WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.660 May I have your attention, please? The following 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:10.839 is not the real Jeff Fox review. If you create 00:00:10.839 --> 00:00:16.780 more splints than a divorce lawyer, you might 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:23.620 be a beekeeper. If you go to the car wash and 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:27.239 the attendant there says, I can't get rid of 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:32.820 these orange spots on your vehicle. You might 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:40.060 be a Vkeeper. If you refer to your very large 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:56.109 family as a swarm, you might be a Vkeeper. Welcome, 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:58.990 welcome to Be Love Beekeeping presented by our 00:00:58.990 --> 00:01:01.969 good buds over at Man Lake. We are so happy you're 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:04.790 here today as we're headed down to the southern 00:01:04.790 --> 00:01:07.730 hemisphere for a really fun discussion with a 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:11.689 passionate beekeeper who, of all things, doesn't 00:01:11.689 --> 00:01:15.310 like honey? What? One of the most fun things 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:17.750 about doing this show is getting to know beekeepers 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:20.969 from all over the world. It's amazing how much 00:01:20.969 --> 00:01:23.709 we have in common when it's all centered around 00:01:23.709 --> 00:01:27.590 the love of bees. But first, let's go to some 00:01:27.590 --> 00:01:34.250 headlines. Last month we had a story about Africanized 00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:37.829 bees killing three horses at a farm in Texas. 00:01:38.510 --> 00:01:42.269 Now more recently another family in Texas had 00:01:42.269 --> 00:01:46.040 all nine of their chickens killed by bees. The 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:49.519 Stavanoja family in Bryan, Texas was left in 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.060 shock after a swarm of bees turned aggressive 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:55.219 in their backyard. Here's a quote from Jennifer 00:01:55.219 --> 00:01:58.859 Stavanoja. I get a text from my husband and he 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:01.599 says, I think bees are killing our chickens. 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:05.700 So I put the baby down and I ran outside and 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:08.580 most of the chickens were already dead. And there 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:12.039 was just a swarm of bees stinging all of our 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.349 chickens. So the poor family lost their entire 00:02:15.349 --> 00:02:18.270 flock in minutes and now they're wondering what 00:02:18.270 --> 00:02:21.090 kind of bees would have caused this type of destruction. 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:24.930 She said, European honey bees don't normally 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:28.610 attack. You want them in your yard. But the idea 00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:31.870 of this Africanized colony or bad genetics or 00:02:31.870 --> 00:02:34.469 whatever it was, is that they get aggressive 00:02:34.469 --> 00:02:37.189 and they go after you. Normal honey bees don't 00:02:37.189 --> 00:02:41.909 do these things. So local beekeeper and professional 00:02:41.909 --> 00:02:46.129 bee remover Chris Barnes was called in. He said 00:02:46.129 --> 00:02:49.550 this type of behavior most likely has to do with 00:02:49.550 --> 00:02:53.610 territorial behaviors in bees. The chickens were 00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:56.750 likely caught in the crossfire of two colonies 00:02:56.750 --> 00:03:01.169 fighting for hive space. His advice? The first 00:03:01.169 --> 00:03:03.969 thing is to just leave them alone if bees are 00:03:03.969 --> 00:03:07.780 attacking or attacking like in this case Distance 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:10.580 is your friend. They're not going to be aggressive 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:13.460 as a general rule and the benefit of having the 00:03:13.460 --> 00:03:16.199 bees around far outweighs the fear that people 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:19.620 have now. Even though the beehive is not on their 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:23.000 property, the Stavanoha family said that they're 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:26.500 taking steps to remove the hive. They also plan 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:29.439 to rebuild their chicken flock. Good for them. 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:34.699 Now let's go across the pond in Euro news. Spanish 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:37.860 beekeepers staged an eye -catching protest in 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:41.960 Valencia to plead for financial aid. Okay, this 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:44.560 one you got to see the picture. It just looks 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.800 a little nuts. And I'm quoting again from the 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.939 article. Spanish beekeepers are taking to the 00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:54.659 streets this weekend to demand urgent help for 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:59.379 their quote dying sector. Led by farmers union 00:03:59.379 --> 00:04:04.479 COAG Honey sector workers are demanding aid to 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.099 help with the unaffordable rise in production 00:04:07.099 --> 00:04:10.900 costs. They're also protesting against import 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:14.520 of low quality honey from countries such as China, 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.759 which they say is flooding the market and causing 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:22.100 a price crisis. In recent years, a record amount 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:25.319 of honey has been imported to Spain. So here's 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:28.750 what they did. 300 beekeepers got together in 00:04:28.750 --> 00:04:32.149 a rally in front of the Valencia Courthouse holding 00:04:32.149 --> 00:04:36.110 signs that read, S .O .S. Beekeeping in Danger 00:04:36.110 --> 00:04:39.970 of Extinction. Now here's the best part, protesters 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:44.129 then drenched themselves in honey from head to 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:47.709 toe to draw attention to their cause. So why 00:04:47.709 --> 00:04:50.610 are the beekeepers protesting in Spain? They 00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:53.329 say that recent high temperatures and varroa 00:04:53.329 --> 00:04:56.370 mites have reduced Spain's honey harvest by half. 00:04:56.930 --> 00:05:00.009 And like other industries beekeeping has suffered 00:05:00.009 --> 00:05:03.250 surging costs due to the war in Ukraine. The 00:05:03.250 --> 00:05:06.149 amount of aid currently allocated for beekeepers 00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:10.050 does not cover even one kilo of food per hive 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:13.620 they say. and their colonies require about 18 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.819 kilograms of honey or sugar syrup to survive 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:20.060 the winter. Protesters are demanding increased 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:23.160 quantity and quality controls on honey imports 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:26.660 and more transparent labeling on the origin of 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:31.740 honey sold in Spain. Go for it guys. And lastly 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:35.279 here in the U .S. a headline EPA proposes to 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:39.019 register new pesticide for varroa mite control. 00:05:39.449 --> 00:05:43.129 The U .S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 00:05:43.769 --> 00:05:47.649 has proposed to register one technical and two 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:51.509 end -use products containing the new active ingredient, 00:05:52.269 --> 00:05:55.709 vadascana, hope I said that right, a double -stranded 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:59.110 RNA for control against varroa mites and honeybee 00:05:59.110 --> 00:06:03.560 hives. The EPA is prioritizing pesticide applications 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.699 that target varroa mites to provide beekeepers 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:10.579 with a variety of tools to combat the pest. According 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:14.439 to them, no risks of concern to human health 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:17.680 or the environment were identified. When used 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:20.839 according to the label, risks to bees are not 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:24.199 expected because vadascona is highly specific 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:28.420 to the targeted gene within varroa mites. Additionally, 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:32.899 in March of 2025, the EPA registered a new varroa 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:36.500 side product containing iglutamic acid, an active 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:39.240 ingredient that has not previously been included 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.500 in registered products for use in beehives. The 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:45.319 agency also intends to register another product 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.740 containing oxalic acid, a slow release varroa 00:06:48.740 --> 00:06:53.839 side within beehives, by July of 2025. Together, 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:56.860 these four end -use products are expected to 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.300 provide new tools, including novel active ingredients, 00:07:00.699 --> 00:07:05.379 for control of Varroa mites and beehives. Now, 00:07:05.420 --> 00:07:07.740 hey, just a quick favor. If you haven't yet followed 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:10.980 or subscribed to the show, please do so now and 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:13.899 be sure to share it with a friend. Also, if you 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:16.339 want to be part of the show, be sure to reach 00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:19.300 out to Eric at Be Love Beekeeping dot com with 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:22.300 your ideas for guests, your wild and crazy beekeeping 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:25.810 stories, and your suggestions for the not real 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:29.410 Jeff Foxworthy on why you might be a beekeeper. 00:07:30.029 --> 00:07:32.170 Thank you, thank you for all that. Now let's 00:07:32.170 --> 00:07:40.930 head south for today's interview. Hey, welcome, 00:07:40.949 --> 00:07:44.810 welcome to the show today, Sarah Cross. And Sarah, 00:07:45.389 --> 00:07:47.689 I'm going to ask you to answer something that 00:07:47.689 --> 00:07:49.569 I'm going to have people try to guess where you're 00:07:49.569 --> 00:07:54.019 from. Oh, OK. I want to know how you got started 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:56.379 in beekeeping. All right. Keep it short because 00:07:56.379 --> 00:07:58.639 then we're going to ask the quiz. No problem. 00:07:58.779 --> 00:08:02.399 So my start is quite different. So most people 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.600 in any level of beekeeping, most start as hobbyists, 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.019 you know, with a couple of hives in the backyard. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.060 I started, so I have a bachelor of science degree 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:14.600 from university and I started in insects in general. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:17.639 So not actually the bees. And then I worked at 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:21.879 lots of very cool places around my country. And 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:25.220 then I came back to my general sort of home area 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:28.699 and picked up a job at an apiculture science 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:31.500 organization. I had never opened a bee hive in 00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:34.519 my life. The very first time that I put on a 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:36.440 bee suit and did that amazing thing where you 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:38.500 open the hive and seal the bees for the first 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:42.399 time was in my job interview. Wow. Yeah, those 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.480 silly people gave me that job. Good thing you 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.740 didn't panic and scream and run away. Yeah, yeah. 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.220 100%. They said, congratulations, here's 250 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:56.759 beehives to look after. Oh, no. I literally, 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.240 yeah, my start in beekeeping was literally thrown 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:01.940 in the deep end. So I started big. Okay. And 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:04.019 now I'm all the way back down to having five 00:09:04.019 --> 00:09:05.960 hives in the backyard. All right, quiz time. 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:08.740 Everybody can answer to whoever's next to them. 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:15.740 Where is Sarah from? Yes, New Zealand. And I'm 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:17.919 not going to embarrass myself. Tell us what part 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.509 of New Zealand. Oh, okay. the language of New 00:09:21.509 --> 00:09:24.450 Zealand, which is Māori. And so I am from New 00:09:24.450 --> 00:09:27.730 Zealand, which natively is called Aotearoa. I'm 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:30.950 from a region called the Waikato, and my hometown 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:33.570 is called Ngāruawahia. That was the part I wanted 00:09:33.570 --> 00:09:36.230 to say and then didn't dare. I embarrassed myself 00:09:36.230 --> 00:09:39.330 enough on this show already. I don't need to 00:09:39.330 --> 00:09:42.629 start off that way today. Anyway, it's really 00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:45.929 fun to have you on. You are our first guest from 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:48.690 New Zealand, so congratulations on that. That's 00:09:48.690 --> 00:09:51.009 exciting. And one of the reasons I was interested 00:09:51.009 --> 00:09:54.129 in New Zealand is because somebody recently was 00:09:54.129 --> 00:09:57.309 asking about manuka honey. I want to talk about 00:09:57.309 --> 00:09:59.230 that first and then we're going to jump into 00:09:59.230 --> 00:10:01.990 a little bit more of your beekeeping journey 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:05.009 and what in the world it's like keeping bees 00:10:05.009 --> 00:10:07.129 there. Oh, I had one other question, geography. 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:10.669 quiz question. Where are you from Auckland? Yeah, 00:10:10.710 --> 00:10:13.850 half far away from Auckland, only like an hour's 00:10:13.850 --> 00:10:16.909 drive south. So if you know a little bit, there's 00:10:16.909 --> 00:10:18.970 the big old what we call the North Island, and 00:10:18.970 --> 00:10:20.450 Auckland's quite near the top. We are literally 00:10:20.450 --> 00:10:24.610 kind of smack in the middle. Alrighty. What do 00:10:24.610 --> 00:10:27.570 you know about Manuka honey? I do not know a 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:31.870 lot about the those cool little chemical jargony 00:10:31.870 --> 00:10:35.409 acronyms we hear about NGOs and GM or whatever 00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:40.110 they're called, UMFs, only because my apiculture 00:10:40.110 --> 00:10:43.909 science background was working on the bees. So 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:46.809 it's a fun little thing to get your head around, 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.009 but my job has never, in all the years of me 00:10:49.009 --> 00:10:52.049 doing this, has never been to make honey. Which 00:10:52.049 --> 00:10:54.049 sounds weird, because I just say, oh, I'm a beekeeper. 00:10:54.590 --> 00:10:56.929 But my job has always been about the bees themselves. 00:10:57.289 --> 00:11:00.429 But I will tell you one of the reasons why manuka 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:03.529 is hard. to get, hard to make, hard for your 00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:07.250 bees to get. So little old New Zealand is quite 00:11:07.250 --> 00:11:10.669 a long country. So our temperature gradient goes 00:11:10.669 --> 00:11:13.250 sort of down the country like that. And manuka 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:15.429 flowers only when the temperature gets warm enough. 00:11:15.970 --> 00:11:18.169 So we have, in New Zealand here, we have what 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:21.149 we call manuka chasers. And they will move their 00:11:21.149 --> 00:11:23.710 hives in at the top of the country when the manuka 00:11:23.710 --> 00:11:25.629 is first flowering. And they will have to move 00:11:25.629 --> 00:11:28.889 those every couple of weeks. And like, but like 00:11:28.889 --> 00:11:30.350 migratory beekeeping, and then they go all the 00:11:30.350 --> 00:11:33.039 way down the country. It's not common to do that 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.659 because New Zealand is a teeny little country. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:36.899 It's not a common thing to do. And so it's a 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:42.320 lot of money and outreach to get all that time, 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:44.460 all the effort, all the manpower. Some of them 00:11:44.460 --> 00:11:46.879 even helicopter them in, the fancy ones. So that's 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:49.120 one of the reasons why manuka costs so much. 00:11:49.139 --> 00:11:50.820 And also the bees themselves don't particularly 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:55.440 like it. It's not actually a favorite. So they 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.820 must drop them in where there's nothing else 00:11:57.820 --> 00:12:00.080 for them to forage on. That's what they really 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.100 try to do. Wow. And I'll tell you another weird 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:08.139 little fact. But back in the days, manuka was 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:10.940 literally the pest plant. It was the scrub. It 00:12:10.940 --> 00:12:15.580 was when you bought a block of land, you automatically 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:18.960 cut and burned all of the manuka because it was 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:20.779 an absolute waste. We used to use it as firewood. 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:23.659 And now there are people out there selling little 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:25.519 manuka plants for thousands of dollars because 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.279 people want their whole property planted in it. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.929 So it's that complete... supply and demand thing 00:12:30.929 --> 00:12:33.330 where suddenly they found this magical honey 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:35.629 that comes from Manuka and it's completely flipped. 00:12:36.190 --> 00:12:38.110 Completely. It's quite odd to think about. Yeah. 00:12:38.730 --> 00:12:40.389 We used to slash and burn it and now we plant 00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:43.870 it. That's funny. Yeah. Now, just so we can get 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:46.029 an idea of what it's like beekeeping in your 00:12:46.029 --> 00:12:50.149 area, because as we all know, beekeeping is local. 00:12:51.149 --> 00:12:54.230 It's if I live 25 miles from here, it would be 00:12:54.230 --> 00:12:56.889 different than where it is where I live So give 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:00.470 us an idea of what the climate is like all year 00:13:00.470 --> 00:13:04.450 round So just like you mentioned local New Zealand 00:13:04.450 --> 00:13:07.429 itself is classed as a temperate climate So we're 00:13:07.429 --> 00:13:10.549 not having any massive minus 25s kind of you 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.009 know, Alaska types up and again We don't have 00:13:13.009 --> 00:13:16.149 highs like Australia. So Here where I am in the 00:13:16.149 --> 00:13:19.769 Waikato our summertime I'm going to say I'm probably 00:13:19.769 --> 00:13:21.289 going to have to convert this to Fahrenheit because 00:13:21.289 --> 00:13:25.529 I don't know. But in the summertime here, we 00:13:25.529 --> 00:13:27.830 would be absolutely gasping and dying if it got 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:31.190 to 30 degrees Celsius. 30 degrees Celsius is 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:34.830 86 Fahrenheit. So it's always below 86 Fahrenheit. 00:13:35.210 --> 00:13:38.970 Okay. We would and we are sweating. Okay. And 00:13:38.970 --> 00:13:42.470 then here where I am in the Waikato would only, 00:13:42.470 --> 00:13:46.210 gosh, minus two is probably the worst winter 00:13:46.210 --> 00:13:48.580 day. we would have, sorry, winter night that 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:51.879 we would have. That's 28 degrees for us. Wow, 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.919 that is very mild. Yeah, it's exactly temperate. 00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:57.179 It's not very, and even between the days and 00:13:57.179 --> 00:13:59.080 the nights, it's not a big change as well. And 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.039 again, that's here in the Waikato. If you go 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.419 much further down south in New Zealand, they 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:05.259 definitely get the big snows and things like 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:07.240 that, but it doesn't snow here. It's not ever 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:10.340 that cold. So very temperate. So yeah, very different. 00:14:10.419 --> 00:14:13.480 So I see amazing people overseas wrapping their 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:15.500 hives and getting covered in snow. And I'm like... 00:14:16.069 --> 00:14:19.409 Don't have to do that. But do you have pests? 00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:23.210 Warm climate type of pests. We have a lot less 00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:25.350 than most countries. We do not have small hive 00:14:25.350 --> 00:14:27.909 beetle, which I know I see in Australia, which 00:14:27.909 --> 00:14:30.070 is quite a... If that comes over here, we're 00:14:30.070 --> 00:14:33.850 in big trouble. We have had Varroa, Varroa destructus 00:14:33.850 --> 00:14:36.690 since the year 2000. So we've had 25 years of 00:14:36.690 --> 00:14:40.070 dealing with that. We have AFB, so American foul 00:14:40.070 --> 00:14:43.490 brood, but we do not have European foul brood. 00:14:43.610 --> 00:14:46.539 So we've got a few less than some people. Yeah. 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.399 And other things like deform wing virus? Yes. 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:53.539 Any of those viruses? Yeah. 100 % deform wings. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.440 Deform wings is the main one. We do have acute 00:14:56.440 --> 00:15:00.240 paralysis, but none of those are rampant sort 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.279 of anywhere. Chalk brood, because we are a temperate, 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:06.720 quite damp, we will sometimes get a bit of that 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.879 coming through. But again, nothing that's massively 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.779 damaging. Of course, like most of the word, varroa 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:13.299 is of course our number one vein of our existence. 00:15:13.830 --> 00:15:16.110 Yeah, how do you deal with it there? Maybe we 00:15:16.110 --> 00:15:20.149 can learn something from you. We definitely have 00:15:20.149 --> 00:15:23.210 moved into the realm of integrated pest management, 00:15:23.710 --> 00:15:26.110 because again, like most of the country, just 00:15:26.110 --> 00:15:28.970 throwing in the strips and, you know, taking 00:15:28.970 --> 00:15:31.009 them out and however many weeks is not working 00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:35.049 like it used to. So yeah, a lot of all the other, 00:15:35.850 --> 00:15:37.350 you might have heard New Zealand, we have this 00:15:37.350 --> 00:15:40.110 number eight wire is called, it's like a, we 00:15:40.110 --> 00:15:42.379 like to make things, we like to... figure stuff 00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:44.899 out. And there's lots of people here in New Zealand 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.379 who have made their own little bits and pieces 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:49.320 to do with, a lot of it's to do with oxalic acid 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:51.899 and different ways that we treat with those. 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.240 There's also a lot of physical, very cool little 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.179 physical things that a lot of New Zealand engineer 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:00.139 beekeeper fellas are doing. One of them is sort 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:02.399 of quite specific sort of queen trapping system 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:04.840 to make the hive broodless for a little bit so 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.360 then you can treat and get all the phoretic mites 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.639 and things like that. Definitely lots of, and 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:11.820 even in the science industry, we've got quite 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:16.419 a few people doing insane stuff with like mRNA 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:18.559 and things like that of the actual Varroa itself 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:20.659 to try and stop its breeding cycle and things 00:16:20.659 --> 00:16:23.179 like that. But these are very much years and 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:26.159 years sort of to come through, but we definitely 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:28.159 know as beekeepers that we cannot do what we 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.320 used to do because it's not working. And that's 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.200 a big thing that we're learning here. Again, 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:34.840 we should already know it, but you've probably 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:37.320 heard about the big bee die off this year in 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:39.960 the States. Have you heard about it? Oh, hundred 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.220 percent. It's very scary. Yeah, it's bad. Yeah. 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:46.960 And just a few days ago, well, depending on the 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.679 date that this podcast comes out, but from when 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:52.320 we're recording, it was just a week or so ago, 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:55.919 we got some results from some of the first research 00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:00.179 that's being done. And what they're finding is 00:17:00.179 --> 00:17:03.860 two things. Some of the viruses that are passed 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:07.039 by Varroa, those are what's killing the hives. 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:10.500 But some of the treatment that has been used 00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:13.660 for a long time is just not very effective anymore. 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:17.279 It's been used over and over and over so much 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.079 and, oh, it's not working so good, we better 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:23.039 give a higher dose and then a higher dose. Well, 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.440 now it's not working anymore. So the IPM that 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.119 you're talking about, which everybody knows the 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:32.400 term, we all have to do a better job of putting 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.400 that into, you know, just part of how we bee 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:39.390 keep. And you mentioned brood breaks. Yeah. But 00:17:39.390 --> 00:17:42.470 what is this wire you were talking about? It's 00:17:42.470 --> 00:17:46.069 just one of the amazing beekeeping outfits is 00:17:46.069 --> 00:17:48.809 just, I can't remember who calls it, sorry, but 00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:52.430 it's basically just securing the queen into one 00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:54.730 specific area. So not a tiny little queen cage 00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:57.410 like we do for introductions, but just sort of 00:17:57.410 --> 00:18:01.309 a sort of a trap to hold her in there. So just 00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:04.569 on that one frame so that then which can basically 00:18:04.569 --> 00:18:07.210 cause a brood break and be able to treat the 00:18:07.210 --> 00:18:12.130 hives as well. Quick break to thank our presenting 00:18:12.130 --> 00:18:15.829 sponsor, Man Lake. I've found that Man Lake has 00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:18.829 absolutely everything I need to take care of 00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:21.470 the health of my bees. 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In terms of the chemicals that 00:18:55.099 --> 00:18:57.059 you use in the US, is there really only sort 00:18:57.059 --> 00:19:00.579 of one chemical class that you use for the Varroa 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:03.579 treatments? What do you mean by class? Well, 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:05.619 so, okay, here in New Zealand we have, we're 00:19:05.619 --> 00:19:08.259 very, very stressful to say that people, so we 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:11.700 treat in the spring and the autumn. And we always 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:15.380 tell our new beekeepers to rotate those treatments. 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:19.720 So we have two different chemical classes, I 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:21.500 think, and I'm going to blow myself in trouble 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:23.440 because I haven't done this role, like fluvalinate 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.059 and flumethrin, and there's a third one, which 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:28.119 I can't remember, amitrase or apitrase, something. 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:30.440 And they are in chemical, two different chemical 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.640 classes. And so we always tell our beekeepers 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:34.980 to swap those around. So they're not always getting, 00:19:35.180 --> 00:19:36.980 like you mentioned, always getting the same chemical 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:39.079 throw in that. Is that not something that you 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.750 do or? Oh, yeah, absolutely. So for example, 00:19:43.029 --> 00:19:45.049 formic acid can come in a couple of different 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:48.390 ways. So you've got to use that one time and 00:19:48.390 --> 00:19:51.029 not the other kind of formic another time, but 00:19:51.029 --> 00:19:53.369 something completely different. Exactly. Yeah. 00:19:53.630 --> 00:19:57.049 So yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Again, we just need 00:19:57.049 --> 00:20:00.140 to do a better job of Oh, yeah, because as you 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:01.799 know, some things when we treat are easier than 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:03.559 others. And sometimes if you're a bit like me 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:05.920 and you're a bit lazy, you sometimes just go, 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:08.240 I'll just do the easy, which is not obviously 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.700 the best way to be, but I fully understand that. 00:20:11.099 --> 00:20:14.160 So, yeah. So you mentioned oxalic acid, which 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.140 is very popular here. In what ways do you use 00:20:17.140 --> 00:20:19.960 it? The least common way is the dribble, as in 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:21.960 physically mixed in with sugar syrup, and you 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.180 just dribble it over the seams on top of the 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:26.730 bees. Very common is what we call the staples, 00:20:27.150 --> 00:20:30.970 which are soaked in like a cardboard strip, which 00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:33.250 you then put down over the top of the frames 00:20:33.250 --> 00:20:35.710 like that. So down in like a staple form. Another 00:20:35.710 --> 00:20:38.150 one that's gaining a lot of traction now is the 00:20:38.150 --> 00:20:41.890 fogging. So having a little vaporizer and blasting 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:43.890 the fog through there. Those are the three that 00:20:43.890 --> 00:20:45.890 I can think of right now. But the staples are 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:47.470 really, really common now. And people just leave 00:20:47.470 --> 00:20:50.650 them in all the time while still doing the other 00:20:50.650 --> 00:20:53.509 sort of synthetic chemical ones at the same time. 00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:56.579 So yeah. In fact, one of the sponsors of the 00:20:56.579 --> 00:20:59.940 show, one of their products is Veroxan, which 00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:02.599 is exactly what you're talking about. None of 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:06.240 ours have brand names. It's quite new. Yeah, 00:21:06.259 --> 00:21:08.299 it's quite new and the results are sounding very, 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:10.880 very positive. And it's just like, say, IPM, 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:12.839 you've got to kind of do them all together. Yeah, 00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:16.319 absolutely. And the whole brew break thing, I'm 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.940 a big fan of. That's one reason I love splits. 00:21:19.849 --> 00:21:22.730 As I try to think about positive things of the 00:21:22.730 --> 00:21:27.009 very cold winters where I specifically am, that's 00:21:27.009 --> 00:21:29.309 one of the things that we get a positive out 00:21:29.309 --> 00:21:31.910 of that winter. If the bees make it through, 00:21:31.970 --> 00:21:34.029 they've had a brood break. But have you talked 00:21:34.029 --> 00:21:36.650 to anyone from Australia lately? I have, but 00:21:36.650 --> 00:21:38.930 it's been a little while. I only say that because 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:41.690 Australia has only just got Varroa. Yeah, just 00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:43.650 in the last couple of years. Yeah, only just. 00:21:43.769 --> 00:21:45.869 And that's exactly what I'm really worried about 00:21:45.869 --> 00:21:48.150 because they, I don't know if you've ever been 00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:51.380 to Australia in winter. It's not winter. There 00:21:51.380 --> 00:21:55.279 winter is like my spring day, like it's not cold 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:57.819 at all. There is no way that those bees would 00:21:57.819 --> 00:22:00.880 ever have any kind of food break in terms of 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.740 being cold. So it really worries me how the Varroa 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:05.720 is going to get through Australia. It's actually 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:08.640 quite scary. So that's just a little worrying 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:11.019 thing that we... They sure went crazy trying 00:22:11.019 --> 00:22:14.319 to kill it all off at first. That was unsuccessful. 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:17.619 Now they just need to buckle down like the rest 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.099 of us. But I feel bad for them. I don't wish 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:24.039 for on anybody. No, exactly. And they held it 00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:26.059 off for so long. It was so fantastic. But yeah, 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:27.779 it's really quite scary to watch over the ditch. 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:30.880 OK, I'm going to backtrack now. What is it like 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:35.960 getting a job where you have 250 hives to manage 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:38.759 and you've just met bees for the very first time? 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:41.099 Hello, ladies. It's just one of those such a 00:22:41.099 --> 00:22:42.839 cool memory. And I'm sure lots of people can 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:44.180 say that the very first time they might have 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:46.460 gone out with a beekeeper and done that big opening 00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:48.119 up the hive. And I still can't believe that was 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:52.059 in my job interview. Yeah, just so getting thrown 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:53.920 in the deep end. And it's cool because, I mean, 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:56.019 this was my job. So I was opening bee huts every 00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:59.430 single day. But I was taught by an amazing gentleman 00:22:59.430 --> 00:23:02.789 here in New Zealand, Dr Mark Goodwin, who was 00:23:02.789 --> 00:23:06.029 the head of our apiculture and pollination team 00:23:06.029 --> 00:23:08.130 for many, many years. And he's amazing. He is 00:23:08.130 --> 00:23:10.829 my mentor. We still hang out together. We've 00:23:10.829 --> 00:23:12.250 written some books together about beekeeping 00:23:12.250 --> 00:23:15.130 and stuff, and he's amazing. And I very much 00:23:15.130 --> 00:23:19.349 learned from him how to get the science sort 00:23:19.349 --> 00:23:21.460 of across. So it was very cool, like don't get 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:23.220 me wrong, it was very, very, very cool, high 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:26.339 level testing for oral treatments and like toxicology 00:23:26.339 --> 00:23:28.859 testing, very cool science. But I found that 00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:31.400 I liked people and stuff more. So that's how 00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:33.900 I've kind of turned around. And can I say something 00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:37.140 funny that I didn't realize? So if you see any 00:23:37.140 --> 00:23:40.099 of my social media stuff now, I barely wear suits, 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.759 no gloves, things like that. But because I started 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:45.279 in commercial, I didn't know people did that. 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:48.359 That had been my only view. I'd only seen commercial 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:51.339 beekeepers. fully suited. I shouldn't say making 00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:53.599 the best crazy, but a lot of times we had a time 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:55.420 limit. This was, you know, I've got to get this 00:23:55.420 --> 00:23:57.480 done. And so it was a little bit more chaotic. 00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:00.299 And only years and years later did I see the 00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:03.440 other side and that lovely, calm, hobby side 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:06.859 of BKB. So yeah, like I say, my intro to BKB 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:10.420 was a little bit different. So yeah. It's a big, 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:12.970 big difference. And I don't blame the commercial 00:24:12.970 --> 00:24:15.130 beekeepers. It's their business. They have to 00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:17.309 do what they have to do. Those of us that have 00:24:17.309 --> 00:24:20.309 the luxury of being able to go slow and take 00:24:20.309 --> 00:24:24.150 our time. Yes. It's such an enjoyable and different 00:24:24.150 --> 00:24:26.930 kind of experience. I love it. I absolutely love 00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:28.329 it. But it's funny to me that I'd never seen 00:24:28.329 --> 00:24:31.029 it. I'd never seen anyone open beehives with 00:24:31.029 --> 00:24:34.029 no gloves on. Like it was this mind -boggling 00:24:34.029 --> 00:24:37.769 thing when I first saw it. So yeah. So what made 00:24:37.769 --> 00:24:39.609 you think you should all of a sudden do this? 00:24:39.930 --> 00:24:43.690 Do the no gloves. Oh, that took years, years 00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:45.630 and years. And I tell you, this is funny. It 00:24:45.630 --> 00:24:48.130 was one of our, we got a new scientist and she 00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:52.269 was from America. And her, she was also doing 00:24:52.269 --> 00:24:55.190 apiculture. The scale of her beekeeping was a 00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:58.670 lot smaller. So she was, I would just say a large 00:24:58.670 --> 00:25:00.890 hobbyist. And yeah, and she was, she wore a lot 00:25:00.890 --> 00:25:04.259 less gear, barely wore gloves. And it was just 00:25:04.259 --> 00:25:06.279 this eye opening like, wow, I didn't realize 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:08.559 I could do this. And so it was just a very slow 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.099 process to from big gloves to slightly smaller 00:25:11.099 --> 00:25:14.880 to garden gloves to step by step. Yeah. And now 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.200 I couldn't think to wear gloves ever again. Yeah. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.319 It's such a different thing. Yeah. But it's seeing 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:21.519 it. You don't know unless you see it. You can 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.279 gently pull out a frame without squishing anything 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:28.579 or anybody. And it makes a big, big difference 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:31.900 in how they react to that dexterity that you 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:34.859 can have. And it takes a little bit of getting 00:25:34.859 --> 00:25:38.240 used to when you feel a bee walking around on 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.299 your hand and you look and realize she's probably 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:43.319 not even going to sting me. She's just looking 00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:46.019 around. And if she does, it's not the end of 00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:48.460 the world. It's OK. That's such a learned behavior. 00:25:48.660 --> 00:25:51.339 So you don't do the 250 hives anymore, right? 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:55.859 No. No, I haven't done that for a while. Sometimes 00:25:55.859 --> 00:25:57.980 I contract to big commercial places, but I haven't 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:59.319 done that for a couple of years now. But I did 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:02.539 look at your website, Sarah Sees Bees. Did I 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:04.400 get that right? Yeah, Sarah Sees Bees, yeah. 00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:06.799 Okay. Well, tell us a little bit about what you 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.920 do for business, a little bit about your business 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:13.039 model. I do a lot. I didn't mean to do a lot. 00:26:13.319 --> 00:26:14.980 Like I say, when I worked in apiculture science, 00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:17.220 I really did think that was going to be my whole 00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:19.079 career. You know, that was it. I was going to 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:20.660 like lots of scientists in the world. They stay 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:23.619 in the same job for 40, 50 years. But then my 00:26:23.619 --> 00:26:26.039 wonderful boss, Mark Goodwin, he said he had 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:29.680 to retire for medical reasons. And I found out 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:31.799 that, I shouldn't say I found out, I kind of 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:33.779 already knew, but he really was my reason for 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:36.440 going to work. I love that man. And I loved our 00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:39.079 working relationship. And I just found that it 00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:42.200 just wasn't as fun without him. So when I used 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:44.420 to explain our relationship, he had the big ideas 00:26:44.420 --> 00:26:47.180 and I would get things done. And so I left there 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:49.140 and I was a bit sort of floating around for a 00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:51.539 little bit. And a lot of the clients from where 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:53.480 I used to work contacted me personally and said, 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:55.700 hey, would you run this for us? So I sort of 00:26:55.700 --> 00:26:59.400 delved into that. But then I realized that I 00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:00.920 really like to teach beekeeping. I really like 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:03.599 to help people and talk to people about what 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:05.960 they're doing it and how they're doing it. And 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:08.339 it turned out that I started to help a lot of 00:27:08.339 --> 00:27:11.039 people with things like disease checks because 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:12.599 back where I used to work, we used to breed. 00:27:13.300 --> 00:27:15.259 AFB, American Fowl Brood, so I know a lot about 00:27:15.259 --> 00:27:17.339 it, and how they're with disease checking and 00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:20.059 just general hive maintenance and stuff as well. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.539 And it just kind of snowballed from there. So 00:27:22.539 --> 00:27:27.559 I now have a lot of clients that I assist either 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:29.440 on a subscription as in every single month, I 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:30.980 pop out to their hive with them and have a little 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:32.819 look or just sort of ad hoc when they ring me 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:36.079 when something's gone awry. I also hire hives 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:37.420 out to people. There are a lot of people that 00:27:37.420 --> 00:27:40.240 love the idea of bees. but either don't particularly 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.059 want to get in there or don't have the time, 00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:44.000 and so I'll manage them for them. But one of 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.599 the very cool things I do is I take bees in a 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.839 little observation hive out to schools. I dress 00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:53.980 up like a bee, like literally with the stripes 00:27:53.980 --> 00:27:56.480 and the wings of the antennae. I saw your pants 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.299 a minute ago. Yeah, we shot. I don't know if 00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:00.680 the rest of the world needs to see these pants, 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.200 but they're very straby. And I dress up completely 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.640 like a bee, and I will go and take my little 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:09.759 bee talk to anything from kindergartens all the 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:11.700 way up to retirement villages and everything 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:15.259 in between. And we talk about bees and I explain 00:28:15.259 --> 00:28:18.900 the life cycle and what they do. And yeah, it's 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:21.720 just a very cool way to get, even though I'd 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:23.779 like to say did all this massive high level science 00:28:23.779 --> 00:28:26.559 and I've come all the way back down because I'm 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:29.000 sure you know this Eric, but it amazes me that 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:32.319 the majority of the world doesn't even know that 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:35.779 our beautiful honeybees are females. Do you know 00:28:35.779 --> 00:28:37.240 what I mean? Like it's this, I was doing this 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:40.240 massive high level staff and yet the general 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:43.039 public didn't even know like the bare basics 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:46.240 of all the worker bees are females. So I've kind 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.799 of turned it around and I do some very cool outreach 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:51.740 stuff all around the Waikato. So yeah, fun stuff 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:54.339 that I get to do. So a lot of education. Yeah. 00:28:54.579 --> 00:28:57.839 That is awesome. Are your bees down there very 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:02.140 different than ours? Our races, we have Italians 00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:05.539 and we have Carniolans, et cetera. Yep. There's 00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:07.140 one that I hear you guys talk about that I've 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:09.440 never heard is the buckfast. And I assume that's 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.579 just like a subspecies because I'd never heard 00:29:11.579 --> 00:29:15.059 of that. I think, oh, don't quote me on this. 00:29:15.140 --> 00:29:18.059 I'm not an expert or a scientist. I believe they're 00:29:18.059 --> 00:29:22.000 from England and they're not that easy to get 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:25.740 here. They're not very well known here. Okay. 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:27.359 It's just, like I said, something I saw on social 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:28.940 media and I'd never heard of that. But you're 00:29:28.940 --> 00:29:32.059 right. We have Apis mellipera, mainly the Italian 00:29:32.059 --> 00:29:36.150 and the Carniola. Okay. So very similar to here. 00:29:36.609 --> 00:29:39.009 Yeah. Russians are getting a little bit more 00:29:39.009 --> 00:29:43.049 popular. Do you have Russians? I don't think 00:29:43.049 --> 00:29:45.710 so, no. And then even though we don't like it, 00:29:45.710 --> 00:29:48.910 there are a lot of Africanized bees in the southern 00:29:48.910 --> 00:29:52.029 United States in the real warm climates. And 00:29:52.029 --> 00:29:54.490 they have bred with a lot of the local bees. 00:29:55.269 --> 00:29:58.450 And so there's a lot of hybrids and they're not 00:29:58.450 --> 00:30:01.950 friendly bees. As you know, the Italians are 00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:04.990 little sweethearts. I definitely breed my bees 00:30:04.990 --> 00:30:07.309 for calmness. So that's the thing when people 00:30:07.309 --> 00:30:09.089 talk about being a beekeeper and making honey. 00:30:09.490 --> 00:30:11.990 I don't care if my bees make honey or not. I 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:13.990 use my bees for education. I have to go in there 00:30:13.990 --> 00:30:16.089 all the time, take them out, put them in an observation 00:30:16.089 --> 00:30:20.150 hive, or I have people over to my apiaries to 00:30:20.150 --> 00:30:22.490 show them bees as like an introductory. I will 00:30:22.490 --> 00:30:25.430 literally breed them for calm niceness. I do 00:30:25.430 --> 00:30:27.710 not care if they make honey, like not my thing. 00:30:27.910 --> 00:30:30.960 So I don't like honey. I love honey, but I agree 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:34.380 with you. I have seen the best beekeepers are 00:30:34.380 --> 00:30:36.599 the ones that just do it for the bees. I don't 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:39.740 even like honey. I don't know if you have, but 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:42.740 I have seen people that are like, Oh, I want 00:30:42.740 --> 00:30:46.599 to try beekeeping. And, you know, the first or 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:49.319 second year all their bees die and they go, I 00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:51.819 didn't even get any honey. What good is that? 00:30:53.259 --> 00:30:57.000 Yeah. Fully concur. But they were nice enough 00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:59.400 to share their varroa with all the rest of us 00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:03.559 in the meantime. Touche. Correct. Oh, I've, and 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:07.339 that happens everywhere. I mean, we, I still 00:31:07.339 --> 00:31:09.900 can't believe we had, we have an apiculture conference 00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:12.779 every year in Little Old New Zealand and all 00:31:12.779 --> 00:31:16.079 the beekeepers come together. And this is only 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:17.779 a couple of years ago. And I remember being there 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:19.599 and a lady came up, I don't know, we were talking 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:23.039 something about varroa. and the lady at the conference 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:25.299 who paid money and came all the way here for 00:31:25.299 --> 00:31:27.460 this lovely conference stood there and said, 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:31.519 what's for Roa? And I just, yeah. So you're right. 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:34.740 We subject to a different level of beekeeping. 00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:37.299 Did you say, I hope you don't have bees yet. 00:31:37.539 --> 00:31:40.359 You're just honest in your educational phase. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.160 I just, I just walked away. I'm not gonna lie. 00:31:43.259 --> 00:31:44.980 It was like, it was like too much that I had 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:46.779 to give this woman in terms of information. So 00:31:46.779 --> 00:31:49.819 I just did. Or do I? The alternative would have 00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:52.680 been too rude. No, yeah, I just. All right. Sarah, 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.000 can you give me one of your favorite wild and 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.099 crazy beekeeping stories? I've had many crazy 00:31:58.099 --> 00:32:02.460 stories. Oh, gosh. It's probably not a fun one, 00:32:02.460 --> 00:32:04.759 but I can tell you the worst. I've been stung 00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:08.079 on nearly every place imaginable, including on 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:10.119 the island twice. You'd think I would learn my 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:13.220 lesson, but I didn't. That's not ideal. But the 00:32:13.220 --> 00:32:15.180 worst I ever had. So we're talking about nice, 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:18.119 calm bees. So when I was doing apiculture science, 00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:20.339 we had to go to a lot of big commercial outfits. 00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:22.539 Not our bees, obviously, someone else's commercial 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:26.359 apiaries to do these trials, testing different 00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:30.200 things. And we went out to a big, big New Zealand 00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:34.000 commercial beekeepers apiary. Super angry bees. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:37.380 My gosh, this was just, everyone was completely 00:32:37.380 --> 00:32:40.420 suited up, very, very scary. And at this point 00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:42.319 in time, everyone was in the behinds and I was 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:46.319 actually being the... the scribe I was writing. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:48.799 I was not even standing that close to the hives. 00:32:48.859 --> 00:32:50.640 I wasn't even in the hives, but still fully suited. 00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:53.920 And I was writing with a black pen. And the bees 00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:58.240 were attacking this moving black pen like their 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.319 lives depended on it. They really did. But it's 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:03.200 one of those things that I tell to my hobby beekeepers 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:06.559 about how wearing dark clothes and moving fast 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:08.660 attracts the bees. But I still could not understand 00:33:08.660 --> 00:33:12.480 how insane that they were going for that black 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:15.599 moving pen. and those same bees are the ones 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:18.380 that got me when I someone called me over to 00:33:18.380 --> 00:33:19.980 have a look on the hive and I'm fully suited 00:33:19.980 --> 00:33:21.859 you know full veil and everything and I bent 00:33:21.859 --> 00:33:23.720 down to have a look at something and I've been 00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:27.200 too far and my little schnoz my nose touched 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:31.339 the very edge of the veil just for like you know 00:33:31.339 --> 00:33:33.839 a second and a bee got me instantly on the tip 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:37.500 of the nose so I'm fully in my veil instant snot 00:33:38.049 --> 00:33:41.089 bogeys running down my face, instant crying and 00:33:41.089 --> 00:33:43.349 I'm trapped inside and I'm like, I don't know 00:33:43.349 --> 00:33:46.009 what to do. And I couldn't even get far enough 00:33:46.009 --> 00:33:48.069 away for the bees to leave me alone. Well, I 00:33:48.069 --> 00:33:51.609 just was, yeah, it was not a fun day. Wouldn't 00:33:51.609 --> 00:33:54.029 recommend. What was it like when you got stung 00:33:54.029 --> 00:33:56.710 on the eyelid? Wasn't even that bad. Didn't swell 00:33:56.710 --> 00:33:59.390 up too much? No, I never swell. And the embarrassing 00:33:59.390 --> 00:34:02.130 thing was I had my students and it was literally 00:34:02.130 --> 00:34:04.470 either their first or second class of meeting 00:34:04.470 --> 00:34:07.230 me. because I teach beekeeping as well. We walked 00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:09.250 into the apiary. We were far away from the bees 00:34:09.250 --> 00:34:11.150 because none of us had suits on. And I was explaining 00:34:11.150 --> 00:34:12.650 how we shouldn't, you know, we don't go near 00:34:12.650 --> 00:34:15.909 the bees without a suit and at least the veil. 00:34:16.409 --> 00:34:19.769 Do as I say, not as I do. And we walked around 00:34:19.769 --> 00:34:21.969 and I kid you not, a bee just must have just 00:34:21.969 --> 00:34:24.369 been on its flight path and just went straight 00:34:24.369 --> 00:34:26.530 and stung me straight on the eye. And they all 00:34:26.530 --> 00:34:29.469 freaked out. And I was like, it'll be fine. This 00:34:29.469 --> 00:34:31.110 is their first foray into beekeeping and their 00:34:31.110 --> 00:34:33.659 teacher gets stung on the eye. I was like. I 00:34:33.659 --> 00:34:36.380 like to do as I say, not as I do. Oh, that's 00:34:36.380 --> 00:34:38.099 smart, that's smart. Did the one on the nose 00:34:38.099 --> 00:34:40.940 hurt a lot? The funny thing is I don't particularly 00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:44.420 remember the pain. I just remember that instant, 00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:48.519 you know, when it just throws your whole nasal, 00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:51.619 you know, just the snot in them. Yeah, that's 00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:55.139 funny. Yeah. You don't swell, but everything 00:34:55.139 --> 00:34:56.960 just... It was just anything to do with the nose 00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:00.099 and having, yeah. Yeah, it affected your sinuses 00:35:00.099 --> 00:35:03.260 just like that. Yeah. It was, and I was trapped 00:35:03.260 --> 00:35:05.019 in there, you know, that feeling of, you know, 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:07.199 you can't do anything. And I'm like, inside the 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:09.699 veil. Oh, it was so bad. Yeah. It's not a good 00:35:09.699 --> 00:35:12.099 thing. All right. Before I let you go, is there 00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:14.360 any other words of wisdom that you would love 00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:16.860 to leave with our listeners? I feel like they 00:35:16.860 --> 00:35:18.260 probably already know the things. But the one 00:35:18.260 --> 00:35:19.800 thing that I always teach all my hobby beekeepers 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:22.420 is cool, calm, and collected. And it's very much 00:35:22.420 --> 00:35:24.880 a learned behavior. Like you sort of talked a 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:26.719 little bit about before about bees walking on 00:35:26.719 --> 00:35:30.420 us. And it's, it's that getting over that. I 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:31.960 shouldn't say fear. I mean, you learn to be afraid 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:34.579 of them, but it's that what's it called? Maybe 00:35:34.579 --> 00:35:37.980 desensitization might be the word. Like the more 00:35:37.980 --> 00:35:41.139 you go into your hives calmly and slowly, the 00:35:41.139 --> 00:35:42.639 more you realize, like you say, they're not out 00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:45.460 to get you. They don't want to sting you. It's 00:35:45.460 --> 00:35:49.199 sort of learning with them rather than sort of 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:51.380 do as I say kind of thing. Yeah. Cool, calm and 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:53.780 collected is what I teach my beekeeping students. 00:35:54.139 --> 00:35:57.570 Yeah. Three C's. I like it. Yeah, yeah. Sarah 00:35:57.570 --> 00:36:00.269 Cross. Hey, thanks. It's been a lot of fun. Thank 00:36:00.269 --> 00:36:05.849 you for inviting me. Very cool. Thanks again 00:36:05.849 --> 00:36:08.630 for joining us here on Be Love Beekeeping presented 00:36:08.630 --> 00:36:12.530 by Man Lake. Remember right now to follow or 00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:16.150 subscribe and share this podcast. Also, a quick 00:36:16.150 --> 00:36:18.530 shout out to Vita Bee Health for their support. 00:36:19.289 --> 00:36:22.250 Vita's Varroa Control range of products includes 00:36:22.250 --> 00:36:26.110 Apistan, Apigard, and now Varroxan, Extended 00:36:26.110 --> 00:36:29.889 Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And 00:36:29.889 --> 00:36:32.289 remember, if you're not just in it for the honey 00:36:32.289 --> 00:36:35.210 or the money, you're in it for the love. See 00:36:35.210 --> 00:36:35.909 you next week.