May I have your attention, please the following
is not the real Jeff Fox review If your home
decor is everything honeybee, well you might
be a beekeeper If you hesitate when the doctor
asks if you smoke you might be a beekeeper If
when you Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping
presented by our good friends over at Man Lake.
We're gonna have a ton of fun today as we head
all the way to Denmark to speak with a couple
of hobby beekeepers and best friends about beekeeping
in that part of the world and about Appamonia
which is coming up this September in Copenhagen.
Maybe the best part is they're going to share
their secrets on creating the world's best creamed
honey and they have the trophies to back it up.
But first, have you ever wondered what it is
about honey that keeps it fresh for so long,
maybe even forever? In a sealed environment,
honey may crystallize, turning thick and chunky,
but it will not spoil. When we say that food
has spoiled, what we actually mean is that something
else has gotten to it first, something microscopic.
Bacteria, fungi, molds are present in at least
low numbers in many foods. and a number of the
procedures that humans use to preserve food are
designed to discourage these little monsters
from consuming it. Many of these microorganisms
tend to prefer moist conditions, higher but not
too high temperatures, a mellow pH, and plenty
of oxygen around to use in their metabolism.
Dehydrating meat or food then deprives them of
water. Cooking food to a high heat then moving
it into the refrigerator for storage first kills
off many bugs and puts a damper on the growth
of any left behind. Suspending food in a pickling
mixture wards off all but the most acid -loving
creatures. Sealing something in a jar limits
the oxygen they have access to. But honey is
an unusual case and here's why. It's made by
honey bees from flower nectar and starts out
as a warmish, watery, sugary fluid. The kind
of thing that seems like it would be the purest
bacteria bait. But the bees concentrate the nectar
on the way to the hive, removing some of the
water. They use enzymes to raise the acid content
in the fluid, discouraging some forms of microorganisms
from growing, and they break down the sugars
into simpler ones. Then they decant the stuff
into honeycomb chambers, similar to miniature
glass jars. Next, they do something remarkable.
They fan the honey with their wings. The fanning
slowly evaporates the remaining water like an
oscillating fan evaporating sweat from your skin.
So a substance that was once about 70 or 80 percent
water sees that number drop and drop and drop.
Fully ripened honey typically has a water content
between 17 and 18 percent. In fact the proportion
of sugar molecules to water is so enormous that
it wouldn't be physically possible to dissolve
that much sugar into that much water without
a process like the one that honey bees use. There's
plenty of sugar there and of course microorganisms
would love to have a go at it, but with so little
water... and the acidity providing an additional
disincentive they simply can't survive. Once
the proper percentage of water is reached, bees
seal each chamber with a cap of beeswax similar
to us putting a lid on a jar. It limits the availability
of oxygen and there's another barrier to growth.
This is a state known as low water activity among
food scientists and in fact lowering a substance's
water activity is a common trick to preserve
processed foods. Now this doesn't mean that honey
can withstand all challenges to freshness. If
your house is anything like mine sometimes there's
a jar that's open which means its surface is
regularly exposed to the air and maybe somebody
is dipping licked spoons in which will bring
bacteria and moisture that weren't there before
the jar was sealed. Anyway it is amazing, yes
once again honey bees are absolutely amazing.
Maybe in the future we'll take a deep dive into
the actual chemistry of honey but for now while
you're still awake let's meet Lars and Zofus
in Denmark. This is going to be really fun today,
everybody. We're going across the pond to Denmark
to meet with Lars Fischer and his buddy Zofus.
I didn't catch your last name, Zofus. Knusen,
Zofus Knusen. It's a good thing I didn't try
to say that. I have a hard time pronouncing these
Scandinavian words. They're not built into our
American tongues. I apologize for that. But Lars
will mostly be speaking with you. Good afternoon,
and how are you today? Well, I'm fine, Eric.
Thank you. Sufis and I, we've been making queens
today, so it's been a full day. I got stung in
my face just below the eye. Now I'm on video,
so I don't hope it's too swollen yet. That's
sort of on the shady side of your face, so I
don't notice it too much. I'm curious, did you
have a veil on when you got stung? No, you know,
that's always the problem. I stood some meters
away and everything was calm. And then suddenly
one bee decided that I should be some kind of
target. Yeah, so I only had myself to blame,
actually. Well, that is usually the case. Yeah,
it is. When we first start beekeeping, at least
with me, I was covered from head to toe and hardly
ever got stung. But then we get a little bit
more lax and a little bit more lax and we get
stung more. And it's our own fault because of
that, I guess. But we're going to talk about
all kinds of things today, including apomondia.
And that's why we're over in Denmark, because
that conference is coming up in September in
Copenhagen. Or I assume you would pronounce Copenhagen?
København. København. Yeah, København. But we
get Copenhagen as well. I wasn't even close.
I'm sorry about that. But first, I want to hear
about you raising queens. What kind of technique
do you happen to use? So I have the bees together
with Sofus and we have the luxury of being hobby
beekeepers. So we don't do it for a living and
we don't have to earn a lot of money doing it.
So we do it for the fun and for the adventure.
So we can sort of, we can try new things each
year if we want to. What we have done this year
is we've been making 13 or 14 small families,
small new families. And we waited a week and
then we took out all the queen cells they have
started making. And today we grafted, I think
it's called grafting, from our two best families.
And we put in three cells in each of the new
families. We did that the last few years and
that's a technique that's good for our sort of
level of doing it. So as hobbyists, how many
hives do you two have? We have 15 hives and now
13 small families. We started as beekeepers in
2009 and pretty soon we sort of found our level.
Especially after we won this honey championship
in 2017, we got a lot of offers from big stores
and chains and smaller stores of making something
with them or selling our honey with them. And
we were totally excited. I guess both Soufis
and I, we are pretty easily ignitable. when it
comes to excitement. So we had all these huge
plans until we talked with our wives, who sort
of, well, we'd like to see you once in a while
too. And then we sort of realized what was important
for us in our beekeeping. Well, that's the hobby
part of it. And then we realized that what's
important for us in our beekeeping is, you know,
relaxing in the bees, de -stressing in the bees,
being together with each other and the bees,
the hobby part of it. So we actually ended up
cancelling all these plans and proposals we have
got from the companies and saying this season
and the next season, it's all about back to basics.
It's about what's the values of our beekeeping,
what's important for us. And that is the hobby
part of it. And that's been our level ever since.
So 15 beehives, that's our level. Otherwise,
you get too busy. I absolutely love that attitude
because for so many of us, it's easy to just
be into, wow, it's going well. I want to expand.
I want more hives. I want more hives. I want
more hives. But unless you really want to do
it for a living, just find a level that's comfortable
for you so that you have time to really enjoy
it. Now, I understand commercial beekeepers,
they're in a different zone and it's a business.
For the rest of us, even for some sideliners,
but especially for hobbyists, yeah, find your
sweet spot and just really enjoy it. That is
fantastic. It should all be a balance, a beekeeping
life balance between beekeeping and all the other
stuff in our lives and work and family and that,
but also a balance between the amount of bees
and the amount of honey we get. So because we
have to sort of sell or use the honey too. Yeah,
give me an idea of how much honey per high view
average. We have three different apiaries here.
We have one here at home where we live and it's
sort of Danish countryside. And Danish is a very,
it's farmland. We are an agricultural land. So
there are big fields around where we live. Then
we have an apiary in a forest nearby, and it's
a newly planted forest, so there are huge amounts
of different weeds there, and we love it. Thistle.
We love thistle. And then we have an apiary in
the middle of the neighboring city of Odense,
and that's a city with around 200 ,000 people.
And the reason I'm saying that is because at
home and in the forest, we get maybe 50 to 60
kilos. That must be 100, 120 pounds of honey
per hive per year. Right. And that's a good yield.
That's excellent. But in the middle of Odense,
the city, we get maybe 200 to 220 pounds honey
per year per hive. Wow. Huge amounts of honey.
Is that because a lot of people grow flowers
or why is that? We can measure that there's much
more nature in the city than on the Danish countryside.
And that really gives food for thought. Because
somehow it shouldn't be that way. We wouldn't
expect it to be that way. We would expect the
nature to be on the countryside. But the nature,
the flowers, the nectar, it's in the city. And
Ulense is a green city. It has a lot of parks.
It has a lot of gardens. But still, we get twice
as much honey in the city as we do on the countryside.
You must do something right in your cities over
there. We need to take a lesson from you. Yeah,
we have a lot of parks and greenery. I think
we have that in Uhrenstedt, but also in Copenhagen.
There are a lot of beekeepers in Copenhagen as
well, and it's a good place to have bees. Speaking
of Copenhagen, let's talk about Appamondia for
a minute. And then don't let me forget, I want
to get back to 2017 and hear about your big award
for the world's best honey. Yeah. But tell us
about, if someone has never heard of Appamondia,
just go from the start, explain what it is and
why it's going to be in Copenhagen this year.
So Appamondia is the the congress held by the
Epimondia Federation and the Epimondia Federation
that's sort of the world organization for beekeepers.
And there are a lot of national associations
that are member associations of the Epimondia
Federation. Denmark as a whole has one big beekeepers
association and we are members of the Epimondia
Federation. And I think actually there are five
members in the USA But it's global. It's for
beekeepers from all over the world. And every
second year, there is this congress somewhere
in the world. Sofis and I, we have attended six
congresses in Kiev, in the Ukraine, in South
Korea, in Istanbul, obviously, and in Canada,
in Montreal, and in Istanbul again, and in Chile.
So it's really a traveling event. Next time in
September this year, it will be in Copenhagen.
So in 2022, the three Scandinavian Beekeepers
Association, we teamed up and we made this bid
to win the right to host the Appamontia Congress.
It's a bit like the Olympic games, you know,
the cities or the countries they compete. and
won CC, they win and they made this grand show.
Next time there's an Olympic Games. It's the
same with the Appymontia Congress. So it'll come
to Copenhagen in September. And it's a bit like
the other big conferences. There's an Appy Expo,
we call it, where all the companies, they have
their stands, they have their booths. They sort
of show what they have invented since the last
time and they... They meet and they trade and
they sell and they sell honey and they buy honey.
And then there's also a scientific part. All
the scientists, they come to Copenhagen and we
don't see them much during that week because
they have three or four hundred lectures and
talks, roundtable discussions, all kinds of meetups.
And then there is something new, which we call
the Global Honey Bar. So we have basically invited
every country in the world to come to Copenhagen
and bring their most prestigious honeys, the
honeys they are mostly proud of, their signature
honeys. And we make this huge table and they
put it and every participant, they can come and
they can taste on honey from all over the world.
Quick break here to thank our presenting sponsor,
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And if you're shopping for beekeeping supplies,
don't forget your discount code MLBlove10, it's
in the show notes, for $10 off your first $100
purchase. And we expect between 8 ,000 to 9 ,000
visitors from all over the world. There's also
a huge social program. We want to make an evening
bar for all the beekeepers. We want to make parties
and receptions. And in the venue we want to make
a lot of coffee spots, nice spots to sit, spots
to meet old friends and new friends and old acquaintances.
We want to make it this huge place where people
from all over the world can meet. Are there language
barriers with people from all over the world
or is there a common language? Of course there
is the language barriers, but it's somehow a
bit easier when all of us are beekeepers. We
tend to find this common language when we meet
someone. Many people obviously speak English
and you always ask, well, how many hives do you
have? And then you're sort of already in some
kind of exchange or conversation. By the way,
your English is very, very good. Thank you. Yeah,
congratulations. That must be a lot of work.
It's really good. So why would a hobbyist go
to something like this? You guys have been to
a few of them. Why would you invest the time
and the money to do something like that? Well,
that's the great part of being a hobbyist. We
do it for the experiences and for the adventure.
So the first time we have had bees for four years
and we heard about this Congress in the Kiev
and we thought we got to see that, we got to
try that. And then when we had decided to go
there, we heard about these WBA honey contests
and we, well, if we are going, why not try participating,
try bringing our honey. And I think that we were
the first Danes ever to bring our honey. to the
WBA, the World Beekeeping Awards. And we just
did it because we are, as I said, easy, ignitable.
And that was a steep learning curve, bringing
our honey to the contest. Basically, some of
our honey got stuck in customs and it was all
very frustrating. But it was also a big experience
and super rewarding. So in 2015, we decided we'll
We'll try it again. We learned a lot. We'll try
to use what we've learned the last time. So there
are some great conferences in the USA too, and
also here in Europe. But I think what makes the
Appimondia Congress stand apart is it's a truly
international congress. So it's people from from
all over the world. You see big black guys in
in Lyonford. You see Asian guys with strange
hats. And in Kiev, there were these Eastern European
men with swords on their side. You see shite
from Arabia. You see all kinds of people. And
they all walk there and they all have something
in common. This flavor of international brotherhood
somehow. That's also why we've called this a
congress in Copenhagen. the social congress,
because that's very important for us, making
space for people to come together and discover
that we all have something in common, because
we live in a very fragmented world. You know,
there are many things sort of dividing us and
keeping us apart, but beekeeping, that's one
thing that brings us together, and we love that
perspective of it. When this episode comes out,
we're only going to be a month or two away from
the conference. Is it going to be too late for
people to make plans now? I'm sure there are
free tickets for the congress. But if you come
from the States, it's a big thing to go to Europe.
I know, but we will, even if you come to the
door and buy a ticket, we will welcome you all
with open eyes. Open arms, it's called. So it
doesn't sell out. We'll be able to get in even
if we're at the last minute. Yeah, the Bella
Center, the venue, it's huge. We would just be
happy. The more the merrier. And by the way,
I will say for people that haven't been to Copenhagen,
wow, beautiful place, wonderful people, great
food. The conference would just be an added bonus
on top of that. Visiting there is worth doing.
And Copenhagen is an easy city to get around
in as well. There's a metro in Copenhagen and
as an Epimondia participant, you will be able
to buy it for greatly reduced price of a week
ticket. And you can go around in the whole of
Copenhagen and it's very easy, I think. Okay.
How about if we get Zofus on for a minute? Yeah.
Oh, there he is. My beekeeping buddy. Hey, beekeeping
buddy. I didn't want to leave you out of this
thing. It's good to see you too. Thank you very
much, Uri. And thanks for inviting us to talk
about Appimondia and our beekeeping here in Denmark.
If I can't make it to the conference this year,
I will come see you guys sometime either way.
Yes, we've been discussing whether or not we
should invite everybody to come and visit us.
And basically, everybody is very welcome, both
in Denmark and also in our place. Oh, I didn't
wait for an invitation. I just invited myself.
Some of that Danish pastry. It's been too long.
I need to come get some of that. Hey, how about
if we let you tell us about your award -winning
honey from 2017? When you actually won the award
for the world's best honey, what does that mean?
Why is your honey better than everybody else's?
We won the Carl and Virginia Webb Trophy, the
award for the best honey in the world, with our
granulated honey, which was actually the first
time granulated honey won. Do you know what your
bees were foraging on to make that world's best
honey? Yes. So we want the world's best honey
with our spring honey. And it's a very light
and mild granulated, creamed honey we make together
with the bees. And the bees, they had been visiting
the dandelion and all the fruit trees in the
area, and then the rape. the rape flowers. And
then there is a lot of the granola. Canola. What's
it called in USA? Canola? Yeah, canola. We have
a lot of canola here in Denmark and it makes
this very light and mild honey. And the canola
honey has a tendency of becoming very hard. And
so every Danish beekeeper has to sort of learn
how to treat it, how to stir it, and how to treat
it so it... doesn't become that hard, but becomes
spreadable and nice and soft and creamy. And
Sufis and I, we are really good at that. So the
consistency is just perfect. And that's always
the craft of a granulated honey. It's to make
the consistency perfect. So I think that's why
it won. So what's your secret to keeping it spreadable,
as you put it? Because the honey that my bees
make, depending on the time of year, yeah, it
can really get hard quite fast. Yeah. And so
what's your secret? Is it a lot of stirring?
Is it warm temperatures? So what we do is we
seed our spring honey with a couple of jars of
spring honey from last year, because we want
to make it. We want to make it a lot of tiny
crystals. So it becomes a fine crystalline. We
jar it on the right time. And then if it becomes
hard, Eric, and I think this is the secret. You
put it in 30 degrees for like 24 hours. And then
you take it out in the cold again. We don't warm
it up so it melts or anything, but 30 degrees
sort of speeds up the process, this natural maturing
process that the honey does in the jar. Instead
of it taking half a year, it takes a day. And
after that, our honey is spreadable and nice,
and it stays that. And by the way, 30 degrees
Celsius, that's about 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
So let me make sure I get this straight. So you
warm it to that temperature for one day, and
then you cool it back down? Yeah, as quick as
possible. We cool it down. And then the crystallization
is just very smooth and consistent. Yeah, the
heating doesn't change the crystal structure,
but it makes the honey softer, and it stays soft
even after we put it back into our honey storage.
And then the other secret is when we do our honey
treatment, when we seed the honey and we stir
it, it has to be cold. It has to be below...
below 19 and better 14 than 20 or better 5 degrees
as 20. And what's that in Fahrenheit? I'm talking
Celsius here. What's that in Fahrenheit? So 14
degrees, that's about 57 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty cold. So that's not
as cold as a refrigerator, but that's pretty
chilly. Yeah, and I would always choose to have
it in a refrigerator, if it was possible, instead
of having it in 20 or 22 degrees. Because if
it's too hot, you'll get larger crystals. And
if it's cold, you'll get smaller crystals. Okay.
We're all learning something here today. Thank
you for that. If you don't seed it with last
year's honey, it's still going to crystallize,
right? Yeah. But just in a way that you don't
like as much? Is that why you seed it? Well,
it's not a matter of liking it. We call it a
crystal honey if it has very coarse crystals.
And we make some of it each year because some
people like it very much. They had it in their
childhood. You know, the honey you had as a kid,
it's still the best honey in the world. And the
honey I had as a kid, was this finely crystallized
cream spring honey. So my granddad was a beekeeper
and I'm raised on huge amounts of Danish spring
honey. So that's the one I like most. And Sufis'
favorite is the Heather honey. It's darker and
it's more tasteful, but we don't have Heather
here where we live. So we ended up participating
in these championships with the mild spring honey.
Yeah, we had a beekeeper a few months ago on
the show that was from Scotland and they made
Heather honey there. Yeah. He was saying how
wonderful it is. That is something I haven't
tried yet, so I'm going to do that. I just want
to get a couple of definitions out there for
people that are new to beekeeping and honey.
Crystallization is completely normal for honey,
okay? Yes. It does not mean it's gone bad. When
we use other terms like creamed honey, That is
honey that has been crystallized, but the crystals
are very fine and so it's a very creamy substance
kind of honey. Yeah. Versus honey can also get
larger crystals that are almost like, I don't
know, like BB size and everything in between.
And none of those means there's something wrong
with the honey. If you take a honey in any of
those states and warm it enough, it will go back
to a liquid kind of form. Some honeys crystallize
faster than others, some crystallize in a more
creamy way, some in a more coarse way. I think
they're all good and they all have their own
place out there. Yeah, and that's the great thing
about honey. tastes wonderfully, even though
you can make different products out of it. I
often also get asked by people, well, why isn't
the honey in the grocery store crystallizing?
I'm not sure how it is in Denmark, but the answer
to most people here in the States is usually
that honey has been pasteurized at a high enough
level that it's sort of killed that process.
And so that honey is going to stay liquid for
much, much, much longer. But you've also damaged
the honey by heating it too much. Yeah. The qualities
that come with the raw honey, many of those are
now gone. Yeah. So we try to sort of work with
the honey and its nature instead of fighting
with it and heating it up in order to make it
stay liquid for longer. All right. You told me
that you had a good wild and crazy beekeeping
story, Lars. Yeah. Go for it. What happened?
So a few years ago, Eric, we had bees on the
top of a hotel roof. It was a wonderful flat
roof. We have a beautiful view. We could see
all the trees in the city. And on that roof,
there were two small houses, you know, where
the elevator goes up. And we soon found out that
that little house, that's a perfect place to
put our smoker. Then we don't have to sort of
bring the smoker in the car every time. We can
just put it off and then put it in there. And
that's what we did until one day we were there.
And then the manager of this hotel, he came to
us and he said, well, guys, I had a visit the
other day. Yeah. We said, yeah, suddenly the
fire department was here. The fire alarm in the
hotel went off. We had this inkling where this
conversation would bring, would turn to, would
go. Yeah. So all the guests, they went out on
the street and the fire department, they came
and they had this little machine. They could
sort of track where the smoke was coming from
and they tracked it to your smoker. And we were
very pale at that point because obviously we
did not put our smoker out as efficient as we
thought we were. And we could sort of imagine
this bill, 100 ,000 kroner or something coming
our way and all the guests standing in their
night robes. Luckily, he was very, very killed
about it. And the fire department was too, because
when they were there, they discovered that they
needed to sort of draw the hotel again and make
new drawings with all the rooms on and you are
here and where is the newest fire extinguisher.
So they ended up doing that instead. So Sufis
and I, we got no bill, but we got a giant wake
-up call, always, always to put out our smoker.
And I think the trouble was we didn't put it
out as efficiently as we thought we were. And
then this elevator, it worked like it made a
lot of wind in this house. So the smoke was drawn
down all the six floors, where then they could
smell the smoke, the guests. I think we were
very, very lucky. I think you were too. Yeah.
Not to get a big bill for that one, but hey,
that is a good reminder for us. Yeah, it is.
Yeah. It took a few weeks and we can laugh about
it. Yeah. We want to make sure that those things
are really all the way out. How do you put it
all the way out now? Well, we basically, we empty
it and we step on it really hard. Yeah. And then
we want to buy a metal box for it, but we haven't
gotten that far yet. Actually, we don't use the
smoker that much anymore. Only if we have some
bee families who are really angry for some reason.
But mostly we just use a wet towel and we place
it on top of the boxes. That works really well
for us. Explain that. So is that like you take
a lid off and then you put a wet towel on? So
when we open the beehives and we take apart the
boxes, Instead of having boxes open, we put a
wet towel on top of each box. And then when we
work in a box, we sort of take the towel to the
side and we can take out the frames and put the
towel back in a way. And if the towel is wet,
the bees, they go down a bit. So when we put
the boxes back together on top of each other,
when we take the towel off, bees are a few centimeters
down and we can put up, put on the next box.
without crushing too many bees or crushing bees.
I've never heard of that before. I'm going to
try it. Yeah, do that. Make it wet so it's wet
and cold. And it's not so wet that it's dripping
in the hive, right? It's just very moist. Yeah.
We put it under the water and then we sort of
squeeze it as much as we can. Get the extra water
out. So then you take a lid off. You put it on
top of the frames. And then you just peel back
a little bit at a time to pull a frame out, put
it back in. Yeah. Or you can just have it on
the other boxes and have it off the box you're
working with, if that's easier for you. I love
how we can learn from each other. Yeah, I hope
it works for you too. I don't know the bees you
have over there. Oh, they're bees that like wet
towels, I'm sure. Yeah. Now we primarily here
in the States have Italians, Carniolans. There
are others and there are some that get very grumpy
and we'll let you know it. We also have parts
of the States, especially in the South, where
we have Africanized genetics have moved in. And
so these are not as friendly. I don't believe
you have those. Do you have other pest problems?
Like are you getting the yellow -legged hornet
where you are? Well, we've been looking out for
it for the last years, because we know it's in
Europe, we know it's on its way up. And then
as late as last week, a beekeeper here on the
island where we live, Thun, he enjoyed a beer
on his terrace, and suddenly a yellow -legged
hornet jumped down in his beer. And that's the
only one we've ever seen in Denmark that was
in this man's beer who got quite famous. Now
we are even looking even more for it because
we have to keep an eye on it. Well, it had to
come from somewhere and they don't all commit
suicide in beer. No, there must be some hive
somewhere. So I'm sure it's just a matter of
time because we have hoped that the winters would
be too cold here. for it to thrive. But the winters
here in Denmark, they get warmer and warmer for
each year. So I think we have it now. Hey, one
other topic that is a big one, but we'll try
to touch on it just quickly. And that is, do
you have a lot of problems with varroa mites
there? We have to have a good strategy and we
have to keep it at bay like you have. And most
beekeepers in Denmark, they use a different kind
of organic acids to treat their varroa mites.
Like oxalic acid? Formic acid. And then the last
years, many beekeepers have started using sticks
with oxalic acid and glycerin. You put it down
and it stays there for a month. And it's also
a really effective treatment against the varomites.
But everyone has to have a strategy of which
time to treat and to keep an eye on it. Okay.
Very last thing for both you and Zofus. And that
is I can tell that you guys love honeybees. and
beekeeping. Tell me what it is that you love
about it so much. Tofus, what do we love about
honeybees? We love being together with the bees
and being together with each other and being
together with other beekeepers, being together
with you here, making adventure. It's like a
magic world. The beekeeping is like a magic world.
And you never really get fully educated in beekeeping.
I like that very much. There's always something
new to learn, but there's always also new things
to invent or small new wooden things to make
that you can use in your beekeeping. There's
always something new to try out. I like that.
And people working with bees tend to be very
enthusiastic and energetic. And I really like
this. You know, when you work in the beehives,
you have to use all your senses. You look at
the bees, you can see how they are, you listen
to them, you can listen to their sound, how they
are and how they thrive. But you can also smell,
if the beehive smells bad, we can smell where
the queen is in the beehive. Because we tried
it out, especially in the spring, we can smell
on top of the frames and we can smell where she
is. And I love this. It's the thing for all the
senses when you work in the bees and you sort
of you have to be fully present. Also not to
crush bees because if you are hurry or stressed
or anything you crush bees and I hate that or
you get stung. Hey Lars and Sophus, thank you
so much for being with me and we'll have a link
in the show notes for anybody that wants to look
up and learn more about Apomondia. You guys have
been awesome. I love talking to people that love
bees and I'm going to get a wet towel and take
it out with me next time. Try that again. Could
you put a link on to our YouTube channel as well?
Yes. Send me that link and I'll post it as well.
We have a playlist on that YouTube channel with
English subtitles. Subtitles. Subtitles. And
they are really great, our videos, we think.
Alright, sounds fantastic. Thanks guys. Thanks
again for joining us here on Be Love, Be Keep
being presented by Man Lake. Remember right now
to follow or subscribe and share this podcast.
Also a shout out to V2B Health for their support
of the show. Vita's Varroa Control range of products
includes Apistan, Apigard, and now Veroxan Extended
Release Oxalic Acids Trips. Hey thanks guys,
we really appreciate it. Enjoy this beautiful
summer, enjoy your bees, and remember, if you're
not just in it for the honey or the money, you're
in it for the love. See you next week.