YAPPY Beeman Talks Bee Removals & Viral Videos

WEBVTT

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in a world brimming with complexity few creatures

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embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless

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precision she dances from bloom to bloom each

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motion guided by millennia upon millennia of

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instinct each act in service to the whole and

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then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards

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of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist,

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part poet, they move along their hives with the

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efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to

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the bees' needs as best they can comprehend,

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and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the

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Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing

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like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their

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journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping

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presented by our great friends over at Man Lake.

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Today's show features Yappy Bee Man, so of course

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we'll be talking all about bee removals and mixing

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it up with some real controversy in the beekeeping

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world and his most crazy removal of a colony

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that's been in the wall of a house for over 75

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years. But just quickly before we jump into that,

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hey, we just received this year's numbers from

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the US beekeeping survey. If you remember, last

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year we saw record colony losses among commercial

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beekeepers. The good news is that there's some

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improvement this year with reported colony losses

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of 39 .9%. So should we be excited or think the

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problem is fixed? Here's a quote from Stephen

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Coy, president of the American Honey Producers

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Association. He says, while it's encouraging

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to see colony loss rates come down from last

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year's historic highs, losing nearly 40 % of

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managed colonies in a single year is not a victory.

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It's a crisis in slow motion. Our industry and

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the crops that depend on it cannot sustain these

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levels of losses year after year. We need real

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action now before our industry reaches a point

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of no return. We must continue to invest in research,

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support, and solutions that get these numbers

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down closer to the truly acceptable level of

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15 to 20 percent. So I guess it's good news.

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Maybe a better term is sobering news. But now

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let's shift gears and forget about all that serious

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stuff and have a fun fun conversation with one

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of YouTube's biggest beekeeping stars I'm so

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happy to welcome our guest today Yappy the bee

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man. How are you Yappy? I'm doing great and I

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appreciate you having me on Well, thank you for

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being on I know how busy you are you were just

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telling me you're a firefighter and you do all

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kinds of be removals and you're Super like famous

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dude on YouTube. How did that ever happen? By

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the way, how'd you get started with that? Oh

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man that that's that's a story in itself You

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ain't got enough time to hear that entire what

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I would call testimony I as a fireman. We always

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have a secondary job something and I cut you

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know on the side I cut grass did landscaping

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for 14 years and then my wife wanted to start

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kind of getting into the herbal medicine stuff

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you know plants trees vines whatever turn it

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into medicine they came where the class we were

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talking about the you know the products of a

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beehive that can be used you know for other things

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other than just honey and uh as soon as they

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started talking about that I kind of perked up

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and went oh hey that's something I can mess with

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and um Learned a little bit about it and I mean

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I was already hooked pretty much real quick one

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of the members in the class had a Bee colony

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in the back of a barn wall and they said man

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You can have them bees if you can get them out

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talked to a couple local beekeepers They they

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said yeah, we'll help you get them out and things

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just kind of rolled from there Well, the day

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came to go get the bees and one guy brought his

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homemade shop not shop vac his homemade b vac

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and bunch of buckets and man we were just going

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at it well i didn't have a bee suit so i got

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to just stand back and watch well they went through

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and they cut and tore up and and did everything

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and you know got to point where they had two

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boxes full of bees and you know said okay well

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you know uh we got about it as much as we can

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get it looks good we got all the comb out and

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they kind of left and they were framing comb

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up in you know in in the frames as we were going

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got home and put all that together and kind of

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went from there. I fell in love with that aspect

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of beekeeping because it was my first experience

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and from that point it just kind of I pursued

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it I wanted to learn more about it and I have

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made this joke before they both know it so I'm

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not really speaking ill of them but as I started

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to learn and research more I come to find out

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that well they taught me how to do everything

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wrong. in the process so I started watching some

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stuff on YouTube I kind of watched how people

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did things and then I adapted to that and I went

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and had another friend called me and says you

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know I've got bees between the floor insurance

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is coming out tomorrow the house got hit by lightning

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I'm afraid they're gonna cancel our insurance

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because we got bees can you come get them I'm

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like well yeah so up on a ladder for six seven

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hours getting bees out of this void space and

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it just kind of went from there and then you

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know it's just been a steady progression ever

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since i've had doors that have opened for me

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that i didn't even know to knock on when it came

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to this how many years ago did you get started

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right about 15 about 15 years ago and it's kind

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of funny because the i had I had friended one

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of the most well -known bee removers in the world

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at that time. In my opinion, his name was JP

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the Bee Man. JP does videos online. He's been

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doing it for years. And he was one of the primary

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people that I had watched how he did things.

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You know, start to finish, open things up, how

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he handled things. Ended up, I reached out to

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him and we started communicating and got to be

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really good friends. And he invited me to come

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to a little bee gathering thing that they called

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the bud gathering. Back. well before our normal

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social media that we know now, you used to pretty

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much get on the internet and go to a .com and

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go into chat rooms. And it was just basically

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threads. Somebody would ask a question, people

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would answer. And the original group, one of

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the original groups that were more well known

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was the B Master Group. They had a lot of good

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contributors that had really deep beekeeping

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knowledge, and they would mentor people through

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those chat boards. Well, once a year, they would

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have a get together over in Mississippi, anybody

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that wanted to come could come. That was the

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invitation. JP invited me to come to one of those.

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It was I think bud five is what the fifth one

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is when I went to when I got there, I was just

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full yappy fashion. Once you got there. It was

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at Mr. Bud's house. Okay. Well once you got there

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Bud was going to give you a nickname and it took

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him all of about five minutes before he gave

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me one. He said I'm gonna call you yap yap and

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I said yap yap. He said yeah you won't show up

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and I said well I accept it. So we went through

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the whole weekend and you know had a great time.

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Opportunities opened up from that but it was

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a year later. You talk about fast -forwarding.

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A year later I went to Bud's six. And when I

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showed up and said hello to everybody Big Bud

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walks up and he says, okay. Yep. Yep. He said

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this year He said well you're gonna you're gonna

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take this group of people and you're gonna go

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do this and this group of people And they're

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gonna go JP and they go go do that. So I went

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for showing up to learn to the next year I had

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groups of people that I was teaching and That

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was pretty amazing and then things kind of went

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from there um JP and I continued our friendship

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and one day he said man You need to get a YouTube

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channel you know let's get you up a channel going

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and he said I'll help support it you know and

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I had other people that did and it kept me going

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because YouTube's really a hard platform to get

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into anybody can post a video I mean you got

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a cell phone you can make a video it's a matter

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of learning how to make content that keeps people

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watching if I go back and I look at some of my

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earlier stuff a camera sitting on a tripod just

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pretty much one angle of it that's all I knew

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how to do I was imitating those that I saw we

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kind of went from there to you know progress

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in our how we made our content but it was just

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put the videos out and continue to grow and it

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gets real disheartening when you know you put

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your stuff out there and you're getting you know

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two or three thousand views and then all of a

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sudden one year i just happened to hit just right

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the video that put me on the map was one that

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i got a phone call for a huge swarm monster -sized

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swarm in a in a cedar tree And I get there and

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was like, whoa, this is so cool. Backed my truck

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up under, put out a tarp, put out 10 frame box

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on it, climbed on top of my truck, and all I

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had to record it was my cell phone. and I hit

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record and started recording. It was a little

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bit wobbly in there. It was my worst video. Seven

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minutes later after all this went through I'm

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not giving you all the details so that way people

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look down in the description everything they

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can go find it. But if they don't see it it's

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just find me yappy beeman and the video is if

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I hadn't caught it on camera you wouldn't believe

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me. The reason why I titled that was because

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I didn't even think about it. There was one particular

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thing that happens in this swarm that never happens

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and that is I had reached up there and had a

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handful of bees and I was like oh yeah the bees

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are great shook them down and when I looked back

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right where my hand had just pulled those bees

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out there was the queen and that quick reached

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up grabbed a hold over had her in my hand and

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I'm like now what do I do I'm holding the camera

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I'm holding the bees can't put her in a cage

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I have the cage right there you don't have that

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many hands no so I totally because I wasn't stopping

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the recording I just said you know hang out people

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only got one hand well got the cage put her in

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there and then I put it back up and I'm holding

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the camera and I'm like this never happens it

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actually had happened to me twice in 15 years

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the first time it happened was similar but not

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completely the same but the first time that happened

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was five days earlier than that where I had a

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small swarm in a in a bush and as I was looking

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at it the Queen just comes walking right across

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the top I mean as soon as I saw her reach down

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grabbed her didn't have a cage on me or nothing

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and Had to go take her go back to the truck get

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that put her in there and you know, it's like

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here we go this was five days later and Completely

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different in sizes, but it was just like it blew

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my mind But that's the one that actually just

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my whole channel was blessed because that's the

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one that blew up. Just kind of went from there.

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So I went from four years of YouTube and 5 ,000

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subscribers to a month later it started rolling.

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And it rolled and rolled and when I was watching

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it and it hit a million views. I was watching

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the numbers and I thought man I'm gonna go to

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bed. When I wake up in the morning I think this

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is gonna have another million. because of how

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it was rolling and I got up the next morning

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and I'm watching because man it's ticking down

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you know six o 'clock in the morning and then

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all of a sudden boom there hit a million but

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it was getting 50 ,000 views an hour at one point

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in time I was I had over 125 ,000 views per hour

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five six hours in a row and then it would drop

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back down a little bit but then it would boost

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and boom again so the the video has been seen

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all over the world It just you know it put me

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on the map and from there it's just been an awesome

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ride. That's so cool. Well let's talk about swarm

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removals a little bit. Okay. You mentioned to

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me earlier you were out doing a regular job today.

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You're in Alabama. Yes sir. Tell me what a typical

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day is like and maybe today is a good example.

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If I'm not at the fire hall and it's not a Sunday

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family day and I generally try not to do on Saturdays

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either but I'll schedule Monday through Friday

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but the typical day is taking two or three calls

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about bees and then from there it's you know

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driving to one I could travel 10 minutes away

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or I can travel an hour and a half away but once

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I get there it's pretty much you know assess

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the situation find out where they're at pick

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the best route to go to get them that causes

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the least amount of damage to a home and the

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easiest to repair for the customer. Educating

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the customers are probably the most important

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thing that you can do when it comes to bee removals

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because the general public you know doesn't understand

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what we know. We are beekeepers, we understand

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bees, but to try to explain that to people is

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that You're in a good place. It's okay. They're

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not gonna hurt your house. They're not out to

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hurt you Don't do this don't do this But if anything

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weird happens call me and I'll generally I spend

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about 45 minutes on the phone with everybody

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that calls me Assessing the situation I've done

00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:48.799
this enough to where you can send me a picture

00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.200
of the side of your house And I can tell you

00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:52.360
where your bees are at I don't you know I already

00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.600
know they get into just about everything they

00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.519
can get into but you just given the customers

00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.820
home respect educate them and Do the best job

00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:03.720
that you can at a fair price and it will it will

00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:06.019
continue to come back to you We could go off

00:14:06.019 --> 00:14:08.720
on a whole tangent when it comes to how I feel

00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.179
about some people and doing their b removals

00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.720
I mean not that i'm some kind of an expert at

00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:16.340
it. I just feel like I do a good job There are

00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:18.500
a lot of good b removers out there. I just happen

00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:22.600
to be one that's known in doing that I feel like

00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.769
i'm getting to a point now where I'm going to

00:14:25.769 --> 00:14:28.129
start going down a road where I start explaining

00:14:28.129 --> 00:14:30.110
to people, you know, those different things,

00:14:30.570 --> 00:14:35.090
the best practices as a remover, but also you

00:14:35.090 --> 00:14:38.649
got to be real careful in how you share your

00:14:38.649 --> 00:14:41.429
information. There's been a couple of people

00:14:41.429 --> 00:14:43.870
that, you know, they want to, they want to post

00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:46.509
their progress and, and I can't say whether they

00:14:46.509 --> 00:14:48.909
understand what they're doing. Probably not,

00:14:49.190 --> 00:14:51.549
but I'll give you an example. There's, there's

00:14:51.549 --> 00:14:54.370
a guy that, um, has been doing really well this

00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:57.429
year in his location we I see his social media

00:14:57.429 --> 00:14:59.909
posts one of the posts that he showed was the

00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:02.629
basement of a home and it was a block foundation

00:15:02.629 --> 00:15:05.809
so the whole wall you know everything's all cinder

00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:11.370
block had bees in it in that he literally went

00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:13.799
in through there and starts busting concrete

00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.019
blocks now if we you know to those that don't

00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.720
understand the concrete block you have this square

00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.179
piece of concrete but it's got a hollow here

00:15:21.179 --> 00:15:23.759
a center support a hollow here and that's what

00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.139
the bees get into the way they're laid they can

00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:29.039
kind of it's almost like uh what was that what's

00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:30.440
that little game where you put the little red

00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.740
and black little circles down into it and it

00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:34.399
falls down through the little thing and you got

00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:38.250
to stack them connect four Yeah, something like

00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.610
that, yeah. Where you're doing four in a row

00:15:40.610 --> 00:15:43.309
vertically, horizontally, diagonally, something

00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:45.950
like that. So, you know, it can kind of end up

00:15:45.950 --> 00:15:48.169
looking like that in some weird way, you know

00:15:48.169 --> 00:15:50.649
what I'm saying. We're showing pictures of this

00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:53.289
job and all these holes that he had cut in that

00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:56.049
cinder block. And this is what's probably going

00:15:56.049 --> 00:15:59.090
to get me excommunicated from a B community.

00:16:00.470 --> 00:16:03.250
But I'm going to tell you, I'll stand in front

00:16:03.250 --> 00:16:05.490
of a thousand people and argue with every one

00:16:05.490 --> 00:16:08.019
of them. One of my serious mottos is this cost

00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:12.100
versus benefit. Here's the thought process. How

00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:15.580
much does a normal package of bees cost in your

00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:19.159
area? If you needed to start a beehive and you

00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:21.000
ordered a package of bees, how much would it

00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:26.799
cost? Yeah, they're gonna be around 150 to 180.

00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:31.490
Okay. And a nuc is more like 200. Okay, and here

00:16:31.490 --> 00:16:33.970
in Alabama the the state association some of

00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:36.529
the clubs that's their fundraiser So they'll

00:16:36.529 --> 00:16:39.029
sell they sell nukes for her. I mean packages

00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:42.970
for 130 to 150. Okay, depending on how far they

00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:45.049
got a drive to deliver them There's usually a

00:16:45.049 --> 00:16:48.110
little bit more gas price added to it and you

00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:50.610
know with the five frame nuke ready to go 2 to

00:16:50.610 --> 00:16:55.230
225 250 depending on average price. So let me

00:16:55.230 --> 00:16:58.360
ask you a question if a Three pound package of

00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.039
bees on average is $150. How much is it worth

00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:05.539
if it's in grandma's wall? How much are those

00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:10.079
bees really worth? To get out? No, just once

00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.140
they're out, they're in them. You got a queen,

00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.079
you got some bees. How much are those bees really

00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:16.259
worth? I'm not sure where you're going with that.

00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:20.700
I guess the same amount. Okay, that's... it's

00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:23.299
not a trick question. Three pound package of

00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:27.569
bees and a queen is... 150 bucks. So please help

00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:29.509
me understand why we're going to cost grandma

00:17:29.509 --> 00:17:32.109
five to seven thousand dollars to take those

00:17:32.109 --> 00:17:36.130
bees out of her cinder block foundation. What

00:17:36.130 --> 00:17:38.509
are we saving? Here's another thought process

00:17:38.509 --> 00:17:40.769
when you start busting and cutting all that concrete

00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:43.789
up or you're you got a saw so you can cut brick

00:17:43.789 --> 00:17:48.210
open. When you start spinning a blade on mortar

00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:53.130
it turns to such rough it granulate powders it.

00:17:53.889 --> 00:17:57.630
And when that powder gets on bees, they have

00:17:57.630 --> 00:18:00.589
a difficult time getting it off. And you actually

00:18:00.589 --> 00:18:04.630
will kill more bees than you save. Does it happen

00:18:04.630 --> 00:18:07.309
all the time? No. We could argue that. It could

00:18:07.309 --> 00:18:09.369
be argued that, you know, depending on the size

00:18:09.369 --> 00:18:11.269
of the colony, some different things. But the

00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:15.289
question comes down to how much is the cost versus

00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:18.490
the benefit on removing bees in something that's

00:18:18.490 --> 00:18:21.230
going to cost thousands of dollars to repair?

00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:25.589
I see where you're going. So in my world, it

00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:29.309
is the most difficult conversation to have. I

00:18:29.309 --> 00:18:31.930
have that with each individual customer, but

00:18:31.930 --> 00:18:35.470
there are times where you have to give advice

00:18:35.470 --> 00:18:39.150
on a customer making a decision that they have

00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:41.109
to weigh it and then make it for themselves.

00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:44.089
That's just part of what I have to do with my

00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:46.549
customers. I actually was having a conversation

00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:48.410
with a very good friend of mine that's up in

00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:50.750
Tennessee, and I posed that same question to

00:18:50.750 --> 00:18:53.569
him just a few days ago, and here's this beautiful,

00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:56.349
beautiful answer he gave me. When we got to it,

00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:58.690
he said, I asked him the same thing. I said,

00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:00.490
you know, where's the cost versus benefit if

00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:02.890
you have to go and cut open a cinder block foundation

00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:05.650
to get some bees out? And he said, well, we're

00:19:05.650 --> 00:19:09.170
beekeepers. It's our job to save them all. Quick

00:19:09.170 --> 00:19:12.109
break to discuss what just might be on your mind.

00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.319
Right now come on admit it. You're imagining

00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.539
the upcoming honey harvest because no matter

00:19:18.539 --> 00:19:20.400
where you live in the world It's either here

00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.839
now or it will be in the near future and Man

00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.259
Lake is making it so easy to plan for Click on

00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:30.599
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00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:35.119
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00:19:42.029 --> 00:19:44.769
there quite yet and the honey flows right around

00:19:44.769 --> 00:19:48.049
the corner, make sure you have extra supers on

00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:51.730
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00:19:52.089 --> 00:19:55.170
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00:19:55.170 --> 00:20:00.829
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00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:04.630
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00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:09.990
code MLBlove10. I said, okay. I said, well, I

00:20:09.990 --> 00:20:13.390
can save bees a hundred different ways. I said,

00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:16.430
but where the cost versus benefit, where do you

00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:19.210
draw the line? I put that out there because I

00:20:19.210 --> 00:20:21.470
want people to start thinking a little bit more

00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:24.009
in depth about it. Well, we live in the real

00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:26.509
world and people have to make real decisions

00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:31.369
like that. When you're a homeowner, sure. 5 ,000

00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:34.309
bucks or whatever that is. Grandma may not be

00:20:34.309 --> 00:20:37.589
able to afford that. Right. she may not be able

00:20:37.589 --> 00:20:39.829
to afford to save the bees even if she wants

00:20:39.829 --> 00:20:42.769
to right it don't matter how good of a remover

00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:45.650
you are there's something's got to get opened

00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:48.569
up and something's got to come out there's beekeepers

00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:51.609
probably screaming at me right now through the

00:20:51.609 --> 00:20:54.069
screen or listening to the podcast saying there's

00:20:54.069 --> 00:20:56.970
always a way to get the bees out no there's always

00:20:56.970 --> 00:21:01.700
a way to reduce the footprint of the bees to

00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:04.359
some degree if you have to go down a road that

00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:06.220
nobody wants to really talk about. I don't even

00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.180
want to talk about it but I'm getting them I

00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:10.880
want people to be thinking more about more than

00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:14.559
just about how much money they can make because

00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:16.740
that's something that I've noticed for the last

00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:19.539
probably five to seven years. There's a lot of

00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:21.319
people out there that want to remove bees and

00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:22.940
they want to do it for one or two reasons because

00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:25.210
they love bees and they want more. which is what

00:21:25.210 --> 00:21:27.809
got me into it. My first beehive I fell in love

00:21:27.809 --> 00:21:30.890
with bees. I still am. I just I sit out there

00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:33.650
in my yard you know and with a glass of tea on

00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:35.990
a on a nice day just leave me alone because I

00:21:35.990 --> 00:21:38.670
just love to watch bees. Then all of a sudden

00:21:38.670 --> 00:21:41.809
it is every year you get the brand new beekeeper

00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:43.730
comes along and they fall in you know oh I want

00:21:43.730 --> 00:21:46.329
more bees people even some people pay me to take

00:21:46.329 --> 00:21:48.940
their bees away from them. I would never tell

00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:50.839
anybody not to get into it. I just hoped that

00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:52.819
they would educate themselves about building

00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:54.740
construction and how to find them. If you want

00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:56.859
to put the investment in like, you know, a lot

00:21:56.859 --> 00:21:59.259
of other people have on doing the job right,

00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.380
go for it. But it takes a lot to get into it

00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:06.579
and experience and common sense really need to

00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:08.940
go along with that. Now you get to the point

00:22:08.940 --> 00:22:11.460
where you're doing it, but you have to develop

00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:14.099
that thought process was where I was going on.

00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:18.470
What's best for the customer and the bees. There's

00:22:18.470 --> 00:22:20.609
you got to figure that out and that's up to the

00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:22.309
individual beekeeper and I'm gonna leave it at

00:22:22.309 --> 00:22:25.750
that But when I was saying that you know, there's

00:22:25.750 --> 00:22:27.930
beekeepers that are probably gonna be just dog

00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:30.869
cussing me over this thought process There's

00:22:30.869 --> 00:22:33.470
a guy that used to be up in Huntsville, Alabama

00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:36.990
His program was that if he couldn't get he wouldn't

00:22:36.990 --> 00:22:39.569
open up anything in the house. That's that was

00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:41.750
his selling point He's gonna put a trap out coming

00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:43.569
on there. He's gonna hang a box there. I'll come

00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:46.740
back in two weeks. We're all good I've met the

00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:48.720
man one time I can't tell you what his name is

00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.400
and bless him I hope he's still alive I wouldn't

00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:53.799
wish anything less but I can't tell you how many

00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:57.299
times I've been in behind him in Huntsville because

00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:01.660
of re -infestations. The common sense when I

00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:05.619
talk about removal and thought processes. If

00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:09.200
a queen lays an egg today in a cell how many

00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:11.579
days does it take for that egg to hatch into

00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:14.880
a bee walking around inside that colony? 21 days.

00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.579
Mm -hmm. So if you go and put a trap out on the

00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:21.700
side of anything and two weeks later, you're

00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:25.319
not seeing any bees come out. So now I'm successful.

00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:27.859
I'm done. Now I can pull my cone and I seal it

00:23:27.859 --> 00:23:29.740
up and I go on down the road. What have you done?

00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:31.960
Nothing. You've killed all those bees that are

00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.799
gonna hatch in there. Yeah, here's the thing.

00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.759
In two weeks, you've gotten all your foragers

00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:40.960
out and you've gotten the two -week -old bees

00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:44.839
to three -week -old bees out. because they're

00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:46.940
the ones that came out to do orientation flights

00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:49.500
but never weren't able to get back in so they

00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:53.319
went into your box all right but there's still

00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:58.039
a couple of pounds give or take of bees that

00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:02.460
have not yet aged to the point of doing an orientation

00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:04.480
flight that are still walking around in there

00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:07.839
taking care of the queen uh working honey taking

00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.420
care of the rest of the bees that are about to

00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:12.430
hatch out You still got three -fourths of your

00:24:12.430 --> 00:24:15.869
colony still in the void. And the queen. And

00:24:15.869 --> 00:24:18.990
the queen. So I'll say that's a whole colony.

00:24:19.250 --> 00:24:22.029
Yeah, still in there. Still got plenty of resources.

00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:24.069
They still got plenty of pollen. They still got

00:24:24.069 --> 00:24:26.529
plenty of honey. Alright, that they can work

00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:29.809
with. And all you've done is you've locked them

00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:33.069
in there. Now whether or not, and I make no even

00:24:33.069 --> 00:24:36.069
thought that whether the person who has done

00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:38.349
this in the past or others who have done this

00:24:38.349 --> 00:24:40.450
in the past. I've always heard two weeks is your

00:24:40.450 --> 00:24:42.970
window to do a trap out and and I still beat

00:24:42.970 --> 00:24:45.210
my head up against the wall on the thought process

00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:48.049
of that because it takes three weeks just to

00:24:48.049 --> 00:24:50.710
get what she laid today the day you put the cone

00:24:50.710 --> 00:24:52.829
on. Three weeks from now they're just hatching

00:24:52.829 --> 00:24:54.769
and then there's another two weeks before they're

00:24:54.769 --> 00:24:56.730
gonna orient do orientation flights and come

00:24:56.730 --> 00:25:00.490
out. That's five weeks. So how long do you keep

00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:04.089
on doing a trap out? How many times, how many

00:25:04.089 --> 00:25:06.650
trips back and forth? Now, let me get you on

00:25:06.650 --> 00:25:10.130
this one. Most people say they can, you know,

00:25:10.349 --> 00:25:13.430
debatably can get a queen out. Most of them say

00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:15.650
no, you never will. Well, you never will because

00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:19.269
you never left it in there long enough. Where

00:25:19.269 --> 00:25:21.829
you can successfully get a queen out of a trap

00:25:21.829 --> 00:25:26.930
out is when the bees, the number of bees in that

00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:29.369
void weaken and they start getting overrun by

00:25:29.369 --> 00:25:34.579
hive beetles. anytime a colony gets weak they're

00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:37.420
going to do their last ditch effort to survive

00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:39.680
but they're gonna abandon where they're at so

00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:44.680
they push the queen out and the last ditch effort

00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.559
of and then next thing you know they're coming

00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:49.839
out there and then everybody's going hey man

00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:51.680
that smells like home over there so they end

00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.900
up going to your box and there's a real high

00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:57.359
potential that you can catch your queen, which

00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:59.960
would be the hope and joy of what we would do.

00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.400
But how long would it take? How long do you need

00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.759
to leave it there? But let's go back to another

00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:09.059
thought process in regards to doing a trap out.

00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.640
How long does it take? And there's a lot of different

00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:14.859
ways that they're set up. And there's a hope

00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:18.680
that the bees in your box will somehow smell

00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:21.799
the queen and everything that's in the original

00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:24.519
hive. It's like they they don't want to lose

00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:26.759
that connection they just realize they're in

00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:31.579
a different box. Well if you're not careful because

00:26:31.579 --> 00:26:34.819
some people can't just set a beehive entrance

00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:36.980
right next to the hole in the base of that cone.

00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:41.200
So they they've got their trap cone, they got

00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.900
their box sitting over here. Once this becomes

00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:48.339
its own entity of the trap out catch box then

00:26:48.339 --> 00:26:51.380
that becomes a colony on its own which with no

00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:55.079
queen does what? They start creating laying workers.

00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:59.319
So now what have you saved? If you don't do this

00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:03.000
part right, if you're gonna do a trap out, then

00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:05.220
you need to be over here about every seven to

00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:09.220
ten days putting a brand new frame of capped

00:27:09.220 --> 00:27:13.059
brood in that box. And you better make sure that

00:27:13.059 --> 00:27:14.799
you didn't give him a queen cell. I mean you

00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.960
better make, I mean an egg to make a queen with.

00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.559
You see this is the in -depth think about what

00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:23.720
you're doing before you get into it How much

00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:26.559
are you really gonna have to put into it now?

00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:28.859
Grandma called you and said I want you I want

00:27:28.859 --> 00:27:30.819
these bees out of here All you're gonna do is

00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:32.960
remove bees if you do a trap out You're still

00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.460
leaving the mess and what could happen in behind

00:27:35.460 --> 00:27:38.119
there because you just can't open something up.

00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:41.539
So that's the process I will do that process

00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.099
and it's within limitation, but you know, it's

00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:48.000
also I'm having to show up at Grandma's house

00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.779
every ten days to check the bees and to add brood

00:27:52.779 --> 00:27:56.599
so that they don't create a new queen, I mean,

00:27:56.819 --> 00:27:59.859
laying workers. And what if she's an hour drive

00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:03.140
away? You're running up a big bill at this point.

00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:08.789
Exactly. So... The person who's doing the job

00:28:08.789 --> 00:28:11.069
just needs to make whatever decision that they

00:28:11.069 --> 00:28:13.309
need to I'm just putting a thought process I'm

00:28:13.309 --> 00:28:15.170
kind of I'm kind of starting to snowball going

00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:19.009
down the hill Okay, you all just need to pick

00:28:19.009 --> 00:28:21.130
it up You just pick it up and make a snowman

00:28:21.130 --> 00:28:23.609
with it. However, you feel you need to All right,

00:28:23.609 --> 00:28:25.309
and that's it. That's where I'm gonna leave that

00:28:25.309 --> 00:28:28.230
Well, there's a lot of controversial things that

00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:31.710
we could talk about on this topic I have read

00:28:31.710 --> 00:28:36.160
about and actually heard of people who have seen

00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:40.220
videos on YouTube and I'm not naming any specific

00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:44.359
people but someone with a female with their hair

00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:47.559
done perfectly and they look like they're going

00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:50.539
to you know, whatever they're done up to the

00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:55.380
nines and they're opening up the floor of a shed

00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:59.859
or something and taking all these bees out and

00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:02.960
saving the bees and people that don't know what

00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:06.269
they're doing unfortunately See that without

00:29:06.269 --> 00:29:07.990
some kind of a warning and think they can do

00:29:07.990 --> 00:29:11.230
the same thing and end up in the emergency room

00:29:11.230 --> 00:29:15.009
So I can't tell you how many times that people

00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:19.589
have seen me without a bee suit on I rarely wear

00:29:19.589 --> 00:29:23.009
a bee suit and it's because by the time I put

00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:25.549
them you know the hood on and the black on that

00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:28.650
and It makes it very difficult to see anything

00:29:28.650 --> 00:29:33.130
in there. So I have learned How to treat my bees

00:29:33.130 --> 00:29:38.160
like ladies colony of bees depending on the time

00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:41.799
of the year just work with me on this is 97 %

00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:44.960
female in the wintertime it's probably about

00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:49.839
99 .9 % female and there's always that one drone

00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:52.980
that you know snuck in there and and they just

00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:55.960
they liked him so they let him stay but you understand

00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:58.539
the basics of the math the point is it don't

00:29:58.539 --> 00:30:01.440
matter what the percentage is At the end of all

00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:04.200
this if you treat them like ladies Then you're

00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:05.940
gonna be able to get a little farther to the

00:30:05.940 --> 00:30:09.500
sweet stuff to get them removed, but they asked

00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:12.200
me well What's the deal? Well, you know, you're

00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.619
not wearing a suit. How do you do that? Blah

00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:17.440
blah blah. I Don't do it to impress anybody on

00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.140
my end back years ago You know, I told you about

00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:22.140
my first colony came from the back of a barn

00:30:22.140 --> 00:30:25.140
wall. Okay? Well, I had a suit I had the smoker

00:30:25.140 --> 00:30:27.299
I had it sitting up there next to the house and

00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:30.960
I had been watching JP's videos and JP never

00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:33.160
hardly wore a suit man sitting there on a bucket.

00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:34.940
He's cutting a piece of comb He's putting it

00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:37.660
in the frame bees are on it Rubber bands it in

00:30:37.660 --> 00:30:40.119
just ever so gentle takes it puts it in a box

00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:43.359
And I said I told my wife I said hey babies come

00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:46.569
here Said I want you to put this suit on I said

00:30:46.569 --> 00:30:48.329
come out here in the bee yard with me She looked

00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.569
at me like I was on drugs. She said oh hell no.

00:30:50.569 --> 00:30:53.430
I'm no no no no I said I need you to be out there

00:30:53.430 --> 00:30:56.509
with me. She's like why I said because if I die

00:30:56.509 --> 00:31:00.130
somebody needs to call 9 -1 -1 My point was that

00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:04.750
I was going to do what I saw him do I was putting

00:31:04.750 --> 00:31:08.289
skin in the game and when I say skin I mean Literally,

00:31:08.289 --> 00:31:11.259
yeah. Yeah. All right Mr. And Mrs. Beekeeper

00:31:11.259 --> 00:31:13.220
spend a lot of money on a really beautiful suit

00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:19.000
and you should be as protected as you can but

00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:22.319
Start leaving one of your gloves off. All right

00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:24.539
If you're right -handed make it your left hand

00:31:24.539 --> 00:31:26.339
and make sure you take a wedding ring off because

00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.579
you're gonna swell if you don't do it Right,

00:31:28.619 --> 00:31:32.099
okay in what they did was they would get in there

00:31:32.099 --> 00:31:34.900
and I saw a guy do this He calls me. He says

00:31:34.900 --> 00:31:36.880
me and my bees are just horribly aggressive.

00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:39.940
I don't know why You know, the guy came out,

00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:42.579
he helped us put him here. He wasn't even wearing

00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:44.519
a bee suit. Now I go in them and they're eating

00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:46.359
me up. What am I doing wrong? I said, put me

00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:49.039
on a video chat. He puts me on video chat and

00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:50.680
I said, do your normal thing. Just have your

00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:52.539
wife sit there and hold the phone. So she puts

00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.920
him up on phone. He takes the lid off. Smoke,

00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:59.140
smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke. Sets the lid down,

00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:01.480
gets in there and loosens up that first frame.

00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:04.799
And he goes, he said, can you see that? And he

00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:08.799
goes right back in. Smacks it right down. then

00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:11.880
he goes to the next frame and pulls that one

00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:15.220
and does the same thing i said stop took two

00:32:15.220 --> 00:32:18.859
frames that's all i need stop give him a little

00:32:18.859 --> 00:32:20.539
puff of smoke put the lid on it i'll see you

00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:23.539
tomorrow so i get over there and i said let me

00:32:23.539 --> 00:32:26.619
ask you a question i said if i come we're we're

00:32:26.619 --> 00:32:28.000
standing out in the bee yard i said if i look

00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.799
at you right now i said i just reach back to

00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:31.680
kansas and slap you upside the face what are

00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:34.630
you going to do It's a big old boy. He said I

00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:36.569
probably don't you know do things that I can't

00:32:36.569 --> 00:32:40.390
speak on the podcast and I said Exactly. I said

00:32:40.390 --> 00:32:43.170
do you treat your wife like you do that beehive

00:32:43.170 --> 00:32:44.910
and it kind of took him for a minute He said

00:32:44.910 --> 00:32:48.750
what do you mean? I? Said you pop the lid you

00:32:48.750 --> 00:32:51.970
pulled this up you did this you put it back down

00:32:51.970 --> 00:32:54.930
in there I said and you rolled these bees you

00:32:54.930 --> 00:32:57.750
have squash bees. I said you you pissed them

00:32:57.750 --> 00:33:00.529
off So my question is do you want to treat your

00:33:00.529 --> 00:33:03.200
bees like your wife? Or do you want to treat

00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:06.180
your bees like you want to treat me after I slapped

00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:07.799
a dog out of you because you're treating your

00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:10.099
bees mean And it kind of looked at me. I said

00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:13.740
now watch what I do. I Popped the lid. I took

00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:17.000
the first frame out Nice and slow. We looked

00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:19.619
at it. I said always gonna be a feed frame blah

00:33:19.619 --> 00:33:23.039
blah blah, then I set it down 99 .9 % chance.

00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:24.880
There's not gonna be a queen on a honey frame

00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.700
So I set it down then I moved the next one give

00:33:28.700 --> 00:33:31.279
it a little room pull it up look at it put it

00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.140
in the spot of the first one because now i've

00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:34.960
got a gap now i can do the second all the way

00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:36.960
to the other end found the queen put it back

00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.380
in there and i didn't have a suit on and i didn't

00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:42.099
get stung one time and and he was like oh my

00:33:42.099 --> 00:33:43.920
god that's the craziest thing in the world but

00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:46.000
you got to treat them like ladies it's there's

00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.220
so much to so many things that we learn in this

00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:51.859
hobby there's so many things that we need to

00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:55.210
learn that aren't put in the books People just

00:33:55.210 --> 00:33:57.609
go out there and they they get this, you know

00:33:57.609 --> 00:34:00.109
a box and some bees and I got people that will

00:34:00.109 --> 00:34:02.369
call me all the time You know, you see it on

00:34:02.369 --> 00:34:06.190
social media and I respect it. I Don't mean to

00:34:06.190 --> 00:34:09.130
speak ill of it But if you show a picture of

00:34:09.130 --> 00:34:10.909
a drone and you're wanting to know if it's your

00:34:10.909 --> 00:34:14.849
queen You have not taken the time to learn yet

00:34:14.849 --> 00:34:18.690
the basics of stuff and my only point earlier

00:34:18.690 --> 00:34:23.239
with this topic was Sometimes we need to just

00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:26.139
let people know that may be watching. If you

00:34:26.139 --> 00:34:29.000
don't have experience, don't try to do this.

00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:32.119
I agree, and I know who you're talking about.

00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:34.860
Because we get people who have never been in

00:34:34.860 --> 00:34:37.440
a beehive before, never been close to bees before.

00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:40.219
They try to do this. They don't know how to be

00:34:40.219 --> 00:34:42.980
as gentle. They don't know how to read the temperament

00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:46.519
of the bees ahead of time. They may have a lot

00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:50.300
of fear going on, which bees can smell. they

00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:53.480
can get themselves in trouble so that that was

00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:56.059
my only point but I totally agree with you on

00:34:56.059 --> 00:34:58.760
so much of this I think one of the best things

00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:02.119
I ever did when I was a relatively new beekeeper

00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:06.239
after a year or so was quit wearing those great

00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:10.860
big leather gloves because I couldn't pull out

00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:13.539
of frame without squishing bees I couldn't put

00:35:13.539 --> 00:35:16.880
it back in without it kind of clumping down hard

00:35:17.210 --> 00:35:20.949
Mm -hmm, and if you have the dexterity even if

00:35:20.949 --> 00:35:22.949
you're using some nitrile gloves or something

00:35:22.949 --> 00:35:26.269
you have more dexterity and you can just very

00:35:26.269 --> 00:35:33.829
calmly Right do this calm slow deliberate Those

00:35:33.829 --> 00:35:36.329
are some of the words right there is is what

00:35:36.329 --> 00:35:38.429
you're talking about and I couldn't agree more

00:35:38.429 --> 00:35:42.690
Yeah, now I know who your example is and watching

00:35:42.690 --> 00:35:46.889
some of those examples It kind of gets fresh

00:35:46.889 --> 00:35:50.489
at first. I really got frustrated at it and I'm

00:35:50.489 --> 00:35:53.869
sorry, but you know 15 years ago. I was you know,

00:35:53.869 --> 00:35:56.230
I was I was okay looking I mean, I've gotten

00:35:56.230 --> 00:35:58.590
a few years on me and a few more pounds I'm and

00:35:58.590 --> 00:36:01.329
and I'm telling you I'm I'm I'm wore out but

00:36:01.329 --> 00:36:04.809
the point there is so much that actually can

00:36:04.809 --> 00:36:09.809
be good in some of the things that we Look at

00:36:09.809 --> 00:36:12.190
and we scratch our head going. This is somebody

00:36:12.190 --> 00:36:16.550
that's just using a pretty face and a nice voice

00:36:16.550 --> 00:36:20.730
to sell a video. It doesn't matter what the topic

00:36:20.730 --> 00:36:23.329
is. I've seen a few of those. There's a few of

00:36:23.329 --> 00:36:25.429
them out there that when I see them running around

00:36:25.429 --> 00:36:28.210
in a pair of shorts and an athletic top, I'm

00:36:28.210 --> 00:36:30.590
thinking just go start an OnlyFans page. I mean,

00:36:30.730 --> 00:36:35.489
you're that close to it because that's not representing

00:36:35.489 --> 00:36:39.630
beekeeping. What I would wish for, it ain't ever

00:36:39.630 --> 00:36:42.309
going to happen. But if you want to educate people,

00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:45.420
Then make it about the bees. Okay. This is what

00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:48.639
we're here to love and protect and to learn and

00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:53.260
grow It's about the bees Not if my hair is up

00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:55.019
in the nice and you know when I'm wearing the

00:36:55.019 --> 00:36:58.059
right outfit and I can you know But you throw

00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:00.659
a little monetization on a video Well, the more

00:37:00.659 --> 00:37:03.360
views you get the more money you make so to each

00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.920
their own. There's gonna be an audience out there

00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:09.210
for it I have an audience of people that enjoy

00:37:09.210 --> 00:37:11.929
my content because I make it fun. I don't get

00:37:11.929 --> 00:37:14.909
real technical when I give in my videos. I call

00:37:14.909 --> 00:37:19.030
them my girls. Okay, I call the queen mama and

00:37:19.030 --> 00:37:22.550
I keep it simple because I want somebody that

00:37:22.550 --> 00:37:25.050
when they see my videos they don't feel like

00:37:25.050 --> 00:37:28.190
they're getting a classroom lesson from a scientist

00:37:28.190 --> 00:37:31.989
or a professor that's speaking over their head

00:37:31.989 --> 00:37:34.829
in something that they didn't teach in school.

00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:38.820
One of the other things about some of the people

00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:42.760
who make those videos that appear just way too

00:37:42.760 --> 00:37:45.860
easy. They are educating people. They are bringing

00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:48.719
to the forefront that there are people out there

00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:51.579
that can actually come and save, remove, and

00:37:51.579 --> 00:37:55.179
re -home your bees. And for that, I absolutely

00:37:55.179 --> 00:37:58.559
adore some of them. I might scratch my head and

00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.880
be mad because they got more views than I did.

00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.539
But what they're doing is and no correlation

00:38:04.539 --> 00:38:07.380
to anything, but Erica from Texas Bee Works.

00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:11.159
They'll record their whole video and then she

00:38:11.159 --> 00:38:13.800
goes back, she edits the video and does voiceovers

00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:16.159
on it. Got a very calm demeanor about herself.

00:38:16.260 --> 00:38:21.659
She shares a story and people want to watch that.

00:38:22.139 --> 00:38:25.219
Kudos to Erica for doing that. And for letting

00:38:25.219 --> 00:38:28.059
people know that we can save the bees, not just

00:38:28.059 --> 00:38:31.099
exterminate the bees when we have some kind of

00:38:31.099 --> 00:38:34.960
an infestation. right so yes absolutely that's

00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:37.360
a great message hey i don't want to keep you

00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:40.079
too much longer i want to ask you one last thing

00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:43.239
i want you to think over the years of one of

00:38:43.239 --> 00:38:47.139
your most crazy bee removals that you've done

00:38:47.139 --> 00:38:49.860
can you think of one to tell us about one or

00:38:49.860 --> 00:38:53.579
two all right so we're going to circle back to

00:38:53.579 --> 00:38:56.280
where we started and we'll start to work towards

00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:59.460
our end i was invited over to mississippi to

00:38:59.460 --> 00:39:03.079
the bud gathering okay actually I think you've

00:39:03.079 --> 00:39:06.260
had one of your guests was Emily Mueller up from

00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:10.019
Ohio. She was great. She was on recently. Yes.

00:39:10.480 --> 00:39:13.619
So Emily and I met each other and met her husband

00:39:13.619 --> 00:39:16.639
and all that at the Bud gatherings. What's so

00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:19.159
beautiful about her is the one thing that with

00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:23.039
Emily, we were in a yard that had a huge swarm

00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:26.000
up in the tree. Everybody was ready to go to

00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:28.989
lunch man. It was like just. Time was not on

00:39:28.989 --> 00:39:32.469
our side, but this one particular swarm I caught

00:39:32.469 --> 00:39:35.630
and we shook it down to a box and the question

00:39:35.630 --> 00:39:38.469
came up about Catching a swarm with unmated Queens.

00:39:38.489 --> 00:39:41.349
I said every swarm you catch is potentially got

00:39:41.349 --> 00:39:44.070
unmated Queens in it We got to looking at this

00:39:44.070 --> 00:39:47.269
one. It was the example of that Conversation

00:39:47.269 --> 00:39:49.550
we'd had that conversation previously now we

00:39:49.550 --> 00:39:52.809
get here and shook him in there and we start

00:39:52.809 --> 00:39:55.610
going through and I caught you know what I would

00:39:55.610 --> 00:39:58.090
call an unmated queen based on her size or shape

00:39:58.090 --> 00:40:00.550
and everything else once I caught her and we

00:40:00.550 --> 00:40:02.130
put her in a cage I said there'll be another

00:40:02.130 --> 00:40:05.730
one in here but watch the bees because the bees

00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:09.409
are going to start running to where she goes

00:40:09.409 --> 00:40:12.449
but the thing is is she's gonna bounce back and

00:40:12.449 --> 00:40:14.789
forth and you watch him I mean they'll just do

00:40:14.789 --> 00:40:16.829
it everybody's going this way and all of a sudden

00:40:16.829 --> 00:40:18.829
nope that queen ran up underneath them frames

00:40:18.829 --> 00:40:21.150
and she's going over there and man it was like

00:40:21.150 --> 00:40:23.969
watching a nascar race all right but with about

00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:28.360
10 ,000 bees and I think I know we caught two

00:40:28.360 --> 00:40:31.260
for sure may have been three You know little

00:40:31.260 --> 00:40:34.300
virgin queens in there. It's just the observation

00:40:34.300 --> 00:40:37.500
of but I Can't remember if it was our first year

00:40:37.500 --> 00:40:42.219
together. I think it was the the craziest beehive

00:40:42.219 --> 00:40:45.519
That we removed there was an old farmhouse out,

00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:49.079
you know in the middle of nowhere If I remember

00:40:49.079 --> 00:40:51.179
right the house was probably about 150 years

00:40:51.179 --> 00:40:53.800
old. Been in the family generation after generation

00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:57.280
and they they were redoing this entire house.

00:40:57.340 --> 00:40:59.719
I mean it was just a it was a top -to -bottom

00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:03.019
complete redo. They had in one of the walls they

00:41:03.019 --> 00:41:06.380
had a bee colony in it that they had known to

00:41:06.380 --> 00:41:09.099
be there for over 75 years. Now this house was

00:41:09.099 --> 00:41:11.239
made out of four by fours. It wasn't just two

00:41:11.239 --> 00:41:13.340
by fours. They made them out of four by fours

00:41:13.340 --> 00:41:16.599
back then. Rough cut lumber four by fours. I

00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:19.659
want to say the the void between the studs was

00:41:19.659 --> 00:41:22.900
roughly about two feet. It wasn't the 16 inches

00:41:22.900 --> 00:41:26.099
we do because we go by two by fours and it was

00:41:26.099 --> 00:41:29.840
12 feet tall. With the help of a lot of people

00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:32.239
that was the educational thing that we did that

00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:36.699
year but that thing was monster size and by the

00:41:36.699 --> 00:41:38.820
time it was all said and done with the group

00:41:38.820 --> 00:41:41.739
we caught the queen we spent two days removing

00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:44.760
this thing. I have never in my life seen so much

00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:48.219
bees and comb until we got the one the next year

00:41:48.219 --> 00:41:50.800
upstairs that they had known to be in that wall

00:41:50.800 --> 00:41:55.400
for every bit of 45 years. There was a bedroom

00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:58.519
wall full of bees and comb. Come to find out

00:41:58.519 --> 00:42:00.980
when they put the wall up to divide the bedrooms

00:42:00.980 --> 00:42:03.860
it wasn't on a stud so the bees were coming in

00:42:03.860 --> 00:42:06.320
and then they were they were getting past that

00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:10.289
the wall actually in part of the next room and

00:42:10.289 --> 00:42:13.489
it was probably six to eight feet wide in the

00:42:13.489 --> 00:42:17.170
studs and had if that thing didn't have a hundred

00:42:17.170 --> 00:42:18.969
gallon of honey in it it didn't have the first

00:42:18.969 --> 00:42:21.210
drop and it had been there 45 years up in that

00:42:21.210 --> 00:42:23.449
bedroom. Man have I done some crazy removals

00:42:23.449 --> 00:42:25.849
oh yeah I've had a lot of fun doing it but I

00:42:25.849 --> 00:42:28.809
will always remember those two removals in that

00:42:28.809 --> 00:42:31.030
one house because of how old and insane they

00:42:31.030 --> 00:42:34.369
were. Huge. By the way bless you for what you're

00:42:34.369 --> 00:42:38.269
doing because it is hard work. How hot does it

00:42:38.269 --> 00:42:41.769
get there in Alabama in the summer? Well, plenty

00:42:41.769 --> 00:42:44.090
hot, right? Yeah, I mean the humidity is what's

00:42:44.090 --> 00:42:47.449
going to kill you. Now granted, half of my removals,

00:42:47.610 --> 00:42:49.630
three quarters of my removals are inside of a

00:42:49.630 --> 00:42:51.949
house, you know, going between the floors or

00:42:51.949 --> 00:42:54.389
something like that. So, you know, I do I do

00:42:54.389 --> 00:42:57.690
really well with that. But like today, today

00:42:57.690 --> 00:43:00.610
was not a good day. I mean, just because of the

00:43:00.610 --> 00:43:03.010
tropical storm coming up, it was raining, had

00:43:03.010 --> 00:43:05.909
some good wind and the bees. you know no one

00:43:05.909 --> 00:43:08.989
bees they don't like weather changes atmospheric

00:43:08.989 --> 00:43:12.570
changes and they let me know it so it was a rough

00:43:12.570 --> 00:43:16.010
it was a rough one today but so far my eyes ain't

00:43:16.010 --> 00:43:18.329
too bad there's a little bit of swelling there

00:43:18.329 --> 00:43:21.130
there's still a little bit there but i generally

00:43:21.130 --> 00:43:23.750
by the time i you know get home take a hot shower

00:43:23.750 --> 00:43:26.630
by the time i go to bed i i look as normally

00:43:26.630 --> 00:43:30.179
ugly as i do without bee stings All right, yeah,

00:43:30.280 --> 00:43:32.800
P, it's been a lot of fun. Thank you very much

00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:35.199
and please keep in touch. Well, I appreciate

00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:37.699
you have me on and thanks for the opportunity.

00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:43.280
Thanks again for joining us on Be Love, Be Keeping

00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:46.360
presented by Man Lake. Another big thank you

00:43:46.360 --> 00:43:49.420
goes to Vita B Health for their support. Vita's

00:43:49.420 --> 00:43:52.619
Varroa Control Ranger products includes Epistan,

00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:57.079
Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic

00:43:57.079 --> 00:44:00.019
Acids Trips. Hey thanks a lot guys. And if you

00:44:00.019 --> 00:44:02.500
haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow the

00:44:02.500 --> 00:44:04.719
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00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:08.059
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00:44:08.059 --> 00:44:11.059
free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion

00:44:11.059 --> 00:44:14.139
or topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot

00:44:14.139 --> 00:44:19.579
me an And remember, if you're not just in it

00:44:19.579 --> 00:44:22.260
for the honey or the money, you're in it for

00:44:22.260 --> 00:44:23.900
the love. See you next week.