May I have your attention, please? The following
is not the real Jeff Fox review. If you do more
splits than a gymnast, you might be a beekeeper.
If you use a queen clip to keep your hair out
of your face during hive inspection, you might
be a beekeeper. says what's this sticky stuff
on your door handles you might be a beekeeper
welcome welcome to be love beekeeping presented
by our great friends over at man lake Today,
we'll be traveling to the Great White North for
a lively discussion with a beekeeper whose bees
are clustered for seven months of the year. But
first, we're beginning to get answers to the
Great American Bee Die Off of 2025. This press
release is titled, New USDA Research Links Early
2025 Honey Bee Losses to High Viral Loads and
Mite Resistance. Now, please bear with me as
I'm going to read most of this so that you can
hear exactly what the researchers are saying.
New research from the U .S. Department of Agriculture's
Agricultural Research Service, USDA, ARS, sheds
light on the causes behind the catastrophic honeybee
colony losses reported by commercial beekeepers
earlier this year. The findings point to alarming
high levels of viral infections vectored by Varroa
destructor, Varroa mites, with resistant genes
to a common treatment as key drivers of colony
collapse. The study, which analyzed samples from
six major commercial beekeeping operations affected
by the losses, provided the most detailed evidence
to date of the biological factors behind the
widespread die -offs. Collectively, these operations
managed nearly 184 ,000 colonies, or roughly
7 % of all U .S. hives, and reported losses averaged
over 60 % just as bees were being staged for
California's almond pollination season. Quote,
the beekeeping and bee health community appreciates
the work of the USDA ARS Bee Research Laboratories.
They quickly took samples of lost colonies, and
now that they've released the analysis, beekeepers
can better understand what happened and take
action," said Matt Malicka, Senior Project Director
at Keystone Policy Center, which facilitates
the Honey Bee Health Coalition. We understand
more analysis is occurring, and we look forward
to learning more about the other potential causes
of these significant colony losses. Researchers
found that deformed wing virus and acute bee
paralysis virus in both pooled colony samples
and individual bees showing shaking and other
signs of morbidity. Experimental inoculation
further confirmed these viruses as the likely
cause of mortality in collapsing colonies. Crucially,
All varroa mites collected from affected colonies
tested positive for a genetic marker linked to
resistance to amitras, the most commonly used
miticide in commercial beekeeping. This finding
underscores the urgent need for new tools and
integrated pest management strategies. Quote,
this is a critical moment for honeybee health,
said Patty Sundberg, president of the American
Beekeeping Federation. We can't continue relying
on a single line of defense against Varroa. These
mites are evolving quickly and our management
tools must evolve just as fast. We also need
to find treatments for these viruses and we await
the release of how pesticide exposure and poor
nutrition amplify the impacts from these viruses.
While viruses and varroa were confirmed as primary
contributors, the USDA ARS research also acknowledges
other stressors, including pesticide exposure,
poor nutrition, and environmental conditions
may have exacerbated the losses. The findings
released this week are a crucial first step in
providing beekeepers actionable information,
added Stephen Coy. president of the American
Honey Producers Association. It highlights the
necessity for additional miticides and methods
of controlling varroa and the associated viruses.
We urge the USDA to provide the results of the
impacts of nutritional, chemical, and environmental
stress as soon as possible. Beekeepers need a
complete picture of what happened in order to
make sound decisions regarding the health of
our colonies. In 2021, the Honey Bee Health Coalition
published Guide to Varroa mite controls for commercial
beekeeping operations, which laid out a vision
that addresses the risks of amatraz resistance
created by off -label use. The continuous use
of off -label amatraz with increasing dosage
as it becomes less effective is likely to cause
amatraz to lose its effectiveness. And I'll add
in here, it sounds like that's exactly what happened.
The USDA ARS researchers have submitted a manuscript
to a scientific journal for peer review. Now,
if you are the kind of person that wants to read
the whole study straight from the horse's mouth,
we will have that link in our show notes. So
go ahead and click down there and geek out to
your heart's content. I'd like to welcome to
the show today, Rae -Lynn White, coming to us
from, oh my gosh, Newfoundland, Canada. How are
you, Rae -Lynn? I'm doing great, and I really
love the way you pronounced it. It was proper.
Like, that's the way you say it. Newfoundland
or Rae -Lynn? Newfoundland. I'm like, don't kind
of fool that up, but you got it right on. Well,
I cheated. I've actually had somebody else on
the show last year from Newfoundland. That's
great. Absolutely. And she gave me the whole
rundown on, do not say newfound land or anything
like that, or you get a big time trouble. You
are good. But I have you on the show because
you're an expert in manuka honey, and that's
what we're talking about today. Oh, give it up.
I'm glad this is now live. Would you like to
explain our inside joke to people? I was on an
interview on CBC, which is a live television
show, but They also do audio podcasts and it's
also on YouTube. Anyway, they had callers call
in and one of the callers called in and asked
me about Manuka honey. And unfortunately, I'm
not too familiar about Manuka honey, being from
Newfoundland and all. We don't have that honey
here. So I can pass that to you if you want to
do a better explanation of it. I'm going to do
this instead. I'm going to invite a listener
from New Zealand to get a hold of me. Okay. Eric
at Be Love, Be Keeping dot com. Someone that
can talk about manuka honey and we'll do it sometime.
Fabulous. I would love that actually to be educated
about that. But you and I are not going to fake
our way through that one. We're going to talk
about things we know a little bit about. And
the first one, I can't do that one either because
you don't know anything about Varroa because
you don't have to deal with it. No, I do know
a lot about Varroa. simply because we always
like a prevention, we always want beekeepers
to be aware of it and educated about it. But
thank goodness, we are probably one of the only
places in the world, I think, that doesn't have
Varroa. We had a guest on the show that is on
Maui, or not Maui, Kauai. They don't have Varroa
there yet or Molokai. Other than that, I don't
know. I know Australia didn't do it for a while,
but they certainly have it now, unfortunately,
right? I'm guessing Antarctica is Varroa free.
Yeah, I would think so. So in Newfoundland back
in 1985, I believe the date, the government passed
a law basically saying that you were not allowed
to import any honeybees into the province. So
they did that because of the whole Varroa and
trying to stop it before it even got started.
And thankfully, it actually was successful. And
like I said, we have no Varroa here in the island.
That's fantastic. You are blessed. Tell us a
little bit more about beekeeping there. We know
that the weather's got to be rough. Yeah. Tell
us a little bit about that and things that you
do and don't do as beekeepers. For example, I
don't think you do a lot of pollination service.
No. So Newfoundland is a huge, huge province
in Canada. It is over a half million people,
but it's more land than people. So most people
are actually in the St. John's and surrounding
area, not so much all over. So we have a lot
of land that's not even used. Our biggest struggle
here in Newfoundland with beekeeping is the weather.
And that differs like in the East Coast is way
different than the West Coast. So East Coast,
we don't get as much snow. However, we get cold
temperatures and we get a lot of frost and thaw,
yeah, freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw, which
is obviously really hard for honeybees because
they're in the cluster. They get tricked, they
come out, and then they have to go back in. And
another thing, too, when you think about our
honeybees are in the cluster about seven months
of the year. So that's a long time. And during
that time, you know, we have to kind of peak
up on a kind of mild day to see if they have
thought in it and close it up quick. So that's
one of the big struggles we have in Newfoundland
is the weather. And again, like, our spring is
not that great. I'm only now, and it's June 6th.
No, June, what day is it? June 3rd. Is it June
3rd? And I'm only now seeing drones actually
in the hive. So very late. They're not sexually
mature yet. So I have some queens probably going
to go out mating next week. And I'm hoping that
they're going to do well with that. But like
I said, everything's a lot slower and a lot at
a slower pace here in Newfoundland with bees.
Yeah, without long of a time of them, I'll call
it trapped in the hive. I mean, if it's too cold,
they can't go outside, so they're trapped. There's
a couple of things. One, obviously, they need
enough to eat. Yeah. So I'd like to hear about
why you feed them. But are there problems with
the fact that they can't take a cleansing flight
for months? OK, so let the eating part. So I
really encouraged. encourage beekeepers, new
and seasoned beekeepers, that they have a hundred
pounds of honey going into their hive every winter.
And when you think about it, that's not just
a winter, that's seven months basically, that's
what they have to chow down on for that amount
of time. On top of that, I also, like when we're
getting into March, I often say that's the real
high month that we get a lot of losses, simply
because bees run out of food. So I'm often encouraging
people, you know what, go check to make sure
they have I mean, I'm not saying you obviously
cannot go up and do a live check and see if they
have honey because it's too cold, but I would
always make sure like March that they have some
fondant and constantly put fondant right on until
probably the first week in May. So that's the
feeding part. And yes, you're right in regards
to being trapped in the box. They are very much
so. Usually like in April, sometimes we have
warmer days. I often joke that We are, you know,
through school and stuff, I've learned, you know,
honey bees don't come out, yes, like 12 to 15
degrees. However, bees in Newfoundland are flying
free at probably six. They're very different
bees. They're very hardy bees. They're very climatized
to our weather and temperature. So there's nothing
but seeing bees flying around at six degrees.
So we get a kind of a warm day in April. We call
it yellow rain. It's everywhere. They just hold
it in and obviously let it out when they can.
But yeah, and then it gets a point where it goes,
they're freezing again. Obviously, then they're
trapped in again until probably the first week
in May. So again, we have the yellow rain again.
So it's kind of constant. So they're very herdy
bees. I think they're very, and very healthy,
obviously, because you mentioned it, Varroa,
but we also don't have wax moth. We don't have
hide beetle. We don't have tracheal mites. We
don't have... Foul brood? No, no foul brood,
European or American. Like, yeah, I mean, our
bees are really the big thing with us is the
weather. And a lot of people going into the winter
really don't know how to insulate their hives
properly. So you get a lot of moisture buildup.
And obviously, I always say wet bees, unfortunately,
are dead bees when it comes in the winter time.
Yeah. What's your philosophy on that insulation?
Yeah. So for me, I took the leap this year, actually,
and I overwinterized my hive. Eleven hives going
into the winter, and all of them survived. I'm
pretty happy about that. I actually put them
in a shed. The shed itself isn't insulated, however,
obviously it protects it from the wind. In Newfoundland,
that's probably the most important thing to do.
The wind is so cold and bitter. I did insulate
them even though they were in this shed. So I
go a little bit overboard with insulation, I
feel. However, I do the proper ventilation so
that there's no water buildup or dampness within
the hive. So I use the Bridget insulation that
you buy at Kent's. And I go all around it, obviously
cover it. And then I have a top pillow, which
is about eight inches high on the top of it,
like going right over your inner cover. And I
keep the entrance completely open. So there's
no condensation. There's a right moisture and
proper circulation. So we're not getting a lot
of buildup moisture in the high. Yeah. And I
think that's a mistake that a lot of us make
is we want to insulate it so much that we close
it all up. I did that one year. And they have
to have some ventilation. Yeah. Even if it's
cold. I actually do. I have two hives that here
at the prison here in St. John's, so the federal
prison. So I also do be keeping down there with
the inmates. Now those hives down there, I kept
them outside. I just insulate them like I just
mentioned. And they were the strongest hives
I have. Even though like they weren't inside,
they were boom, and I'm already after making
two splits on them. And it's only like middle,
first part of June. I've heard about inmate programs
before. I've read about some of them. Haven't
had anybody on the show yet talking about them.
Tell me a little bit about how that works. Yeah.
How many inmates do you work with? So I was up
in my apiary, working away and I overheard Jan
Buehle, who's the facilitator for the steaming
scarab project. So the Phoenix Garden projects,
they're basically more about plants and planting
and getting our hands in the dirt, and it's obviously
quite beneficial. When I heard that, my ears
like peaked. I was like, okay, we have to get
bees in there too. So, to be honest with you,
it was really easy to do. They were very open
with it. They provide funding for hives. They
provide funding for bees. And off I went, and
I went in. So we do a group every Monday during
the winter, like fall and winter. That group
is Just be education. So we developed a module
And everything every chapter obviously is all
about beekeeping and we didn't kind of leave
out the big words You know spermatheca or propolis
those words are all there for the for the inmates
to learn and learn how to pronounce them properly
So yeah, so there's nine men in the group and
when they're actually discharged obviously The
wait list to this group is really long. They
quickly fill up. So we usually keep it at nine.
They learn through the fall and the winter and
then in the spring and summer they're out with
me in the hives. So when I go down, obviously
this time of year, I always say to beekeepers,
you need to check your hive once a week just
to make sure things are okay, that a queen, there's
no swarm cells, all that good stuff. So I go
down once a week and I get to take four inmates
out with me. when I do the hive checks. So there's
certain inmates down there that they can do a
complete hide inspection and me just standing
back and they're doing it all on their own and
they knew nothing obviously about bees when they
first came in prison. So for me as a social worker
you know I think beekeeping and social work goes
hand in hand and some of the biggest deepest
conversations I've had with inmates have been
while we're beekeeping. It's a very much mindful
activity. It's really grounding. It's just the
boars and the bees. That's all they think about.
They don't think about the problems they've had
in the community or their loved ones. You know,
at that point, they're just all about the bees.
Quick break to thank our presenting sponsor,
Man Lake. I've found that Man Lake has absolutely
everything I need to take care of the health
of my bees, mite checks and treatments, beetle
management, hive health and nutrition, pollen
substitutes, food and feeders, and the knowledge
base to help you know how to use it, including
Bella, their AI beekeeping genius. Just look
for her icon in the bottom right hand corner
of your screen at manlakeltd .com. While you're
there, don't forget your discount code MLBlove.
It's in the show notes. For $10 off your first
$100 purchase. So it's very successful. I was
hoping to add more hives down there this year,
but I feel it's the amount of time it takes for
me to do a hive inspection. It takes up too much
time for the correctional officers to actually
add more hives. So we're going to keep it at
two and just get the boys out more and let them
do the hive inspections. Does it ever seem scary
to go in there and do that? Not at all. You know,
I've, if anything, I've been treated with utmost
respect. The boys are so appreciative of what
we do. I mean, this is all volunteer, right?
No one is getting paid for this. And they know
obviously that I'm going in because I want to
teach and I want them to learn and enjoy beekeeping.
So if anything, I was always treated with respect
and Yeah, it's just wonderful and one day we
actually had correctional officers two correctional
officers actually join us and that's like in
some prisons That's like a big no -no, right?
But they did and they actually you've seen a
correctional officer and an inmate All the barriers
down boundaries down and they're interacting
as people which they should be so it's pretty
precious That is great and they know it's a privilege.
So yeah, they're probably on their very best
behavior Absolutely and a great skill for them
to learn. Yeah There's one prisoner or inmate
that's actually going to be sent to a federal
penitentiary, the provincial, and that's why
he says he's going to miss the most is the beekeeping.
So it's sad, but hopefully he'll find an opportunity
wherever he might go and develop that a little
bit further. You're doing some good out there
in the world with beekeeping. That's something
that we love to push here. By the way, Rae Lynn
is known on social media as Bee Haven. That's
right. big time, big time group following her.
Let's talk about community a little bit. It's
one thing I love about beekeepers. Everybody
gets along. You and I were both at the North
American Honey Bee Expo. I didn't know you then,
but I'll see you there this next year. Absolutely.
Beekeepers are a great community. And there are
all kinds of clubs all over the world. And every
club has their own personality. And I just wanted
to get a little bit of your input on what kinds
of things can you do to make a club experience
a good one? That's a good question, actually.
So I was involved in the club here in St. John's
or in Newfoundland and Labrador. Unfortunately,
it wasn't a very pleasant experience for me.
And that's why B. Halen was born. I really kind
of sat down one night and I kind of thought about...
what would I like to see in a club or what would
I like for new beekeepers or even seasoned beekeepers
to experience. And one of the big pillars of
Bee Haven was kindness. Ask your questions and
no made fun of, no bullying. So all of that was
what Bee Haven was actually built on and I'm
really happy to what it has come to today. So
for example, following over, I think it's almost
36 ,000 followers. A lot of them are in the US,
which surprises me. Germany, I have some in Mexico.
It's just overwhelming when I see where people
are from. But the group is such a community group.
And we have beekeepers, seasoned beekeepers,
answering questions of new beekeepers. I don't
have to do a thing. It's almost like it's rolling
on its own now. The rules are set, the boundaries
are up, and it's just totally beekeeping, and
it's respectful, and it's a very educated place
to be. But what about clubs? You said you didn't
have a great experience and you don't have to
go into detail because we don't want to slam
on anybody here, but maybe maybe teach us what
is good citizenship in a club. Yeah, so I think
respect is a big thing, you know, and for me
as a newbie keeper back when I had joined that
club, I wanted to learn and that was a big thing
for me and my personality is like I'm not going
to do a half job. I want to do all the job. So
when I started beekeeping, I wanted to know as
much information as I could and as much education.
So then I sought out the University of Montana
Beekeeping Program, and I enrolled in that very
tough course, very educational course. I loved
it. But, you know, unfortunately, some people
weren't happy about that or not very wanting
to use the information or the education that
I received. Certainly I would pass it on. And
I was frowned upon for actually trying to better
myself with that. So that didn't sit well with
me. A lot of conversations with my hubby. And,
you know, as a social worker, again, didn't feel
that it was appropriate or the right way to treat
a person. So again, that's when I kind of off
-rooted and I haven't looked back. And since
I've kind of went on my own and started up Bee
Haven, I think I've enjoyed beekeeping so much
more. It's not about drama. It's not about...
you know, who's better than who, it's about camaraderie,
it's about respect and just learning from each
other. And I'm glad you mentioned about the Bee
Expo because that's what I feel here. When I
walked into the Bee Expo the first day, it was
just such a warm feeling and everybody was in
a great spirit. You could talk about bees for
like eight hours and no one would think you're
a geek. Like it was cool to be able to have those
conversations. And you know what? You could have
had the most successful YouTuber there. And when
you approached them, they were just like you've
known them for years. That's my experience anyway,
but I cannot wait to go back and see some of
those guys next year. Kamen puts on a good show
and a lot of good people go. I mean, it was worth
going to. So there's your free plug, Kamen. Oh,
Kamen's a good guy. He doesn't give me free entrance,
but we'll plug it anyway. Yeah. But yeah, I've
heard horror stories from people around our country.
Some love their beef club. Some have been like,
oh, there was this big war between treatment
-free people and people that really think you
have to treat a lot, because there are a lot
of different philosophies in beekeeping. And
so I'm with you. Let's just show respect and
realize that everybody does things a little bit
different and that's okay. Yes, exactly. And
I think we want to learn from bees. When you
think about the hive and how they work together,
you know, and they respect one another, you know
what, I think there's a lot of lessons we can
learn from the beehives on what they do and how
they build a hive and make it strong. So speaking
of social media, one thing that I saw on your
Facebook page just recently was something about...
Queen cups versus Queen cells and helping people
understand the difference and what they mean.
Would you give us a little 101 on that? I really
enjoy that topic very much. And again, more geared
towards, you know, the beginner beekeepers, because
I remember when I was starting, you know what,
if I saw a bunch of swarm cells, I didn't know
they were swarm cells. It just never dawned on
me. And again, as a new beekeeper. You know,
you try and educate yourself as much as you can
before you get your bees, but obviously you're
not going to learn anything, everything. I mean,
everybody learns every day about beekeeping,
something new. So yes, so the difference between
a cup and an actual cell or a super procedure
cell or a swarm cell, big differences. The queen
cups to me, when I think of a queen cup, I think
of practicing. So honeybees are always practicing
if mom becomes, you know, if mom dies or if mom
becomes sick or and how to replace. Queen cups
to me, they're practicing. I used to always think,
oh my gosh, to building queen cups or something
wrong, I got to have a look. That's not always
the case. When you see a queen cup with an egg
or a larvae in it, yeah, that's when you start
to have to worry and wonder what's going on.
Even worry more or wonder more if you think you
have a very good laying queen, very healthy queen,
and you start seeing queen cups. And a lot of
people... you know, discuss the fact of the placement
of queen cells or the placement of queen cups.
To me, typically, swarm cells are supposed to
be at the bottom of the frame. Supercedure cells
would be in the middle of the frame. Obviously
bees are going to throw those curve balls every
now and then. They're not going to follow them,
but always. However, you know, just recently
I had a new follower reach out to me and said,
you know what, I have something very similar
in my hive. And the picture was a bunch of swarm
cells on the bottom of a frame. So I messaged
her privately. and had a good chat with her and
kind of gave her directions of what I would do
if it was my hive. And sure enough, it was swarm
cells. And she went out yesterday morning and
she actually made a split. She took the swarm
cells from the bottom box, put it in the top
box, separated them. Bang, she's got two hives.
And hopefully, the swarm tendency has been gone.
So yeah, it can be a very confusing topic to
new beekeepers, the difference between the two
different cells. For those that don't understand
yet what they look like, explain the difference
in what they look like. So they know which one
is a cup versus a cell. So the the swarm cells
and the superstition cell obviously looks the
same. It's like I always compare it to like a
peanut. You know those old -fashioned peanuts
you used to crack and eat. Exactly that's what
it looks like. Now a cup is just not even half
of a cell actually. It's just like a little dish.
How about that? It's a little dish and it doesn't
hopefully get any bigger. And there's usually,
if you have a healthy queen and your hive is
not overpopulated, there's not going to be an
egg late in that. So they look quite different.
So if you see, you'll know the difference obviously
when you see them. So just to summarize, if you
see a queen cup, should you panic? No, not panic.
However, have a look in it. If there's an egg
or a larvae, yeah, not panic. Just have a look
in your hive and see the health of your hive,
what's going on in your hive. whether you have
a queen, whether your hive is overpopulated.
And then if all that checks the box says, well,
I would definitely either you could split the
hive or you could actually take that egg and
make another new. There's a lot of different
things you can do when you find a cup with an
egg in it. All right. I gave you a little bit
of warning earlier. I want to hear a wild and
crazy beekeeping story from up there in Newfoundland
or Labrador or somewhere around you. Something
that happened to you. Yeah, so I'm going to tell
the story. I wasn't going to, but it's my first
swarm. As a brand spanking new beekeeper, brand
new suit, I was good to go. I got the call, buddy.
I was like, obviously I should have had my things
packed away and organized as I do now on my truck.
I didn't. So at first I got the call and then
I started thinking I had to get a wire. Anyway,
so I went through the garage, got stuff I did
not need, packed it in, off I went. So it was
at the university. The swarm has been there,
was there probably about two to three days. There
was a lot of calls on it and I eventually got
to me. So I booted and the adrenaline rush, I
just have to say, and you probably know as well,
you get, when you get that call there's a swarm
is like unexplainable. It's just an awesome feeling.
So I booted it on April. And why is that? It
just shouldn't be that big a deal. I don't know
if anyone gets it. I hope they do. Normalize
it for me. Well, especially when you're new.
It's like freebies plus a whole new experience
plus plus plus. So this was at the university.
So I went in. It was like 10 o 'clock in the
night. There wasn't a person to be in sight.
It was a pretty scary place in the dark. But
I went. And they had all this, you know, you
know, the police tape don't cross. They had all
that around the swarm. So I went in. Of course,
you know, swarms aren't aggressive, right? What
I was told. That's what I learned. But anyway,
so I go in. Somebody lied to me. Oh, yeah. I
go in. I didn't have my day. I'm like, how you
doing ladies? What are you doing here tonight?
Ladies. So I started to talk to them when I went
over to touch them. Well, holy cow. They were
like Africanized bees. They're like, boom. So
I booted it over to the Jeep and I got my my
veil on and I tell you they weren't friendly
at all and Anyway, the tree it was just a different
tree. It wasn't a tree I could shake was this
big old tree and they were like stuck in the
middle of it How the heck do I get him out of
there? So, you know what? I got the hands going
and I just scooped them scoop by scoop put them
in the box Eventually, obviously the Queen was
in there and all of them walked in But afterwards,
I was told, I wish I had known this information
before I went, that the bees were there probably
three days. And it was drizzly. So obviously
they were super cranky, they were cold, and they
were hungry. So all that's a recipe for mean
bees. I just wish I had known that before. However,
lesson learned, I will never approach a swarm
without my veil on ever again. And I often say
to people, you really need to wear your bee suit
going after a swarm. Now, not everybody feels
that way, but I guess I learned the hard way.
I'll always wear my bee suit. OK, now we've all
seen people on YouTube that are all done up,
have perfect makeup and everything and no bee
suit whatsoever, no protective gear, and they
go in there for those swarms. Would you please
explain how they can do that? And is it a good
idea for beginners, by the way? So I'm not going
to get in trouble, am I? So, you know, a lot
of those things that you see on Facebook with
the perfect hair and the makeup and the tight
jeans and whatever, I think, you know what, it's
staged. And that's just my opinion. I'm not saying
that that's exactly what happens. That's just
my opinion. When they can go in and this board
comes really easy off the floor to expose this,
you know, five frame or five thing of wax of
hive, like, it doesn't happen that easy. I just
think of some of the states that I get in when
I'm beekeeping like, holy cow, like it's not
good. So when you go in perfect and their nails
done, these people have their nails done. I had
no idea. I think it's very staged. That's just
my opinion. My opinion is they've checked out
that swarm first. Yeah. If they were smart, they
checked it out first. If they were doing a cutout,
they did the cutting the day before. So the bees
have calmed back down. Yeah. And yes, I was also
taught that swarms are so nice. You don't even
need your bee suit or anything. The first one
that I did was huge and it was not nice, but
I captured a relatively small one last week that
was actually on my property and they were the
sweetest things ever. I could have had makeup
and nails and everything on and gone out and
scooped them up. They just, for some reason,
looked like they were gonna be sweet and I had
a veil on I didn't have gloves or anything and
they were just Yeah, they were just happy to
be there and happy to go where I wanted them
to go But it's not always that way folks. No
when you get into beekeeping and you know You
don't and this is just my opinion, right? I mean
obviously, you know, I work I'm it for you know
a social worker I work within the system and
you know, obviously I wear dresses and all that
kind of stuff, but I'm beekeeping No, that's
not the way that I present myself because it's
just not easy to do when you're in like 19 degree
Fahrenheit. What's that in Fahrenheit with you
guys? 19 degrees. Having done the math in my
head, that is 66 .2 degrees Fahrenheit. That's
a little low, actually, for some of the places
up in the United States. So let's say it's about
100 degrees here in Newfoundland and you're in
a bee suit. You're warm, you're sweaty, you're
sweating, you got honey all over you. You're
not the best sight, I'm just saying. That's just
my opinion. Yeah, do you think bees react to
the sweat? Do you think they like it or hate
it? Absolutely. I think they don't like it, actually.
And the same thing with your breath. I mean,
bees are really involved. Smell, yes, the sight,
but like pheromones are so important for honey
bees. And I think absolutely they react to that
stuff. Well, here's your trivia for the day.
Their sense of smell is 50 times stronger than
that of a dog. Yeah, so interesting things that
we can't smell they often can and when you think
about it They don't have noses. So that's even
cooler because it's their antenna that picks
up that well I thought they smelled through their
ears funny man, which they don't have either.
Come on really man Alright, leave us with one
bit of advice and then I've got one last question
for you after that Well, you know what? And again,
I'm going to go on the rant of, you know, personal
equipment and protective. And I just tell a story.
And this is a wonderful man out in the West Coast
of Newfoundland. He was a new beekeeper. So he
was actually going to do some nukes, like create
some nukes with his other beekeeper. I'm going
to call him beekeeper. So anyway, he went out
and he did nukes. He didn't wear a suit. This
beekeeper is supposed to be experienced, supposed
to be teaching other people how to beekeep. told
him not to wear a suit, told him not to wear
any equipment whatsoever, just come on, we'll
do it. He got stung over 160 times and he was
in eMERGE. In one day? In one day. Oh man. So
he was in eMERGE, they had to give him adrenaline,
he was really sick, like really sick. So my piece
of advice, wear your equipment, absolutely. And
another piece of advice, can I say two? You can
do three if you want. So another piece of advice
I have is that you know what I don't know this
everywhere But there's some beekeepers in Newfoundland.
They're a little bit shady and that's sad to
say However, when you go pick up your nuke make
sure you're getting it from a reputable You know
beekeeper and that you have a queen and that
you have what's supposed to be in a new Which
should be you know your resource grains your
brood and most importantly Like I said your queen
because there's some beekeepers that sell nukes
that don't have a queen and that's not a good
start for a new beekeeper, absolutely. How do
people know a reputable one? How do they tell?
Yeah. So word of mouth is a big thing, especially
here in Newfoundland. I mean, we're a very small
province. I have many beekeepers that I know
of that I pass on their names because I know
that I trust them and they love bees just as
much as I do and know what should be in a nuc.
So ask around, make sure you, you know, you ask
your questions. And you know what? I'm also a
fan that a couple of days before you go pick
up your nuke, it's okay to say, can I come over
and have a look and have that beekeeper go through
the nuke with you and look at your queen and
look at the resources in your frames to make
sure you're getting what you're paying for. In
Newfoundland, nukes are probably going at about
$3 .50 here in the province. And that's Canadian.
That's a lot. Yeah. Well, that's Canadian, so
that's like $100 US, right? Yeah. Yep. I'm exaggerating
there. It's not that bad of an exchange rate.
It is. Oh, it's pretty bad. Let me do some math,
Rae -Lynn. It's 0 .73. So now that I've done
my math via Google, about $255. And I see them
anywhere from 150 to 200 plus here. OK, yeah.
So that's a little on the high side for what
we see, but, you know, they're different everywhere.
OK. And I think, again, with Newfoundland, you're
not allowed to import honey bees. So when you
are starting off, you have to try to find a beekeeper
within the province that are willing to sell
you bees. I remember when I started, I had this
wonderful, and I really look up to him, Peter
Armitage here in the city, and he sold me my
bees. And he had an interview with me, actually.
You're four. He let me take the bees. So I thought
that was pretty cool. Good for him. Yeah, he's
a wonderful beekeeper. I look up to him. He's
a mentor for sure. And I remember that. And he
had to, you know, there was requirements. You
had to have a course and it was great. Good.
Yeah, I agree. All right. Advice number three.
Get a mentor. Perfect. Yeah, big time. Yeah,
a lot of people. And you know what? On the site,
I get a lot of questions around the day and I
absolutely love it. And I try to get to every
single one of them. I've actually done first
hide inspections with people over FaceTime. I
mean, it's just unfortunately, that's the way
it is sometimes. And if there's nobody around,
you know, I'm always up for help. But yeah, so
make sure you, you know, find, try to find yourself
a reputable beekeeper as a mentor that is going
to like nurture you, respect you, encourage you,
not kind of talk down to you or tell you how
to do it. Because everyone bee keeps differently.
Raylene can be found at Bee Haven all over the
place online. And hey, we just might put a link
in the show notes, too. Thank you for having
me. It was great to have a conversation. Hey,
I still have one last question for you. You cannot
get away this easy. But I can tell, I can tell
from our previous conversation also that you
really love bees. Tell us why. What is it about
them? Oh, I absolutely love bees. So I saw a
thing, I put it on my Facebook site actually,
and it was like, I'm in a relationship with honeybees.
And that explains it for me perfectly. I love
building bees. I love making healthy bees. There's
nothing like going up in the morning in my apiary
and just hearing them buzz and watching them
going in and out of the hive. I don't know. It's
just something about bees that's so relaxing
and it's therapeutic. It's really good for your
mental health. And I also love how it brings
people together. So you have a bunch of people
in a room, you don't know anything about them.
As soon as a bee comes up, you know, if they're
beekeepers, obviously, the conversation starts.
and it's the best conversations you'll ever have.
Like when you go into, like I said, the Bee Expo.
You know, everyone was strangers when you first
walk in. But I'll tell you, by the end of the
Bee Expo, everyone's like your friend. It's wonderful
how it brings people together. Awesome. All right.
Thanks a lot, Rae -Lynn. Thank you. Thanks again
for joining us here on Bee Love Beekeeping, presented
by Man Lake. Remember right now to follow or
subscribe and share this podcast. Also a quick
shout out to Vita B Health for their support.
Vita's Varroa Control range of products includes
Apistan, Apigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release
Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And remember,
if you're not just in it for the honey or the
money, you're in it for the love. See you next
week.