Inside The Mind of a Commercial Beekeeper - 2026 Preview

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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. And we've got on the line with us today

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Chris Hyatt, was good enough to come back, had

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him last year, and before we jump into everything

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for those that don't know Chris, well most people

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in beekeeping do know Chris, but Chris say hello

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and give us a little bit about your background

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and what you do. Sure Chris Hyatt, past president

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of the American Honey Producers Association and

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pretty much lifetime beekeeper. My dad started

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our company like 58 years ago and I've got four

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other brothers along with me that we run our

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18 ,000 highs between North Dakota, California

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and Washington. Been part of the leadership for

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American Honey Producers for about 13 years,

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executive board and then went through vice president,

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president, now past president. So I'm still on

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the board for a little while longer. No, it's

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just been fun. fun learning and fun going to

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DC and helping serve and just you know met so

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many good friends and And it's just been a fun

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ride Well, we appreciate you. We need people

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like you that are willing to do that kind of

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legwork We've really really appreciate it and

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thanks for coming on the show again. You were

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on about a year ago Yeah, and we had just started

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to get some numbers on how bad the winter bee

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die -off was Want to talk about that just a little

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bit first and then we're gonna get on some positive

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things talking about this year and some of that

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but as a commercial beekeeper With what happened

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last winter give me an idea of where your company

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came out and other commercial beekeepers that

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you saw Well, that's a good question. Unfortunately,

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for us, we were well below the national average

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or whatever, 62%. I had some of my friends that

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had some of their worst losses on record. Even

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like the famous Randy Oliver that writes for

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the American Bee Journal, him and his sons had

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high losses. So it just seems like no matter

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what you do, the viral virus complex will get

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you eventually. And I know there's a lot of variables.

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between the amitras resistance and where you're

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running and how you manage your bees. But talking

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with Zach Lamas and all those guys that are involved

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in the sampling, when all this happened last

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winter, people pointed to amitras resistant mites

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at the beginning, but it's pretty complex. And

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a lot of it, you know, is got to be associated

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with the viruses, maybe some pesticide pressure,

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but Yeah, it's a complex mess and sometimes you

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just don't you do the best you can and still

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you'll have problems even if you go to the sheds

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The winter or if you're even outside for the

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winter, so it's they're just so many variables

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Well, I was hoping you'd have some kind of clear

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answer but Wow No still kind of don't know I

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mean it just seems like there are several there's

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there's some friends I put bees in here in the

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almonds for They stuck three, four years straight,

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great bees, great bees, and last year they didn't

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have any bees for me to put in. They had such

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high losses. And they had nothing to change on

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their part. So, yeah, it's tough to say. Well,

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that's why I wondered how important the amatras

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resistance was in this whole formula. Because

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a lot of people just don't do anything different,

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and unfortunately sometimes we need to. Right,

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right. Well... Yeah, we mix it up and everyone,

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a lot of the friends that I know, they all mix

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it up. They're using Okthalic, they're using

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Formic, they're using Apigard, other things.

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But still, the number one is Amitraz to keep,

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especially in the fall, to have the quick knockdown.

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There's like Betafarma is reformulating their

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treatment of Amitraz to have more of a knockdown.

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And there's some new things coming online that

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we're excited about, but it's still By far amateur

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as is you know what's carrying and keeping us

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in business. Based on what happened this this

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past year now that we're in twenty twenty six

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I can call it last year did beekeepers do anything

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different going towards this fall and winter.

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I do know that some guys some of my friends didn't

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get their numbers back up to their high colony

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number because it was just too hard and you can't

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you can only split so many. You can only make

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so many nukes out of your good hives. Plus it's

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expensive to buy packages or buy other people's

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hives. Management style, I do know there are

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more mite treatments. I've heard more oxalic

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acid glycerin use multiple times during the year

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with the pads. Yeah, just trying to change it

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up and do more monitoring. Like the old Be Inform

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Partnership guys are out monitoring more and

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our employees are more than they had in the past.

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I think those that had higher losses are even

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seeking, you know, to get more control and more

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monitoring of the mites. So what is the feeling?

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Is it optimistic, pessimistic, somewhere in between?

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Well, the two conventions, the last two I went

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to, American Honey Producers and California State

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Beekeeping, it was kind of depressing, I guess,

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just because of the high losses. low honey price.

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There was some good news on the almond side at

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the price of almonds is going up and I do know

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some guys are charging more for pollination because

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there was a shortage last year for pollination.

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That's kind of another funny topic is that some

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of the almond growers are saying, hey, you had

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this record high loss, but we still are going

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to have this 2 .5, 2 .6 billion pound crop. Which

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is what their estimate was way off some said

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three billion two point nine billion which yeah

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they had beautiful weather last year that was

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probably the most important factor. As i do know

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there was hives out there that were weaker than

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normal but the beautiful weather one high per

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acre can do it on a rainy year. Bad weather you

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got to have multiple ice breakers so it could

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have been way worse for the only girls but they

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have beautiful weather. with probably weaker

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hives and I know there was some orchards that

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were lacking hives because I put some in for

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a friend you know way past bloom that had no

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bees in it so I was putting the very last remainder

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of my hives just in the dead center of this big

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huge three four hundred acre block of almonds

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so they had something out there so so it almost

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sounds like the growers are saying hey we had

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less bees and that was okay so maybe we don't

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need as many bees in the future is that part

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of the economics? Well some are saying that but

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the more seasoned experienced growers know they

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had beautiful flight time and if they didn't

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have that they would have been in trouble and

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that's why a lot of guys I mean it's a deep insurance

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policy if you want to put it that way to have

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two three highs per acre to make sure you have

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the highs needed to pollinate that crop. Yeah

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that totally makes sense. Give me an idea of

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what's the buzz out there how are people feeling?

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Pretty good about This upcoming almond season

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i did hear in north dakota that there are some

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guys that still had high might since september

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and september can quite get under control. There's

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some consolidation in the business some some

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big big beekeepers selling out. One went to private

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equity firm so there's some consolidation some

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other guys buying other guys out which you do

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get usually you know when prices are low and

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people want to get out and they're tired of it

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there's some optimism i think with some of the

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things going with the dumping suit there's there's

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things i can't talk about attorney client privilege

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but there's some. Things in the works that will

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hopefully help with the price getting up to share

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and then there's a big push. There's some new

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leadership at Subi, the biggest, you know, the

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largest co -op in the United States trying to

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promote American honey. And we have some packer

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buy -in and it seems like kind of that's the

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next thing forward is like, let's do, cause the

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national honey board by law, it's a checkoff

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program and they can't promote us honey. And

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now there's so much imports. Most of the checkoff

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for that is foreign honey and foreign money anyways,

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but we. We're thinking that yeah, it's time to

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do it. Put some money in and put a concerted,

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focused effort to the public to eat American

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honey. I mean, we've tried in different forms

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in the past, but it seems like there's a bigger

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push this time. And that was like a big open

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roundtable at the California State Beekeeping

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Convention that was talked about and some good

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input there. So hopefully we'll have some things

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in the future to help on the honey price. Yeah,

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I like it. The general public has no idea, right?

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They they simply don't I know that you know that

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and I was talking recently with Matt Malika and

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we were talking about this too and the general

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public they just they don't know what's in their

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Honey bunches of oat cereal and they don't know

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what's in that plastic bear that they're getting

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at the grocery store If they did a lot of them

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would say yeah I want something better. I want

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the good stuff. I want it to be American so that

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I know what's in it or for Canada, Canadian or

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whatever. This really applies all over the world.

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I love that you're doing that kind of stuff.

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Yeah, we wish we could copy Canada and their

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labeling laws. Our labeling laws have been updated

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for whatever, 20, 30 years. That USDA grade A

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doesn't mean anything. Everyone's looking the

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price on the shelf. They're not looking somewhere

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stamped on the side there. You see country of

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origin, Argentina, Vietnam, India, Brazil, whatever.

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We would love to have some teeth behind that.

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So it would be like USDA. Or just say, copy Canada,

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USA one would be USA honey 95 % or more. And

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if it's below that, it's USA two or just number

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one without the USA in it. So it can be more

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obvious, but we're optimistic that Greg Stubbe

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from Florida, you know, we got that bill, the

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honey integrity act that we can get some things

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done to help right the ship. I guess you could

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say get some legislation that'll help beekeepers

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and mainly get the honey price out. So that was

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kind of a big success for the honey producers

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this year is getting that pill through and partnering

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with Senator Tuberville from Alabama I mean that

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that was some there's some good things I guess

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you could say on the horizon on testing and Hopefully

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FDA getting access to Packers what they're testing

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and then looking a little more oversight Basically

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is what we're looking there's very few industries

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that want more federal oversight. Well, we're

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one of them I mean, it's so many hundreds of

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millions of pounds of Honey coming in and we

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just don't think all that sticky stuff is legit

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Some of it is you know, especially in the industrial

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market. We feel pretty confident stuff on the

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shelf Especially with the Costco recall a few

00:12:13.750 --> 00:12:16.750
years ago that it wasn't the country. They said

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it was and they got sued the consumer is safe,

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but Like they've told us in the past, as long

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as anybody's dying, they don't care. Well, economic

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adulterated adulteration is still cheating and

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not good for the consumer and her speakeepers

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in which are mostly small own family farms that

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are pollinating most of our food that we eat.

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I mean, do we want to import more food from Mexico

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and Canada and other places, or do we want to

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grow our own food? I think COVID showed us we

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want to be more independent and not dependent

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on other countries and that's keeping us in business

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is a national food security issue so we keep

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pounding that drum. Amen to all of that. People

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want to know what's in their food. Yeah. I think

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more than ever because people are afraid of all

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the bad stuff going into food and if I go to

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the store and buy something that says honey,

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it should be honey. It shouldn't have high fructose

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corn syrup or water or any whatever else might

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be in it. It should be honey. But people don't

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realize that that's not what they're getting.

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So if you could do some kind of a national campaign

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that would lift that awareness that would be

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awesome. Tell me a little bit more about the

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legislation. You mentioned a couple of points

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but dive a little deeper into that. Well, mainly,

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it's like I'm saying it would be the oversight,

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FDA oversight, the Packers, they would have access

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to what the Packers are already testing that

00:13:44.990 --> 00:13:47.409
honey. They would have access to those reports.

00:13:47.769 --> 00:13:50.870
It may seem early, but right now is a great time

00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:54.590
to order your live bees for 2026 because they

00:13:54.590 --> 00:13:57.590
do sell out and because Man Lake is offering

00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:01.500
a discount for beloved podcast listeners. Wait,

00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:04.419
what? I know you're saying live bees, they never

00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:08.059
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00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:11.799
to Man Lake, order your bees any variety, nukes

00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:15.179
or packages and anything in the beginner essentials

00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:18.460
category. And when you check out, use the code

00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:21.320
get started in bees. It's down in the show notes

00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:23.759
so you don't have to remember for a discount

00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.480
on everything. So get your orders in early and

00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:31.379
save. Part of the problem we're seeing is that

00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:34.220
a lot of the Packers are getting their results,

00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:36.960
and it's Germany, to be honest. You know, there's

00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.059
like basically no American lab now. There used

00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:41.720
to be one at the University of Missouri, and

00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:44.980
that one closed down. And then a lot of friends

00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:46.980
would ask and colleagues, and they would send

00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.019
their honey to British Columbia to a lab. And

00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:52.539
evidently, he's slowing down and getting away

00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:56.440
from that. So by far, almost all the honey that's

00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:59.559
consumed, part of it is even the Fournheim coming

00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.500
in is going to Germany. And there are partial

00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.919
test results coming back and not the full spectrum,

00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:07.019
especially on NMR. I don't want to get too deep

00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:09.840
into high resolution mass spec and all this other

00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.379
testing, but there's partial test results coming

00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:14.960
back. And so if we can get a little bit oversight

00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.720
FDA and have access to those records, we feel

00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:20.720
like that would in itself clean up a lot of the

00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.559
foreign junk from coming in. Of course, the US

00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:26.320
has some of their own testing, but they are so

00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.340
overwhelmed. The last time we talked to them,

00:15:28.379 --> 00:15:30.240
say they came out this summer to North Dakota,

00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:34.159
one of our board members, and we spent the half

00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.279
day with them, went to the bee yard, showed them

00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.480
the extract plant, and they're just seeing a

00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.980
lot of fraud coming from China, and they had

00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:44.340
some questions. They wanted to see how we syrup,

00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:48.139
how we feed bees, how we extract, etc. And they

00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:51.059
recently had a bust, a little country, Myanmar.

00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.299
I think it was Myanmar or was it Taiwan? Oh,

00:15:54.299 --> 00:15:57.740
man, I can't remember. They had a bunch of syrup

00:15:57.740 --> 00:16:00.090
from China. and they asked customs to help test

00:16:00.090 --> 00:16:02.570
it and they helped and had a pretty good size

00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:06.990
bust in over on the in Asia. We just want fair

00:16:06.990 --> 00:16:10.429
we wanted a fair playing field and part of that

00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:14.870
bill there's no labeling per se on it we that's

00:16:14.870 --> 00:16:17.929
you know that would be step number two but just

00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:20.029
enforcement that's probably the biggest part

00:16:20.029 --> 00:16:23.669
of the whole bill. Well to me enforcement should

00:16:23.669 --> 00:16:27.779
be not just saying This isn't what you say it

00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:30.759
is. So we're sending it back to Taiwan now or

00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.440
Vietnam or wherever. But this is not what you

00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:36.759
say it is. So it's getting dumped or you're getting

00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.919
a huge fine or something. Otherwise, they're

00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.299
just going to take it back, stick a new label

00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:44.480
on it. And it comes right back. Isn't that the

00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:46.679
case? Right? No, it doesn't go back. It just

00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.860
gets relabeled here is like syrup and stays here.

00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:53.210
And we've asked for destruction. of the product.

00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:56.769
But I guess, for the most part, they say that's

00:16:56.769 --> 00:16:58.889
a non -starter for them, that we have to be in

00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:02.289
the middle. So I mean, they have, Customs has

00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:04.630
had cases in Chicago with the big honey gate

00:17:04.630 --> 00:17:06.630
that they've gone to the dump and they took pictures

00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:09.490
of them dumping the honey in the dump. But I

00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:11.569
mean, just at least getting it out of the market

00:17:11.569 --> 00:17:14.609
and out of the honey side, it goes into cattle

00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:17.349
feed, whatever. But yeah, we're still working

00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:20.750
on the details on that. And it sounds like testing

00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.630
is a big deal. If things have to be sent all

00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:26.509
the way to Germany to get tested, that is not

00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:30.210
fast enough. No, I mean, it was a big point of

00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:32.970
discussion at Appamondia in Copenhagen that I

00:17:32.970 --> 00:17:37.170
went to in September. Just what tests and there's

00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:39.650
some unproven tests on the whole metagenomics

00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:43.869
and DNA barcoding stuff. A lot of that goes over

00:17:43.869 --> 00:17:46.589
my head, but it's some of that's unproven and

00:17:46.589 --> 00:17:49.720
you got to stay with stuff that's proven. The

00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:52.140
European Union is pretty aligned with the United

00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:55.119
States and they talk to each other, but the testing,

00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:57.980
it's a huge point of discussion and you always

00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:00.660
have to stay in front of the fraudsters, right?

00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.279
So you always, they're always, these designer

00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:06.599
syrups are designed to cheat the test. So you're

00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:08.539
always trying to improve and get better and better.

00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:12.799
Man, all right. What else economically needs

00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.460
to happen? Well, I mean, along with agriculture,

00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:18.660
we're suffering with low prices. I mean, the

00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:21.839
honey price is one of them. We finally got some

00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.819
relief this year. A lot of that probably is the

00:18:24.819 --> 00:18:27.980
Trump administration that the AEWR for our H

00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.660
-2A visa workers, it went down for the first

00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:35.500
time in like over a decade or more, maybe 15

00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:38.079
years. I didn't look it up. And that's finally

00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.440
brought some relief because we're just like all

00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.380
the farmers I talked to in North Dakota, South

00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:46.950
Dakota. Corn soy wheat really low producer prices

00:18:46.950 --> 00:18:49.410
but everything else stays up i mean you know

00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:52.130
you go to the grocery store fertilizer still

00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:55.589
up fuel is still up labor is record high so all

00:18:55.589 --> 00:18:58.230
these things are up but we're getting really

00:18:58.230 --> 00:19:01.509
twenty year old price so that a w r will help

00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:04.309
us to a small degree on the labor side because

00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:06.650
in the past are brand new workers that would

00:19:06.650 --> 00:19:09.269
come in would be making whatever nineteen seventy

00:19:09.269 --> 00:19:12.569
or twenty dollars an hour. You trying to have

00:19:12.569 --> 00:19:14.349
a differential between your best guys that have

00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:16.869
been with you five ten fifteen twenty years and

00:19:16.869 --> 00:19:20.690
guys that can drive forklift trucks. No bees

00:19:20.690 --> 00:19:23.049
better than other guys but there was the gap

00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:27.549
was it was artificially narrowed because of the

00:19:27.549 --> 00:19:31.349
high a w r. So the alternative the wage rate

00:19:31.349 --> 00:19:34.349
so it's now we can get back to that bigger rage

00:19:34.349 --> 00:19:36.670
for your best guys that know the beers better

00:19:36.670 --> 00:19:40.039
be keepers no trucks drive forklift. and your

00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:43.079
rookies can go back lower. That will help us.

00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:45.160
Just the bottom line. So that was probably a

00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.759
good win this year. And then honestly, economic

00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:51.559
wise, we had a really big win. Elap, you know,

00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.819
Eric Silver, our lobbyist for Honey Producers,

00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:56.460
that was also in the big, beautiful bill. Some

00:19:56.460 --> 00:19:59.519
of the largest producers were not eligible if

00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.000
your income was above whatever 900 ,000. So now

00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:05.980
with that waiver, everybody can collect Elap,

00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:09.450
which is fair. So, I mean, we probably will be

00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:11.589
approaching $100 million probably this year,

00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:14.150
ELAP payments. That's helping people stay in

00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:15.910
business with these low honey prices and these

00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:20.190
huge hive losses. So that was a big win on the

00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:23.529
ELAP side. Well, we need the commercial beekeepers.

00:20:24.430 --> 00:20:27.369
Plain and simple. It's a huge part of our economy,

00:20:27.670 --> 00:20:31.430
our food supply, everything else. So someone

00:20:31.430 --> 00:20:34.309
recently made a comment to me that I thought

00:20:34.309 --> 00:20:38.309
was very unfair and called commercial beekeepers

00:20:38.309 --> 00:20:42.609
just livestock handlers. And I said maybe some

00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:44.730
are, but I also know some guys like Chris that

00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:48.089
I really think love honey bees and love what

00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:51.230
they do. Give me an idea of where you come from

00:20:51.230 --> 00:20:54.750
on all this. Yeah, I mean I have a passion for

00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:57.329
it and I see the importance of it of the food

00:20:57.329 --> 00:21:00.430
supply and being an important cog in the wheel

00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:04.750
to keep things going but It to some degree. Yeah,

00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:07.829
we are livestock Handlers, I guess you could

00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:11.230
say but there's a lot more. I mean, it's not

00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:13.819
A plus B equals C. Like, you know, with the chicken,

00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:16.359
you have this much input, blah, blah, blah. Beekeeping

00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:19.779
is an art. It's so hard. I mean, there's experience

00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:22.960
of a lot of private equity buying beekeepers

00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.480
and or almond growers buying beekeeping outfits

00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:27.420
and it being ran into the ground and bankrupt

00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:30.440
in two, three years. So you know, new beekeepers

00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.900
need to apprentice and learn. It's a trade and

00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:36.700
it's a beautiful trade, but it's definitely takes

00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:40.059
years to master. And I'm still not there yet.

00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:41.900
Look, I mean, you look at some of these guys

00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:44.079
that I know that have ran bees for 40, 50 years

00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.400
and still have losses as many as they do. It's

00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:51.559
a lot of work and even more. I had a good friend

00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:53.980
in Eastern Washington. I grew up and he was a

00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:56.519
farmer and a rancher and he says he told my dad

00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.690
one time. Did you beekeepers even put the dairyman

00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:02.269
to shame the way the hours you're working, you

00:22:02.269 --> 00:22:04.630
know, and my dad grew up milking cows because

00:22:04.630 --> 00:22:06.710
it's late night hours moving bees and you got

00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:08.569
to work all day, get the bees ready to go into

00:22:08.569 --> 00:22:11.230
the next pollination set or pulling honey or

00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:13.630
run out of supers and there's not enough hours

00:22:13.630 --> 00:22:17.670
in the day. So yes, we're livestock, but I it's

00:22:17.670 --> 00:22:20.430
more beautiful and. It's a lot more nuanced.

00:22:20.430 --> 00:22:23.329
I guess than just handling a cow or something.

00:22:23.789 --> 00:22:26.109
We're strategically moving the highs where we

00:22:26.109 --> 00:22:29.089
think they'll do the best and I mean pulling

00:22:29.089 --> 00:22:31.509
them out of places and into places in the right

00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:34.809
time so and just managing and trying to keep

00:22:34.809 --> 00:22:37.289
You know these beautiful creatures alive. So

00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:40.029
and they smell better than cows. Yeah, that's

00:22:40.029 --> 00:22:42.450
true I like the smell of honey pulling honey

00:22:42.450 --> 00:22:44.089
though when you have to use Vigo that of course

00:22:44.089 --> 00:22:46.170
a lot of people don't like that Do you have any

00:22:46.170 --> 00:22:49.629
advice for hobby beekeepers out there? Always

00:22:49.629 --> 00:22:51.970
just don't walk away from it. I just hear story

00:22:51.970 --> 00:22:54.630
after story of you know friends of mine have

00:22:54.630 --> 00:22:57.670
a couple highs that just Just put in the backyard

00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:00.470
and leave it alone. You got to take care of it

00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:02.630
You got to check it. You got to feed it. You

00:23:02.630 --> 00:23:05.029
got to medicate it all these things I mean, I

00:23:05.029 --> 00:23:06.970
was telling hobbies other day about paw and patties.

00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:09.569
They didn't know about ball and patties and There's

00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:11.970
a lot of things to do a lot of inputs to keep

00:23:11.970 --> 00:23:13.910
these hives healthy and alive Especially during

00:23:13.910 --> 00:23:16.690
the winter that they had no idea. So I would

00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:20.099
just say Any hobbyist you've got to stay on top

00:23:20.099 --> 00:23:22.559
of it basically you got to visit that thing at

00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:26.700
least once a month and Work it pull honey Replace

00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:30.059
a queen whatever it is. You're my checks. Yeah

00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:34.019
my checks I have friends who have Casually gotten

00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:37.180
into it like what you've explained and they either

00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:40.200
quit or they learn hey Yeah, I do love these

00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:43.880
bees. I need to get busy and learn a lot I have

00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.279
other neighbors around here with horses. I think

00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:49.460
you have to learn every bit as much, if not more,

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.619
about bees as if you had horses. Yeah, yeah,

00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:59.779
100%. Honestly, I think it's harder because there's

00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:03.700
a lot more proven, you know, and you can control...

00:24:03.369 --> 00:24:06.549
The environment more like the horse in a pasture

00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:09.910
where bees they're flying two three four miles

00:24:09.910 --> 00:24:12.750
picking up you don't know what from a field that

00:24:12.750 --> 00:24:15.710
got sprayed or someone's house that sprayed something

00:24:15.710 --> 00:24:20.009
or Yeah, it's it's way more of a wild card. There's

00:24:20.009 --> 00:24:22.549
so many more uncertainties. I think uncertainties

00:24:22.549 --> 00:24:24.970
You know the chickens and turkeys they're all

00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:26.930
in that house and it's bio controlled No one

00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:28.650
goes in except for the workers and blah blah

00:24:28.650 --> 00:24:31.450
blah Honey bees are flying dust mops that fly

00:24:31.450 --> 00:24:34.109
so many miles, but you don't know where they're

00:24:34.109 --> 00:24:36.890
getting water from. And I get that every drought

00:24:36.890 --> 00:24:39.289
year. I'll put out a brand new barrel of water,

00:24:39.349 --> 00:24:42.029
55 gallons next to the hive, and they'll still

00:24:42.029 --> 00:24:44.509
fly a mile to someone's house to a dirty cattle

00:24:44.509 --> 00:24:46.910
trough. And I'm like, why are you doing that

00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:49.690
for? Or to a chlorinated swimming pool. Yeah,

00:24:49.769 --> 00:24:53.289
that's true. We have all experienced that. They're

00:24:53.289 --> 00:24:55.650
goofy. I think that's part of why we love them.

00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:58.420
Yep. All right. You have a new wild and crazy

00:24:58.420 --> 00:25:03.279
story for us since last time. I don't remember

00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:06.279
what yours was last time. So if you repeat it,

00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.559
I won't even know the difference. But every beekeeper

00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:12.559
has funny stories. Let's hear one. OK, July.

00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.579
It's a sad story. It's a good story and a sad

00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:18.480
story. So I have a beer right on the Montana,

00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:20.859
North Dakota state line, literally like quarter

00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:24.710
mile. And as you look. Over to Montana. It's

00:25:24.710 --> 00:25:27.269
all nothing but grass. There's nothing planted

00:25:27.269 --> 00:25:29.930
So it's only good on a clover year, which happens

00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:32.150
that area is only like every three four years

00:25:32.150 --> 00:25:35.490
five years You might get clover Anyways, my son

00:25:35.490 --> 00:25:37.589
and I and one of my best guys Diego We're pulling

00:25:37.589 --> 00:25:40.289
honey course of thunderstorms comes through and

00:25:40.289 --> 00:25:42.369
that first clap of lightning. We're halfway pulling

00:25:42.369 --> 00:25:43.990
the honey We just leave the gath boards on like

00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:46.130
hey, let's get in the truck We wait ten minutes

00:25:46.130 --> 00:25:49.549
and it blows through didn't rain too much We

00:25:49.549 --> 00:25:53.470
get out and just the honey was really heavy Beautiful

00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:55.769
would start of the season probably 10th of July

00:25:55.769 --> 00:25:57.930
12th of July. It was just fun I love working

00:25:57.930 --> 00:26:01.549
with my only son pulling honey we get home and

00:26:01.549 --> 00:26:04.269
I have a biologist buddy in North Dakota That

00:26:04.269 --> 00:26:06.950
he's a good birdwatcher good birder that he's

00:26:06.950 --> 00:26:10.009
the number one like fish and game what he called

00:26:10.009 --> 00:26:12.329
that game bird guy, right so he's on the little

00:26:12.329 --> 00:26:16.150
local Bismarck station and Right by my be yard

00:26:16.150 --> 00:26:19.109
and I knew this there's a LEC for sage -grouse,

00:26:19.130 --> 00:26:22.349
you know the LEC is Eric That's where they dance.

00:26:22.509 --> 00:26:25.509
So for thousands of years the males go and dance

00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:28.890
for the females and you know That's how you get

00:26:28.890 --> 00:26:31.769
new little sage -grouse. So the lek is where

00:26:31.769 --> 00:26:34.529
they dance They dance every year at that same

00:26:34.529 --> 00:26:37.450
spot the males and the females will go to the

00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:40.349
male and if you ever seen pictures of sage -grouse

00:26:40.349 --> 00:26:42.210
or prairie chicken They fluff up their feathers

00:26:42.210 --> 00:26:44.390
and they have the big like air sack and it's

00:26:44.390 --> 00:26:47.150
really pretty iconic species of the sagebrush

00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:49.849
west, right? I've seen the dance. I just didn't

00:26:49.849 --> 00:26:52.849
know they went to a grouse disco to do it. Yep.

00:26:53.109 --> 00:26:55.910
The same spot every year. Usually a little dirty

00:26:55.910 --> 00:26:59.109
grassy mound so the females can see them and

00:26:59.109 --> 00:27:02.500
they got they boom loud. Anyways. So this was

00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:05.079
the very last lech in North Dakota that they

00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:07.420
knew that sage grouse were dancing. And this

00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:10.440
April, this past April, they had zero sage grouse.

00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:13.079
So they think, well, that's it for sage grouse

00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:15.960
in the state of North Dakota. I see one, I've

00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:18.940
seen probably two, three in my lifetime, because

00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:21.299
they're just right in that corner in the Badlands,

00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:25.029
some into South Dakota, Wyoming. Montana. But

00:27:25.029 --> 00:27:27.349
anyways, just because, you know, habitat has

00:27:27.349 --> 00:27:29.829
gone away. So that was kind of my point. I told

00:27:29.829 --> 00:27:32.509
the story at the California meeting is that it's

00:27:32.509 --> 00:27:34.930
habitat loss and we're never going to get it

00:27:34.930 --> 00:27:37.309
back. And it's kind of sad that, you know, our

00:27:37.309 --> 00:27:39.650
honey production is down because there's so much

00:27:39.650 --> 00:27:41.829
corn and soy planted and the grasslands are going

00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:45.329
away. And we really need conservation and the

00:27:45.329 --> 00:27:48.049
CRP acres, the conservation reserve where they're

00:27:48.049 --> 00:27:51.099
paid not to farm, those are going away. And so

00:27:51.099 --> 00:27:53.920
we need like a renaissance of protected acreage

00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:56.779
that have cover crops on them and just not to

00:27:56.779 --> 00:28:00.079
help bees, but to help all other species, insects

00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.660
and birds and mammals. So anyways, I guess that

00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:05.980
wasn't a crazy story with the lightning, but

00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:08.140
it ended up being a sad story, but a lesson in

00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:10.680
it, I guess we need good habitat. Yeah, more

00:28:10.680 --> 00:28:13.019
and more habitat. There are a couple of nonprofit

00:28:13.019 --> 00:28:15.859
groups out there that are trying to help with

00:28:15.859 --> 00:28:18.799
that a little bit and we wish them well. We need

00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:23.039
a ton more. Oh yeah. They're getting at a few

00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:26.519
hundred or a few at the most thousand acres a

00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:29.220
year and we need millions of acres it sounds

00:28:29.220 --> 00:28:31.859
like. The honey bees are sort of the canary in

00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:35.000
the coal mine too. Yeah, yeah. If they're suffering

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.339
you can bet the the grouse and other things that

00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:40.940
you don't even see are having some of the same

00:28:40.940 --> 00:28:43.720
problems. Hey I won't keep you too much longer,

00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:46.039
but I do have one question that somebody asked

00:28:46.039 --> 00:28:48.619
me this morning, and I thought I had a brilliant

00:28:48.619 --> 00:28:51.859
answer for, but it probably wasn't. That is,

00:28:52.099 --> 00:28:55.240
out here in the western part of the United States,

00:28:55.380 --> 00:29:01.059
we have had a long, warm fall. Here in the mountains

00:29:01.059 --> 00:29:04.599
of Utah, we don't even have winter yet. How is

00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:07.839
that affecting the bees? And if it's hard on

00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:11.099
them, what can we do to help? Well feed number

00:29:11.099 --> 00:29:13.460
one we saw the same thing in north dakota this

00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:16.519
fall we usually have you know four forty four

00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:19.259
four forty four fifty six on a load for thirty

00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:22.059
two lot of them came down at four eighty five

00:29:22.059 --> 00:29:25.160
twelve so they eat and a lot of that stores we

00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:27.759
left for them cuz it was way above average well

00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.619
in november there was some fifties a few sixties

00:29:30.619 --> 00:29:33.730
usually down in the twenties and thirties. And

00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:36.710
so we've had to feed this this winter a lot more

00:29:36.710 --> 00:29:39.210
than we have in the past. I would get out if

00:29:39.210 --> 00:29:41.509
I was, you know, if you're in Utah or whatever

00:29:41.509 --> 00:29:44.130
in the Mountain West and you don't want your

00:29:44.130 --> 00:29:46.029
hive to starve, definitely go feed them because

00:29:46.029 --> 00:29:47.829
they'll be out flying even though there's nothing

00:29:47.829 --> 00:29:50.250
for them to do. They'll just use up their use

00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:52.369
instead of hibernating and staying in that nice

00:29:52.369 --> 00:29:54.970
cluster. They're out flying, using their calories

00:29:54.970 --> 00:29:58.190
and burning it up. So yeah, feed them. Well,

00:29:58.190 --> 00:30:00.309
and that's what we see. You know, we've had a

00:30:00.309 --> 00:30:03.690
lot of days that it's in the mid to high 50s,

00:30:03.809 --> 00:30:06.670
even some low 60s. And this isn't just Utah.

00:30:07.210 --> 00:30:09.869
I've spoken with people in Montana and Colorado

00:30:09.869 --> 00:30:12.890
and a bunch of other states here. And, you know,

00:30:12.890 --> 00:30:14.430
the bees are flying around and they're coming

00:30:14.430 --> 00:30:18.349
back with nada. So there's waste in it. They're

00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:20.829
not only burning through their reserves, but

00:30:20.829 --> 00:30:23.230
I hope they're not wearing themselves out too

00:30:23.230 --> 00:30:26.130
much. Winter bees aren't really meant to be doing

00:30:26.130 --> 00:30:28.450
that, are they? Nope, they aren't. And so that's

00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:31.500
why you might have a smaller cluster coming out

00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:34.740
of winter. And my main concern is don't let them

00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:36.220
starve. You're going to have to probably do more

00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:40.779
protein patties and more corn syrup to feed them.

00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:43.740
Feed, feed, feed. All right. Any other great

00:30:43.740 --> 00:30:46.180
wisdom you want to leave with us, Chris? No.

00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:49.420
Be ready. We might have some letters to we want

00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:51.779
from different states for our congressmen when

00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:54.079
we are ready to move the Honey Integrity Act

00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.779
forwards. But we'll get the word out. But yeah,

00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.750
we might need some grassroots reports. That's

00:31:00.750 --> 00:31:03.230
something everybody can do is support those kinds

00:31:03.230 --> 00:31:06.109
of things. Write the letters when they come up.

00:31:06.349 --> 00:31:08.069
It's the little things like that we can jump

00:31:08.069 --> 00:31:11.369
in and do. Hey, Chris, I really appreciate it.

00:31:11.970 --> 00:31:13.509
Oh, Eric, I was gonna say one thing we on that

00:31:13.509 --> 00:31:16.430
Beltsville, Maryland lab, the Trump administration,

00:31:16.529 --> 00:31:18.609
that's one bad thing they've done. They want

00:31:18.609 --> 00:31:21.910
to close it down. We've got pretty good support

00:31:21.910 --> 00:31:24.029
and a lot of letters in and I've been on a bunch

00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:26.819
of the calls. You know, trying to keep it open

00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:29.420
because any time you close the lab, less than

00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:31.619
half the people go relocate because they don't

00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:34.319
want to move for that. And that's our flagship

00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:37.440
B lab and they do the National Disease Survey.

00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:40.740
It's important. So anyways, I just want to kudos

00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:42.980
to those that wrote letters and helped on. We

00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:45.220
don't know yet, but yeah, on the Beltsville lab.

00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:47.799
Hopefully it'll still be there. Yeah, I hope

00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:51.140
so. All right. Chris, I appreciate it. I'd love

00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:53.859
to have you back from time to time. Sorry, I

00:31:53.859 --> 00:31:56.019
missed you at Epimonia. If I knew you were there,

00:31:56.019 --> 00:31:58.339
we could have gotten together. Yeah, sorry. I

00:31:58.339 --> 00:32:00.799
got that from a lot of people. I goofed off a

00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:02.900
couple days, too, because you're in a new country.

00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:05.380
You got to go see it. And with eight to ten thousand

00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:07.799
people in that convention center, you know, there's

00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.140
no way you're going to accidentally or almost

00:32:10.140 --> 00:32:13.079
no way. Oh, yeah, there's Chris over there. Yeah.

00:32:13.660 --> 00:32:15.880
Anyway, thanks. Appreciate your time. OK, thanks,

00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:21.390
Eric. Thanks for joining us on Be Love Beekeeping

00:32:21.390 --> 00:32:24.690
presented by Man Lake. If you like this content

00:32:24.690 --> 00:32:27.150
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00:32:30.490 --> 00:32:33.170
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00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:36.160
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00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:39.559
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00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:42.539
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00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:46.359
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00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:49.859
Strips. Thanks guys, and remember, if you're

00:32:49.859 --> 00:32:52.539
not just in it for the honey or the money, you're

00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:54.819
in it for the love. See you next week.