Aug. 28, 2026

San Diego Beekeeping Business - Money Making Tips

San Diego Beekeeping Business - Money Making Tips
San Diego Beekeeping Business - Money Making Tips
Bee Love Beekeeping Podcast
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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$10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

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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.

YouTube VIDEO VERSION

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/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

Hillary Kearney: https://girlnextdoorhoney.com/

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 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

00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:51.639
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

00:11:17.340 --> 00:11:20.779
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

00:11:36.169 --> 00:11:38.830
to have the honey for themselves. So then I go

00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:41.190
there and I just basically manage their bees.

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They're not technically mine. They're just mine

00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:45.330
in spirit, you know, because I'm taking care

00:11:45.330 --> 00:11:49.100
of them. And then I also do a mentorship program.

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So I have like a almost year long program that

00:11:52.059 --> 00:11:54.940
starts in January that's like mostly online.

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It's kind of a hybrid thing where we do 10 online

00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:01.059
classes and then we do like office hours online

00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:04.220
every month. But then if you are local, there's

00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:06.279
an option where you can shadow me pay a little

00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:07.960
bit more and you get to shadow me on everything

00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:10.879
that I do. So I do that. And then I also have

00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:13.700
kids classes. I do kids classes, so I'll go to

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a classroom and teach about bees. And then I

00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:19.919
do bee removals, so I also do the bee rescues.

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And then I also have this whole creative side

00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:24.820
of things where I'm making and selling things.

00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.220
So I have, I have honey and I have beeswax, but

00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:30.720
I make like a minimal amount of candles. I really

00:12:30.990 --> 00:12:34.049
Mostly just hoard the wax to be honest What I

00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:37.049
really like to do is make products for other

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beekeepers to use for teaching So like I have

00:12:40.889 --> 00:12:43.529
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,

00:12:53.169 --> 00:12:55.769
questions you can ask. So it's kind of becomes

00:12:55.769 --> 00:12:58.330
like a framework for how you can do your presentation.

00:12:58.490 --> 00:13:00.750
So like it's really helpful if you are going

00:13:00.750 --> 00:13:02.549
to give a talk and you're kind of lost, like

00:13:02.549 --> 00:13:04.289
how do I organize this? What do I talk about?

00:13:04.330 --> 00:13:06.070
You have these kind of cards that you're holding

00:13:06.070 --> 00:13:08.529
up. It's an image. It's a visual image making

00:13:08.529 --> 00:13:10.730
it nicer for the audience. And then for you,

00:13:10.850 --> 00:13:12.850
it's kind of guiding you. What do I talk about

00:13:12.850 --> 00:13:14.529
here? Oh, yeah. I'm talking about pollination.

00:13:14.649 --> 00:13:16.429
Oh, yeah. Now I'm talking about foraging. Now

00:13:16.429 --> 00:13:19.129
I'm talking about I have a bunch of different

00:13:19.129 --> 00:13:21.149
sets where you can like customize it to your

00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:22.409
audience. So it's like if you're speaking to

00:13:22.409 --> 00:13:24.950
beekeepers versus speaking to kids versus speaking

00:13:24.950 --> 00:13:28.009
to gardeners or whatever. And then I have a bunch

00:13:28.009 --> 00:13:29.850
of other stuff like I've made hive inspection

00:13:29.850 --> 00:13:32.909
notebooks. I have some games that I've made it

00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:36.970
made and some puzzles. I've written three books

00:13:36.970 --> 00:13:40.049
that have been published. And I'm working on

00:13:40.049 --> 00:13:42.590
a fourth book right now. If you go to my shop,

00:13:42.730 --> 00:13:44.509
you'll see all the stuff that I make. I'm always

00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:47.090
making something new, like stickers and magnets

00:13:47.090 --> 00:13:50.909
and stuff. I like to make things. And we'll stick

00:13:50.909 --> 00:13:53.570
a link to your website, girl next door honey

00:13:53.570 --> 00:13:56.710
dot com, right? You've only written three books.

00:13:56.789 --> 00:13:59.889
Oh, my goodness. It's been your spare time, right?

00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:03.789
Yeah, it's impressive. By the way, love your

00:14:03.789 --> 00:14:05.929
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
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00:17:20.299 --> 00:17:24.640
filters bottling supplies uncapping knives supplies

00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:28.420
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

00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:43.420
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00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:49.079
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00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:52.900
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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

00:37:06.059 --> 00:37:10.260
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
the show, tell your friends about it, and click

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