WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.799 May I have your attention, please? The following 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:10.460 is not the real Jeff Foxworthy. If when you get 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:15.779 stung by a bee, you apologize because you did 00:00:15.779 --> 00:00:21.379 something wrong, you might be a beekeeper. If 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:26.199 you have lost more than five hive tools and your 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:30.079 lawnmower has found two of them, you might... 00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:35.659 Be a beekeeper. If you have replaced the grass 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:40.979 on your front lawn with clover, you might love 00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:52.320 bees. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.259 presented by our great friends over at Man Lake. 00:00:55.689 --> 00:00:58.509 We have a fun program today as we're going to 00:00:58.509 --> 00:01:01.969 learn about beekeeping in single deep brew boxes 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:05.329 with John Stevens up in northern Michigan. Does 00:01:05.329 --> 00:01:08.590 it make sense in cold climates? How about warm 00:01:08.590 --> 00:01:12.030 weather? One of the things I love about beekeeping 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:15.209 is we can learn from others, then we need to 00:01:15.209 --> 00:01:17.829 make decisions about what's going to be the best 00:01:17.829 --> 00:01:22.409 for our bees. Knowledge plus experience. plus 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:26.049 intuition, hard work, and an open mind makes 00:01:26.049 --> 00:01:30.510 great beekeepers and happy bees. Hey, it's been 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:32.989 a while since we've had some new honeybee fun 00:01:32.989 --> 00:01:35.769 facts, so let's get started with a few interesting 00:01:35.769 --> 00:01:41.590 tidbits about drone bees. Did you know that drones 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:44.370 have larger eyes on top of their heads to help 00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:47.939 them identify queens during mating season? Did 00:01:47.939 --> 00:01:50.500 you know that during the mating period colonies 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:54.400 can have as much as 10 to 15 % drones in their 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:58.400 hives? So imagine a hive with 40 ,000 bees, that's 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.140 like 4 to 6 ,000 drones. Did you know that drones 00:02:02.140 --> 00:02:05.260 don't have stingers? Did you know that during 00:02:05.260 --> 00:02:10.379 the mating period as many as 25 ,000 drones from 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:13.479 dozens of different hives will meet in a drone 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:17.189 congregation area? to mate with queens from surrounding 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:20.469 hives? And as a follow -up, did you know that 00:02:20.469 --> 00:02:23.030 only a handful ever get to mate with a queen? 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:27.330 Those that do die immediately afterwards? The 00:02:27.330 --> 00:02:29.349 rest, well, they live for about a month flying 00:02:29.349 --> 00:02:32.310 out each warm day in search of a queen to mate 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:35.849 with. Did you know that virgin queens typically 00:02:35.849 --> 00:02:39.469 mate with 10 to 20 different drones? It could 00:02:39.469 --> 00:02:42.409 even be more than that. And that mating happens 00:02:42.409 --> 00:02:45.939 in midair? And maybe the worst part, did you 00:02:45.939 --> 00:02:48.719 know that once fall comes, the worker bees will 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:51.520 kick the drones out of the hive in what is known 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:56.199 as the expulsion of the drones. There you have 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:59.240 the bees part of the birds and the bees. We have 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:01.819 a fun guest interview today and a wild and crazy 00:03:01.819 --> 00:03:04.939 beekeeping story that has something to do with 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:13.210 grandpa and his boxer shorts. Let's welcome to 00:03:13.210 --> 00:03:16.509 the show today John Stevens coming to us from 00:03:16.509 --> 00:03:20.270 Michigan in the US. How are you John? I am fine. 00:03:20.870 --> 00:03:25.030 I got a day off from being stung. Oh Or a little 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:28.210 bit of time off from being stung. So that's always 00:03:28.210 --> 00:03:30.949 good I hope that was our chat here today that's 00:03:30.949 --> 00:03:33.370 saving you from being stung. I want some of the 00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:39.169 credit. Oh, yeah Yeah, I got 40 nukes out there 00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:43.189 in the back be yard that I need to go into mark 00:03:43.189 --> 00:03:45.409 their new queen. So I got to go in, mark all 00:03:45.409 --> 00:03:48.830 the queens and then add a second box to the new 00:03:48.830 --> 00:03:52.810 today. So I will probably be stung here in a 00:03:52.810 --> 00:03:55.150 little while after we finish. Well, you're allowed 00:03:55.150 --> 00:03:58.889 to wear protective gear. Yeah, but our day, our 00:03:58.889 --> 00:04:03.229 temperatures right now are running low 90s. So 00:04:03.229 --> 00:04:06.990 you wear minimal gear right now and marking queens, 00:04:06.990 --> 00:04:11.370 you're bare handed. So yeah, absolutely. We're 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:13.509 going to get into a little bit about where you 00:04:13.509 --> 00:04:15.830 be keep and what it's like and how hard your 00:04:15.830 --> 00:04:18.149 winners are and some of that kind of stuff. But 00:04:18.149 --> 00:04:20.730 since you jumped into what you're doing today, 00:04:21.110 --> 00:04:24.069 I want to hear all about that. So when did you 00:04:24.069 --> 00:04:27.230 create these nukes and how did you raise the 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:30.550 Queens? Give us some background. Well, the Queens 00:04:30.550 --> 00:04:33.490 just kind of fell into my lap. A friend of mine 00:04:33.490 --> 00:04:37.670 up the road, he runs roughly 1100 hikes or so. 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.160 He ordered 400 queens and ended up only using 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:47.220 300 of them. So he called me to try to get rid 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:51.079 of some of the excess and I ended up buying 40 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:54.939 off of him. I got a really good deal. So then, 00:04:55.139 --> 00:04:57.420 yeah, I just ran around and see, I run all single 00:04:57.420 --> 00:05:01.319 deep management style hive. So I have to be in 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.420 them. I have to be pulling brood out. So it kind 00:05:03.420 --> 00:05:07.750 of coincided with me keeping them throttled back, 00:05:08.069 --> 00:05:10.670 pulling brood out, waiting for the main nectar 00:05:10.670 --> 00:05:15.050 flow. And so here I had all this brood and just 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:17.529 happened to get all these queens and put together 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:21.850 all these new. Nice. And you run about 170 hives? 00:05:22.029 --> 00:05:26.189 Yeah. Right now we're just at that. Generally 00:05:26.189 --> 00:05:29.670 by the main honey flow, I should have about 175, 00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:34.470 180 production hives. Our main flow doesn't start 00:05:34.470 --> 00:05:37.850 for maybe another two weeks. Another week and 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:42.310 a half, two weeks. The basswood, Russian thistle, 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:44.870 or knapweed, whatever you want to call it. We 00:05:44.870 --> 00:05:47.189 have a lot of thistle around here. I don't know 00:05:47.189 --> 00:05:50.649 the term knapweed. Is that the same as thistle? 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:54.209 Yeah, it's like it's of the thistle family. But 00:05:54.209 --> 00:05:57.610 around here, it was called star thistle, if you've 00:05:57.610 --> 00:06:00.470 ever heard of star thistle honey. But really, 00:06:01.209 --> 00:06:04.600 it's Russian knapweed. Or anything like that, 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:08.180 but it is a honey producing crop for us big time 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:10.620 So we're just waiting for that bloom usually 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:13.920 around the fourth of July a little after Now 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.220 you mentioned that you run all single deeps. 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:19.500 Give me an idea of why because even though I 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:21.680 you know, I'm only a hundred and seventy five 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.800 hundred and eighty hives I Consider myself kind 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:28.240 of a commercial honey producer. I am in it for 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:33.079 the honey and a single deep will produce more 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:37.480 honey than running a double. Double deeps, they, 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.980 you know, they store a lot in the double deep 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:45.279 to start with. Good 35, 40 pounds each. And with 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.699 a single, you're putting that honey super right 00:06:47.699 --> 00:06:52.620 on top of that brood nest and they just put everything 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.139 up above it. So of course your honey production 00:06:56.139 --> 00:07:00.310 increases. And when it comes time to find a queen, 00:07:00.389 --> 00:07:03.629 see what's going on, doing any checks, it's one 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:07.629 box. So it really cuts down on the labor and 00:07:07.629 --> 00:07:10.029 doing inspections and stuff like that. So I assume 00:07:10.029 --> 00:07:14.149 you use queen excluders. Oh, yeah. You have to. 00:07:14.670 --> 00:07:17.129 Or else it's not single brood management. It 00:07:17.129 --> 00:07:21.310 would be single deep into medium management. 00:07:21.389 --> 00:07:24.470 Yeah. And that's another thing I don't have. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.019 really brood comb in my honey supers and stuff, 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.139 you know, so it's It just keeps your honey supers 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:35.060 clean Get a little pollen now and then and how 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:38.639 much more maintenance does it take to keep everything 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.459 just in one brood box? Yeah, I tell a lot of 00:07:41.459 --> 00:07:44.480 new beekeepers because they see that I run singles 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:49.519 and It's like they are labor intensive though 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.319 because everything is so condensed into that 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:56.870 one box They are prone to swarming, so you have 00:07:56.870 --> 00:08:02.230 to be on top of them. My schedule is I go all 00:08:02.230 --> 00:08:05.730 the way, like every nine days, through all of 00:08:05.730 --> 00:08:08.850 them hives. I'm on a rotation, my yards. Today 00:08:08.850 --> 00:08:11.250 I'll go to this yard, do everything I need to 00:08:11.250 --> 00:08:14.410 do. I generally try to keep them at about four, 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:17.970 maybe five frames of brood until the honey flow 00:08:17.970 --> 00:08:21.389 starts, and then it's just hands off and let 00:08:21.389 --> 00:08:24.230 them go. So all that time, you know, I'm still, 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:29.470 I just captured 10 virgin queens off of a frame 00:08:29.470 --> 00:08:34.009 day before yesterday. So I have to go around 00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:36.610 either later today after I get those 40 nukes 00:08:36.610 --> 00:08:39.690 done and round up. I think two of those virgins 00:08:39.690 --> 00:08:41.809 have died. So I only need like eight frames of 00:08:41.809 --> 00:08:45.590 bees to get in a nuke box and put that virgin 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:49.879 in and see if she'll get out and get mated. So 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:53.379 you're just pulling frames of brood anyway. You 00:08:53.379 --> 00:08:55.700 mentioned you only keep about four in a box, 00:08:56.259 --> 00:08:58.960 right? So you're just pulling everything that's 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:02.419 extra and putting it in nucs? Right now, that's 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:05.659 my single deeps. Some of them could have six, 00:09:05.659 --> 00:09:10.100 seven frames of cat brood. Well, if that hive 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:13.940 reaches maximum population before the honey flow, 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:17.279 well, they're gone. So what I do is I just keep 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:21.679 going in. and keeping them throttled back, you 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.299 know, trying to keep the population down and 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:28.059 just keep the hive stable until the nectar flow 00:09:28.059 --> 00:09:31.500 really starts in earnest and then just turn them 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:35.159 loose. And then you let it go. Yeah. That's such 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:37.779 an interesting philosophy. I like that because 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:41.340 it seems like most beekeepers, it's like, hey, 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:44.379 the biggest we can do, the more bees we can do 00:09:44.379 --> 00:09:48.470 is all the better. So right, so I think that's 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:50.990 an interesting way to do it. Yeah in a double 00:09:50.990 --> 00:09:53.269 deep, you know, they're so much more forgiving 00:09:53.269 --> 00:09:56.950 because Queen has more real estate. They have 00:09:56.950 --> 00:09:58.509 more room to put up store, you know, I mean, 00:09:58.509 --> 00:10:01.850 it's just They're just more forgiving for that 00:10:01.850 --> 00:10:05.730 aspect but when I started seeing like Ian Stepler 00:10:05.730 --> 00:10:09.750 up in Canada There was a guy years ago Devon 00:10:09.750 --> 00:10:12.090 Ron from Canada and stuff. These guys were all 00:10:12.090 --> 00:10:16.529 doing single bird management and One year back 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:21.710 when I first bought the poly hives, I tried like 00:10:21.710 --> 00:10:27.029 10 or 15 singles through the winter and those 00:10:27.029 --> 00:10:32.549 poly singles all survived and my poly double 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:37.049 deeps had issues of, you know, dying off. So 00:10:37.049 --> 00:10:41.409 they actually overwintered better in that smaller 00:10:41.409 --> 00:10:44.490 condensed cavity. But they didn't run out of 00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:49.379 food? No, no, the poly hives create a different 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:52.740 environment. You know, it's a field insulated 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:57.639 cavity. Warm bees eat less honey. Same thing 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:00.000 with your house. If your house is super insulated, 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:03.700 your furnace will run less, less fuel. Same thing 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:06.399 with the bees. Now when we're ventilating the 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.360 wood boxes and you know, you got air just chimneying 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:12.940 right through them, you're losing all that heat. 00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:16.649 They're eating more. more honey to generate that 00:11:16.649 --> 00:11:20.690 heat so they do eat more. My singles generally 00:11:20.690 --> 00:11:23.490 will go through the winter here in northern Michigan 00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:28.250 on about five, maybe six frames of capped honey 00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:33.409 in a single beat. I try to run mostly barnolian 00:11:33.409 --> 00:11:36.769 genes, you know, I go for the darker bees and 00:11:36.730 --> 00:11:39.769 Although those 40 queens were just all Italian, 00:11:40.710 --> 00:11:44.090 so I weeded those out of my operation, but now 00:11:44.090 --> 00:11:46.529 I just got them back. I think you did say mostly. 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:49.570 Do the Italians not overwinter as well for you? 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:55.230 Well, Italians are a better honey producer, but 00:11:55.230 --> 00:11:59.789 they go into winter with such a super large cluster 00:11:59.789 --> 00:12:05.120 that, yeah, they just don't seem to. the overwinter 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.620 as well up here. So I mean, I'll overwinter these 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:13.639 40 newts and then they'll probably be sold in 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.820 the spring if I don't need some of them to replace 00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:19.399 dead outs or something. But I'll probably try 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:23.340 to keep those Italian genetics out of my production. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:27.159 Go ahead and sell them. Yeah. So you're in, we're 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.500 in Michigan. I know you're Northern somewhere. 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:33.580 I'm Northern Michigan and right in the snow belt. 00:12:33.690 --> 00:12:36.889 You would have Traverse City, Michigan up by 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:40.309 Traverse Bay and all that is about 30, 35 minutes 00:12:40.309 --> 00:12:44.309 from me. And then Gaylord, Michigan, that's another 00:12:44.309 --> 00:12:47.669 big town. That's right dead center of the state. 00:12:47.990 --> 00:12:51.710 They're about another 30 minutes or so. But where 00:12:51.710 --> 00:12:58.049 I'm at in the, it is the like snow capital. Last 00:12:58.049 --> 00:13:03.149 year we had the 249 inches of snow. So my hives, 00:13:03.389 --> 00:13:07.490 literally just become bumps in the snow. I'll 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:11.509 see the stakes of the T -post for the bare fence 00:13:11.509 --> 00:13:15.230 around the yard, and then I have to just kind 00:13:15.230 --> 00:13:17.629 of look for where the little bumps are, where 00:13:17.629 --> 00:13:20.389 the hives are. You don't worry about ventilation? 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:23.950 No. When I switched to the polystyrene hives, 00:13:24.110 --> 00:13:26.629 I had to throw away all my conventional beekeeping 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:33.419 wisdom, and it just... go to a tree cavity mentality 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:37.019 to where the bees go into a tree cavity, it's 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:40.500 a sealed cavity, and they go in, they stabilize 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:44.000 it, and they control that environment. Man thinks 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.460 they need all this ventilation and all this stuff. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:51.580 They do if they're in a box that they can't stabilize. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.720 You can take a wood box and if you build a two 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:57.019 -inch styrofoam box that's all glued together 00:13:57.019 --> 00:14:00.629 and slip it over it, You've now mimicked a tree 00:14:00.629 --> 00:14:04.769 cavity and The bees will do great. They will 00:14:04.769 --> 00:14:07.149 deal with any moisture. They will deal with if 00:14:07.149 --> 00:14:11.889 it's too hot too cold, you know They do it but 00:14:11.889 --> 00:14:15.549 actually I have videos because I do have a YouTube 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:19.429 channel and I have a little video. I'm not sure 00:14:19.429 --> 00:14:21.250 if it is on YouTube though. It might just be 00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:26.090 the Northern Michigan beekeepers site but my 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:29.919 buried hives because they are so warm inside, 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:33.320 there's so much heat coming out the entrance 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:37.039 that it literally melts a big cavity underneath 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:42.799 the snow. Quick break to thank our presenting 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:46.019 sponsor, Man Lake. Whether you're a beekeeper 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.259 or not, you know that nutrition is key for healthy 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:52.360 honeybees, native bees, and other pollinators. 00:14:52.779 --> 00:14:55.940 The Man Lake app is a great resource for determining 00:14:55.940 --> 00:14:58.940 pollinator friendly plants that thrive in your 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:02.240 area, and its plant identification feature is 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:05.940 super helpful and fun. When I see a plant covered 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.500 in bees, I fire up the app on my phone, I find 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:12.379 out what that plant is, and then I can put them 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:16.120 in my own yard. The bees love it. If you haven't 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.639 already downloaded the Man Lake app, give it 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:27.169 a try today. Oh, and by the way, it's free. The 00:15:27.169 --> 00:15:30.309 bees are able to access that cavity. For one, 00:15:30.470 --> 00:15:34.009 I'm not going to say it's super warm, but it's 00:15:34.009 --> 00:15:37.149 not super cold. So they'll come out and do cleansing 00:15:37.149 --> 00:15:40.950 trips outside the hive in that cavity that's 00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:44.490 underneath the snow. It is just amazing that 00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:47.190 I went to dig them out to do the acylic acid 00:15:47.190 --> 00:15:51.429 in winter and dig down to this big old open cavity. 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:55.340 How big a cavity are we talking about? Generally, 00:15:55.539 --> 00:15:59.600 my hives are two boxes on a two -way pallet. 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:04.159 And between the two hives melting that cavity, 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:08.679 it will be a cavity all the way across the front 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:13.700 between the two hives, maybe a foot tall, 8 -10 00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:18.700 inches out from the front of the hive. Super 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:22.019 large. I mean, it is a super, super large cavity. 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:26.000 And it just allows the bees to come out, go to 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.879 the bathroom and go back in. That's amazing. 00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:31.899 I never heard of that. There are times when my 00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:34.340 hives get completely buried in snow in the winter. 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.580 And I thought it was my job to go dig out the 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:40.159 entrance so that they could get some air. But 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:43.379 you're saying, nah. Of course, I'm not running 00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:46.340 Polyhives, but you're a pretty good salesman 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:48.779 for them. By the way, you're not hired by them 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:51.179 or anything, right? We're not doing an infomercial 00:16:51.179 --> 00:16:55.320 here. No, no. OK, I'll tell you, I started with 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:58.200 the superior brand, Superior B, which is made 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.559 in Ohio. And I went with them to start because 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:04.900 of being American made here. And then now they've 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:10.599 gotten a little pricey. And I now run. blue sky 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.059 or the Paradise Bee box, which that was invented 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:18.119 in Finland in 1962. So that box has been around 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:22.160 for a long time, but I do run those now. And 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.299 I know the gentleman that has started the hive 00:17:26.299 --> 00:17:30.240 IQ brand because I do presentations on these 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.599 hives. So I have a sample of each one that I 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.740 use. I don't run the Hive IQ because it's from 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:41.740 Australia and it's only a nine frame box. So 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:49.000 my 600 honey supers don't fit on top. So I have 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.960 to stick with the other brands because even though 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:54.980 I'm running that poly hive, I run wooden honey 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:59.359 supers all summer long. And the styrofoam lid 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:02.259 just keeps moving up as I'm adding the boxes. 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:06.039 Once winter comes and I pull all the honey, the 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:08.940 lid comes back down and it's a sealed cavity. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:12.940 And it's one deep box and that's it all the way 00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:16.259 through winter. And summer. Any supplemental 00:18:16.259 --> 00:18:19.259 feeding? I will feed them in the fall just to 00:18:19.259 --> 00:18:21.700 make sure that they, you know, they are up on 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:25.160 stores. But I was telling my wife this year, 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:30.180 I may cut back on feeding because I had so many 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:34.680 full honey supers. honey frames in that deep 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:38.940 in the spring that I was literally pulling frames 00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:42.559 out and putting drawn comb in just so the queen 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.519 would have a place to get started up laying. 00:18:45.299 --> 00:18:50.940 It just they do not consume that much honey when 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:53.720 they are super warm. You're kind of blowing my 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.140 mind here, John. I love it. Oh, I know. I mean, 00:18:57.240 --> 00:18:59.839 and that's why just when we think we have this 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:04.039 figured out. A lot of the stuff I do and talk 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:08.420 about is a lot different than what people conventionally 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:10.880 believe. That's one thing I've learned in beekeeping 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.839 is just keep open -minded because when you think 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.720 you've got it figured out, something either better, 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:20.980 different or something else comes along and we 00:19:20.980 --> 00:19:23.680 need to keep open -minded to it. You also mentioned 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.839 that you treat with OA during the winter. Yeah. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.390 Tell me about that when and how. Well, my mite 00:19:31.390 --> 00:19:35.430 protocol is basically through the summer, I don't 00:19:35.430 --> 00:19:38.470 do mite washes or anything like that. I strictly 00:19:38.470 --> 00:19:41.569 just look at drone group. My single deeps, they 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:43.789 build most of the drone comb on the bottom of 00:19:43.789 --> 00:19:46.490 the frames. So, you know, if I'm scraping off 00:19:46.490 --> 00:19:48.930 some drone comb or something, I'm always investigating 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:52.170 if I have mites or not through the summer. Then 00:19:52.170 --> 00:19:55.970 when I pull my honey in August, second week of 00:19:55.970 --> 00:20:00.019 August or so we get started, I will take and 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:03.579 drop Apivar strips at the same time. You know, 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:05.779 I'm putting a bee escape on so the bees are coming 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:08.279 out of the honey supers down into the single 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:13.779 and I have the Apivar in there. Then once that 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:19.200 runs its course, I remove that. But I know that 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.339 there are bees or mites that didn't, you know, 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:27.480 get affected. So at Thanksgiving in November, 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:32.400 because of the warm cavity, the bees are wall 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.900 to wall moving around. There's no cluster, even 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:38.599 if it's cold, snowy. And I will go in and do 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:41.839 a round of acylic acid vapor on all of them. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.819 That will knock down a lot of mites. I've had 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:48.720 monitors in hives and I know that those follies 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.940 will keep brood in them until about the second 00:20:50.940 --> 00:20:55.200 week of December. So until all of that brood 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:59.470 is emerged, I still have mites. Right, the vapor 00:20:59.470 --> 00:21:02.390 didn't take care of mites under the cap root. 00:21:02.990 --> 00:21:05.829 Under the capping, right. So I know there's going 00:21:05.829 --> 00:21:08.789 to still be maybe a few mites in there. So I 00:21:08.789 --> 00:21:12.509 go back at Christmas and I'll do another round 00:21:12.509 --> 00:21:15.250 because everything will be emerged around the 00:21:15.250 --> 00:21:20.569 second week of December. So once I do that round, 00:21:21.250 --> 00:21:24.990 the monitor showed me that shortly after that 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.279 the temperature drops in the hive to like about 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:34.079 a 60 degree cavity temperature and they closed 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:36.720 at that temperature until about the second week 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:40.539 of February. The second week of February the 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:42.980 monitor will show that the the brood nest temperature 00:21:42.980 --> 00:21:45.700 is going back up or the ambient air in the hive 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:50.799 and I will go back usually around Valentine's 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:54.990 Day and do another round of acylic acid. or anything 00:21:54.990 --> 00:22:00.009 that may have survived at that point. And then 00:22:00.009 --> 00:22:03.789 basically I come into spring pretty clean. I 00:22:03.789 --> 00:22:07.829 don't do any other mite treatments, nothing until 00:22:07.829 --> 00:22:10.410 again, I mean, if I'm going through a hive and 00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:13.950 I open some drone brood and I see mites, well, 00:22:14.029 --> 00:22:17.230 yeah, I'm gonna do something to mitigate that 00:22:17.230 --> 00:22:21.329 at the time. But for the most part, I don't see 00:22:21.329 --> 00:22:24.140 mites all summer long. Mostly fall and winter 00:22:24.140 --> 00:22:27.019 then for you. And just for our listeners that 00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:29.740 are a little newer at this, that doesn't work 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:32.339 for everybody. It depends where you are. It depends 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:34.900 on your mite load. You may need to be treating 00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:37.799 sooner than that. Right. Well, what don't work 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:40.359 for everybody is if you've got bees in a wooden 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:45.599 box and it's five degrees outside, they are clustered 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:50.380 as tight as a basketball. And if you blow acetic 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:53.170 acid vapor in there, you're just dusting the 00:22:53.170 --> 00:22:57.029 outside of that cluster. You're not hitting the 00:22:57.029 --> 00:23:00.049 bees that are in the center or where the mites 00:23:00.049 --> 00:23:03.730 would be down staying warm too, you know. So 00:23:03.730 --> 00:23:07.730 it's really ineffective more or less in an uninsulated 00:23:07.730 --> 00:23:12.009 cavity. I have videos showing opening my hives 00:23:12.009 --> 00:23:15.750 in February. No up to the top of the hive. I've 00:23:15.750 --> 00:23:19.759 dug it out, opened it up. I have four mil plastic 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.400 as an inner cover so they don't glue those lids 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.059 down. So you can see the bees through there and 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:30.960 they are wall to wall, working, walking around, 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:35.160 having a good time. I say in my presentation 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:39.279 that bees are supposed to be able to stabilize 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:42.079 their environment and maintain it with minimal 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:46.950 effort on their part. and have access to every 00:23:46.950 --> 00:23:50.230 square inch of their cavity on any given day 00:23:50.230 --> 00:23:53.490 of the year. They are not supposed to cluster 00:23:53.490 --> 00:23:56.130 height like that. If they're in a cavity that 00:23:56.130 --> 00:23:59.369 they can stabilize and maintain and do what they 00:23:59.369 --> 00:24:02.750 need to do, then they are active. But they're 00:24:02.750 --> 00:24:05.190 not active in the sense that, oh, they're gonna 00:24:05.190 --> 00:24:07.710 eat all the honey. You have to remember your 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:11.049 winter bees have already filled their fat bodies 00:24:11.049 --> 00:24:15.690 and they're ready for winter. go through winter. 00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:20.250 And then my stores in the singles, I don't see 00:24:20.250 --> 00:24:24.490 that drop until they start raising brood. The 00:24:24.490 --> 00:24:26.170 winter bees have went through winter. They didn't 00:24:26.170 --> 00:24:28.269 really need to eat no honey because they had 00:24:28.269 --> 00:24:32.150 stocked up their fat bodies. But then once they 00:24:32.150 --> 00:24:35.390 start raising brood, well, then they got to start 00:24:35.390 --> 00:24:38.230 dipping into the stores and everything like that. 00:24:38.329 --> 00:24:41.430 And that's another plus to the insulated cavity. 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:44.680 is because most pollen is stored on the outside 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:47.039 frames, you know, out towards the outer edge, 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:51.480 so the nurse bees have to access that. Well, 00:24:51.660 --> 00:24:54.500 if you're in a wood box that they're clustered 00:24:54.500 --> 00:24:58.140 tight and it's February and they want to start 00:24:58.140 --> 00:25:01.140 trying to raise brood, well, any pollen or anything 00:25:01.140 --> 00:25:05.000 that they need to do that better be within that 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:08.880 cluster. Whereas in the polyhives, the insulated 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:12.730 cavity, Nurse bees walk over a couple frames, 00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:16.009 get their pollen, whatever they need. They have 00:25:16.009 --> 00:25:18.690 access to every square inch. To me, it's a whole 00:25:18.690 --> 00:25:21.430 different way of beekeeping. I tell people, I 00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:24.130 think for a hundred years or so, we've been keeping 00:25:24.130 --> 00:25:27.269 bees wrong, you know, with all the ventilation 00:25:27.269 --> 00:25:29.829 and moisture boards and all that stuff. And I 00:25:29.829 --> 00:25:32.329 did it for the first eight years of my beekeeping. 00:25:32.950 --> 00:25:34.990 And then every one of those eight years, I mean, 00:25:34.990 --> 00:25:37.470 I was buying bees, buying bees in the spring, 00:25:38.069 --> 00:25:41.700 replace all the dead outs. And 11 years ago I 00:25:41.700 --> 00:25:45.119 switched to these poly hives and I have not had 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:49.380 to buy bees in the spring since because the survival 00:25:49.380 --> 00:25:51.559 has always been good enough to make more bees 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:55.259 and go to win -win for me. So give me an idea 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:57.220 of the survival rate. Do you have any numbers? 00:25:58.019 --> 00:26:02.799 I went into winter last year with about 173 hives 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:08.480 and I think I lost 25 or 26. Nice. I don't get 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.240 in the fall, I don't... usually get to every 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:13.559 hive to make sure it's clean right and everything 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:16.460 before going in, you know, you're cleaning out 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:19.759 a dead out and you can see the symptoms of, oh, 00:26:20.220 --> 00:26:22.500 we had a land worker in that hive, you know, 00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:25.839 that hive just crashed because there was no queen. 00:26:26.380 --> 00:26:30.480 But as far as the actual keeping the bees warm 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.720 and the bees surviving with honey and all that, 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:35.960 how many times have you looked at a dead hive 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:39.559 and they're clustered? and right next to them 00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:42.779 was frames of honey. And you think, well, how 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:44.779 come they just didn't move over there and eat 00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:48.319 that honey? Well, they were in such a cold environment, 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.900 they couldn't move. Yeah. When you see bees that 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.940 have starved and there's honey still in the hive, 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:59.140 that is a very frustrating thing. Right. So yeah. 00:26:59.140 --> 00:27:02.480 And another thing that plays into this poly hive 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:08.230 situation and being the insulated cavity is Bees 00:27:08.230 --> 00:27:11.470 need water to drink, just like every other living 00:27:11.470 --> 00:27:16.250 creature. So, if they're in a cold wooden bot, 00:27:17.190 --> 00:27:19.990 and you are ventilating all their moisture out, 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:22.930 you have moisture boards wicking all that moisture 00:27:22.930 --> 00:27:26.369 away, and for one though, they're clustered so 00:27:26.369 --> 00:27:29.410 tight, if there was water somewhere, they wouldn't 00:27:29.410 --> 00:27:32.710 be able to walk over and access it. For one, 00:27:32.730 --> 00:27:35.559 it would be frozen, more likely. But I have, 00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:39.519 again, little clips, little video clips of the 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:42.859 moisture hanging from the plastic inner cover 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:46.680 that I have and the bees literally walking over 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:51.220 there and taking a drink because that water is 00:27:51.220 --> 00:27:54.299 room temperature. It's the same ambient temperature, 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:57.140 you know, of the ambient air within that cavity. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:00.960 They've had it stabilized. It is going to condense 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:04.079 a little bit, but it's their drinking water. 00:28:04.910 --> 00:28:07.109 That's how they're self sustainable through the 00:28:07.109 --> 00:28:11.690 winter. And man thinks we know what we're doing 00:28:11.690 --> 00:28:15.410 by, oh, you know, I mean, I tell northern people 00:28:15.410 --> 00:28:18.930 up here, if you think the bees could be ventilated, 00:28:19.190 --> 00:28:21.349 then go home and put a four foot square in your 00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:24.289 living room ceiling and see how comfortable you 00:28:24.289 --> 00:28:26.769 are through the winter. It ain't going to happen. 00:28:27.369 --> 00:28:28.990 Well, and you've mentioned your YouTube channel 00:28:28.990 --> 00:28:31.549 a couple of times and we'll stick a link to it 00:28:31.549 --> 00:28:34.279 in the show notes. in case people want to see 00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:37.460 some of those videos. Yeah, it's, you know, it's 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:42.519 just John Stevens. But I go by farmer John Stevens 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:46.519 on Facebook. And so the YouTube channel to handle 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:49.740 to it is at farmer John Stevens, because there's 00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:53.720 a ton of John Stevens on YouTube. But yeah, I 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:57.059 mean, if I come across interesting stuff, I drop 00:28:57.059 --> 00:29:00.740 it on that channel and My presentation from the 00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:03.740 Michigan Beekeepers Association's fall conference, 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.579 that's on there describing this polyhive concept. 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:11.319 Okay. Last but not least, in fact, probably my 00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:14.740 favorite, John, can you give us a wild and crazy 00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:17.680 beekeeping story that you've had? My brother 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:20.859 -in -law, who originally got us started in beekeeping 00:29:20.859 --> 00:29:25.019 20 years ago, his dad would always help us in 00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:27.299 the bees, and he even had a few hives of his 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:30.250 own and stuff. But you have to understand he 00:29:30.250 --> 00:29:36.549 was probably 81 or 82 at the time. And he's out 00:29:36.549 --> 00:29:40.750 in the bee yards with us. And all of a sudden 00:29:40.750 --> 00:29:44.309 we're just hearing him going, no, no, no. And 00:29:44.309 --> 00:29:48.210 he's got a bee going up his pant leg and he wore 00:29:48.210 --> 00:29:52.529 boxer shorts. So, you know, she's got free reign 00:29:52.529 --> 00:29:57.329 on her journey. And literally out in the bee 00:29:57.329 --> 00:30:00.829 yard, he had to drop his trousers to get that 00:30:00.829 --> 00:30:04.430 bee before she got right to the right to the 00:30:04.430 --> 00:30:07.970 point. But we were just both kind of laughing 00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:10.670 and didn't have cell phones at the time to get 00:30:10.670 --> 00:30:14.410 any video of it. But so it's just the three of 00:30:14.410 --> 00:30:17.190 you. Oh, well, it was at that time, you know, 00:30:17.190 --> 00:30:19.940 but he passed away here a few years back. Yeah, 00:30:19.940 --> 00:30:22.180 but thank goodness the whole family wasn't around 00:30:22.180 --> 00:30:25.259 to witness that. Granddaughters, things like 00:30:25.259 --> 00:30:29.900 that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, the cars driving 00:30:29.900 --> 00:30:34.180 by on the road was probably getting a show. But 00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:37.099 what's that doing, wounding everybody? Was he 00:30:37.099 --> 00:30:39.460 also running or was he just kind of jumping around 00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:41.900 to get that beat? Oh, no, he was just standing 00:30:41.900 --> 00:30:44.740 there dropping trousers, man. He was he just 00:30:44.740 --> 00:30:48.920 had to get to it fast. So yeah, bees in the pants 00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:52.599 is never fun. All right. Luckily, we didn't get 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:55.980 video of that one. We wouldn't be able to post 00:30:55.980 --> 00:31:00.299 it if we did, but sounds funny. And well, no 00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:02.460 father -in -law, we're not making fun of you, 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:06.279 but thanks for bringing fun to beekeeping. Last 00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:10.259 thing, John, what do you love about honeybees? 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.019 I've been doing it 20 years and they teach me 00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:19.480 something new. every year. I mean, it don't matter. 00:31:19.960 --> 00:31:22.839 You'll think you know it all and you got it and 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:25.839 they will do something different. I don't know, 00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:28.859 just the overall experience of it. And I think 00:31:28.859 --> 00:31:33.059 with new beekeepers, one of the things is they're 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:35.819 afraid of their bees. They're all suited up. 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:38.619 They got the big thick gloves on and they're 00:31:38.619 --> 00:31:41.339 just so scared of these bees and the bees sense 00:31:41.339 --> 00:31:45.039 that. And the sooner you can just say, hey, these 00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:48.119 are bees, and yeah, I might get stung, you'll 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:50.319 become a better beekeeper of it. I'm not saying 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:54.380 you have to go glove -less. I wear the Home Depot 00:31:54.380 --> 00:31:57.259 orange and white gloves. They got like the rubber 00:31:57.259 --> 00:32:01.160 coating on them and they're stretchy. I wear 00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:03.799 those because I follow Bob Binney, who's down 00:32:03.799 --> 00:32:06.839 in Georgia. I follow his mantra of, if I see 00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:09.779 a queen, I mark her. You know, every queen in 00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:13.769 my operation is marked. So, I wear those gloves 00:32:13.769 --> 00:32:16.230 strictly to keep my hands from being sticky. 00:32:17.089 --> 00:32:19.809 I used to go glove -free all the time, but I 00:32:19.809 --> 00:32:23.369 never, never marked queens in the past. So now 00:32:23.369 --> 00:32:26.109 that I'm marking every queen, I can just slip 00:32:26.109 --> 00:32:28.670 them gloves off, I can grab her, I can handle 00:32:28.670 --> 00:32:31.289 her. I'm not ripping her wings off because they've 00:32:31.289 --> 00:32:34.250 snipped to the propolis on my fingers or anything 00:32:34.250 --> 00:32:37.130 like that. So, you know, I tell them, you don't 00:32:37.130 --> 00:32:39.650 have to be glove -less. And I get stung through 00:32:39.650 --> 00:32:42.250 those gloves. I haven't tried those. I'm going 00:32:42.250 --> 00:32:44.950 to give those a shot. I wear the nitrile gloves 00:32:44.950 --> 00:32:47.509 and you can get stung through those. Oh, yeah. 00:32:47.670 --> 00:32:50.269 But it is really nice when you're done working 00:32:50.269 --> 00:32:52.730 some hives to just pull those off and throw them 00:32:52.730 --> 00:32:55.769 away. Right. And yeah, you're not digging propolis 00:32:55.769 --> 00:32:59.170 out of your fingers. I tried the nitrile gloves 00:32:59.170 --> 00:33:01.789 for a while, but my hands just get so wet and 00:33:01.789 --> 00:33:04.069 sweaty, you know, because when I go out to work 00:33:04.069 --> 00:33:06.410 bees, I'm going to a yard to go through 30, 40 00:33:06.410 --> 00:33:09.529 hives. That's just a long time. And those other 00:33:09.529 --> 00:33:11.390 ones, they got, you know, they're the white material. 00:33:11.589 --> 00:33:13.589 They kind of absorb the moisture, the sweat. 00:33:13.809 --> 00:33:16.349 You still have the dexterity because they are 00:33:16.349 --> 00:33:19.710 so tight. Yeah, I love them. You're selling me 00:33:19.710 --> 00:33:22.250 on all kinds of things today. You should have 00:33:22.250 --> 00:33:25.849 stock in Home Depot and in Poly Hives and all 00:33:25.849 --> 00:33:29.009 this stuff. I watch other beekeepers and they'll 00:33:29.009 --> 00:33:32.970 put on those black nitrile gloves. And I'm like 00:33:32.970 --> 00:33:36.549 bees don't like black no no no that's one of 00:33:36.549 --> 00:33:39.549 the things about the Home Depot gloves that I 00:33:39.549 --> 00:33:42.190 Just don't really care for is and they've got 00:33:42.190 --> 00:33:44.750 some black lettering on the back of them And 00:33:44.750 --> 00:33:47.230 a lot of times the bees just target that black 00:33:47.230 --> 00:33:50.369 lettering a little bit But but nothing bad and 00:33:50.369 --> 00:33:52.109 the nitrile ones that I have they're just that 00:33:52.109 --> 00:33:54.769 light blue color It doesn't seem to agitate the 00:33:54.769 --> 00:33:57.750 bees at all right. They are thin enough. You're 00:33:57.750 --> 00:34:00.390 gonna tear them now and then oh, yeah, you know 00:34:00.349 --> 00:34:03.450 And yeah, the sweat is definitely an issue. I 00:34:03.450 --> 00:34:05.150 tell the new beekeeper that'll make you a better 00:34:05.150 --> 00:34:07.289 beekeeper because with those big leather bulky 00:34:07.289 --> 00:34:11.670 gloves, you're crushing bees. Crushed bees make 00:34:11.670 --> 00:34:14.769 for mean bees. You want to alleviate that problem. 00:34:15.150 --> 00:34:18.369 So the moral of our discussion today is no big 00:34:18.369 --> 00:34:22.690 heavy leather gloves and no boxer shorts. Exactly. 00:34:23.170 --> 00:34:25.969 John, thank you for being with me. I appreciate 00:34:25.969 --> 00:34:28.789 your time. All right. I'm glad we got to do it. 00:34:32.170 --> 00:34:35.150 Thanks again for joining us here on Be Love Beekeeping, 00:34:35.250 --> 00:34:39.110 presented by Man Lake. Remember right now to 00:34:39.110 --> 00:34:42.909 follow or subscribe and share this podcast. Also 00:34:42.909 --> 00:34:45.230 a quick shout out to Vita Bee Health for their 00:34:45.230 --> 00:34:48.690 support. Vita's Varroa Control range of products 00:34:48.690 --> 00:34:53.329 includes Apistan, Apigard, and now Varroxan Extended 00:34:53.329 --> 00:34:57.019 Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And 00:34:57.019 --> 00:34:59.400 remember, if you're not just in it for the honey 00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:02.340 or the money, you're in it for the love. See 00:35:02.340 --> 00:35:03.039 you next week.