WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.660 May I have your attention, please? The following 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:11.119 is not the real Jeff Fox release. If you no longer 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:17.600 count how many times you get stung, you might 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:25.059 be a beekeeper. If when robbing is going on at 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:31.210 your house, but you don't call the police, Well, 00:00:31.210 --> 00:00:37.929 you might be a beekeeper. If you refer to your 00:00:37.929 --> 00:00:44.170 divorce as swarming behavior, you might be a 00:00:44.170 --> 00:00:46.689 beekeeper. I'm going to give you a minute to 00:00:46.689 --> 00:00:59.840 think about that one. Just in case you missed 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:02.359 last week's episode, I'd like to give you a quick 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.280 update on the research being done to solve the 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.540 mystery of the U .S.'s great bee die -off of 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:13.260 2025. The bottom line is all related to Varroa. 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:17.459 No big surprises there. Bees are dying from viruses 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:21.739 that are spread by Varroa, and Varroa is becoming 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:25.519 resistant to some treatments, specifically amitras. 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:29.799 So... Keep on top of your Varroa and alternate 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:32.780 between different treatment options. If you're 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.280 new to beekeeping, don't think that your beautiful 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.900 bees are exempt. They're not. You have Varroa 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:41.700 in your hive and you need an IPM to deal with 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.980 them. Even treatment -free beekeepers work a 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:48.340 plan to limit the mites. The days of lazy or 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:52.890 naive beekeeping are over. On another note, Have 00:01:52.890 --> 00:01:56.250 you ever seen a news headline about a semi truckload 00:01:56.250 --> 00:02:00.209 of bees crashing on the highway? It happens and 00:02:00.209 --> 00:02:02.450 I've always been curious how the mess is cleaned 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:07.670 up and by who or is it whom. So today we're having 00:02:07.670 --> 00:02:10.449 a discussion with a beekeeper in Washington state 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:13.569 who recently helped with one of those disasters. 00:02:14.629 --> 00:02:17.449 First a quick favor if you haven't yet followed 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:20.919 or subscribed to the show please do so now. and 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:23.979 be sure to share it with a friend. Also, if you 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:26.599 want to be part of the show, reach out to me, 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:29.439 Eric, at Be Love Beekeeping dot com with your 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.500 ideas for guests, your wild and crazy beekeeping 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:35.900 stories and your suggestions for the not real 00:02:35.900 --> 00:02:39.599 Jeff Foxworthy on why you might be a beekeeper. 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:43.740 Thank you. Thank you for all of that. Now, let's 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:47.219 find out what it's like rescuing a few million 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:54.620 bees from an overturned semi. I'd like to welcome 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:56.879 to the show today, and this is going to be so 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.300 fun, everybody. Derek Condit. How are you today, 00:03:00.539 --> 00:03:02.520 Derek? Doing great, Eric. Thank you for having 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.460 me. And you're in Washington state someplace. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.900 Where are you? I am. So I'm actually located 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:10.860 in Mount Vernon, Washington, which is a little 00:03:10.860 --> 00:03:13.039 more than an hour from the border of Canada. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.580 So up north. And I've invited Derek to be on 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:18.620 the show today because I don't know if you've 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:22.689 seen the news. But not long ago, there was a 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:26.949 big semi full of bees that tipped over somewhere 00:03:26.949 --> 00:03:31.050 near him. And it seems like every year we hear 00:03:31.050 --> 00:03:33.629 about one of these crashing someplace. A couple 00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:35.909 of years ago, there was one only about 40 miles 00:03:35.909 --> 00:03:38.789 from me. I didn't have the opportunity to go 00:03:38.789 --> 00:03:41.490 help do the rescue efforts. They specifically, 00:03:42.050 --> 00:03:44.969 the Highway Patrol specifically said, beekeepers, 00:03:45.090 --> 00:03:48.219 please don't come help. So they must have had 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:51.340 help that was maybe from, I don't know, the insurance 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:53.960 company or the owner of the bees or something 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:56.400 they wanted to take care of it themselves. But 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:00.780 it closed down I -80 for quite some time. Derek, 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.960 please tell us what happened with the truck rollover. 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:06.759 First of all, let me get to the most important 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:10.240 thing. Is the driver OK? And then tell me about 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.719 the accident. Sure. Yeah. And my most recent 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.639 update on the driver is he's doing fine. It wasn't 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:20.439 an exceptional amount of stings to where, you 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:22.680 know, cause real problems, but he was stung like 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:25.319 many of the beekeepers were during the recovery 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:28.579 efforts. But he is doing fine. And I can. So 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:31.120 I'll give you the as much of the story of the 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:33.680 accident that I know, Eric. Yeah, do that. And 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.480 then tell me how you got involved. Okay, perfect, 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:38.240 and I'll actually kind of wind that into the 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.819 story because it kind of plays out that way It 00:04:40.819 --> 00:04:43.899 was the morning of May 30th So just a few days 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:47.180 ago, and I found out later the accident actually 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:50.759 happened that evening before Because these released 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:52.879 beehives and of course, they're doing the moving 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:55.660 during that evening time putting them on the 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:58.699 truck and then as the truck was leaving with 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:03.310 this 300 or so beehives on the back Basically, 00:05:03.310 --> 00:05:05.970 it just took the corner too sharp, and along 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:08.389 the road there, so you can maybe visualize a 00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:11.329 country road, there's gullies that run along 00:05:11.329 --> 00:05:13.810 them to catch excess water and rain and whatnot. 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:17.569 So the back axles of that truck are what fell 00:05:17.569 --> 00:05:20.230 into that little gully as he was leaving. And 00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:23.189 it caused the bed of the truck to slant just 00:05:23.189 --> 00:05:25.529 enough to where all the hives broke the straps 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:28.689 and slid into the brush and trees right off to 00:05:28.689 --> 00:05:30.750 the side of it. And that's where it sat when 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:34.029 I showed up. So now this is the morning of May 00:05:34.029 --> 00:05:36.750 30th, which I think was a Friday. My wife actually 00:05:36.750 --> 00:05:39.329 sent me a Facebook post talking about the accident 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:41.269 because I hadn't heard about it yet. It was still 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:43.410 pretty early in the morning. I realized that 00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:46.649 it was about 45 minutes or so north of our location. 00:05:47.170 --> 00:05:49.050 So I thought, well, you know, I mean, I got all 00:05:49.050 --> 00:05:52.329 the gear and ready to go. So I contacted the 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:54.529 local sheriff's department in Whatcom County 00:05:54.529 --> 00:05:57.850 and it didn't take many minutes starting from 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:00.439 that call. to where I was chatting with the person 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.500 on scene who was in charge of the accidents in 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:05.439 the cleanup, they asked me and said, go ahead 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:07.639 and grab your gear. We appreciate it and show 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:11.600 up when you can. So it was probably an hour later 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.980 and I was there on scene. So I'll give you kind 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:17.680 of a description of the scene I came up on. When 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:20.920 the beehive slid off, they didn't just fall onto 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:23.519 the ground. They kind of they fell into some 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.339 shrubs and brushes. So they were still many of 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:30.339 them. standing or stacked, but they were separated. 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:33.620 So they all kind of slid. I'm not sure how to 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:35.519 give you a visual kind of like dominoes or a 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:37.240 stack of books that aren't quite pushed all the 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.019 way over. So basically, all of the hives were 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:42.500 exposed. And you could see the frames and all 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:45.360 of that, which was why there were the millions 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:48.339 of bees that were flying all around us at the 00:06:48.339 --> 00:06:53.240 time. So I arrive and I'm probably 300 or so 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:56.300 yards from the accident itself before I approached 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:59.439 the first barrier or stop where there's news 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.319 media there and then also sheriff's department. 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:03.279 I let them know who I am. And of course, they 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:05.560 brought their windows up because by that point, 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:08.139 the accident had been happened at night and they'd 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:10.120 all been stung already, of course, even from 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:14.839 that distance. So they let me through. I pull 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.439 up to the area where the truck is kind of off 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.639 still again country roads. So there's lots of 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:21.779 room to park out there right now. And of course, 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:25.100 not letting anybody by. So I see the accident 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:28.019 and I'm like, oh and I'm in a large white van 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:30.019 which is good for me because I can just crawl 00:07:30.019 --> 00:07:32.540 right in the back before getting out because 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:35.420 once you're that close even say a hundred yards 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:38.699 away The vehicles people everything was just 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:41.319 bees everywhere Well, that was one of my first 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:44.639 questions is how far out did this cloud of bees 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:46.839 spread? Was there about a hundred yards or even 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:50.470 further than that? well I would say to where 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:52.470 I would call it a cloud, to where it's just so 00:07:52.470 --> 00:07:57.209 dense of bees with bees, probably 50 yards. And 00:07:57.209 --> 00:08:00.629 then, of course, it tapers off past that to maybe 00:08:00.629 --> 00:08:03.829 100 yards. If you're anywhere within several 00:08:03.829 --> 00:08:06.829 hundred yards, which is where the barrier was 00:08:06.829 --> 00:08:08.230 in the sheriff's farm, they were getting stung 00:08:08.230 --> 00:08:11.230 as well. They just didn't have 2000 bees on them 00:08:11.230 --> 00:08:14.810 at a time. They had a typical few. So I show 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:17.069 up there and I see what's going on with the truck. 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:19.879 Luckily, I had the The wear was all quickly to 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:22.920 grab my cell phone. I turned off the Wi -Fi and 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:25.300 Bluetooth and all that and just took some footage. 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:28.639 That's when you get to see the actual and I'll 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:30.959 mention also, of course, the camera crews, the 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:32.779 news crews couldn't get anywhere near this scene. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.320 Some of them had gone to I could tell local hardware 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.659 stores or something about bee hoods thinking 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:39.679 that was going to protect them from this type 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.279 of scenario. They learned real quickly that wasn't 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:45.379 that wasn't going to do it. So I would go back 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:46.720 and forth and talk with them a little bit and 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.610 go back to the scene. And then it was just really 00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:52.210 all hands on deck. And when I showed up, there 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:54.590 were already two people there that had been there 00:08:54.590 --> 00:08:58.269 from the evening before. And they were already 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:00.350 just beat tired, working so hard, trying to save 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:03.389 as many as they could. Because the bigger point 00:09:03.389 --> 00:09:06.429 was to remove the hives that were leaning on 00:09:06.429 --> 00:09:09.149 the truck so we could move the truck out of there 00:09:09.149 --> 00:09:10.970 and get the hives that were not just leaning 00:09:10.970 --> 00:09:13.230 on it and laying in the brush nearby, but under 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:16.529 it. So we were basically moving box by box and 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:18.990 they were not all complete boxes, of course, 00:09:19.309 --> 00:09:21.710 from an accident like this, parts and pieces 00:09:21.710 --> 00:09:25.250 everywhere. So you do the best you can and then 00:09:25.250 --> 00:09:27.330 you stack them on the pallets and then, you know, 00:09:27.350 --> 00:09:29.129 try and move them out of the way. And some of 00:09:29.129 --> 00:09:31.669 that's shown in the video. But we get a forklift 00:09:31.669 --> 00:09:34.409 under the back of the truck after so many hours 00:09:34.409 --> 00:09:36.750 and move it out of the way and then we're able 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:39.940 to access the rest of the hives. There was massive 00:09:39.940 --> 00:09:42.559 losses, of course, on something like this, as 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.299 far as the bees go. Give me an idea of how many 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:48.360 hours you were there. Oh, maybe three or four 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.480 hours total, because I didn't realize or even 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:54.779 know the accident had happened until maybe nine 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:58.039 or 10 that morning. And then it was, again, approximately 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:00.220 an hour later, I showed up. And that's when I 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:02.039 spoke to the beekeepers on scene. And he let 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:04.620 me know that he was there for, again, since that 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:06.620 evening when it happened. And then throughout 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:10.259 the day, Other beekeepers would show up I'm not 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:11.740 sure if all of them were beekeepers But people 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:13.980 in suits is a lot of them would most of them 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:15.720 would actually turn away when they saw how many 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:18.240 bees that were And I don't blame them. Yeah, 00:10:18.259 --> 00:10:20.860 I mean it was and I don't blame anybody because 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:24.179 Regardless and people brought duct tape to tape 00:10:24.179 --> 00:10:27.259 up there, you know their boots and hoods were 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:30.120 needed in gloves But regardless bees with that 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.519 many bees they found their way into all of our 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:35.059 suits and that was happening Well, yeah, this 00:10:35.059 --> 00:10:38.259 is not regular beekeeping. No where you're just 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:40.299 interrupting their home and giving them a puff 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:43.259 of smoke. And for the most part, they're not 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:45.639 going to give you too hard of a time. These are 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:49.419 angry, angry bees. I mean, wouldn't you be if 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:52.500 that just happened to your house? And then 300 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:55.559 of them houses hide. Yeah, then everybody wants 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:58.840 an all exposed. And so, you know, you get the 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:01.879 scenario from there. So saying they were agitated 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:04.100 is an understatement. I would be the same way. 00:11:04.299 --> 00:11:06.940 I was trying not to say pissed off but let's 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:11.740 face it yeah they were beyond so you had a van 00:11:11.740 --> 00:11:13.460 so you were able to get in the back of the van 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:16.600 get all suited up before you got out smart guy 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:18.740 you know what we're just gonna have to post some 00:11:18.740 --> 00:11:21.659 of the video so get on over to our youtube channel 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:25.059 Bela Beekeeping You'll find it on YouTube. And 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:27.240 I'm going to post these couple of videos, Derek, 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:30.220 that you sent over. I appreciate your permission 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:32.779 on that. And they're not edited fancy or anything 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:35.360 else, but it'll give you an idea. I mean, I saw 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.120 one of the people there. His back was completely 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:40.179 covered. You couldn't really tell that he had 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:43.519 a white bee suit on because it was just be back 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.700 as we call it. So and I can't imagine the guys 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:48.899 that were there all night. That's exhausting 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:51.919 because you're lifting heavy things, too. Would 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:55.019 think that just that many bees that upset I haven't 00:11:55.019 --> 00:11:57.940 been in the middle of something like that It's 00:11:57.940 --> 00:12:00.320 got to be as much as you try to be calm. Isn't 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:03.019 it a little bit? I don't know Exhausting and 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:05.639 anxious filled. Yeah, that's good points Eric. 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:08.919 It was there's a lot going on Personally, you 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:10.840 know, I try not to get in the heightened state 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:12.779 because as we know as beekeepers I can heighten 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:15.340 situations antagonize. So yeah, no I was I've 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:16.799 been through a lot of stuff in life. We can just 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:20.059 say so I think really for the most part the ones 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:22.259 that the beekeepers that actually stuck around 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:24.779 and were going hands on moving the boxes were 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:27.299 relatively calm. I mean, they weren't they weren't 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:30.059 getting heightened at all, just exhaustion. So 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:32.240 that was a thing. But there were other people 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.500 that showed up that would run around even in 00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:36.980 suits, just swatting the bees on themselves and 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:39.200 having issues like that. I'm like, yeah, you 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:41.179 might just want to stand back a little bit. And 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:43.440 you guys do look calm. So I'll give you a whole 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.899 ton of credit for that, because I imagine that 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:49.440 wasn't easy. So I have a couple of other questions 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:52.590 for you. What happened to all the bees afterwards? 00:12:53.190 --> 00:12:56.029 And who owns the bees? And how does the insurance 00:12:56.029 --> 00:12:58.549 kick in? Sorry, I said a question. You just got 00:12:58.549 --> 00:13:01.730 delusional three of them. I know that's OK, and 00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:05.110 I'll do the best I can on this because that's 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:07.769 we had some issues the following days, but I 00:13:07.769 --> 00:13:10.610 can kind of go in reverse. Somebody reported 00:13:10.610 --> 00:13:14.070 to me yesterday a local resident in that area 00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:16.370 where this accident happened. He drove by giving 00:13:16.370 --> 00:13:18.809 update. He said the better part of the beehives 00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:21.480 are now. gone. So they've been put back together 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.279 and or relocated to another and I don't know 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:27.220 where another location because they are least 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:30.200 bees. But there was an issue and you couldn't 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.460 help but have this issue because of the type 00:13:33.460 --> 00:13:35.320 of the accident. There was a lot of damage. So 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.940 the migratory lids, the covers that would keep 00:13:37.940 --> 00:13:41.000 the beehives separate from each other were damaged. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:44.019 So in the recovery, there just wasn't enough 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:46.320 stuff or equipment there to keep them separate 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.019 to move them. So a lot of them ended up being 00:13:50.070 --> 00:13:52.250 stacked where the plan was to move them just 00:13:52.250 --> 00:13:54.529 around the corner onto the farmland will and 00:13:54.529 --> 00:13:56.850 then bring in the parts and pieces to fix them. 00:13:57.009 --> 00:13:58.990 So that was one of the things that needed to 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:01.970 be done. And we had several volunteers, including 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:04.070 business owners with all the equipment needed 00:14:04.070 --> 00:14:08.009 to bring that in and make that final recovery 00:14:08.009 --> 00:14:09.730 and you know, separate every beehive because 00:14:09.730 --> 00:14:11.610 you don't want to leave them stacked, of course, 00:14:11.629 --> 00:14:14.269 with no separators in there. But they were left 00:14:14.269 --> 00:14:17.149 that way for a couple days. So there's a whole 00:14:17.149 --> 00:14:19.659 story behind that. I'll get into as much as I 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:23.919 can, but I was in contact with the owners and 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:26.299 they're making the moves they could on their 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:28.299 part, as far as I could tell, and in touch with 00:14:28.299 --> 00:14:29.779 insurance. But I can't really comment on the 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:32.840 insurance aspect because I don't know how that 00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:35.720 all worked or worked out for them. So from our 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:38.960 on the ground perspective concerned citizens 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.879 and beekeepers and business owners, we were just 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:44.639 trying to get all hands on deck as soon as possible 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.000 because we knew the state of these hives and 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:51.059 there were of course, brood emerging during before 00:14:51.059 --> 00:14:53.340 and after all of this as well into that chaos. 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:55.440 So that's, that's a part two that hasn't been 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.480 talked about because we usually just think about 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:00.320 the bees that are flying around. And these boxes 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.240 did have large amounts of brood and honey because 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:04.899 I was putting them back together, I got to see 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:09.899 it. Quick break to thank our presenting sponsor 00:15:09.899 --> 00:15:13.789 Man Lake. I've found that Man Lake has absolutely 00:15:13.789 --> 00:15:16.370 everything I need to take care of the health 00:15:16.370 --> 00:15:19.190 of my bees. Mite checks and treatments, beetle 00:15:19.190 --> 00:15:22.039 management, hive health and nutrition. pollen 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:25.659 substitutes, food and feeders, and the knowledge 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:28.559 base to help you know how to use it, including 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.200 Bella, their AI beekeeping genius. Just look 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:34.120 for her icon in the bottom right -hand corner 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:38.000 of your screen at manlakeltd .com. While you're 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:41.059 there, don't forget your discount code MLBlove10, 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.019 it's in the show notes, for $10 off your first 00:15:44.019 --> 00:15:50.049 $100 purchase. I don't really know, to be honest, 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:52.450 the state of the hives now other than they've 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:54.629 been relocated because we did draw some attention 00:15:54.629 --> 00:15:57.169 to try and get that done sooner. Well, you did 00:15:57.169 --> 00:15:59.389 send me one video from a couple of days later. 00:15:59.730 --> 00:16:03.409 Did it look like they had calmed down? Not so 00:16:03.409 --> 00:16:06.129 much. I mean, to a percentage, yes, because... 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:08.350 On that second video is when I went back two 00:16:08.350 --> 00:16:10.929 days later thinking that, oh, these hives should 00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:13.210 have been all repaired and the migratory lids 00:16:13.210 --> 00:16:15.889 put back on kind of thing. When I started watching 00:16:15.889 --> 00:16:17.370 the video and looking a little bit closer, I 00:16:17.370 --> 00:16:18.909 realized, oh, a lot of these are still missing 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:22.549 that, which explained why there was still so 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:25.190 many bees swarming around in a heightened state 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:27.470 because that was still happening. Well, and I'm 00:16:27.470 --> 00:16:29.870 guessing just in all the confusion, there had 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:33.309 to have been some boxes where were they two deep 00:16:33.309 --> 00:16:37.169 boxes, by the way, most of them. It varied because 00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:38.789 by this time when I got there, of course, it 00:16:38.789 --> 00:16:42.730 was all a mess. Some had deep brew boxes and 00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:45.289 then with a honey on top of it, it just varied. 00:16:45.350 --> 00:16:47.789 So there was a whole mix of them. Yeah. I mean, 00:16:47.970 --> 00:16:50.990 chances are you ended up with a box that didn't 00:16:50.990 --> 00:16:54.210 belong to a queen in this other box and some 00:16:54.210 --> 00:16:56.450 that had... And that was our issue. Yeah. And 00:16:56.450 --> 00:17:01.409 some that had no queen. And so, wow. I imagine 00:17:01.409 --> 00:17:03.769 just putting them on pallets and stacking them 00:17:03.769 --> 00:17:07.460 together. And the one video shows, I don't know, 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:10.759 50 hives or something on pallets. And you'd think 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:12.839 they would kind of sort it out after a little 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.740 while. But then again, hey, if I'm a bunch of 00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:20.380 guys in there with no queen. You know, they're 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:22.299 not going to be very happy and there's all kinds 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:25.059 of things going on and there's Robbing and I 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:27.720 mean it just opens such a huge can of worms. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:30.299 Yeah for those bees It was confusing to you. 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:32.299 I'll tell you Eric when I posted I think it was 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:35.220 yesterday Maybe that image which I extracted 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:37.220 from that last video you're talking about that 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:39.740 you'll be sharing it from the average person's 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:41.920 perspective It looked like a bunch of pretty 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:44.200 beehives stacked high in a field looking great 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:47.339 and they're all saved And that's not the case. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.900 They were stacked there. But again That's why 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:52.279 I went to verify that and see and I noticed that 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:55.400 those the lids were missing and and that so many 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:59.319 bees were still out having a hard time. So that's 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:01.519 that's that's what I came up on. So now that 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.319 you've done it once, do you have any advice for 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.940 somebody else that may be in that situation sometime 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:10.809 in the future? Because like I said earlier. Every 00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:13.150 year you see one or two of these someplace in 00:18:13.150 --> 00:18:15.950 the country one of these trucks flips and local 00:18:15.950 --> 00:18:19.089 beekeepers are coming to save the day I have 00:18:19.089 --> 00:18:21.369 lots of tips and believe or not since this happened 00:18:21.369 --> 00:18:23.670 a few days ago. I've already started drafting 00:18:23.670 --> 00:18:28.029 a Nationwide response plan for bee emergencies 00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:31.049 like this so that first responders know We need 00:18:31.049 --> 00:18:33.910 this gear. Here's where we call people. And I've 00:18:33.910 --> 00:18:36.490 already set up on another website I just developed, 00:18:36.869 --> 00:18:39.569 a database where beekeepers nationwide can put 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:41.009 their name and phone number on there so they 00:18:41.009 --> 00:18:43.970 can be notified if there is an accident anywhere 00:18:43.970 --> 00:18:46.490 on these routes where they take the bees. But 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:48.869 believe it or not, the recommendations bring 00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:51.170 extra tape with you, like duct tape, things like 00:18:51.170 --> 00:18:54.410 that, especially on an accident because there's 00:18:54.410 --> 00:18:56.250 parts and pieces of the truck that were there, 00:18:56.329 --> 00:18:59.519 pallets, so you can get tears in your suit. and 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:01.660 of course for taping up your suits like like 00:19:01.660 --> 00:19:03.700 we would do typically and you definitely want 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:06.160 to do that in this situation and of course I 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.220 can't blame anybody and I appreciate how we were 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:12.720 provided beverages and food but my tip here is 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:15.599 for the beekeepers or the responders eat before 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.200 you go things like that because we were brought 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.119 cases of lots of good stuff granola bars to eat 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.279 and things but you're not exactly gonna unzip 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.619 your hood to put some food in there not even 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:28.650 for a second So that was a thing. Nobody could 00:19:28.650 --> 00:19:30.750 eat or drink. For example, the Gatorade, they 00:19:30.750 --> 00:19:32.849 brought us up against your hood and drink through 00:19:32.849 --> 00:19:36.049 it. Well, in this situation, you're trying to 00:19:36.049 --> 00:19:37.970 boy thousands of these. So it's just not a thing. 00:19:37.990 --> 00:19:40.390 So that was an issue. So I'm working that type 00:19:40.390 --> 00:19:42.190 of stuff into this plan I'm putting together. 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:45.490 Yeah, I imagine to eat or drink or anything, 00:19:45.529 --> 00:19:47.630 you'd have to get a couple of hundred yards away 00:19:47.630 --> 00:19:50.849 even further and then think restroom as well. 00:19:50.910 --> 00:19:53.750 Yeah, restrooms and where there are hours in 00:19:53.750 --> 00:19:56.809 the heat. So most of us just opted not to eat 00:19:56.809 --> 00:19:59.029 or drink. It wasn't really an option, to be honest. 00:19:59.329 --> 00:20:01.349 It just was what it was. So yeah, that was a 00:20:01.349 --> 00:20:03.230 problem. And if you were in a place where it 00:20:03.230 --> 00:20:05.309 was 100 degrees out, you would have no choice. 00:20:05.309 --> 00:20:07.910 You would have to be drinking. You would. It 00:20:07.910 --> 00:20:11.730 was maybe 70 degrees for us. And we were burning 00:20:11.730 --> 00:20:13.710 up in the suits, of course, lifting all those 00:20:13.710 --> 00:20:17.990 hives. So imagine 90, 80, 100. Yeah, yeah, it 00:20:17.990 --> 00:20:21.049 warms up. Well, tell me a little bit about you 00:20:21.049 --> 00:20:23.910 and your beekeeping. Sure, I'm loosely what's 00:20:23.910 --> 00:20:26.130 called a treatment free beekeeper So I try to 00:20:26.130 --> 00:20:28.809 opt as much as possible for you know, no chemicals 00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:32.009 or treatments where where you can Also, I have 00:20:32.009 --> 00:20:34.970 what's called shungite beehives. Well, I'll kind 00:20:34.970 --> 00:20:37.509 of you know, what in the world is that? I know 00:20:37.509 --> 00:20:40.230 you're like what what is that? Long story short 00:20:40.230 --> 00:20:43.910 as I like to say shungite is a black rock It's 00:20:43.910 --> 00:20:46.750 a mineral that's carbon -based and it's found 00:20:46.750 --> 00:20:49.819 in Russia But what scientists have found out 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:53.460 is that this mineral called shungite, S -H -U 00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:56.380 -N -G -I -T -E, for those who want to look it 00:20:56.380 --> 00:21:00.180 up, has an effect on frequencies within our environment. 00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:04.720 So one way I use it is I use the shungite powder, 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:07.619 blend it with paint, paint the exterior of the 00:21:07.619 --> 00:21:10.039 beehive. And when I was in the military, we would 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:13.019 call things like this Faraday cages. So what 00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:15.140 shungite does, and this has been proven already 00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:17.990 to have an effect. it'll stop much of those harmful 00:21:17.990 --> 00:21:20.650 frequencies that are under power lines, you know, 00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:23.529 Wi -Fi, cell phone, that stuff in our environment 00:21:23.529 --> 00:21:25.589 that does affect the bees, and it's been proven 00:21:25.589 --> 00:21:28.410 to have an effect on. So introducing shungite 00:21:28.410 --> 00:21:31.230 to that environment, you can say energetically, 00:21:31.650 --> 00:21:34.109 keep the bees calm. It keeps a lot of the harmful 00:21:34.109 --> 00:21:36.430 frequencies away from them. So when the bees 00:21:36.430 --> 00:21:39.690 are in their beehive recovering and sleeping 00:21:39.690 --> 00:21:42.410 at night, you can say they're healing themselves. 00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:44.710 So I don't have the colony collapse disorder 00:21:44.710 --> 00:21:48.609 losses. I had pre years using shungite on my 00:21:48.609 --> 00:21:50.930 hives. And I've got a lot of information on this 00:21:50.930 --> 00:21:54.589 on our website and the documented studies verifying 00:21:54.589 --> 00:21:57.170 shungite and its effects on energies and bees. 00:21:57.500 --> 00:21:59.980 and we'll put your website in our show notes 00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:03.079 so anybody that wants to go there mysticalwears 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:06.859 .com it'll all be in there but so this is a regular 00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.660 langstroth hive and you call it shungite because 00:22:09.660 --> 00:22:12.059 of the coating you put on is that correct yeah 00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:14.680 we do and i actually put shungite nuggets so 00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:17.240 again it's a black rock um if you look at it 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.660 at the entrance and what bees will do and i've 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:23.380 recorded video of this for the most part so a 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:25.240 highly percentage number of the bees that come 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:27.990 and go from the hive will opt to land on the 00:22:27.990 --> 00:22:31.069 shungite, it energetically has an effect. And 00:22:31.069 --> 00:22:33.549 again, it's all about, I need the science, I 00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:35.329 won't get too much, but it's about the carbon 00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:38.210 -60 molecule that's in there. It's called a fullerene 00:22:38.210 --> 00:22:41.789 or a buckyball. Buckminster fuller, lots of scientists 00:22:41.789 --> 00:22:44.509 know about it and work with this. So when you 00:22:44.509 --> 00:22:47.930 use those aspects of it, and again, that buckyball 00:22:47.930 --> 00:22:51.130 or a carbon -60 molecule is what's inside of 00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:54.750 shungite that gives it these energetic aspects 00:22:54.750 --> 00:22:57.940 to it. And we're just using those effects of 00:22:57.940 --> 00:23:00.019 shungite in various ways on the beehives to help 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:03.019 them. So you take this, you grind it up into 00:23:03.019 --> 00:23:04.880 a powder, and you mix it with paint. Is that 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:07.200 how you explained it to me? Yeah, you actually 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:08.960 do. So we actually have shungite powder you can 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.619 buy, and you blend it in the paint, and then 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:13.779 just paint the exterior of the beehive. We have 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:15.779 rooms, and these have been made in Europe, called 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:18.279 shungite rooms, where they'll line the walls 00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:22.220 with shungite and or shungite paint. My own clay 00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:24.400 is I brought it to the bees, but shungite's been 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:27.220 around for a long time. Huh. I think you're going 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:29.779 to be selling this stuff. I'll take some right 00:23:29.779 --> 00:23:31.559 now. I'll tell you what, Eric, you should go 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:34.299 to our website because I've done this for seven 00:23:34.299 --> 00:23:36.859 years now. We've gifted free shungite to any 00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:39.099 beekeeper on the planet who's willing to try 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:42.859 it. If you go to MrGores .com, request the free 00:23:42.859 --> 00:23:45.079 bee kit, you're just going to pay shipping. I'm 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:46.700 giving it to you for free. You're going to get 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:49.339 enough powder to make your own gallon of paint 00:23:49.339 --> 00:23:52.019 to paint your beehives and free shungite nuggets. 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.019 And this whole explanation of how to use this 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.500 And a lot of this, like 90 studies, scientific 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:01.319 studies, not me doing them, I've republished 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:04.180 on our website showing the effects shungite has. 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:06.200 So for those that want to get into that part 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:08.279 of it, it's all available as well. But again, 00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:11.539 we've been gifting this for many years now. Well, 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.079 I didn't mean for this to turn into an infomercial, 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:15.859 but if you're not making money on it, I guess 00:24:15.859 --> 00:24:19.640 it's not technically so. It's free. Yeah. Hey, 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:23.079 that's pretty cool. All right. This is the time 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:25.559 in an interview that I normally ask people to 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:28.500 tell me their most wild and crazy beekeeping 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:31.460 story that they can think of. I think you've 00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:34.019 accomplished that already. But can you think 00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:36.180 of anything else, something unusual that happened 00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:39.599 or something embarrassing or painful or give 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.099 us something unusual? One unusual thing from 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:45.579 my perspective was I found myself for various 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:48.799 reasons. in the middle. I live in the Cascade 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.680 Mountains here in Washington state, so a lot 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.819 of snow at times. I find myself in a situation 00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:57.400 where I had to relocate three beehives in three 00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.039 or four feet of snow. So, and that means full 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:02.480 beehives and they were probably stacked three 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:04.779 or four boxes high left over the winter for that 00:25:04.779 --> 00:25:07.019 and there were somebody else's. So having to 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:10.940 move those was a feat in itself, trying to get 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:13.819 them up on there and through the snow and even 00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:16.940 though we sealed the openings on it and secured 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:19.299 the boxes together. During the transport, some 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:23.180 of the openings or the entrance blockers were 00:25:23.180 --> 00:25:26.079 damaged and were broken off and none of the bees 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:29.099 tried to come out. Of course, it was pretty cold 00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:30.900 out, so that makes a lot of sense from that perspective, 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.160 but it was interesting that we were able to successfully 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:36.140 relocate the hives even during winter and we 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:38.839 had complete success rates in the spring when 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:41.549 they came out. Were those yours and did they 00:25:41.549 --> 00:25:44.009 just get left up there or what happened? It was 00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:46.410 a chain. I was consulting on these hives So they 00:25:46.410 --> 00:25:48.670 were shungite beehives as we call them So it 00:25:48.670 --> 00:25:50.950 was shungite introduced to them and then they 00:25:50.950 --> 00:25:53.869 were just Basically that land was commercial 00:25:53.869 --> 00:25:55.670 land and I don't know if it was moving hands 00:25:55.670 --> 00:25:57.630 or what was happening exactly But the beehives 00:25:57.630 --> 00:25:59.990 had to had to go off of there So I was the one 00:25:59.990 --> 00:26:02.789 showing up to relocate them and literally lift 00:26:02.789 --> 00:26:04.549 them up into the back of a truck I would didn't 00:26:04.549 --> 00:26:07.230 think for a second. It was gonna work or we'd 00:26:07.230 --> 00:26:08.970 be able to lift them that high in the middle 00:26:08.970 --> 00:26:11.309 of winter in the snow. But, you know, thank goodness 00:26:11.309 --> 00:26:13.970 that they lasted. They were covered. That's kind 00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:18.890 of bizarre. Yeah, it was unusual. Yeah, it's 00:26:18.890 --> 00:26:20.970 been pretty unusual with all my stories with 00:26:20.970 --> 00:26:23.789 the bees, to be honest. Well, Derek, I appreciate 00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:26.549 your time and I appreciate what you did for the 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:29.930 bees in that rollover and helping everybody out 00:26:29.930 --> 00:26:34.109 there. So thanks for all you do. And hey, keep 00:26:34.109 --> 00:26:36.630 in touch. I will. Thank you. I appreciate you 00:26:36.630 --> 00:26:40.910 having me on the podcast. Thanks again for joining 00:26:40.910 --> 00:26:43.730 us here on Be Love Beekeeping presented by Man 00:26:43.730 --> 00:26:47.730 Lake. Remember right now to follow or subscribe 00:26:47.730 --> 00:26:51.150 and share this podcast. Also a quick shout out 00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:54.390 to Vita Bee Health for their support. Vita's 00:26:54.390 --> 00:26:57.609 Varroa Control range of products includes Apistan, 00:26:57.910 --> 00:27:01.930 Apigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic 00:27:01.930 --> 00:27:05.619 Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And remember, if you're 00:27:05.619 --> 00:27:08.460 not just in it for the honey or the money, you're 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:10.480 in it for the love. See you next week.