The Future of Beekeeping

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 Be Love, Be Keep

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being presented by our great friends over at

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Man Lake. Today we're going to be discussing

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what the future of beekeeping just might look

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like. Have you ever pictured robotic arms tending

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hives? Optical recognition sensors inspecting

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individual frames, cells, and brood? How about

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generative AI and other high -tech tools evaluating

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the health of your bees and offering advice for

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the beekeeper? Cleared back in 1851, Lorenzo

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Langstroth revolutionized beekeeping by introducing

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the concept of movable frames and bee space.

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This made it easier and more efficient to inspect

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hives, control swarming, and harvest honey. In

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the last 200 years there have been oh some small

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modifications to his original design, but really

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the basic concept of the Langstroth hive has

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struggled to have any major advances. Of course

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there are some different hive designs, the top

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bar, waray, flow, skep, az, long laying, dartington,

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layens, etc. In the U .S. it's believed that

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approximately 80 % or more of total hives are

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still the basic Langstroth design. Today we're

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going to have a conversation with Elia Radziner,

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one of the founders and developers of BeeWise,

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a company working with robots, AI, and other

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tech to revolutionize beekeeping. As always,

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if you have feedback on what you think about

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this or other new beekeeping technology discussed

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on this podcast, hey please shoot me an email

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eric at beelovebeekeeping .com. We'd love to

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hear from our listeners. All right, now let's

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jump right into it. I'd like to welcome our guest

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today. This is going to be really fun. This is

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going to be really different. We have Elia Radziner

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with us. Elia, how are you? Good. How are you,

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Eric? I'm happy to be here. Oh, I'm great. I'm

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glad we can finally do this. We talked quite

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a while ago and we've come full circle now and

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we can have this whole discussion that everybody

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can listen to. Was I close on the pronunciation

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of your name? Spot on. Yes. All right. I get

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some kind of a reward for that, right? In my

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books, you do. The host of the day award. You

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can actually pronounce a guest's name. Before

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we jump into this, we're going to be talking,

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everybody, we're going to be talking about BeWise

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today. be home. Some people think this only applies

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to commercial beekeepers but we're gonna learn

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all about it anyway whether you are a hobbyist

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or a sideliner or whatever. This is gonna be

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cool stuff to learn about. Alia let's start with

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your journey just a little bit. What got you

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into beekeeping? How long have you been doing

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it? Where did you do it? There's ten questions

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just go tell us about you and beekeeping. Yeah,

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so unlike a lot of commercial beekeepers today,

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I wasn't born into it. So I'm not a second or

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third generation beekeeper. I was always interested

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in ag and food and I actually went to an ag school

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kind of like a UC Davis kind of school where

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I was getting my bachelor's in plant science.

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That's where I was introduced to bees by a friend,

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you know. Just kind of keeping some bees in his

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backyard and suggested I could come and kind

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of lend a hand and help learn about the bees.

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Honestly, I just fell in love. I took all the

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courses that I could at university. And after

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graduating, I kind of took it up full time and

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started working for a commercial operation as

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a beekeeper. Always had my own hives on the side

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as well. A few years into that, one day out in

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the field, I had an idea, not really an idea,

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but more of a thought that computers could do

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my job better than I could. Oh, ouch. No, that

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can't be. Beekeeping is two hands on. I've heard

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that. I didn't know a lot about computer vision

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and robotics, but I knew a little bit. I had

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friends working in... you know, high -tech companies

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and startups and I knew what they were up to.

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And really, today we know that we can actually

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apply existing technologies. We didn't develop

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any technology at BeWise, any innovative technology.

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We're using existing technologies that are applied

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in other industries in beekeeping. Beekeeping

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is fascinating, you know, and it is hands -on.

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But with off -the -shelf technologies today like

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computer vision, machine learning, precision

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robotics, things are today pretty ubiquitous

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in other industries. We can actually see what's

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happening in hives in real time and address it

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in real time. Actually address the main challenges

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that beekeepers face today, which is understanding

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what's happening in the hives before it's too

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late. fixing it before it's too late. You know

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those two things aren't the same, they're separate.

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I think those are the two main drivers to colony

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loss today. But that's what we set out to do.

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It was 2018 when I had that thought. I was very

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fortunate in kind of meeting the right people

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to form the founding team of BYs and after that

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we were very fortunate. With the fundraising

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and the continuous, you know development of the

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team today were about a hundred and fifty people

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at be wise All dedicated to saving the bees Well,

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I like how you put it just a minute ago and I'm

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gonna get this wrong. My memory isn't perfect

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but Sound like you're diagnosing problems before

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they become too bad and then you're fixing those

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problems What were the words that you used? Yeah,

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I you know identifying the problem Knowing what's

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happening in the hive is really key. If you go

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out and join beekeepers in the field or if you're

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looking at YouTube videos of what beekeepers

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are doing, half of the time we're playing detective.

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I always felt when I went out to the hives and

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I'm like, Sherlock Holmes, opening this hive

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and it's not doing as well as the others and

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like, okay, what's happened to it and why and

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when, and what I'm looking at, is that just a

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symptom or is that the cause? that they lose

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the queen because there was no food or because

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the queen was old or there's something else going

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on. So you're always playing detective. You don't

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really know what's going on. And even when you

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do, it's very often too late, which is the devastating

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part. I'm sure all your listeners are familiar

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with going out to the bees and finding empty

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boxes where the bees used to be. And, you know,

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that's such a hard feeling, such a hard experience.

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Or boxes full of dead bees. Yeah. And it's an

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emotional thing. This principle that you're talking

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about, I mean, with the big bee die off this

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year here in North America, it seems like had

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we diagnosed these things early, we could have

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fixed a lot of them. And it may not have been

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so bad, but instead it was Okay, it's January.

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We're headed to California. Here come the bees

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open up the boxes and it's too late So but you

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know what we haven't even told anybody what be

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wise is yet. So please give us an overview What

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are we talking about here? so I'll actually start

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off with really the challenges that we're trying

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to solve and it's gonna be a Seamless continuation

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of the last point we're discussing and that will

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help us understand what be wise is When I had

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that thought in 2018 that a computer could do

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things better, we didn't rush off and build a

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bee home. We didn't know what we wanted to do.

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But very quickly, I had a few people who were

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interested in the idea of helping bees with technology

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and understanding what the real problems are.

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And that's the first thing we did was really

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try and look and understand. What are the main

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challenges that beekeepers face today? And we

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realized that there are three main challenges.

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The first challenge is what I call distance.

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Beekeeping is a distributed system. So unless

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you have only two hives in your backyard, as

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soon as you have more than two hives in your

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backyard, you're talking about a distributed

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system where you have small groups of hives far

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away from each other. Now you might be a commercial

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beekeeper where you're running bees, you know.

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thousands of hives all across the state. You

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might be a sideline or a hobbyist with fewer

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hives, but they're always spread out. You never

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have a tremendous number of hives in one place.

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And this is different than any other type of

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agriculture, right? You mentioned almonds before.

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An almond grower, you know, they have a ranch,

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a thousand acres, all the trees are in one place.

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So this is distance. This brings us to the second

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challenge, which is time or timing. because hives

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are in small groups far away, we don't have an

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on -site team like the almond ranch, you know,

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with the bees all day every day. Rather, we have

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a team that cycles through the yards. So, you

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know, today I'm going to visit these couple of

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yards, tomorrow I'm going to visit another couple

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of yards, and the next time I'm going to get

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back to my hives is another couple of weeks,

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two or three weeks away. The third challenge

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is expertise. And I think this is a very powerful

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one, both for commercial beekeepers and hobbyists.

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Commercial beekeepers might be very, very experienced

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beekeepers, but often they're not the ones in

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the field opening up the hives, trying to determine

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what's going on with the hives, trying to make

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decisions. They usually have, you know, labor,

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employees, often beginning labor. The hobbyists,

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when I started off as a hobbyist beekeeper, you

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know, before I got into the commercial aspect,

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I felt the same. We didn't really know what we

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were doing and we would call people who knew

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and try to ask and try to understand, but you

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don't really understand what's going on. It takes

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a lot of expertise. When we kind of looked at

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these three challenges, we said, okay, bees have

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their own challenges. Bees are facing them for

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our mites, pesticides that are being applied

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in their area and disease and viruses for forage.

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Bees are facing all these challenges. But we're

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trying to help them while we're only visiting

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the hive less than 10 % of the time with not

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enough experience and spending 40 % of the time

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in the car. And suddenly when we looked at the

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high loss numbers with the tools that we were

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trying to cope with, it suddenly didn't look

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so absurd. It was always like... that we're losing

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30, 40 % of our bees every year. This was, you

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know, five, six years ago before we got up to

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60%. And it felt like, how could this be? But

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when we really took the problem apart and kind

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of looked at why is it so difficult to keep bees

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alive, we realized that we just didn't have the

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tools to cope or to help the bees cope with their

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challenges, which again, the bee challenges and

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the beekeeper challenges are different. Just

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to recap, we're talking about distance, time,

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and expertise. And when we looked at these three,

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we realized that a concept that could solve this

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is what we call today remote beekeeping. What

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if we could not only see what's happening in

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the hive, but actually treat it without sending

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someone out there? It's just a matter. Again,

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this is before we had the bee home, before we

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had anything. And we realized that if we had

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this, we could actually provide professional

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beekeepers, experienced beekeepers, a tool to

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manage their hives at scale on a per hive basis.

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Today, everything is done with a blanket approach.

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Blanket feeding, blanket treating of mites, antibiotics,

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everything is done blanket approach. With this

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type of approach with remote beekeeping, you

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can actually treat every hive according to what

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it needs. If this hive needs feeding today but

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this hive doesn't, you can feed this hive and

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not that hive. If this hive is losing its queen,

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you can introduce brood from another hive, introduce

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eggs or larvae from another hive, and help that

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hive along until you get there so it doesn't

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become a drone layer. So there are all these

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things that you can do on a per -hive basis if

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you have the information and the ability to act.

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So this true part, right, understand and act

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is very, very important. So if we go back to

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this idea of a distributed system, if you can

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only see what's happening but not be out there

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in real time, it's not enough. It's not enough.

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It will let you know, okay, these hives are,

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you know, starving or these hives have lost their

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queen or these hives have been exposed to pesticide

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or whatever. And you might be able to prioritize

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this yard over that yard, but it's only going

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to marginally help. Because when you're losing

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60 % of your hives, it means that all the hives

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are going to face a detrimental challenge throughout

00:15:06.169 --> 00:15:08.929
the year. Most of them aren't actually going

00:15:08.929 --> 00:15:11.490
to make it. Most of them are going to die. But

00:15:11.490 --> 00:15:13.470
some of them are going to be able to save. You

00:15:13.470 --> 00:15:16.330
really want to be able to know what's happening

00:15:16.330 --> 00:15:19.629
early on. When a hive, for example, loses a queen,

00:15:20.169 --> 00:15:23.789
it's very easy to solve within a few days. If

00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:26.009
you let it go for a few weeks, it's too late.

00:15:26.769 --> 00:15:30.169
Same goes for feeding, same goes for mites, same

00:15:30.169 --> 00:15:32.830
goes for really anything that the bees are coping

00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:35.269
with. It's all about timing. So you have to know

00:15:35.269 --> 00:15:38.690
what's going on early on and treat it early on.

00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:41.309
If you're a beekeeper like me, we're getting

00:15:41.309 --> 00:15:44.409
into that favorite time of year, honey harvest.

00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.320
but it can be a lot of work. That's where Manned

00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:49.799
Light comes in. They have everything you need

00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:53.200
to make the job easier, cleaner, and more efficient.

00:15:53.549 --> 00:15:57.250
Removal aids, refractometers, uncapping tools,

00:15:57.830 --> 00:16:00.870
extractors, tanks, wax melters, even the jars

00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:03.529
and labels. Plus they have free shipping on glass

00:16:03.529 --> 00:16:06.230
containers. Whether you're a hobbyist with two

00:16:06.230 --> 00:16:09.409
hives or a full -blown commercial operation,

00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:12.210
Man Lake has it all. And don't forget your discount

00:16:12.210 --> 00:16:15.970
code MLBlove10. It's in the show notes. For $10

00:16:15.970 --> 00:16:20.440
off your first $100 purchase. So that was 2018.

00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.399
When we came to this understanding of the problem,

00:16:24.659 --> 00:16:27.740
we realized the solution. Again, remote beekeeping.

00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:31.000
And we started working. We raised some money.

00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:34.100
And very quickly, by the end of that year, we

00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:36.519
already had a working prototype out in the field,

00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.500
getting feedback from beekeepers that were using

00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:42.059
it and working with it. In an iterative process,

00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.759
kind of worked on that until we got to what we

00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:47.389
have today, which is Bee Home 4. we're always

00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:49.590
going to be working on new versions of the Behome.

00:16:49.990 --> 00:16:53.570
But the Behome, in essence, is a device that

00:16:53.570 --> 00:16:58.309
is half hive, half robot, and allows beekeepers

00:16:58.309 --> 00:17:00.730
to not only see what's happening in their hives,

00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:03.690
but actually treat them in real time. So they

00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:06.109
can actually log into their portfolio devices,

00:17:06.890 --> 00:17:08.730
log into the device, see what's happening with

00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:11.430
all the hives. Every device has up to 10 hives

00:17:11.430 --> 00:17:14.430
in it. Some have two, three, four, you know,

00:17:14.490 --> 00:17:18.180
but up to 10 hives. They can see all the frames,

00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:20.720
they can see the brood, they can see how much

00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.900
pollen and nectar have been coming in or if the

00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:26.480
hive is now eating their stores, how much is

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.900
left in the hive and how much has been eaten

00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:32.990
over the last couple of weeks. Beekeepers can

00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:35.470
then make decisions on management of the hives,

00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:38.230
whether they want to balance out the yards, balance

00:17:38.230 --> 00:17:41.829
out brood between hives, treat hives for mites,

00:17:41.930 --> 00:17:44.410
feed hives, move the hives to a different location.

00:17:44.450 --> 00:17:46.930
That's obviously done manually, but all the rest,

00:17:47.430 --> 00:17:50.230
treatment, feeding, balancing, that's all done

00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:53.369
through the system. So basically they make decisions

00:17:53.369 --> 00:17:56.990
on the computer and those are carried out by

00:17:56.990 --> 00:18:00.190
the robotic system to the benefit of the bees.

00:18:01.030 --> 00:18:03.650
Without anybody ever going there and opening

00:18:03.650 --> 00:18:08.170
up a box. Well, I wouldn't say ever well Okay,

00:18:08.309 --> 00:18:11.930
wrong word But generally for a situation like

00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:15.809
you just described Okay, I could be sitting in

00:18:15.809 --> 00:18:20.549
Timbuktu somewhere Get on my phone online To

00:18:20.549 --> 00:18:23.130
I assume you've got some kind of an app and I

00:18:23.130 --> 00:18:28.119
can say okay this be home right here has eight

00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:31.140
colonies in it, here's what's going on with three

00:18:31.140 --> 00:18:34.700
of them, here are my options, do this, and then

00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.240
it will do that for you. Am I saying that right?

00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:40.640
Correct. Just to give a couple of scenarios of

00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.079
what you can do on the app and what's left to

00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:46.500
be done in the field by people. So for example,

00:18:47.059 --> 00:18:49.500
our beekeepers are notified if there's a queenless

00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:52.140
hive. And they can actually log in, they can

00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:54.019
see all the lists with bee homes where there

00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:56.119
are queenless hives, can log in and see the hives

00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:58.859
and determine if those hives have enough material,

00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:02.980
enough bees, enough brood provisions to, you

00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:06.680
know, it's worth reinvesting in that hive. They

00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:10.420
can then actually choose brood frames from other

00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:14.079
hives for the robot to take into those hives.

00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:17.680
So the robot can actually move frames with eggs

00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:21.460
or dail larva from queen right hives into the

00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:24.059
queenless hives and allow those queenless hives

00:19:24.059 --> 00:19:28.140
to grow a self -queen, right? They can also send

00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:32.400
a crew to introduce mated queens if they prefer,

00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.640
you know, if they want to keep the specific genetics.

00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.500
If they have a team on hand nearby that can get

00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:40.019
there in time, they can also send, you know,

00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.190
a mated queen. But suddenly, instead of losing

00:19:43.190 --> 00:19:45.809
20 % of your hives to, you know, to queenless

00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:48.430
hives every year, suddenly you can reduce that

00:19:48.430 --> 00:19:52.369
number to 2 % or 1%. Feeding, there's a syrup

00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:55.569
tank in the device when the hive's in areas where

00:19:55.569 --> 00:19:58.470
we need to supplement feed. Beekeepers can turn

00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:00.789
on the feeding and the hive, the robots will

00:20:00.789 --> 00:20:03.769
actually maintain a full feeder frame inside

00:20:03.769 --> 00:20:07.849
the hives, you know, throughout that period or

00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:09.930
throughout that location until the beekeeper

00:20:09.930 --> 00:20:12.210
turns that off. So these are just a couple of

00:20:12.210 --> 00:20:14.329
examples. What's left to be done in the field

00:20:14.329 --> 00:20:17.130
again is there's the syrup tank, so we have to

00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:20.430
fill it every so often. So we have a team of

00:20:20.430 --> 00:20:24.690
people, the beekeepers send their syrup crews,

00:20:25.190 --> 00:20:27.529
but instead of filling every hive, filling the

00:20:27.529 --> 00:20:29.230
feeder in every hive, all they need to do is

00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:31.549
fill a syrup container. They don't have to be

00:20:31.549 --> 00:20:33.430
experienced beekeepers. They don't have to open

00:20:33.430 --> 00:20:36.769
up the hives. They can just fill a syrup container

00:20:36.769 --> 00:20:38.990
and the robotic system will take care of the

00:20:38.990 --> 00:20:41.859
rest. That's really cool. So for those that are

00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:45.019
listening to the audio version of this and they

00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:47.279
can't see the pictures, I'm going to have you

00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:50.519
in just a second explain what this box looks

00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.900
like. For those that are watching on YouTube,

00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:55.980
there's going to be some video so they're seeing

00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:59.339
what you're talking about. So if I've never seen

00:20:59.339 --> 00:21:02.079
this before, help me picture. And by the way,

00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:04.460
I'm looking at your website right now next to

00:21:04.460 --> 00:21:07.380
you, so it's very easy for me to picture. Tell

00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.609
me How big is the box? What does it look like?

00:21:11.109 --> 00:21:13.029
Because I don't think you want me to describe

00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:14.829
it. Because to me, it looks like a couple of

00:21:14.829 --> 00:21:18.150
big air conditioner units. But tell me, how would

00:21:18.150 --> 00:21:21.009
you describe it better than that? Beautiful air

00:21:21.009 --> 00:21:23.750
conditioning units. Beautiful. Yes, they are

00:21:23.750 --> 00:21:26.650
beautiful. They have colors on them and stuff.

00:21:27.130 --> 00:21:29.990
Yeah. The unit is about eight feet long, four

00:21:29.990 --> 00:21:32.609
feet high and four feet deep. So that's about

00:21:32.609 --> 00:21:36.150
the footprint of it. Essentially, you know, think

00:21:36.150 --> 00:21:39.690
of a pallet of hives. You know, a pallet has

00:21:39.690 --> 00:21:42.809
four hives on it. So think about this, this has

00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:47.410
up to 10. So I call it a super pallet. And so

00:21:47.410 --> 00:21:49.609
it's like two and a half pallets long, basically.

00:21:49.910 --> 00:21:52.289
And above where the hives are, where the bees

00:21:52.289 --> 00:21:56.589
are, there's an extra space where the robot works.

00:21:56.690 --> 00:21:59.250
So the robot is actually traveling inside the

00:21:59.250 --> 00:22:03.690
unit above the hives, and can go eight feet long

00:22:03.690 --> 00:22:08.180
and four feet deep and access every hive. pull

00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:11.259
out the frames, inspect them, move them around

00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:13.640
if it needs to. So for example, you know, we

00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:15.940
didn't talk about mites, I'm sure we will, but

00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:18.559
we have a heat treatment unit for mites. The

00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:20.880
robot can actually take capped brood frames,

00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:25.079
shake the bees off, put these frames inside a

00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:29.400
heat chamber, and treat the mites with heat without

00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:31.480
affecting the brood, without affecting the bees,

00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:35.339
and put that frame back in the hive after it's

00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:38.440
killed all the mites off using heat treat. Instead

00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:40.900
of chemicals, that's pretty cool. Instead of

00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:43.200
chemicals. Going on with what the device looks

00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:47.279
like, on top we have solar panels. They are doors

00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:49.559
that allow, you know, humans to come and interact

00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:51.700
with the hives. So they're like, like the Tesla

00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:54.599
X model doors that open up what you call those

00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:58.069
kind of wing doors. Yep. So they open up like

00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:00.890
that and people can access the hives or the robot

00:23:00.890 --> 00:23:04.230
for maintenance or for whatever we need. We have

00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:06.549
different colors at the entrance of the hives

00:23:06.549 --> 00:23:09.369
to help the bees navigate back to their own hives.

00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:13.230
So today, you know, usually hives are just painted

00:23:13.230 --> 00:23:17.849
white, but it's well known from the literature

00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:20.690
that different colors actually help bees identify

00:23:20.690 --> 00:23:23.779
their hives better and reduce drift. It also

00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:26.200
looks cool. So we kind of added that layer in

00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:28.099
there. There are different colors above the different

00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:30.500
entrances. It's kind of like a rainbow across

00:23:30.500 --> 00:23:33.839
the lower part. The entrances are also controlled

00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:35.980
by the system. So the system can actually open

00:23:35.980 --> 00:23:38.819
and close the entrances. This is used both for

00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:41.000
transportation. So if we wanted to move hives,

00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:43.559
the system can close down the entrances during

00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:46.359
nighttime. And we can come, we don't have to

00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:48.640
come when it's dark. We can come, you know, seven

00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:50.140
o 'clock, eight o 'clock in the morning, move

00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:54.960
the bees. But it's also used to regulate the

00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:57.380
hive entrance size during different times of

00:23:57.380 --> 00:23:59.880
the year. So when it's cold, the hive entrance

00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:02.740
is reduced. When it's warmer, it makes the hive

00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:05.680
entrance a little bit larger, but also to protect

00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:08.240
them from pesticides. So if we're pollinating

00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.279
a crop and we know the farmer or the neighbor

00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:13.099
are going to be applying pesticides, we can actually

00:24:13.099 --> 00:24:16.400
close down the entrances for 24 hours and keep

00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:19.210
the bees safe. and let them go out again once

00:24:19.210 --> 00:24:22.210
it's safe, 24 hours later or 48 hours later,

00:24:22.549 --> 00:24:26.190
go out and continue pollination. That helps protect

00:24:26.190 --> 00:24:29.970
them from pesticides. How do you keep them cool

00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:32.549
in a situation like that? Is there some ventilation?

00:24:34.410 --> 00:24:39.930
The floors have two options in them, either mesh

00:24:39.930 --> 00:24:43.519
or solid. That's actually done manually. So when

00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:45.980
we go when it's warm we're going into pollination

00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:48.299
or into honey production the beekeepers will

00:24:48.299 --> 00:24:50.920
open all the all the bottom boards basically

00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:55.460
to mesh and That that keeps the bees ventilated

00:24:55.460 --> 00:24:58.180
the device itself also knows how to regulate

00:24:58.180 --> 00:25:01.400
the temperature of the device with fans so it's

00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:03.519
never too hot in there I hate to say you've thought

00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:08.799
of everything but You've had a few years to kind

00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:11.440
of think through this obviously and I'm sure

00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.039
you've ran into all kinds of issues and the one

00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:17.400
that I am wondering how in the world do you control

00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:19.599
this and that is propolis. It seems like it would

00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.960
just gum up your robot and you know, how would

00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:25.420
it work? So what do you do about that? Yeah,

00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:27.940
Propolis was the first thing we looked at when

00:25:27.940 --> 00:25:30.380
we started iterating with the first prototypes.

00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:32.920
I would say very early on, you know, we were,

00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:35.819
we had kind of two options that we were considering,

00:25:36.019 --> 00:25:38.900
two approaches we were considering when it came

00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:42.599
to hive manipulation and inspection. The first

00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:44.480
one was, you know, can we build a system that's

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:47.920
going to go inside the hive and perform inspection,

00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:52.900
perform procedures? We realized that it's too

00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:57.750
difficult. And the better option was Langstroth

00:25:57.750 --> 00:26:01.450
had already invented the removable frame. It

00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:04.809
already invented the B -space, the modern hive

00:26:04.809 --> 00:26:07.970
that allows us to manipulate the hive by manipulating

00:26:07.970 --> 00:26:11.269
the frames. And we realized that if we wanted

00:26:11.269 --> 00:26:14.509
to be able to carry out all the different beekeeping

00:26:14.509 --> 00:26:18.329
practices that are practiced today, all we really

00:26:18.329 --> 00:26:20.369
needed to do is build a robotic arm that was

00:26:20.369 --> 00:26:24.250
able to extract that frame. If you think about

00:26:24.250 --> 00:26:26.589
all the different practices that beekeepers do

00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:29.170
today, whether it's feeding, whether it's inspecting

00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:31.710
the hives, treating mites, collecting honey,

00:26:32.210 --> 00:26:37.009
it's all done with some sort of form of manipulating

00:26:37.009 --> 00:26:40.750
the frames in the hive. That's the base of beekeeping.

00:26:41.329 --> 00:26:44.529
You know, in other words, if you look at beekeeping

00:26:44.529 --> 00:26:46.990
practices before the invention of lag strath,

00:26:47.170 --> 00:26:48.970
before the invention of the removable frame,

00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:55.079
100 % of the practices were different. So beekeeping

00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:59.440
today is actually a product of the design of

00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.480
the modern hive. And if we wanted to be able

00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:06.059
to utilize all these practices with remote beekeeping,

00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:08.500
we wanted to be able to manipulate the frame

00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:11.339
just like people do. So the robotic system doesn't

00:27:11.339 --> 00:27:13.559
actually work inside the hive. All it knows how

00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:15.839
to do is open up the hive and remove a frame.

00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:18.660
So even with propolis, that's not a problem.

00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:22.039
It can... Remove a frame, move a frame. There

00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:24.220
were a lot of problems that we came up against

00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:27.259
in the first couple of years of iterating on

00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:31.200
this ability. But once you solve that, that kind

00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:34.619
of opens up everything else. And a lot of IP

00:27:34.619 --> 00:27:38.000
in the company is around dealing with the properties.

00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:43.779
We have a lot of design principles, I guess,

00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:48.140
on you know, what we're allowed to do when interacting

00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:50.799
with the hive, when designing, if we're designing,

00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:54.660
you know, a special cover for the hive or, you

00:27:54.660 --> 00:27:57.680
know, an adapter for the hive on how to get it

00:27:57.680 --> 00:27:59.799
to work with, you know, with the bees and not

00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:03.160
against the bees and not gum up and stick with

00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:05.900
too much propolis. All right. I've got a ton

00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:08.079
of questions that I just keep writing down here.

00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.019
Is this using regular length trough frames inside?

00:28:12.099 --> 00:28:16.309
Yes. Deep frames? Medium frames? Only deep frames.

00:28:16.750 --> 00:28:21.250
Only deep frames. So I could take frames right

00:28:21.250 --> 00:28:23.529
out of a hive that I already have in a wooden

00:28:23.529 --> 00:28:27.549
box and put them right into BeWise. Sorry, BeHome,

00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:30.849
which is actually the product, okay? Do you have

00:28:30.849 --> 00:28:33.269
a whole bunch of these in use already? You know,

00:28:33.450 --> 00:28:36.200
you've proved this concept that it works. So

00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:40.140
today we have about 1 ,200 of them fully in use,

00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:43.839
about 12 ,000 knives or 10 to 12 ,000 knives

00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:48.000
already in the units. How's it going? I don't

00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.339
mind asking the hard questions here. Is it working

00:28:51.339 --> 00:28:53.779
as good as you expect? Let me put it that way.

00:28:54.059 --> 00:28:57.319
It's one of those things that is both very difficult

00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:00.259
and very rewarding at the same time. Everything

00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:03.420
we're doing is for the first time. I just went

00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:07.119
out this week. We had a couple of new hires that

00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:10.359
I took down to see one of the yards here in California.

00:29:10.779 --> 00:29:13.640
I told you before about how beekeepers can log

00:29:13.640 --> 00:29:17.160
in and make decisions. Now we're working on,

00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.960
can we get the AI to make some of those decisions?

00:29:20.539 --> 00:29:23.420
And we went down to look at a yard where the

00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:25.980
AI is actually managing the balancing for the

00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:28.740
entire yard. So you go out there, it's a B yard.

00:29:29.299 --> 00:29:31.400
It's a large B yard. I know there are a couple

00:29:31.400 --> 00:29:35.400
of hundred hives out there in B homes. And you're

00:29:35.400 --> 00:29:37.740
just listening and you can hear the robots move

00:29:37.740 --> 00:29:42.680
inside the units. So we open up some units to

00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:45.960
see what the robots are doing. They're inspecting.

00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:48.059
They're just doing their thing. They're inspecting

00:29:48.059 --> 00:29:50.940
the hives. Everything is done very, very slowly,

00:29:51.019 --> 00:29:54.440
very, very gently. They're identifying the hives,

00:29:54.579 --> 00:29:57.779
the weaker hives that need extra brood or extra

00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:00.359
honey or pollen. They're identifying the stronger

00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:03.940
hives that can actually donate on an honey or

00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:06.500
brood. And they're making those decisions and

00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:09.720
moving. And we're measuring to see the outcome.

00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:14.680
Is the AI actually able to help the bees better

00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:18.809
than beekeepers, better than humans? So obviously,

00:30:19.029 --> 00:30:21.349
to get to this point, we've already had Beom

00:30:21.349 --> 00:30:24.029
4 out in the field for almost two years. And

00:30:24.029 --> 00:30:25.529
only now we're getting to the point where we're

00:30:25.529 --> 00:30:29.029
working on this feature. So everything is a long

00:30:29.029 --> 00:30:31.710
process to get it to the point where it's working.

00:30:32.390 --> 00:30:34.450
But when it works, when you go out there and

00:30:34.450 --> 00:30:40.029
see this just working, you're making history.

00:30:40.289 --> 00:30:42.309
This is the first time that something like this

00:30:42.309 --> 00:30:44.660
has been done. I think the team and everybody

00:30:44.660 --> 00:30:47.359
we're working with, you know, understands how

00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:50.400
important and big this is. Let's talk honey.

00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:54.500
Are the bees able to make much honey inside these

00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:57.980
hives? And the second part of the question is,

00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:01.900
is it hard to harvest? Yeah. So honey is one

00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:04.299
of those things that is still done manually.

00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:08.759
So again, think of those palettes that I described

00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:11.059
earlier, those super palettes, the bee homes,

00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:14.150
when it comes to time for the honey flow, we

00:31:14.150 --> 00:31:17.450
actually super the hives inside there with regular

00:31:17.450 --> 00:31:20.329
supers. For that time being, for those couple

00:31:20.329 --> 00:31:22.930
of months, six, eight weeks when we have honey

00:31:22.930 --> 00:31:26.470
supers on, the robot is actually disabled. The

00:31:26.470 --> 00:31:28.349
bees are doing their thing collecting the honey

00:31:28.349 --> 00:31:30.670
and then we, you know, collecting the honey is

00:31:30.670 --> 00:31:32.769
just the same as collecting the honey from regular

00:31:32.769 --> 00:31:36.130
hives. That's all done manually. So the robot

00:31:36.130 --> 00:31:40.210
really is there to help you prepare for the season.

00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:43.180
Make sure that all the hives are balanced, are

00:31:43.180 --> 00:31:46.099
treated for mites, are queen right, are ready

00:31:46.099 --> 00:31:49.559
to go, are optimized for honey production. And

00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:52.099
then during the season, it's disabled. After

00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:54.559
you take the supers off, the robot goes in there

00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:57.279
again, makes sure, you know, to find the hives

00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:00.099
that have gone queenless during the honey season,

00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:02.500
find the hives that have gone broodless, have

00:32:02.500 --> 00:32:04.839
plugged out or whatever, start balancing, start

00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:07.740
treating mites right away, then prepare the hives

00:32:07.740 --> 00:32:12.390
for overwintering. So would you leave the hives

00:32:12.390 --> 00:32:16.569
in to be homes over winter? Yeah. Once they go

00:32:16.569 --> 00:32:19.269
in there, there's no reason to take them out.

00:32:19.289 --> 00:32:22.210
Yeah. Might as well. Seems like it makes a lot

00:32:22.210 --> 00:32:25.490
of sense during pollination. I mean, these, um,

00:32:25.569 --> 00:32:27.869
you can lift with a regular forklift, right?

00:32:28.410 --> 00:32:31.349
Put them on a, put them on a truck just like

00:32:31.349 --> 00:32:34.930
you're doing with pallets of hive boxes. Okay.

00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:37.700
So tell me about some of the other research that's

00:32:37.700 --> 00:32:40.440
being done. How is this helping with research,

00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:44.400
for example? Yeah, so first of all, explain the

00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:48.440
main data that we're acquiring on Hives. So there

00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:50.160
are a lot of data points that we're getting.

00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:53.720
We're weighing the frames and we're measuring

00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:57.160
the temperature every day of every frame. But

00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:00.039
the main data points that we're using for our

00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:03.539
system, the unit actually picks out frames and

00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:06.940
takes an image of the frame, a scan, frame scan.

00:33:07.859 --> 00:33:10.900
And then the AI, the machine learning looks at

00:33:10.900 --> 00:33:14.099
the frame and identifies every cell on every

00:33:14.099 --> 00:33:17.400
frame and categorizes it for what it is. If you

00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:20.740
know a little bit about AI, you need a lot of

00:33:20.740 --> 00:33:24.539
data points. So every one of our frame is like

00:33:24.539 --> 00:33:26.880
6 ,000 data points, right? There are about 3

00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:29.880
,000 cells on each side of the frame. Each one

00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:33.460
can be empty or full of something. It could have

00:33:33.460 --> 00:33:36.119
honey in it. It could have brood. It could be

00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:39.200
drawn out or not drawn out. It could be drone

00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:42.279
brood or regular brood. It could be a queen cell.

00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:46.059
And then all together, the pattern also has additional

00:33:46.059 --> 00:33:49.519
data points, right? Is it spotty brood? Is there

00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:54.539
wax moth in my frame? Is there a pattern of disease?

00:33:54.859 --> 00:33:57.660
What is the queen laying pattern look like? So

00:33:57.660 --> 00:34:01.710
all this information in every frame. And today

00:34:01.710 --> 00:34:06.190
we have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands

00:34:06.190 --> 00:34:09.309
of these frames, each one containing 6 ,000 data

00:34:09.309 --> 00:34:13.610
points over the course of several years, same

00:34:13.610 --> 00:34:17.070
seasons and thousands of hives. This type of

00:34:17.070 --> 00:34:19.489
data is something that has never imagined trying

00:34:19.489 --> 00:34:23.530
to create this type of data without robotics.

00:34:24.150 --> 00:34:26.900
So that's kind of the background of this. Now

00:34:26.900 --> 00:34:31.119
we're doing different researches. We collaborated

00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:35.619
with UC Davis around pollination, where they

00:34:35.619 --> 00:34:39.219
had a look at bee activity in the bee homes versus

00:34:39.219 --> 00:34:42.920
regular hives during almond pollination. We did

00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:46.800
another activity with Auburn University around

00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:50.820
heat treatment, both with tropylae labs in Thailand

00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:57.630
and with veromites here in California. So I think

00:34:57.630 --> 00:34:59.909
if you're someone that's listening to this and

00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:03.650
you care about bees and you're concerned about

00:35:03.650 --> 00:35:06.929
what we can do as humanity to make sure that

00:35:06.929 --> 00:35:09.409
bees are still here tomorrow, this is something

00:35:09.409 --> 00:35:13.250
that can really help, can really change and help

00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:17.769
us help the bees overcome their challenges. And

00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:20.369
this is why the hobbyists should care about this

00:35:20.369 --> 00:35:24.199
also. Is this ever going to be in the kind of

00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:26.980
production and the kind of price where a sideliner

00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:31.239
might say, Hey, yeah, I need 10 of these things.

00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:34.119
Or is it just makes sense for the really large

00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:37.159
commercial guys? So I think as time progresses,

00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:39.599
we're still out there kind of proving our go

00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:42.639
to market, proving our price point, proving the

00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:44.619
business model, proving the technology, right?

00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:46.940
We're still in that phase. When we get to the

00:35:46.940 --> 00:35:51.510
point where It just makes more sense economically

00:35:51.510 --> 00:35:56.409
to keep bees with a bee home than with a wooden

00:35:56.409 --> 00:35:59.869
box. I think it will almost become, you know,

00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:01.710
that we're always going to have, which is a good

00:36:01.710 --> 00:36:04.550
thing, I think, beekeepers who want to keep bees,

00:36:05.050 --> 00:36:07.829
you know, boutique beekeepers in wooden hives

00:36:07.829 --> 00:36:10.449
or different types of hives. You know, today

00:36:10.449 --> 00:36:13.269
there are thousands of different designs for

00:36:13.269 --> 00:36:15.900
hives and beekeeping. There's only one that's

00:36:15.900 --> 00:36:17.840
ubiquitous with commercial beekeepers, which

00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:20.980
is, you know, the Langstroth hive. But there

00:36:20.980 --> 00:36:23.500
are hundreds of different designs that beekeepers

00:36:23.500 --> 00:36:25.159
can choose and work with, and you're always going

00:36:25.159 --> 00:36:29.360
to have that plethora of options, which is fantastic.

00:36:30.820 --> 00:36:33.780
But for people who are doing this for economic

00:36:33.780 --> 00:36:37.300
reasons, as well as working with bees, I think

00:36:37.300 --> 00:36:39.599
at some point it's just going to become the standard

00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:42.809
way of keeping bees. So it's just like... It

00:36:42.809 --> 00:36:44.750
used to be standard to get from one place to

00:36:44.750 --> 00:36:47.570
the other with a horse and carriage. Today it's

00:36:47.570 --> 00:36:49.730
standard to do it with a car. It's just going

00:36:49.730 --> 00:36:51.750
to be the same, you know. Today it's standard

00:36:51.750 --> 00:36:53.730
to keep bees with a smoker and a hive tool in

00:36:53.730 --> 00:36:56.329
a wooden box. And tomorrow it's going to be standard

00:36:56.329 --> 00:36:58.650
to do it with, you know, with modern technology

00:36:58.650 --> 00:37:00.949
because that's how we do everything. Totally

00:37:00.949 --> 00:37:03.590
makes sense. All right, before I let you go,

00:37:04.170 --> 00:37:06.329
even a high tech person like you has got to have

00:37:06.329 --> 00:37:08.550
some kind of wild and crazy beekeeping story.

00:37:09.050 --> 00:37:12.070
Can you think of one or two? I'll tell a story

00:37:12.070 --> 00:37:16.269
of how I got introduced to bees. This must be

00:37:16.269 --> 00:37:18.469
embarrassing. I can tell the look on your face.

00:37:18.489 --> 00:37:23.190
Go ahead. You wanted something juicy. So I said

00:37:23.190 --> 00:37:24.849
that a friend had asked me to kind of help him

00:37:24.849 --> 00:37:28.110
out with his backyard hives. So the first day

00:37:28.110 --> 00:37:30.889
he called me like it was, hey, I'm going to go

00:37:30.889 --> 00:37:35.510
and get this swarm out of the tree at the campus.

00:37:35.949 --> 00:37:37.699
Do you want to come and help me? I didn't know

00:37:37.699 --> 00:37:39.300
anything about bees at this point. I was like,

00:37:39.400 --> 00:37:42.000
okay. So we go there. I don't know, it's like

00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:45.900
20 feet up in a tree. The campus put up a nesting

00:37:45.900 --> 00:37:48.219
box for some bird or something was screwed to

00:37:48.219 --> 00:37:52.840
the tree and a swarm had gone into that box.

00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:57.340
No birds, just a ton of bees. So I go up the

00:37:57.340 --> 00:38:00.000
ladder and I've got this bee suit on that doesn't

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.099
really fit me. You know, it's short on the legs.

00:38:04.260 --> 00:38:06.519
You know, I'm six feet tall. My friend is...

00:38:07.239 --> 00:38:10.039
Little bit shorter and I you know, it's his suit

00:38:10.039 --> 00:38:12.980
first time first time with bees first time anything

00:38:12.980 --> 00:38:16.420
so I got up there I tried to unhinge the the

00:38:16.420 --> 00:38:20.760
box from the tree and I realized you know, I

00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:22.900
tried to tear it off. It kind of kind of comes

00:38:22.900 --> 00:38:26.579
half off But I realized that it's it's screwed

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:28.940
to the tree from the inside of the box, which

00:38:28.940 --> 00:38:31.920
is full of bees And this is not a swarm that

00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:34.300
came in yesterday and we can kind of just like

00:38:34.300 --> 00:38:37.920
take out. It's been living there for months probably.

00:38:38.239 --> 00:38:40.300
Anyway, somehow I'm able to kind of detach it

00:38:40.300 --> 00:38:43.480
from the tree just with brute force. And I'm

00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:45.980
carrying it down on my shoulder, down this 20

00:38:45.980 --> 00:38:48.960
-foot ladder. I obviously got stung a ton of

00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:53.179
times. But we got it done. I covered it with

00:38:53.179 --> 00:38:55.340
a net first, you know, to try and keep the bees

00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:57.920
inside and kind of try to seal all the openings.

00:38:58.989 --> 00:39:01.349
Of course, a lot of bees were flying around,

00:39:01.650 --> 00:39:04.369
so it got stung a ton of times. But we got into

00:39:04.369 --> 00:39:08.489
the car, we got into his backyard, got it into

00:39:08.489 --> 00:39:11.969
standard equipment, kind of cut out the comb

00:39:11.969 --> 00:39:15.469
and put it into standard frames. And he already

00:39:15.469 --> 00:39:17.349
had a couple of hives, so this was like a third

00:39:17.349 --> 00:39:20.949
one. It was huge. We had to use like two or three

00:39:20.949 --> 00:39:25.670
different boxes to transfer it into regular hives.

00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:28.000
After that, I was like, okay, what's next? And

00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:30.579
he was like, now we'll keep them alive and see

00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:33.880
if we can make some honey. And that's kind of

00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:36.800
how I got into beekeeping. I need some video

00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:39.000
of you on the ladder trying to carry that thing

00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:42.179
down with your ankles exposed. I'm just picturing

00:39:42.179 --> 00:39:44.440
the whole thing in my mind here. Sounds awesome.

00:39:45.420 --> 00:39:47.920
Yeah. Thankfully there was no, we might have

00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:51.139
some, some photos of it, but there's no video.

00:39:51.639 --> 00:39:55.760
I'll take a photo. Anyway, hey, Elia, I really

00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.579
appreciate your time today and looking towards

00:39:58.579 --> 00:40:01.360
the future. It's fun to see what's coming ahead.

00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:04.699
And what we've been using here has been used

00:40:04.699 --> 00:40:08.420
for 200 years or whatever. It's very low tech.

00:40:09.099 --> 00:40:11.619
I have no problem with things changing and getting

00:40:11.619 --> 00:40:15.139
better. So it must be fun to be part of that

00:40:15.139 --> 00:40:18.119
whole process going on. It's a humbling experience

00:40:18.119 --> 00:40:20.780
for sure. Propolis will humble you every time.

00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:25.400
That's right. Thanks for joining us on Be Love

00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:28.579
Beekeeping presented by Man Lake. If you like

00:40:28.579 --> 00:40:30.940
this content I hope you'll share it with a friend,

00:40:31.360 --> 00:40:34.880
follow and subscribe to this podcast, and even

00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:37.159
sign up for our newsletter at BeLoveBeekeeping

00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:40.579
.com Also just a shout out to Vita B Health for

00:40:40.579 --> 00:40:43.800
their support, we appreciate them. Vita's Varroa

00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:47.159
Control range of products includes Apistan, Apagard,

00:40:47.619 --> 00:40:50.960
and now Varroxan, extended release oxalic acid

00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:54.460
strips. Thanks guys, and remember, if you're

00:40:54.460 --> 00:40:57.119
not just in it for the honey or the money, you're

00:40:57.119 --> 00:40:59.440
in it for the love. See you next week.