"My Biggest Beekeeping Mistakes" - Lauren Doninger

WEBVTT

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in a world brimming with complexity few creatures

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embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless

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precision she dances from bloom to bloom each

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motion guided by millennia upon millennia of

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instinct each act in service to the whole and

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then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards

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of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist,

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part poet, they move along their hives with the

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efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to

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the bees' needs as best they can comprehend,

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and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the

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Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing

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like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their

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journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping

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presented by our great friends over at Man Lake.

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

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to and follow the show, tell your friends about

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it and click on over to Be Love Beekeeping dot

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

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guest is a beekeeper in Connecticut and we'll

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be discussing everything from swarms to self

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-service honey stands, wild and crazy beekeeping

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stories. It's going to be a whole bunch of fun.

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But first, I loved this recent article from Environment

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America titled 10 ways bees are smarter than

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you think. So can you think of all 10? Tell you

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what, here we go. Number one, bees can solve

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puzzles that require impressive problem solving.

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In one study, researchers created a box with

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sugar inside that could be opened by rotating

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a lid, but the bees had to rotate a blue lid

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for it to work, not the nearby red one. After

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trial and error, the bees learned that only the

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blue lid unlocked the box. Number two, bees are

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math whizzes. Bees can count and discriminate

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up to four objects at a time, understanding that

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each one is separate. They can even look at two

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groups of objects, compare the two, and identify

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which group has fewer in it. Even more impressive,

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researchers think that bees might even understand

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the concept of zero, an idea that puzzled even

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mathematicians for many years. Okay, I better

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give a little bit shorter explanations or we're

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not gonna get through the list. Let's keep going.

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Number three, some bees use tools. Number four,

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bees are their own GPS. When bees travel miles

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to faraway fields and gardens, they use the position

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of the sun and earth to return home with impressive

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accuracy. Number five, bees have dreams and daydreams.

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Number six bees can teach each other think of

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the waggle dance Also in one experiment when

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one bee figured out how to solve a puzzle other

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bees observed the behavior and followed suit

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Number seven bees have their own language Again,

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think of the waggle dance as a great example

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number eight bees can recognize human faces number

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nine bees might even be able to play soccer?

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Scientists have trained bees to manipulate a

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small ball into a goal -like structure for a

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reward of sugar. And lastly, number 10, bees

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experience complex emotions. bees tiny brains

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release dopamine and serotonin when they eat

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sugar, signaling happiness. And bees even feel

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PTSD like symptoms after traumatic events and

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feel more optimistic about foraging after they've

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found a good food source. So again, amazing,

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amazing, amazing. Our buddies the bees, they

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are just incredible. Alright, I am so happy to

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welcome our very special guest today, Lauren

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Donninger. How are you, Laura? Good, good. Nice

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to meet you. Thanks for having me on. And you're

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in Hamden, Connecticut? Right, right outside

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of New Haven. East Coast of the U .S. for those

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that are off in another country someplace. And

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I appreciate you jumping on here because you

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were just explaining that you've been in the

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bee yard all day and you've been working out.

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Yeah. So you're not dressed up like Glamour Queen.

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You're like a real live beekeeper. And that's

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the best part. So love that. So I want to jump

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into I want to talk swarms first. Sure. Because

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you're pretty good at catching swarms. I mean,

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I know that you saw that I posted in a Facebook

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group just I do every year. This is what a swarm

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looks like. If you see a swarm. Call me. I'll

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come get it. You can name the queen. I'll bring

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you the first pound of honey. Don't spray it.

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You know, that sort of thing, which I think is,

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you know, most hobbyists do that in their like

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local community groups. So I posted that in a

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reporter, I don't know, picked up on it and thought

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it was a good human interest story. So I catch

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a few swarms a year. I have some swarm box up.

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But, you know, I'm not I don't have any special

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skill. No, that's OK. We're just regular old

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beekeepers here, around here. How many swarm

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boxes do you have up and what do they look like?

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I have four and they're like the 40 liter, they're

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wood. A couple of years ago I got this strap

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and it goes around the tree and then there's

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a hook on it so you can hang it on and that has

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been a very helpful little innovation and tool

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and you know I don't put them up that high. have

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you know I bring a six foot ladder with me and

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you know maybe ideally they'd be a little bit

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higher but I have it has to be fun I have to

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be able to get it and then they're just they're

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places where either friends who are interested

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or people who've called me like I've won this

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year it's a condo complex and they've called

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two years in a row with a swarm so I was like

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I'm bringing a box for you this year and maybe

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wherever you know those bees are coming from

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maybe we'll catch them. So out of your boxes

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Just give me some kind of a ratio, like how many

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swarms do you catch each year? Well, I mean,

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I go out and in my boxes, I definitely catch

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probably four. Like most of the boxes catch at

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least one swarm. So like one swarm per box per

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summer. OK. Typically, yeah. Yeah. And then in

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terms of going on swarm calls, I have to like

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I have to say no sometimes because I'm a backyard

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beekeeper, and I can end up with just like more

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bees than I can manage. But I love to go do it.

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And I maybe go and maybe get five or six swarms

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that are just a call. So on your average, how

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many colonies are you keeping at any one time?

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Right now. I think I have 15, which is a little

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bit more than I would like to, but I do vertical

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splits. So I don't know, maybe you could call

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it 30 if you do it based on queens. But I do

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the vertical splits because I don't want to make

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more colonies. I don't want to do a split and

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then have another box at another location. So

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I use a Snellgrove board or a double screen board.

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You know, as long as you brought that up, Why

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don't we talk about what a vertical split is

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and exactly how you do it. Just kind of walk

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us through the steps. Yep. So usually in the

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early, early spring, I overwinter usually in

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two deeps. And then in early spring, depending

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on how the colonies look, I'll get them down

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to one. I'll put them all down to one. Hopefully

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don't need to feed, but if I need to feed, I'll

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feed. And then once that colony builds up in

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the one box, I will, I'll leave the queen, the

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overwintered queen, I'll leave her in the bottom

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box and then I'll take really all, nearly all

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of the frames of brood and put them in another

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box. So it'll be the deep with the queen and

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you know, I've been beheading for a while so

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I have a lot of resources so they don't have

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to make comb. The queen, I'll leave a frame of

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pollen, frame of honey and then empty frames.

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queen excluder, honey super, then the double

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screen board. And on top of the double screen

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board, I'll put the box with all of that brood,

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and they'll make a queen. And the box has a series

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of doors on it, and I'll open one door that is

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the exit for the top box. all of the bees that

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are oriented below will just go home to the bottom

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box and then the nurse bees will you know they're

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obviously not going to leave the brood and then

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as the brood emerges from that top box after

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about five days maybe six I will close the door

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and there's a little door right under it and

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I'll open that door so now the bees that have

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oriented to that top box, they're going to come

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back. And now it's not going to be quite the

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same door. It's going to be the door below. So

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I'm bleeding off and giving more and more workers

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to the bottom box who don't have a lot of brood

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yet, because it took all the brood. So they don't

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have anything to do but make honey. And then

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so when I close that door, I open one on the

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other side, because always the top box always

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has a place to leave. Five or so days later,

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I do the same thing. And then I open the last

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door for the top box. And that's the one where

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when the queen, the virgin queen emerges, that's

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the one that she's going to take her mating flights

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from. And at that point, and this is a lot of

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what I was doing today, at that point, I have

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really bled off the field force from the top

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and pumped up the field force on the bottom.

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So I will sometimes say I was feeding that top

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box because for that virgin to be strong enough,

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you know, once she's mated, some of them are

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mated now, in order for them to really get started.

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Sometimes I'll give them some feed, and then

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I'll decide if, like, who, I'll decide who lives.

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Which queen am I gonna keep? Usually the new

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one, you know, usually the new one, and at some

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point I'll pinch one or the other, leave them,

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you know, for a few days, and then combine them,

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and by then they have a big field force. That's

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a big responsibility, deciding who lives and

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who dies. It's terrible. Wow, playing God here.

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It's terrible. And it's terrible because, like,

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she's a perfectly good queen. And yeah, it's

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terrible. It's so hard to pinch a queen. Yeah,

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it's just so hard to do. And one thing I've noticed

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about this technique that I need to make notes

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for myself next year, I need to wait a little

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bit later because Those bottom boxes today, I

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had swarm cells in those bottom boxes. So I was

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like, oh, that weren't supposed to swarm. I caught

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them. I'm so lucky. I can't believe I caught

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them. One of them, I had just done the manipulation,

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and I watched the virgin queen emerge. And she

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was now in the top box. It was like, they would

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have swarmed tomorrow for sure, because that

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virgin emerged. So that's how I like to do splits.

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So when you get swarm calls from people, how

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have they found you? Just from your website or

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what? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think they Google.

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I mean, the fact that I have a website is I had

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a, it was a friend of my daughter's who was doing

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some certificate in web development. And she

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said, I need to build a web page. Could I build

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you one? I was like, yes, Megan, you can build

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me one. So I had tried to build one myself. not

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a skill I have, not a skill I want to have. And

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it was frustrating. And then, you know, here

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I got this web page. So, yeah, I think they find

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it from that. Yeah, I looked at it. It looks

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nice. Thank you. And it has a little thing about

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your honey selling business. And I mean, you

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say you're just a hobbyist, but if you have 15

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or even 10 or 20 hives, you're going to end up

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with a lot of honey at the end of the year. So

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explain to everybody how you sell it. It is very

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casual and you asked about like people calling

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me. I live in Hamden now it's like 13 years but

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I didn't raise my kids here so you know I didn't

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really have a sense of community here. I don't

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work in Hamden I work in New Haven. The bees

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are how I ended up sort of getting to know people

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in the community and that has been just a particular

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delight. Somebody will say I have a swarm and

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people will say you know, yellow house honey

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and they'll link me. And so what I do is, it's

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a self -service stand. I put the honey on the

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porch and there's a little welcome sign on my

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porch door and people, it's just a little bookshelf

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with glass doors and people help themselves and

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leave cash or do Venmo and yeah, it's really

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casual. I don't know, I think it's very, like

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obviously it's an honor system. worried about

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it. And I think people really like the, I don't

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know, just the open trust element. I have a little

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sign that says, if you need change and I'm not

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home, short me. Don't short yourself. Absolutely

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short me. Or take, you know, and make some other

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little products. Like take something else instead.

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Or, you know, catch me next time. It's very local

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and very friendly, which I really like. Yeah,

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that is awesome. But I want to make sure I'm

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clear. This is on your front porch. You have

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like a closed in area with a door. It's a side

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porch. So my house is a little just like my logo.

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That's my house. It's a little yellow Cape Cod

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style house. And I have a garage that has a little

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porch with a door on it and then When you come

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in the porch, the garage is on the right, but

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it's all closed and the house is on the left

00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:21.649
and straight out is slider to the to the bee

00:15:21.649 --> 00:15:24.610
yard. So it's just a little, you know, it's a

00:15:24.610 --> 00:15:27.570
closed in porch and people just come in and help

00:15:27.570 --> 00:15:30.269
themselves. That's great. And you sell all the

00:15:30.269 --> 00:15:33.090
honey you want to sell that way. I do. I sell

00:15:33.090 --> 00:15:36.350
out every year. I sell out. No farmers markets

00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:38.250
or any of that kind of stuff. You know, I did.

00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:42.049
I started I did start. at farmers markets. It

00:15:42.049 --> 00:15:44.490
is rough to go to a farmers market because honey

00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:47.649
is heavy. Honey is really heavy. And if you're

00:15:47.649 --> 00:15:49.950
not at a farmers market where you can park right

00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:52.490
there, like I've been to some where you're supposed

00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:55.789
to unload and then drive away. So I haven't needed

00:15:55.789 --> 00:15:59.149
to. I admit a pet peeve of mine is that it seems

00:15:59.149 --> 00:16:03.129
all beehives are white. Yeah, boring old white.

00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:06.779
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00:16:37.929 --> 00:16:41.450
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00:17:06.710 --> 00:17:11.069
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00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:13.049
like the conversation and so forth at the farmers

00:17:13.049 --> 00:17:17.410
market but it's a lot of work and I've sold out

00:17:17.410 --> 00:17:21.029
so usually I sell out so I don't need to yeah.

00:17:21.089 --> 00:17:23.549
A lot of work and a little bit of money and and

00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:25.890
like they say a pound of honey weighs two pounds.

00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:29.390
Yeah. I wanted to just finish up one thing on

00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:31.470
the swarms and that is so when you get a call

00:17:31.470 --> 00:17:33.940
and you go to their house Now, you were telling

00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:38.819
me you don't do cutouts. No. Tell me why. I don't

00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:41.559
have the carpentry skill. Yeah, I don't have

00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.519
the skill to. to do the cutting and I definitely

00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:47.099
don't have the skill to do the repair. And there

00:17:47.099 --> 00:17:49.759
are some, a couple of beekeepers locally. There's

00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:53.579
a woman, Erin Stevens. She's fabulous. If I get

00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:55.460
a call and I see that it needs a cutout, I'll

00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:58.180
call Erin. There's also, he's a big beekeeper.

00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:01.140
His name is Ryan Griffith. He's at Necker, Necker

00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:04.880
Farms. He might even be commercial. He does so

00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:07.619
many cutouts. So there are people who are very

00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:10.079
good at that. I have heard of that place and

00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.019
I'm trying to remember if he was on the show.

00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:16.069
Ryan Griffith, he's great. And with those cutouts,

00:18:16.430 --> 00:18:20.390
I know some beekeepers that they'll either do

00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:23.410
the cutout, but then they have a handyman that

00:18:23.410 --> 00:18:25.769
they work with that comes back and fixes everything,

00:18:26.150 --> 00:18:28.650
or the handyman will actually do the cutout with

00:18:28.650 --> 00:18:31.630
them. and then they'll do the removal handyman

00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:34.509
and come back and fix it. In some states you

00:18:34.509 --> 00:18:36.769
are not even allowed to fix it unless you're

00:18:36.769 --> 00:18:39.029
some kind of a licensed contractor. That kind

00:18:39.029 --> 00:18:42.569
of makes sense. Just letting everybody know there's

00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.839
Make sure you know what you're doing as far as

00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:49.339
those local laws and that kind of stuff because

00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:52.400
somebody may think, oh, oh, he's just going to

00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.599
make this little cut to get the bees out. But

00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.000
the beehive might be this big. And the next thing

00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.640
you know, you know, a three by six foot part

00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.680
of your wall is gone. And that's going to freak

00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.289
out some people. So. I got a call last week from

00:19:09.289 --> 00:19:12.269
the, it's a little community theater in Waterbury

00:19:12.269 --> 00:19:14.890
and they thought that they had a swarm. They

00:19:14.890 --> 00:19:17.490
didn't, they sent me videos and I think a swarm

00:19:17.490 --> 00:19:19.750
probably landed there and there were some left

00:19:19.750 --> 00:19:22.250
behinds. But they had once before had a swarm

00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:26.089
that had gone, it was between the walls and their

00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:28.990
handyman cut it out and a beekeeper removed it

00:19:28.990 --> 00:19:33.079
and so I would do that. fellow, he was so, he

00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:34.819
was so, they were so pleasant, the people at

00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:37.299
the theater. And if they end up with bees moving

00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:40.019
in, if there's somebody who's going to cut, then,

00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.819
then I would be happy to. And also depending

00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:45.720
on where it is, I'll climb a ladder, but not,

00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.759
you know, so high that it's, I can't be breaking

00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.119
a hip. I'm going to be 65. I can't be breaking

00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:56.119
a hip. Do you ever use for swarms way up in a

00:19:56.119 --> 00:19:58.720
tree, one of those poles with a bucket on it?

00:19:58.740 --> 00:20:02.210
I made one. Yeah. Oh, good. I made one. I bought

00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:06.250
a pull saw. It was a pull saw retractable thing

00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:09.549
on Facebook. It was ancient. And the guy was

00:20:09.549 --> 00:20:11.470
worried if I knew how to use it. I said, I just

00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:13.369
need to know how to take this off because I'm

00:20:13.369 --> 00:20:15.890
attaching a five gallon bucket to it. So I've

00:20:15.890 --> 00:20:17.809
had that for three years. I drive around with

00:20:17.809 --> 00:20:21.250
it in my car and other swarm equipment. And I've

00:20:21.250 --> 00:20:25.069
not yet have gone high enough to use it. But

00:20:25.069 --> 00:20:27.650
I'm hoping for one this year. You will. You will.

00:20:27.650 --> 00:20:30.019
It'll happen. One of the reasons I wanted to

00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:31.660
have you on the show when we were chatting the

00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:35.900
other day is you said you've made so many mistakes

00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:40.039
and that is how we all learn. We're going to

00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:42.619
talk about wild and crazy stories in a few minutes

00:20:42.619 --> 00:20:46.220
but give me an idea of a couple of mistakes that

00:20:46.220 --> 00:20:48.779
you've made that you learned a lot from and others

00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:51.609
that are listening can learn from. One early

00:20:51.609 --> 00:20:55.809
mistake, I had gotten my first, I bought a nuc

00:20:55.809 --> 00:20:59.470
actually, and I had one colony, I had gone to

00:20:59.470 --> 00:21:02.049
bee school in the winter, and now it was early

00:21:02.049 --> 00:21:05.369
spring, and I got a nuc, and I was having my

00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:09.950
yard fenced in, and the timing worked out that

00:21:09.950 --> 00:21:12.410
where I wanted to put the bees, Like they couldn't

00:21:12.410 --> 00:21:14.990
put the fence in and then I had learned in bee

00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:17.450
school that like don't move them more like three

00:21:17.450 --> 00:21:20.549
feet is the max. So I set up the hive and I put

00:21:20.549 --> 00:21:22.849
it in a wheelbarrow and then I moved it a little

00:21:22.849 --> 00:21:25.650
bit every day. And by the time I got those bees

00:21:25.650 --> 00:21:30.970
to where I wanted them, they were mad and aggressive.

00:21:31.449 --> 00:21:35.210
And it was not fun. So I was like, I'm not doing

00:21:35.210 --> 00:21:37.230
this. This is not a fun hobby. Why would anybody

00:21:37.230 --> 00:21:39.950
do this? I can't even step in my backyard. I'm

00:21:39.950 --> 00:21:42.730
getting stung in Connecticut. Maybe it's true

00:21:42.730 --> 00:21:44.630
elsewhere. You can't sell bees without having

00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:47.490
the bee inspector come. So I called the bee inspector.

00:21:47.609 --> 00:21:50.130
He's like, I don't want to do this. Come inspect.

00:21:50.490 --> 00:21:52.849
And he walks into my backyard. He's like, ah,

00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:54.650
is it always like this? I was like, yes, I don't

00:21:54.650 --> 00:21:56.650
want to do it. He's like, you need a new queen.

00:21:57.289 --> 00:22:00.440
Which I didn't know. And this is not. something

00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:04.059
the B inspector typically does, but it was just

00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:08.099
a dumb luck circumstance that the experiment

00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:11.000
station is like two miles from me, and he had

00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.119
an extra queen. And he went and got a queen,

00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:17.920
and he replaced it, and I was good to go. I had

00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.359
rattled them up, right? Like they had had an

00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:24.750
earthquake every day as I moved them. So that's

00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:28.970
a mistake I won't make again. And then I overwintered

00:22:28.970 --> 00:22:32.529
barely successfully. The queen was there, and

00:22:32.529 --> 00:22:35.529
they were alive, but the cluster was so small.

00:22:35.910 --> 00:22:41.329
So I started another package and wanted to balance

00:22:41.329 --> 00:22:43.910
them. So the new package, they start laying,

00:22:44.950 --> 00:22:48.269
and I knew that you should give eggs. I didn't

00:22:48.269 --> 00:22:52.599
know, and the nurse bees. So I thought like if

00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.619
you put bees in a hive with a queen that isn't

00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:59.759
their queen, then it'll be war. I have this week

00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.500
week hive. I'm supporting this new package and

00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:09.339
I gave this fabulous frame of larvae and eggs

00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:12.059
like just the new queen had done magnificent

00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:15.599
work and I put it in that overwintered and they

00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.400
ate it all because they were you know I didn't

00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:19.880
you don't know you don't know I didn't know I

00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.220
need to leave the nurse bees on never made that

00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:27.839
mistake again although a story related related,

00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.420
just like how nice the beekeeping community is.

00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:32.940
It's probably everywhere. It's really nice in

00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:35.480
Connecticut. There are three bee clubs in Connecticut.

00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:37.859
I belong to Connecticut Beekeepers Association.

00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:41.000
I can't begin to say enough good things about

00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.099
the organization and the leadership. I had overwintered.

00:23:44.099 --> 00:23:47.099
They were barely alive. I had wasted the frame

00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:49.640
of brood and larva by not putting in the nurse

00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:54.440
bees. I wanted to have survival. And I started

00:23:54.440 --> 00:23:56.460
calling beekeepers on the list saying, can I

00:23:56.460 --> 00:23:59.660
buy a frame from you? And this beekeeper in the

00:23:59.660 --> 00:24:01.640
next town, his name is Ray Sala. I don't think

00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:03.460
I've ever seen him again, but, you know, I see

00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:06.640
his name. He's like, oh, you're a new beekeeper.

00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:09.200
I'll bring you a couple of frames. He brought

00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:12.420
me frames of overwintered brood. And he gave

00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:14.039
it to me. I mean, of course I offered to pay

00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:16.640
for it. He gave it to me. And that was my first

00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:19.559
overwinter experience, which, you know. They

00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:23.680
didn't really survive. They wouldn't have. But

00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:27.220
yeah. Beekeepers are the best people. Oh my gosh.

00:24:27.579 --> 00:24:31.160
Yeah. Yeah. The other bee clubs, besides the

00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.140
Beekeepers Association, there's, I think it's

00:24:34.140 --> 00:24:36.200
called Eastern Connecticut. The person who runs

00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:39.160
that is Adam Fuller. He is phenomenal. If you're

00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:41.599
looking for a guest, he's great. And have you

00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.819
interviewed Bill Hesbeck yet? No. Bill Hasbeck,

00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:49.339
he's the president of Connecticut Beekeepers

00:24:49.339 --> 00:24:53.660
Association, which is one I belong to, and he

00:24:53.660 --> 00:24:59.220
does a lot of research. Actually, I use Bill's...

00:24:59.500 --> 00:25:02.259
condensing hive. He's published a lot in Connecticut

00:25:02.259 --> 00:25:05.880
Bee Journal. I mean, American Bee Journal. He

00:25:05.880 --> 00:25:09.359
runs, it's called Bee Talks, the second or third

00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:11.480
Thursday of the month. It used to be in person

00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.579
before COVID. It was so much better in person.

00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:16.880
But, you know, it's been online since. But which,

00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.279
you know, is accessible for more accessible for

00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.799
a lot of people. And then there's also backyard

00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:25.640
beekeepers. I'm not as familiar with them. Connecticut

00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:28.819
Beekeeper is quite a resource. fabulous resource.

00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.059
I'll have you send me their information later.

00:25:31.079 --> 00:25:33.940
I will. And hopefully everybody's excited about

00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:35.799
hearing from those guests. I'll reach out to

00:25:35.799 --> 00:25:38.279
them. Thank you for the referral on that. Sure.

00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:41.799
All right. Every beekeeper has had some kind

00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:45.140
of wild and crazy beekeeping story. I swear I

00:25:45.140 --> 00:25:48.119
have one every single time I'm out with the bees.

00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:51.440
So can you think of one or two that you want

00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.099
to share with us? The first year that I got honey,

00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.720
which was probably my third year, I was aware

00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:00.640
of, you know, how carefully I have to be about

00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:04.119
robbing. And I took the frames out one by one,

00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.359
took, you know, used smoke, used a brush, got

00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:09.859
all the beads, like ran to the side porch, stacked

00:26:09.859 --> 00:26:15.640
them all up, like very meticulously, very carefully.

00:26:16.220 --> 00:26:19.299
And then it was a few days. I had to work and

00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:21.759
it was a few days before I could extract. And

00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:26.460
I was... so mindful of shutting that slider door.

00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:29.539
I have a dog, so I'd let the dog out, shut that

00:26:29.539 --> 00:26:33.720
slider door, and it was probably, I don't know,

00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:36.680
maybe it was gonna be like four, it was four

00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:40.900
or five days that I am religiously shutting this

00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:44.819
slider door. So these frames of honey are actually

00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:47.759
in part of the house. They're on the side porch

00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.200
where the honey stand is. That's the porch. There's

00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.440
a separate door that goes into the house. And

00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:57.019
about how many frames? Easily 20, maybe. Oh,

00:26:57.220 --> 00:26:59.420
probably more. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was

00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:02.740
my fourth year. I had them in boxes and there

00:27:02.740 --> 00:27:05.839
were many boxes. All right. This all sounds so

00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:09.759
safe. No problem. I don't know where the crazy

00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:14.039
part's going to come in. I went to a little family

00:27:14.039 --> 00:27:17.359
event, came home. It was dark. I stepped onto

00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:22.779
the porch with my dog. And it was like I was

00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:25.619
in another universe. I didn't know what was happening.

00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.220
It was like a roar of an engine that was crunching

00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:31.420
under my feet. I'm reaching, trying to open the

00:27:31.420 --> 00:27:34.460
house door. When I open the house door, I'd left

00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:39.200
the slider open. was mayhem. I mean, it was terrible

00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:42.700
that the honey was gone, but like the number

00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:46.599
of dead bees, ugh. I mean, it was just a, it

00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:49.819
was massive death. It was terrible. They were,

00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:52.839
you know, just, it took so long to clean up.

00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:54.839
They got in the house because when I came home,

00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:58.059
I opened the house door and they were all in

00:27:58.059 --> 00:27:59.880
the door because there was a light further in

00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:01.980
the house. So they're, you know, on the door

00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:04.799
and I opened it into the house. It took a long

00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:09.220
time to clean up. And then for days, these were

00:28:09.220 --> 00:28:12.940
just dive bombing the slider. Just dive bombing.

00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:16.059
Like we know that that honey is in there. Oh,

00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:18.279
gosh, that is a mistake. I don't think I'll make

00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:21.480
again. Yeah, I have one kind of similar. This

00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:23.759
is this is not a one up you in any way, shape

00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:27.059
or form. The first time that I harvested honey

00:28:27.059 --> 00:28:31.660
was a little three frame crank extractor. Right.

00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:35.440
And everything went smoothly. And when I was

00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:39.099
done, I knew, oh, put the extractor outside,

00:28:39.220 --> 00:28:41.980
let the bees come clean it out. Oh, what a wonderful

00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:45.079
idea. I'm going to do that. And we have a large

00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.180
front porch and I and it was, you know, end of

00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:51.500
a long day after extracting and stuff. So I I

00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:54.720
carry this out with the lid off and I take it

00:28:54.720 --> 00:28:56.599
out the front door and just set it right there

00:28:56.599 --> 00:29:00.599
on the front porch. And like tomorrow. You know,

00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:03.579
I'll come move it someplace, but didn't think

00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:08.980
anything of it. Well, tomorrow, yes, nobody could

00:29:08.980 --> 00:29:12.380
get near the front of our house at all. It was

00:29:12.380 --> 00:29:16.019
hilarious. I'm thinking, I've always wanted to

00:29:16.019 --> 00:29:22.619
keep the neighbors away. Anyway, so yes, in the

00:29:22.619 --> 00:29:25.180
middle of the night, the next night, I then took

00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:27.240
it out to the middle of the front lawn where

00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:30.880
it was just fine. And we learned from those little

00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.220
lessons and everything's fine and it's okay.

00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:38.690
So for new beekeepers... Don't feel bad when

00:29:38.690 --> 00:29:42.049
you make a mistake. And sometimes we kill our

00:29:42.049 --> 00:29:44.309
bees and that feels horrible. Just make sure

00:29:44.309 --> 00:29:47.269
you learn something from it to help you be a

00:29:47.269 --> 00:29:49.730
better beekeeper in the future. Last question

00:29:49.730 --> 00:29:51.990
I have for you. You seem like someone that loves

00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:55.990
bees. I don't love bees. Tell me why. You know,

00:29:57.549 --> 00:30:03.049
I love bees. their democracy. I love Tom Seeley's

00:30:03.049 --> 00:30:05.369
book, Honey Bee Democracy. I love it so much.

00:30:05.869 --> 00:30:09.849
I love the biology. They're endlessly fascinating

00:30:09.849 --> 00:30:12.609
to watch. And then of course, you know, they're

00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:14.849
beautiful, especially when they have pollen pants.

00:30:14.970 --> 00:30:17.970
Pollen's so beautiful. And then we eat because

00:30:17.970 --> 00:30:22.170
of them. Yeah, I love them. And speaking of Tom

00:30:22.170 --> 00:30:24.509
Seeley, he's been on the show a couple of times

00:30:24.509 --> 00:30:28.750
I love that book and I love him. He is just the

00:30:28.750 --> 00:30:32.589
sweetest gentleman Yeah, for those that have

00:30:32.589 --> 00:30:35.210
had a chance to know him. You're you're lucky.

00:30:35.930 --> 00:30:38.269
It's not just his knowledge He's just really

00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:40.809
a good person. Yeah, I've enjoyed getting to

00:30:40.809 --> 00:30:42.349
know him anything else you want to share with

00:30:42.349 --> 00:30:44.970
us before I let you go This is probably just

00:30:44.970 --> 00:30:47.250
a broken record. I would say though. I talked

00:30:47.250 --> 00:30:49.460
about a lot about I mean, I have a lot of failures.

00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:51.660
I could talk about a lot more failures. But I

00:30:51.660 --> 00:30:56.380
have had really good overwintering success. Like

00:30:56.380 --> 00:31:00.640
last year and this year both, I had 100 % survival.

00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.740
I treat for mites. I am on top of the mites.

00:31:04.859 --> 00:31:09.059
And I think that often beekeepers will... Like,

00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:10.980
they don't know that they should go to bee school.

00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:13.799
They see, like, the Flow Hive commercials and

00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:15.740
think, oh, I just put this box in my yard. That's

00:31:15.740 --> 00:31:17.880
all there is to it. And then their bees die and

00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:20.140
they're sad and they find bee school. I don't

00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:22.599
know, my number one piece of advice is just you

00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:24.539
have to treat for mites. I mean, if you're living

00:31:24.539 --> 00:31:28.460
in a place where your bees aren't going to interact

00:31:28.460 --> 00:31:30.960
with other bees and so you think you want to

00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:35.210
sort of get the evolution of... you know, you'll

00:31:35.210 --> 00:31:36.809
have a lot of die off and then they'll be more

00:31:36.809 --> 00:31:38.750
mite resistant. But if you're living in a place

00:31:38.750 --> 00:31:41.589
like Connecticut, it's not just your decision.

00:31:41.950 --> 00:31:43.549
There's everybody else's bees they're going to

00:31:43.549 --> 00:31:47.710
interact with. So treat the mites. So you don't

00:31:47.710 --> 00:31:50.309
do anything special as far as wrapping your hive

00:31:50.309 --> 00:31:53.470
or insulating? I do. Yeah, what else do you do?

00:31:53.930 --> 00:31:57.250
I use, so Bill Hesbeck published a number of

00:31:57.250 --> 00:32:00.549
years ago in American Bee Journal, condensing

00:32:00.549 --> 00:32:05.150
hives. I never have upper ventilation. All year

00:32:05.150 --> 00:32:10.650
round, my inner cover doesn't have a notch. And

00:32:10.650 --> 00:32:13.789
I have a piece of faux insulation and then the

00:32:13.789 --> 00:32:16.470
outer cover. So I have that all year round. In

00:32:16.470 --> 00:32:20.630
the winter, I have that condensing hive that

00:32:20.630 --> 00:32:24.269
Bill Hesbeck published about. Also includes,

00:32:24.609 --> 00:32:29.309
it's like a sleeve. It's a box that's basically

00:32:29.309 --> 00:32:32.680
four sides of insulation that sits. right over

00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:35.740
the hive, and then the outer cover is much bigger

00:32:35.740 --> 00:32:40.339
and insulated. So I have a number of those, but

00:32:40.339 --> 00:32:43.640
I don't have enough for all of them, and really

00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:47.140
I've had the same survival with the sleeve and

00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:50.859
without the sleeve. I put the sleeve on my row

00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:54.140
that doesn't get as much morning sun. There's

00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:55.720
another row that gets more sun, so they're the

00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:58.259
ones that don't get the sleeve. But I think not

00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.299
having ventilation. Bees in a bee tree don't

00:33:01.299 --> 00:33:03.900
make an upper entrance, right? You know, if you

00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:06.079
ask five beekeepers you get six different opinions,

00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.940
but no ventilation on the top ever for me. That

00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:12.559
is such a crazy thing. I've talked to so many

00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:15.480
experts on both sides of the equation on that

00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:20.180
one, so my recommendation is for people try it

00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:22.619
one way, try it another way, see what works for

00:33:22.619 --> 00:33:25.900
you, because what works for you may not work

00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:31.140
for me and And I know, I totally get it, but

00:33:31.140 --> 00:33:34.660
making sure you don't have a bad mite load going

00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:38.259
into fall, that is a universal principle. Yep.

00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.099
Now what you use to take care of that, we're

00:33:41.099 --> 00:33:43.240
not going to tell you what to do. There's a lot

00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:45.599
of different things. And I'm just going to add

00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:50.039
to that. Don't wait till Halloween to say, oh,

00:33:50.460 --> 00:33:53.400
I'm too late. I'm going to test for mites and

00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:55.619
I'll throw a treatment in there if it needs it.

00:33:56.099 --> 00:34:00.470
What did you just say? Too late. Too late. When

00:34:00.470 --> 00:34:02.829
do you need to be on top of them? I mean, all

00:34:02.829 --> 00:34:04.670
year. You need to be on top of them all year.

00:34:04.890 --> 00:34:07.450
But August, that's when you're really starting

00:34:07.450 --> 00:34:10.429
to think about the winter bees. But all year.

00:34:10.849 --> 00:34:13.650
Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure Bill would like to talk

00:34:13.650 --> 00:34:16.690
to you about the condensing hive. Should look

00:34:16.690 --> 00:34:19.170
at his article. I'll talk to Bill. Lauren, you've

00:34:19.170 --> 00:34:21.449
been awesome. Thank you for joining me today.

00:34:21.670 --> 00:34:24.429
And please keep in touch. Thank you so much.

00:34:24.469 --> 00:34:29.829
It was really a pleasure talking with you. Thanks

00:34:29.829 --> 00:34:32.670
again for joining us on Be Love, Be Keeping presented

00:34:32.670 --> 00:34:35.829
by Man Lake. Another big thank you goes to Vita

00:34:35.829 --> 00:34:39.050
B Health for their support. Vita's Varroa Control

00:34:39.050 --> 00:34:42.650
Ranger products includes Epistan, Epigard, and

00:34:42.650 --> 00:34:46.829
now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic Acids Trips.

00:34:47.070 --> 00:34:49.349
Hey thanks a lot guys. And if you haven't yet,

00:34:49.690 --> 00:34:52.010
please subscribe to and follow the show, tell

00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:54.769
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00:34:54.769 --> 00:34:58.469
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00:34:58.469 --> 00:35:01.369
have a guest suggestion, or topic you'd like

00:35:01.369 --> 00:35:04.170
discussed on the show, shoot me an email, eric

00:35:04.170 --> 00:35:07.050
at be love beekeeping dot com. And remember,

00:35:07.150 --> 00:35:09.730
if you're not just in it for the honey or the

00:35:09.730 --> 00:35:12.349
money, you're in it for the love. See you next

00:35:12.349 --> 00:35:12.750
week.