27.579 --> 00:29:29.920
other pollinators then you can't donate, you

00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:31.680
know through our program and something good will

00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:35.079
get planted we are such a We're a pretty lean

00:29:35.079 --> 00:29:38.180
organization, so we work pretty quickly on projects.

00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.279
We do a Euro site prep with the landowner and

00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:45.119
then pretty quickly that habitat turns right

00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:48.619
in. We turn it right into projects. We really

00:29:48.619 --> 00:29:51.559
try to spend every dollar we can on getting more

00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:53.799
great habitat in the ground. In the end, that's

00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:56.160
what makes the difference. I go to many of these

00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.920
beekeeping meetings and they talk about pesticides,

00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:01.700
they talk about Varroa, they talk about a lot

00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:04.319
of different things and they always end up in

00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:06.180
the end saying something about forage, but it's

00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:07.660
always a little small something. And I think

00:30:07.660 --> 00:30:10.119
to myself, isn't that kind of the building block?

00:30:10.339 --> 00:30:13.539
Isn't the building block us having health as

00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:15.779
a hive, you know, being healthy, being able to

00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:19.539
eat well, having a lot of diversity. So to me,

00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:22.039
having this great habitat out there is just,

00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:25.720
it's priceless really. And we are funded 100

00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:29.079
% by donations as an organization. And the more

00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:31.279
acres we can get in the ground, the more likely

00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:34.279
we are to benefit bees. butterflies and all the

00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:36.720
other pollinators. I totally agree with all that

00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:40.180
and I think part of our problem is things like

00:30:40.180 --> 00:30:42.799
Varroa we feel like we can do something about

00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:46.599
okay I can measure it, I can treat it, I can

00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:49.400
measure it again, I can see what we've done but

00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:52.039
my bees are flying for a couple of miles maybe

00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:57.819
to forage. I admit it feels out of our control

00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:00.799
because the bees are going everywhere and I can't

00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:05.299
control My neighbor a half a mile from here that's

00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:09.000
planting that roundup ready alfalfa and the reason

00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:12.400
he does it is so he can bomb it with glyphosate

00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:15.599
all the time okay i can't do anything about that

00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.819
i've talked to these neighbors. We try to remain

00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:23.119
friends and. There's only so much i can do it

00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:25.400
maybe that's why it gets ignored because we feel

00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.470
like we can't do anything but. You're at least

00:31:28.470 --> 00:31:30.589
a place where we can do something and we can

00:31:30.589 --> 00:31:33.609
get some direction or we can make a little donation

00:31:33.609 --> 00:31:37.470
or something That helps and Eric we do have a

00:31:37.470 --> 00:31:40.390
great We have a great resource on our website

00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:42.569
where our website just got revamped So I would

00:31:42.569 --> 00:31:44.089
love for everybody to come in and take a look

00:31:44.089 --> 00:31:47.609
at it give us some feedback But we have a habitat

00:31:47.609 --> 00:31:50.190
establishment guide for establishing habitat.

00:31:50.589 --> 00:31:52.950
There's Lots of different ways people can do

00:31:52.950 --> 00:31:55.930
it. They can do it with herbicide, without herbicide.

00:31:56.369 --> 00:31:58.509
There's all different options for getting your

00:31:58.509 --> 00:32:00.829
site prepared and getting it ready to go. But

00:32:00.829 --> 00:32:03.569
overall, it's a pretty good guide, pretty comprehensive

00:32:03.569 --> 00:32:06.170
guide for people to get habitat established.

00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:10.180
And anyone can use that. Anyone can plant something.

00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:12.259
I think there's room on every piece of property

00:32:12.259 --> 00:32:15.779
for something something that will benefit Pollinators

00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:18.420
on every property and if you don't have a property

00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:20.259
and you're living in a city and you don't have

00:32:20.259 --> 00:32:24.099
a yard and you know We absolutely would use donations

00:32:24.099 --> 00:32:26.279
and turn them into Habitat projects somewhere

00:32:26.279 --> 00:32:28.440
and just spreading the word, you know letting

00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:31.339
people know that the larger commercial beekeepers

00:32:31.339 --> 00:32:34.160
that we do work with, we try to provide them

00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:36.400
these flyers so that they can hand them to the

00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:38.500
people they have their bee yards on and say,

00:32:38.619 --> 00:32:40.920
hey, it's really important because they get questions.

00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:42.500
If they don't bring their bees back, they'll

00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:44.420
get questioned about why aren't the bees back

00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:46.859
this year? Well, because, you know, you've got

00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:48.799
a desert here of nothing. You know, it's all

00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:51.200
just grass and there's the bees aren't finding

00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:54.259
enough to forage on. So we can work with anyone.

00:32:54.380 --> 00:32:56.819
Like you said, bees move a little planting in

00:32:56.819 --> 00:33:00.769
your city park, a little planting. In a conservation

00:33:00.769 --> 00:33:02.789
area, a little planting, we've done plantings

00:33:02.789 --> 00:33:05.869
in the prisons. I mean, we will do plantings

00:33:05.869 --> 00:33:08.329
anywhere someone is ready to get the site ready

00:33:08.329 --> 00:33:12.990
and work with us and provide habitat. So we're

00:33:12.990 --> 00:33:15.410
happy to work with anybody on projects. And I

00:33:15.410 --> 00:33:18.349
wish we were more out west yet, but we're not

00:33:18.349 --> 00:33:21.789
there yet. We're in 14 states now, kind of in

00:33:21.789 --> 00:33:24.740
this smack in the middle of the US. So if you're

00:33:24.740 --> 00:33:27.579
in the Midwest, you can get help. You can probably

00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:30.440
even get free seeds and things. If you're not,

00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:32.700
you can get some good information and you can

00:33:32.700 --> 00:33:34.779
donate and you can help out with this whole cause.

00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:37.819
Anyway, Elsa, thank you. It's the Bee and Butterfly

00:33:37.819 --> 00:33:41.660
Habitat Fund and that's beeandbutterflyhabitatfund

00:33:41.660 --> 00:33:45.880
.org .org. Correct. All right. Thanks. Take care.

00:33:48.630 --> 00:33:51.710
Thanks for joining us on Be Love Beekeeping presented

00:33:51.710 --> 00:33:54.789
by Man Lake. If you like this content I hope

00:33:54.789 --> 00:33:57.670
you'll share it with a friend, follow and subscribe

00:33:57.670 --> 00:34:01.150
to this podcast, and even sign up for our newsletter

00:34:01.150 --> 00:34:04.519
at BeLoveBeekeeping .com Also, just a shout out

00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:07.079
to Vita B Health for their support, we appreciate

00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:10.099
them. Vita's Varroa Control range of products

00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:14.380
includes Epistan, Epigard, and now Veroxen, Extended

00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:18.260
Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And

00:34:18.260 --> 00:34:20.719
remember, if you're not just in it for the honey

00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:23.699
or the money, you're in it for the love. See

00:34:23.699 --> 00:34:24.480
you next week.