San Diego Beekeeping Business - Money Making Tips
What do Picasso paintings, bee dance-offs, and a swarm living on a greasy crane have in common? They’re all part of the wonderfully weird world of honey bees and beekeeping!
In this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we head to San Diego to meet Hilary Kearney of Girl Next Door Honey, who has turned 16 years of beekeeping experience into a creative, full-time business.
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We also explore the unique challenges of keeping bees in San Diego, where year-round brood means year-round Varroa and some colonies can have seriously spicy personalities.
Add in bee news from Texas and Virginia, and you’ve got an episode packed with fascinating facts, laughs, business inspiration, and plenty of reasons to appreciate the incredible little creatures at the heart of beekeeping.
Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/
Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order.
Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/
https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/
Hillary Kearney: https://girlnextdoorhoney.com/
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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 bee's 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 Bee Love Beekeeping
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presented by our great friends over at Man Lake.
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Today we're having a discussion with a very experienced
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young beekeeper in San Diego. In addition to
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her bee rescues she's found a lot of creative
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ways to make money in her beekeeping business.
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We'll learn all about that and her wild and crazy
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beekeeping experience in the Koala Sanctuary
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of the San Diego Zoo of all places. But first,
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we have bees in the news in Texas. Just four
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months into recovery from a fractured spine,
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a Texas woman was stung more than 300 times by
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Africanized bees, also known as killer bees,
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in an attack at a storage facility. So here's
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what happened. Rachel Kelly McKee and her German
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Shepherd were at their storage unit in Rockport
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And somehow Chelsea the dog provoked a colony
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of bees living in a tree nearby. As we've come
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to know Africanized bees don't look different
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than honeybees and their venom really isn't any
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more harmful. The problem is that instead of
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sending a handful of guard bees after someone
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they send hundreds or even thousands and they're
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all in a bad mood. Rachel received over 300 stings,
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but it really could have been so much worse if
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a sheriff deputy hadn't rolled up on the scene.
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He put her in his car, drove to the local fire
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station, and hosed her down to get all the bees
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off. Without that quick action, the situation
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really could have been much worse, possibly even
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fatal. I can't even imagine taking 300 stings
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at one time. But let's finish up with some good
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news out of Virginia. where residents once again
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this year can apply for free beekeeping equipment
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through the state's Department of Agriculture
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and Consumer Services. Each year approximately
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1 ,000 lucky recipients are granted the equipment
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and just need to assemble the hardware and fill
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it with bees. Nice nice nice Virginia. All right
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let's head to beautiful San Diego for a discussion
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with Hillary from Girl Next Door Honey. I'd like
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to welcome a really special and fun guest today,
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Hilary Kearney, coming to us from Southern California.
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How are you, Hilary? Great. Thanks for having
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me. You sound timid. Are you sure you're great?
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I'm super great. It's very hot in the room that
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I'm in, but I'm alive. I'm fine. I really I'm
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sorry. I'm in Southern California. I know we
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always complain about our perfect weather. But
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for us, this is hot. It's 80. It's 80. Yeah.
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I interviewed somebody yesterday that's in Tucson,
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Arizona. Yeah, I don't even want to. It's like
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110 or something. Yeah, it's over 110 every day.
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Yeah. She wouldn't feel too sorry for you, but
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now I will. How's that? Anyway, we're going to
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be talking all about beekeeping in your area,
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but also about your business, which is what I
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found really interesting. One of the reasons
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I reached out to you. Would you before we jump
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in, just give us one minute on your background.
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Like why in the world did you get into beekeeping
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and is it a full time business for you? Yeah,
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so it is a full -time business for me. I have
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been beekeeping for about 16 years and I started
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the business in 2012. So I've been doing it for
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a while now. I originally, I went to school at
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UC Santa Cruz and I studied fine art and I thought
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I wanted to be an artist or just do something
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kind of creative. But I just kind of stumbled
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into beekeeping and it I just thought it was
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so fascinating. I love that I get to be outside.
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I'm obsessed with like how intelligent the bees
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are of their little behaviors and how there's
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so much still that we don't know how complicated
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they are. And they're always keeping you guessing.
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You're always like learning something new. They're
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really challenging. I love that about them. So
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yeah, I just got sucked into bees and it just
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kind of snowballed from there and became a business.
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I really love it. I'm really lucky. If there's
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somebody listening that's kind of new to beekeeping
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or thinking about getting into it, they're going,
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what do you mean by their unusual behaviors?
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Tell me a couple that are some of your favorites.
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So for example, like when I first picked up a
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beekeeping book, that's when I kind of like my
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mind was blown about. All the little behaviors
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that they do so it's like we think of them as
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insects we know the colony kind of generally
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like you're just a layabout person you know but
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then when i found out that it's actually this
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whole society. That's organized the way that
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they multiple ways of communicating they have
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dance they have pheromones they have vibrations.
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And we don't even understand all of that yet
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you know there's multiple dances always discovering
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new things they teach each other the dances you
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know that they're able to like generationally.
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each other, the way that they're constantly like
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reassessing this ever -changing landscape for
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the best flowers and then rerouting their little
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navigation system to relearn the most efficient
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route to those flowers and it's like, now you
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know, now these ones are the most efficient and
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they're always changing that and learning and
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just, you know, how they organize this 50 ,000
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bees, they organize 50 ,000 bees to like do all
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of these things at once. It just kind of blows
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my mind and then there's all the cool stuff about
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like how research is up train them to do basic
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arithmetic and there was even one study this
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one's kind of my favorite where they trained
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them to recognize different art styles so they
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trained them if you see a Picasso painting versus
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a Monet. If you click the button under the Picasso
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painting, you get a sugar reward. And so the
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bees would always know to go to the Picasso.
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And even if they showed them a Picasso painting
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that they'd never seen before, they could recognize
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the art style and still correctly select that
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one in order to get the sugar water. They have
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that ability because they have to be able to
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recognize different flowers, right? But it's
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still amazing that they can apply it to these
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other things that they otherwise wouldn't. apply
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it to these pattern recognitions and stuff and
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how they can think individually about things
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like that yeah and somehow function as a super
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organism too almost like they have one giant
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collective brain yeah it blows me away yeah that
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is crazy too i always tell my students like we
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have to think of them as individual animals,
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but also as a collective animal. And that's where
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it really stretches our ability to understand
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things because it's so hard that they are both
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things at once. Like that is, that's wild. I
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wish we could somehow have our government work
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the same way. Yeah. You know what I mean? Have
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you read Honey Bee Democracy? Yeah, why can't
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we be like them? Yeah. I want to decide the president
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via dance -offs. Have the candidates do it or
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have people on their committees do it? Yeah,
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either one, I guess. Either one would be, oh
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my gosh. Sorry, I'm picturing these Donald Trump
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videos and him dancing. I'm afraid most people
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wouldn't follow. They not only act as this super
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organism full of thousands of individuals, but
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somehow they can talk each other into making
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a good decision, probably the best decision,
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and then they will all agree. Yeah, they'll just
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go, OK, we've decided we're all leaving home.
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and we're gonna head, I'm talking swarming behavior
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here, and we're just gonna head towards that
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box that little Lisa here told us is really cool
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that's a half a mile away. Yeah, and it's wild
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because since I do a lot of bee removal work,
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I maybe do like 60 to 90 removals slash rescues
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in a year, on a typical year, and so I've seen
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a lot of swarms and Every once in a while you
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can see how that system goes wrong. Like I did
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one earlier this year where they went, they actually
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moved into the base of a crane on a barge in
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the harbor. So it was like on the water, surrounded
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by water. And it was incredibly greasy, so about
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half the swarm was coated in grease from just
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having landed on it. I'm like, who made this
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choice and who voted for this? They went inside,
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so they were definitely staying. They were trying
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to make comb and stuff, and it was a mess getting
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them out. I did get them out, but anyway, they
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lost their queen later, and I think the grease
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messed them up. Okay, so they make decisions
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together, but not always the best decision myself
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there Yeah, okay. Let's talk about your business
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a little bit. Some beekeepers are thinking Hey,
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or you know, especially new beekeepers Oh, I
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just want to make a few extra bucks with my hobby
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or even a sideliner that's saying yeah I've got
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50 hives and I'm gonna make some money selling
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honey and that is really hard to do You've been
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smart and diversified into a bunch of other things.
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Why don't you tell us a little bit about that?
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Yeah, so I do a bunch of different things. I
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do beekeeping classes and mentoring. I do group
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classes where people come to me and do a class
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with me. But then I also do one -on -one mentoring.
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So you can have me come to your house and do
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hive inspections with you and your bees. And
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then I also do management. So sometimes I have
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someone who wants bees, but they don't want to
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do it themselves. They just want to hive on their
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property and they want to own it and they want
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to have the honey for themselves. So then I go
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there and I just basically manage their bees.
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They're not technically mine. They're just mine
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in spirit, you know, because I'm taking care
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of them. And then I also do a mentorship program.
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So I have like a almost year long program that
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starts in January that's like mostly online.
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It's kind of a hybrid thing where we do 10 online
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classes and then we do like office hours online
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every month. But then if you are local, there's
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an option where you can shadow me pay a little
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bit more and you get to shadow me on everything
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that I do. So I do that. And then I also have
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kids classes. I do kids classes, so I'll go to
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a classroom and teach about bees. And then I
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do bee removals, so I also do the bee rescues.
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And then I also have this whole creative side
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of things where I'm making and selling things.
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So I have, I have honey and I have beeswax, but
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I make like a minimal amount of candles. I really
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Mostly just hoard the wax to be honest What I
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really like to do is make products for other
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beekeepers to use for teaching So like I have
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all these poster sets. I really like to take
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pictures So I'm always photographing bees and
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I have these poster sets where it's like a image
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and then on the back It has like talking points,
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questions you can ask. So it's kind of becomes
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like a framework for how you can do your presentation.
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So like it's really helpful if you are going
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to give a talk and you're kind of lost, like
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how do I organize this? What do I talk about?
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You have these kind of cards that you're holding
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up. It's an image. It's a visual image making
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it nicer for the audience. And then for you,
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it's kind of guiding you. What do I talk about
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here? Oh, yeah. I'm talking about pollination.
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Oh, yeah. Now I'm talking about foraging. Now
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I'm talking about I have a bunch of different
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sets where you can like customize it to your
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audience. So it's like if you're speaking to
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beekeepers versus speaking to kids versus speaking
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to gardeners or whatever. And then I have a bunch
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of other stuff like I've made hive inspection
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notebooks. I have some games that I've made it
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made and some puzzles. I've written three books
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that have been published. And I'm working on
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a fourth book right now. If you go to my shop,
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you'll see all the stuff that I make. I'm always
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making something new, like stickers and magnets
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and stuff. I like to make things. And we'll stick
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a link to your website, girl next door honey
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dot com, right? You've only written three books.
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Oh, my goodness. It's been your spare time, right?
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Yeah, it's impressive. By the way, love your
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logo. I'm looking at a picture of one of your
00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:08.580
honey bottles right now, Charles. Oh yeah, I
00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:11.659
have one right in front of me. We're zooming
00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:14.779
in. Pretend we're zooming in right now. Can I
00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:16.600
throw out a couple of other things? Because I
00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.500
knew you wouldn't remember everything you do.
00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.179
So tell me if you still do this stuff. Honey
00:14:21.179 --> 00:14:24.779
tasting experiences? Yeah, I was trying to get
00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:29.039
that to be like a regular thing. But it kind
00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.720
of got hard to fill and it's a lot of work to
00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:34.360
do It's like a lot of work to set it up and break
00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.940
it down So now I kind of have it up there. Like
00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:39.340
if you want to hire me for a private one, I'll
00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:41.179
do it You know, I have all the stuff and I can
00:14:41.179 --> 00:14:44.100
do it and it is really fun I was doing them as
00:14:44.100 --> 00:14:47.120
like public experiences for a little while But
00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.340
I kind of backed off that just because it's it's
00:14:49.340 --> 00:14:52.320
a lot. But yeah, I forgot I do beehive tours
00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.240
Okay, tell me about the beehive tours So bee
00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:58.700
hive tours are for non -beekeepers or maybe bee
00:14:58.700 --> 00:15:03.600
curious people who want to just experience bees
00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:07.059
like in a hands -on way. And so I take a group
00:15:07.059 --> 00:15:09.700
of maybe 10, 12 people, I suit them up and I
00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:12.559
bring them into the apiary and we open hives
00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.340
together. I teach them about bees like as we're
00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:18.059
opening hives and then we end with like a really
00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:21.279
informal honey tasting just like We taste a couple
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.120
of jars of honey and I just talk about honey
00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.279
a little bit at the end. So yeah, that's another
00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.379
thing that I do every month. I think it's a great
00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:30.740
idea. I know I visit Hawaii often and there's
00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:32.820
some people over there, some beekeepers that
00:15:32.820 --> 00:15:35.759
have started these. You know, we call them agritourism,
00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:39.019
but they've started doing these. I mean, people
00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:42.100
visiting want all kinds of experiences. And for
00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:45.539
some people, they want a nature kind of experience
00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:47.919
like this and they're willing to pay for it.
00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:50.809
Cool. Go do it. That is a great thing to add
00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:53.470
if you have the skills, you know, you have to
00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:56.850
be comfortable speaking kind of on the fly answering
00:15:56.850 --> 00:16:00.029
questions and it's a multitasking thing because
00:16:00.029 --> 00:16:02.590
you're actually having to open your hives while
00:16:02.590 --> 00:16:05.110
speaking to everyone and teaching. I can see
00:16:05.110 --> 00:16:07.309
how it would be hard. I've tried to train up
00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:09.970
some other people to do it for me and it's like
00:16:09.970 --> 00:16:13.029
it's hard to find the right person who can do
00:16:13.029 --> 00:16:15.870
a hive inspection and kind of riff about it at
00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:19.080
the same time. I think like people always want
00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.519
to ask me like how do you you know turn this
00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:25.179
into a business and I think the best thing to
00:16:25.179 --> 00:16:28.679
do is look at yourself what are you good at and
00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:32.100
what do you enjoy in the beekeeping experience
00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.080
of the things that you do right so it's like
00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:35.600
yes you want to look at the need you want to
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.440
look at what's popular it's good to look at what
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.659
other people's are doing but if you're not good
00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:43.019
at that kind of thing and you don't like it You
00:16:43.019 --> 00:16:45.620
don't like speaking in front of people then there's
00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:47.879
other things you could do like I met a guy All
00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:50.720
he did was make beeswax things. He just made
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.759
beeswax candles He had a whole business just
00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.059
doing beeswax stuff. You could just zoom in on
00:16:55.059 --> 00:16:58.100
one thing and just only do that Quick break to
00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:01.240
discuss what just might be on your mind Right
00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:04.539
now come on admit it. You're imagining the upcoming
00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:07.339
honey harvest Because no matter where you live
00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:09.880
in the world It's either here now or it will
00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:13.019
be in the near future and Man Lake is making
00:17:13.019 --> 00:17:16.500
it so easy to plan for Click on over to Man Lake's
00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:20.299
website for an amazing selection of extractors
00:17:20.299 --> 00:17:24.640
filters bottling supplies uncapping knives supplies
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for a comb honey everything and I mean everything
00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:31.359
you'll need. But if you aren't there quite yet
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:33.579
and the honey flows right around the corner,
00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:37.259
make sure you have extra supers on hand. You
00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:40.619
never can have too many or be too prepared. And
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right now Man Lake is offering podcast listeners
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at checkout. That's manlakeltd .com. Discount
00:17:52.900 --> 00:17:57.369
code MLBLove10. I think it is good to have some
00:17:57.369 --> 00:17:59.470
like diversity like if you were going to do a
00:17:59.470 --> 00:18:02.329
beeswax business to also maybe do small workshops
00:18:02.329 --> 00:18:04.529
teaching people how to make candles or something
00:18:04.529 --> 00:18:07.230
like that but you can really focus in on all
00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:09.690
these different parts of beekeeping and diversify
00:18:09.690 --> 00:18:12.470
just that one subject you know what I mean? So
00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:15.589
I think when people look at my business it is
00:18:15.589 --> 00:18:17.950
all these it is kind of crazy like whenever I
00:18:17.950 --> 00:18:21.480
speak with a advisor Basic business advisor type
00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:23.480
person. They're always like you need to eliminate
00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:26.299
some of these branches of the things that you're
00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:28.700
doing You're doing too much. You're young you
00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:33.079
have energy you can do If you want to do all
00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.960
that stuff to all that stuff Yeah, and some of
00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.180
us are just love beekeeping and we're not in
00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:41.559
it to make a business out of it. I already have
00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:44.900
a business, but yeah, I didn't mean to discourage
00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:47.099
people from honey. It is a tough way to make
00:18:47.099 --> 00:18:50.140
a living, but you can make a living at it. There's
00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:53.259
a lot of things with honey that you can do to
00:18:53.259 --> 00:18:58.180
make a living at it or beeswax or artwork and
00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:02.019
photography or these tours. I was going to throw
00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:04.990
in one of the things about the tours. is also
00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:07.930
you would have to have bee suits for everybody
00:19:07.930 --> 00:19:11.069
they would have to be clean it's not an easy
00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:14.009
thing to just jump into yeah it's a big upfront
00:19:14.009 --> 00:19:16.509
investment to have all those bee suits and and
00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:18.569
then you probably have to have insurance and
00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:21.069
you want to have like an epi pen in case anything
00:19:21.069 --> 00:19:23.549
happens someone gets stung accidentally or whatever
00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:27.269
we just had an episode about a month ago every
00:19:27.269 --> 00:19:30.619
beekeeper even if you're not doing tours in my
00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:34.140
opinion, needs an EpiPen or a Nephi. Same thing.
00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:36.940
And just have it. It's just smart. It is. It's
00:19:36.940 --> 00:19:39.819
just good to have in case. Yeah. You never know.
00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:42.960
All right. Let's talk about beautiful San Diego
00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.720
bees. I imagine they're all just such even tempered
00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.359
because they're in such a wonderful place and
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.680
they never get varroa or diseases or anything
00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:56.759
else. What are the tough parts? Oh my gosh. Well,
00:19:57.099 --> 00:20:00.980
so everywhere else you guys get a break. and
00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:03.819
you aren't beekeeping during the winter. And
00:20:03.819 --> 00:20:06.680
because we have to beekeep all year, we have
00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:09.420
brood all year, which means we have varroa all
00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:12.079
year. So like we, that's an all year problem.
00:20:12.500 --> 00:20:16.259
I would say an equally big problem is the defensive
00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:19.359
genes that we have here. So we just, we have
00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.700
these genes that have mixed in that are more
00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:25.359
defensive, the African bees, right? And now,
00:20:25.549 --> 00:20:28.490
we have these hybrids. Some of them are okay,
00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:30.950
some of them are pretty docile and some of them
00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:33.750
are in the middle and some of them are just berserk.
00:20:33.970 --> 00:20:37.049
When you catch a swarm or if your colony requeens
00:20:37.049 --> 00:20:39.670
itself or if your colony swarms and makes a new
00:20:39.670 --> 00:20:42.730
queen, every time that happens you have the potential
00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:45.549
that your colony's temperament is going to change.
00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:49.170
And so that is a big concern in this area, especially
00:20:49.170 --> 00:20:51.549
if you're in a backyard setting, you really have
00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:54.329
to be careful monitoring the temperament of your
00:20:54.329 --> 00:20:57.220
bees. of times what I see happen is that somebody
00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:00.299
wants to get into beekeeping, they start out
00:21:00.299 --> 00:21:02.900
with a hive, they may even purchase like a nuc
00:21:02.900 --> 00:21:05.599
from someone that's really docile and nice, but
00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.680
then they kind of stop managing it and they end
00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.700
up just leaving it alone. And because these bees,
00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:14.170
these genetics are so strong. and they can actually
00:21:14.170 --> 00:21:17.309
survive without Varroa treatment. So these these
00:21:17.309 --> 00:21:20.269
feral bees that we have are like incredibly resilient
00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:23.349
and they just don't get like a lot of the viruses
00:21:23.349 --> 00:21:27.549
that people see like EFB. I never see EFB. The
00:21:27.549 --> 00:21:29.910
only thing I ever see is sometimes a little bit
00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:32.609
of sac brood and that's about it. So a lot of
00:21:32.609 --> 00:21:34.549
the diseases that people are seeing we don't
00:21:34.549 --> 00:21:37.509
have, we don't see it. These feral bees are just
00:21:37.509 --> 00:21:40.089
really really strong and so you these beginners
00:21:40.089 --> 00:21:42.009
get a hive, they set it up, they go, oh, the
00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:43.650
bees are so nice, they do it for a little while,
00:21:43.809 --> 00:21:45.809
then they just stop doing it. And then they end
00:21:45.809 --> 00:21:47.390
up with this hive that's just been sitting on
00:21:47.390 --> 00:21:49.549
their property for like five years, completely
00:21:49.549 --> 00:21:52.009
unmanaged, but it's still thriving, you know,
00:21:52.089 --> 00:21:53.910
it's probably, and now it's huge and it's crowded
00:21:53.910 --> 00:21:56.670
and it's full propolis. And then they try to
00:21:56.670 --> 00:21:58.750
go in there and they're like, hey, let's just
00:21:58.750 --> 00:22:01.529
see if there's any honey. And they are just like,
00:22:01.650 --> 00:22:03.430
hey, they go in there and they try to harvest
00:22:03.430 --> 00:22:07.309
honey. And the bees are just... Berserk, because
00:22:07.309 --> 00:22:10.109
this is like somebody who's not very skillful,
00:22:10.109 --> 00:22:12.869
handling them roughly, the propolis makes it
00:22:12.869 --> 00:22:15.190
hard, they're crowded, and they're spicy bees.
00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:17.569
Then the bees go crazy, they sting the neighbors,
00:22:17.690 --> 00:22:20.109
they attack the dog, they kill all your chickens,
00:22:20.349 --> 00:22:22.650
and things like this can happen really easily.
00:22:22.849 --> 00:22:27.009
And so that's a reality of keeping bees here
00:22:27.009 --> 00:22:30.150
that I see fairly often. That's one of the reasons
00:22:30.150 --> 00:22:32.329
why I teach classes and do so much mentoring
00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:35.230
with people and really hammer in like, you cannot.
00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:38.079
set up a beehive like it's a bird house. Really,
00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.519
you can't do that here. You have to actually
00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:43.119
check on them and monitor them. Yeah. Even though
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:45.720
you're not worried about winter die -off, you
00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:48.440
have to think about other things. And that makes
00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:50.980
sense that that's where your management program
00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:53.990
would come from. Yeah, it's great that we can
00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:55.970
bee keep all year that we don't have to be worried
00:22:55.970 --> 00:22:58.410
about this winter that's gonna come and our bees
00:22:58.410 --> 00:23:01.869
gonna make it, but we still do lose bees over
00:23:01.869 --> 00:23:05.490
winter. They do slow down. They stop building
00:23:05.490 --> 00:23:08.470
comb in the fall and even if you were feeding
00:23:08.470 --> 00:23:10.329
them sugar water, they just don't really wanna
00:23:10.329 --> 00:23:14.650
build comb. They go into their kind of off mode.
00:23:14.990 --> 00:23:16.470
They're still doing things and they still have
00:23:16.470 --> 00:23:18.529
a brood nest and they're still foraging, but
00:23:18.529 --> 00:23:21.589
it's not like. there's like a growth period and
00:23:21.589 --> 00:23:23.470
then there's like a shrinking and then like a
00:23:23.470 --> 00:23:26.509
hold period. So even though we don't have winter,
00:23:26.529 --> 00:23:30.170
we still have this kind of off season. But sometimes,
00:23:30.430 --> 00:23:32.849
especially with the feral colonies that are really
00:23:32.849 --> 00:23:36.269
strong, they will just sometimes they make swarms
00:23:36.269 --> 00:23:40.759
all year. And so it really depends on. How much
00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.720
rainfall we got that year, how big the hive is,
00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.420
how strong they are, and their genetics. So some
00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:48.779
colonies are just genetically want to swarm more
00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:50.660
than others. And we'll see them try to swarm.
00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:53.380
We're having to do year round like swarm suppression
00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:56.779
stuff. So that's, that's annoying as well. And
00:23:56.779 --> 00:23:59.220
what kinds of things do you do for swarm suppression?
00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:03.599
So for me, I don't like having to make splits
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:06.519
all the time because I can't just have more and
00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:08.839
more and more bees, especially because I'm doing
00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:11.839
so many rescues. My problem is usually that I
00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:14.720
have too many bees and so one of the things I
00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:18.210
do is I adopt. bees out to my students so like
00:24:18.210 --> 00:24:20.569
if I do a rescue I'll have them for a little
00:24:20.569 --> 00:24:22.609
while kind of get them on their feet and then
00:24:22.609 --> 00:24:25.069
I'll have one of my students adopt them so it's
00:24:25.069 --> 00:24:26.789
kind of like I'm still taking care of them in
00:24:26.789 --> 00:24:29.630
a way because I'm guiding that student but they're
00:24:29.630 --> 00:24:32.150
responsible for them they become theirs. Yeah
00:24:32.150 --> 00:24:35.569
so for swarms I do but I call it interrupting
00:24:35.569 --> 00:24:38.690
the brood which is that I essentially I will
00:24:38.690 --> 00:24:41.750
take two to three frames of brood out of the
00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:45.750
brood nest and move them up. And I use all the
00:24:45.750 --> 00:24:48.329
same size box. I use all mediums so that I can
00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:51.730
do this. And so I'll take three frames of brood.
00:24:52.049 --> 00:24:54.069
Maybe I'll just take one. Like it might be one
00:24:54.069 --> 00:24:56.009
or it might be three depending on how intensely
00:24:56.009 --> 00:24:58.170
they're trying to swarm. So as soon as I start
00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:00.910
to see them get crowded and or I see swarm cups,
00:25:01.390 --> 00:25:04.539
I'll move two to three frames upstairs. above
00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:07.920
the queen excluder and then I put empties in
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.140
the brood nest and I'll like space them so that
00:25:10.140 --> 00:25:12.500
it's like two frames of brood empty two frames
00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:16.420
of brood empty and that I find it distracts them
00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:18.440
I think that's my theory it's like then they're
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:20.279
like they don't like having holes in the brood
00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.740
nest they don't like having these gaps so the
00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:24.660
first thing they want to do is build comb there
00:25:24.660 --> 00:25:28.240
and so then all these bees fill up those spaces
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:30.480
with their bodies they're all festooning so it
00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:34.500
takes bees off the combs and makes it feel less
00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:37.200
congested, I think. And it allows the queen's
00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:39.539
pheromone to spread around more. And then it
00:25:39.539 --> 00:25:41.180
gives them something to do because they want
00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:43.079
to fill those gaps. So then they start building.
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.539
So it usually works. Usually like it's kind of
00:25:45.539 --> 00:25:48.220
like a delay tactic, but I just do it over and
00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:50.940
over again. So like when I'm in there, as soon
00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:52.460
as they look crowded, I'll just move them up
00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.119
again. Tell me one of the craziest beekeeping
00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:59.680
experiences you've ever had. So I keep bees at
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:03.460
the San Diego Zoo and I've been working with
00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:06.680
them for a long time like as a contractor kind
00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:09.440
of so I go every two weeks right now and manage
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:12.160
the hives that they have on display there, but
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:14.940
also sometimes they call me they have a lot of
00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:18.599
wild colonies that just move into the zoo and
00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:22.099
try to take up space places. So there's always,
00:26:22.099 --> 00:26:24.799
always removals. They always preferred, you know,
00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:27.079
to do live removal. So they call me out to try
00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:30.740
to, can we save these bees somehow? And one time
00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:33.359
they called me out and I was actually at the
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:36.900
zoo already with my family. And they were like,
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:41.200
hey, there's a swarm in the koala exhibit. And
00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.240
I was like, hang on, I have my bee stuff in the
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.579
car. So I ran out to the parking lot of the zoo
00:26:47.579 --> 00:26:50.640
and I was like, let's get the swarm. And so I
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:54.200
got to go into the koala exhibit. to try to catch
00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:57.400
this swarm, but actually all went wrong. I caught
00:26:57.400 --> 00:26:59.619
them. I got them in the box. I didn't have a
00:26:59.619 --> 00:27:01.140
vacuum with me. So I was like, I'll just put
00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:03.240
them in a nuke box and we'll just take them away,
00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:05.420
you know, and most of them will be gone. So I
00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:07.259
put them in the nuke box, but they didn't stay.
00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.160
They immediately absconded from the nuke box
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.799
and they started roving around the koala exhibit.
00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:15.819
And if you've ever been to the San Diego Zoo,
00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:18.279
it's like this two tier kind of thing. And there's
00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:21.869
this big balcony where all the people are. And
00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:25.369
this big swarm started going over towards all
00:27:25.369 --> 00:27:27.549
the guests that were standing on the balcony.
00:27:28.330 --> 00:27:30.849
just roving all, they wouldn't settle down, they
00:27:30.849 --> 00:27:33.890
were roving all around the koala exhibit for
00:27:33.890 --> 00:27:36.609
like 45 minutes. And I couldn't figure out what
00:27:36.609 --> 00:27:39.309
was happening because they weren't acting like
00:27:39.309 --> 00:27:41.490
a normal swarm, they were acting really weird,
00:27:41.609 --> 00:27:44.390
they were really agitated, and they were just
00:27:44.390 --> 00:27:47.650
like unsettled. And then somebody called me and
00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:50.430
said, hey, there's another swarm on the other
00:27:50.430 --> 00:27:53.900
side of the building. And so then on the other
00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:56.359
side around the corner from this building there
00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:59.119
was another swarm. And so I think actually what
00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:00.859
happened was that the swarms are getting tangled
00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:03.579
up together. Like they had both started flying
00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:06.339
around the same area. And I don't think they
00:28:06.339 --> 00:28:09.200
were related swarms because they were balling
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:12.700
their queens. So the other swarm had like three
00:28:12.700 --> 00:28:15.200
or four queens in it. They were all being balled
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:17.799
and they were dropping out of the bottom of the
00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:20.170
swarm. And I just like couldn't get any either
00:28:20.170 --> 00:28:22.250
of them to settle down because I think they were
00:28:22.250 --> 00:28:25.089
all fighting with each other and like all mixed
00:28:25.089 --> 00:28:28.009
up. You know, that's my theory. But anyway, then
00:28:28.009 --> 00:28:31.589
after that, they banned me from doing I'm doing
00:28:31.589 --> 00:28:35.890
rescues during guest hours. So now I'm not allowed
00:28:35.890 --> 00:28:40.490
to do more. I'm just trying to talk them back
00:28:40.490 --> 00:28:41.910
into letting me, because I'm like, hey, I have
00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:44.490
a bee vacuum. It'll be different this time, I
00:28:44.490 --> 00:28:47.190
promise. Because if I had just vacuumed them,
00:28:47.289 --> 00:28:50.369
it would have been okay, I think. But anyway,
00:28:50.890 --> 00:28:54.039
so that's my crazy bee story. That's hilarious
00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:57.220
because the one time that you are on display
00:28:57.220 --> 00:29:00.420
and you can really show off your amazing beekeeping
00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:04.799
skills and the bees don't cooperate and love
00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:07.019
their little hearts. Oh, that's funny. Ain't
00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:10.299
that always the way? Yeah. Two more things. One,
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.380
I want to hear, what do you love about the bees
00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:15.519
the most? And you gave us some of this upfront,
00:29:15.779 --> 00:29:18.529
but what keeps you coming back to the bees? I
00:29:18.529 --> 00:29:22.210
do really love problem solving with them. I love
00:29:22.210 --> 00:29:27.369
that it's this ancient thing that humans have
00:29:27.369 --> 00:29:30.829
done with bees for like at least 9 ,000 years,
00:29:30.990 --> 00:29:33.069
right? That's the earliest evidence we have that
00:29:33.069 --> 00:29:35.890
it's this really old connection that we have.
00:29:36.529 --> 00:29:39.289
And what I was thinking about recently is we
00:29:39.289 --> 00:29:42.609
think of it as humans are keeping the bees, right?
00:29:42.690 --> 00:29:46.759
We're the beekeepers, but They may have chosen
00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:51.019
us in a way they're keeping us. They choose to
00:29:51.019 --> 00:29:53.980
be with us. We put them in a hive box and they
00:29:53.980 --> 00:29:56.200
can leave if they want to. They're not trapped
00:29:56.200 --> 00:29:58.720
in there. they choose to stay, you know what
00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:01.819
I mean? So like, how did we first start keeping
00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:04.799
bees? There's all these pots and pottery that
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.359
we found ancient pottery with imprints of wax
00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:10.740
on the inside. And were those pots actually made
00:30:10.740 --> 00:30:13.119
for keeping bees? Or did somebody just leave
00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:16.220
pots out and one day bees moved into them? you
00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:18.960
know, like an overturned pot. I see that a lot
00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:21.500
here. A gardener will have an overturned pot
00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:23.579
in their garden and bees will just move into
00:30:23.579 --> 00:30:27.059
it. And so I wonder who really had this idea
00:30:27.059 --> 00:30:29.519
first? Was it the bees or was it us? Did they
00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:31.960
move into our stuff or did we capture them and
00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:34.440
put them in it? And we'll never know, but I think
00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:37.039
it's really interesting. I really love that tangled
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.309
up. collab between us and the bees and that it's
00:30:40.309 --> 00:30:43.490
so old and that it's Continuing on and that we're
00:30:43.490 --> 00:30:46.589
always learning and tweaking and adjusting Just
00:30:46.589 --> 00:30:49.369
the way the bees have to to survive together
00:30:49.369 --> 00:30:51.369
and make things work. I really love that about
00:30:51.369 --> 00:30:54.589
beekeeping Topic for your next book. That's it
00:30:54.589 --> 00:30:57.059
right there Maybe I'll tell you what I'm working
00:30:57.059 --> 00:30:58.980
on right now. I'm really excited about this.
00:30:58.980 --> 00:31:01.660
I think it's going to be so good. It's a visual
00:31:01.660 --> 00:31:05.539
guide to doing a hive inspection. So a lot of
00:31:05.539 --> 00:31:08.400
books have pictures of how to do hive inspections,
00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:10.519
but the pictures are really limited. And then
00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:13.619
there's a lot of text, right? But a lot of what
00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:15.920
beekeeping is, is just doing hive inspections.
00:31:16.180 --> 00:31:19.700
And a lot of that is visual, just looking, looking
00:31:19.700 --> 00:31:22.160
at the comb, having to be able to read that comb.
00:31:22.490 --> 00:31:25.369
See what this is what does this mean you know
00:31:25.369 --> 00:31:28.230
identifying what's there and noticing the things
00:31:28.230 --> 00:31:31.150
it's like deciphering like a message from the
00:31:31.150 --> 00:31:33.789
bees a visual message in a lot of ways this book
00:31:33.789 --> 00:31:36.890
is going to be like a visual guide to doing a
00:31:36.890 --> 00:31:39.049
hive inspection and the whole point is to show.
00:31:39.339 --> 00:31:41.599
all the different ways that things can look.
00:31:41.779 --> 00:31:43.940
So sometimes brood is very dark, sometimes it's
00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:46.440
very light, but when you have a how -to beekeeping
00:31:46.440 --> 00:31:49.259
book they just pick the prettiest pictures, right?
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:52.000
So if you look at those books the honey is always
00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:54.640
golden yellow and the bright white newly made
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:57.220
comb and then real beekeepers get into their
00:31:57.220 --> 00:32:00.039
hives they're like why is this comb black? You
00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:02.809
know, why is there so much dark propolis all
00:32:02.809 --> 00:32:05.369
over these frames and things like that. And so
00:32:05.369 --> 00:32:07.309
the idea is to kind of show how are all the different
00:32:07.309 --> 00:32:09.609
ways that it can actually look. The chapters
00:32:09.609 --> 00:32:13.569
are broken up like eggs, brood, pollen, honey,
00:32:13.569 --> 00:32:15.730
and then it shows you all the pictures and it
00:32:15.730 --> 00:32:17.750
kind of tells you what you need to know about
00:32:17.750 --> 00:32:20.049
what you're looking at and what it means when
00:32:20.049 --> 00:32:22.089
you're doing a hive inspection. So I'm working
00:32:22.089 --> 00:32:24.089
on that right now. I'm like three quarters of
00:32:24.089 --> 00:32:26.529
the way done right now. I'll take one when you're
00:32:26.529 --> 00:32:30.190
done. I just saw some research that came out
00:32:30.190 --> 00:32:34.309
about demographics of beekeepers. And I don't
00:32:34.309 --> 00:32:37.349
know if you saw it, but you don't fit the mold.
00:32:37.609 --> 00:32:40.720
Yeah. Beekeepers in general are old guys like
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:45.240
me, and it is great to see young women and other
00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:48.299
young people and diversifying the whole thing,
00:32:48.359 --> 00:32:51.740
I think is fantastic. As a younger beekeeper,
00:32:51.779 --> 00:32:54.940
but with a lot of experience, leave us with a
00:32:54.940 --> 00:32:58.160
good piece of wisdom here for any beekeepers,
00:32:58.339 --> 00:32:59.940
whether they're brand new or they've been doing
00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:04.839
it for a while. I always say just look at your
00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:08.240
bees and not the calendar. We're living in a
00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:11.480
time when things are changing a lot, the climates
00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:13.660
might be changing, the seasons are different,
00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:16.460
things are kind of unpredictable. Learn to look
00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:19.440
at your bees instead of the calendar. If your
00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:22.640
bees are acting like it's spring, then it's spring.
00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:25.200
Treat them like it's spring. So, but then, you
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:27.400
know, you do have to, I guess you do have to
00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:30.160
look at the calendar too, but I think it's helpful
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:33.140
to, I feel like I messed this up. I need to come
00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:34.900
up with another one. This one's too complicated.
00:33:35.259 --> 00:33:37.819
I'm just agreeing with myself live right now.
00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:40.779
That's actually a really good one but we do have
00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:42.960
to make exceptions like everything in beekeeping.
00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:44.960
Yeah there's always exceptions. I mean like this
00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:48.160
year I live in the mountains we have serious
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:51.920
winters here but we had this really early spring.
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:57.299
Yeah. So February and early March everything's
00:33:57.299 --> 00:34:00.299
warming up and trees are starting to bloom and
00:34:00.299 --> 00:34:03.599
daffodils are popping up and bees are going cool
00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:06.319
it's spring but we knew there was still going
00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:09.480
to be cold weather like the trees messed up we
00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.539
have no fruit this year at all because they started
00:34:12.539 --> 00:34:15.840
blooming then it all got down to 20 degrees for
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:18.920
a few nights and it all froze and i wasn't really
00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:21.380
sure what to do with the bees because here they
00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:24.920
thought it was spring we knew it wasn't i know
00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:27.869
one thing If I wanted them to start building
00:34:27.869 --> 00:34:30.969
up a bunch of brood as if it were spring, I'd
00:34:30.969 --> 00:34:33.010
be feeding them pollen if they didn't have enough
00:34:33.010 --> 00:34:36.590
natural resources for it. I didn't do that because
00:34:36.590 --> 00:34:39.309
I didn't want them to be building up too soon.
00:34:39.670 --> 00:34:42.469
I mean, you're absolutely right. They know the
00:34:42.469 --> 00:34:44.590
season and they're looking for a little of our
00:34:44.590 --> 00:34:47.369
wisdom now and then too. Yeah, I guess what I'm
00:34:47.369 --> 00:34:50.690
saying is the more that you understand about
00:34:50.690 --> 00:34:53.309
your bees and how they live without a beekeeper,
00:34:54.050 --> 00:34:57.159
the better beekeeper you can be. That's what
00:34:57.159 --> 00:35:00.619
I think. Good point. And it's not that our knowledge
00:35:00.619 --> 00:35:03.800
is going to make them more successful. It's more
00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:07.019
like with our knowledge we can stay out of their
00:35:07.019 --> 00:35:09.579
way when we need to. Yeah. That's what this spring
00:35:09.579 --> 00:35:12.199
was all about for me. It's just stay out of their
00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:14.820
way. Don't pretend like it's spring with them.
00:35:15.050 --> 00:35:17.610
And I think, you know, looking at the way that
00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:21.530
they survive in nature and altering some of our
00:35:21.530 --> 00:35:25.010
practices to be more like what they do, like
00:35:25.010 --> 00:35:27.849
some of the research that's come out about insulated
00:35:27.849 --> 00:35:31.190
nests, how when they're inside of a tree, it's
00:35:31.190 --> 00:35:34.289
very insulated. And some people are even saying
00:35:34.289 --> 00:35:37.130
that they might not even form a winter cluster
00:35:37.130 --> 00:35:40.329
in those situations. And so I think that's really
00:35:40.329 --> 00:35:42.769
interesting to start looking at that and go,
00:35:43.369 --> 00:35:46.409
should we have better insulated hives? Like what
00:35:46.409 --> 00:35:49.610
would that do? And asking those questions and
00:35:49.610 --> 00:35:52.750
looking at the bee behavior really. I'll vote
00:35:52.750 --> 00:35:55.429
yes on that one. I've tried some of them, including
00:35:55.429 --> 00:35:58.550
the primal hive and really like them. Right and
00:35:58.550 --> 00:36:02.929
I even me in this climate that's extremely mild
00:36:02.929 --> 00:36:05.809
I mean most of the time or within 10 degrees
00:36:05.809 --> 00:36:09.090
of 70 so like in the winter It's like maybe the
00:36:09.090 --> 00:36:11.409
high 50s is about as cold as it usually gets
00:36:11.409 --> 00:36:13.449
every once in a while We have a little colder
00:36:13.449 --> 00:36:16.449
spell, but it doesn't get very cold here and
00:36:16.449 --> 00:36:18.829
then in the even in the summer It's rarely up
00:36:18.829 --> 00:36:21.769
in the hundreds. It's almost 90s is like we're
00:36:21.769 --> 00:36:24.269
That would be really hot for us. It only happens
00:36:24.269 --> 00:36:26.429
a couple of weeks out of the year for most of
00:36:26.429 --> 00:36:29.849
the coastal part of the city. I've been experimenting
00:36:29.849 --> 00:36:33.369
with poly hives and I saw a huge difference with
00:36:33.369 --> 00:36:36.730
my temp sensors, like a 10 degree jump in temperature.
00:36:36.869 --> 00:36:39.989
And then it flattened out instead of being mirroring
00:36:39.989 --> 00:36:42.530
the outside temperature. So it does seem to make
00:36:42.530 --> 00:36:45.309
a big difference. All right, Hillary, thank you
00:36:45.309 --> 00:36:47.550
so much for being with me today. Grill next door,
00:36:47.590 --> 00:36:50.289
honey. Appreciate your time. It's been fun. Thanks
00:36:50.289 --> 00:36:56.480
for having me. Thanks again for joining us on
00:36:56.480 --> 00:36:59.760
Be Love, Be Keeping presented by Manlike. Another
00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:02.500
big thank you goes to V2B Health for their support.
00:37:03.159 --> 00:37:06.059
Vita's Varroa Control Ranger products includes
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Epistan, Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release
00:37:10.260 --> 00:37:13.860
Oxalic Acid Strips. Hey, thanks a lot guys. And
00:37:13.860 --> 00:37:16.440
if you haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow
00:37:16.440 --> 00:37:18.699
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00:37:18.699 --> 00:37:22.000
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00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:25.159
our free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion,
00:37:25.469 --> 00:37:28.289
or topic you'd like discussed on the show shoot
00:37:28.289 --> 00:37:31.829
me an email eric at be love beekeeping .com and
00:37:31.829 --> 00:37:34.369
remember if you're not just in it for the honey
00:37:34.369 --> 00:37:37.510
or the money you're in it for the love see you
00:37:37.510 --> 00:37:38.150
next week