WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:03.740 May I have your attention, please the following 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:10.759 is not the real Jeff Fox review If your home 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:15.259 decor is everything honeybee, well you might 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:21.059 be a beekeeper If you hesitate when the doctor 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:27.899 asks if you smoke you might be a beekeeper If 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:54.179 when you Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping 00:00:54.179 --> 00:00:57.340 presented by our good friends over at Man Lake. 00:00:57.919 --> 00:01:00.420 We're gonna have a ton of fun today as we head 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:03.399 all the way to Denmark to speak with a couple 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.900 of hobby beekeepers and best friends about beekeeping 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.900 in that part of the world and about Appamonia 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:13.200 which is coming up this September in Copenhagen. 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:16.319 Maybe the best part is they're going to share 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:20.359 their secrets on creating the world's best creamed 00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:23.180 honey and they have the trophies to back it up. 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:26.049 But first, have you ever wondered what it is 00:01:26.049 --> 00:01:28.510 about honey that keeps it fresh for so long, 00:01:29.049 --> 00:01:32.829 maybe even forever? In a sealed environment, 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:35.709 honey may crystallize, turning thick and chunky, 00:01:36.109 --> 00:01:39.469 but it will not spoil. When we say that food 00:01:39.469 --> 00:01:42.750 has spoiled, what we actually mean is that something 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:46.090 else has gotten to it first, something microscopic. 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:51.109 Bacteria, fungi, molds are present in at least 00:01:51.109 --> 00:01:54.349 low numbers in many foods. and a number of the 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:57.430 procedures that humans use to preserve food are 00:01:57.430 --> 00:02:00.010 designed to discourage these little monsters 00:02:00.010 --> 00:02:03.689 from consuming it. Many of these microorganisms 00:02:03.689 --> 00:02:07.269 tend to prefer moist conditions, higher but not 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:11.150 too high temperatures, a mellow pH, and plenty 00:02:11.150 --> 00:02:13.770 of oxygen around to use in their metabolism. 00:02:14.889 --> 00:02:18.530 Dehydrating meat or food then deprives them of 00:02:18.530 --> 00:02:22.789 water. Cooking food to a high heat then moving 00:02:22.789 --> 00:02:26.229 it into the refrigerator for storage first kills 00:02:26.229 --> 00:02:29.110 off many bugs and puts a damper on the growth 00:02:29.110 --> 00:02:33.610 of any left behind. Suspending food in a pickling 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:37.069 mixture wards off all but the most acid -loving 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:40.449 creatures. Sealing something in a jar limits 00:02:40.449 --> 00:02:44.259 the oxygen they have access to. But honey is 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:47.479 an unusual case and here's why. It's made by 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.840 honey bees from flower nectar and starts out 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.039 as a warmish, watery, sugary fluid. The kind 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:58.080 of thing that seems like it would be the purest 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.060 bacteria bait. But the bees concentrate the nectar 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:04.900 on the way to the hive, removing some of the 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:08.830 water. They use enzymes to raise the acid content 00:03:08.830 --> 00:03:12.990 in the fluid, discouraging some forms of microorganisms 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:16.090 from growing, and they break down the sugars 00:03:16.090 --> 00:03:19.909 into simpler ones. Then they decant the stuff 00:03:19.909 --> 00:03:23.069 into honeycomb chambers, similar to miniature 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:26.449 glass jars. Next, they do something remarkable. 00:03:26.889 --> 00:03:30.469 They fan the honey with their wings. The fanning 00:03:30.469 --> 00:03:34.129 slowly evaporates the remaining water like an 00:03:34.129 --> 00:03:37.150 oscillating fan evaporating sweat from your skin. 00:03:37.629 --> 00:03:40.990 So a substance that was once about 70 or 80 percent 00:03:40.990 --> 00:03:44.590 water sees that number drop and drop and drop. 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:47.879 Fully ripened honey typically has a water content 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:52.120 between 17 and 18 percent. In fact the proportion 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:56.500 of sugar molecules to water is so enormous that 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:59.060 it wouldn't be physically possible to dissolve 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:02.560 that much sugar into that much water without 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:06.099 a process like the one that honey bees use. There's 00:04:06.099 --> 00:04:09.180 plenty of sugar there and of course microorganisms 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:12.460 would love to have a go at it, but with so little 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:15.990 water... and the acidity providing an additional 00:04:15.990 --> 00:04:19.970 disincentive they simply can't survive. Once 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:23.310 the proper percentage of water is reached, bees 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:27.310 seal each chamber with a cap of beeswax similar 00:04:27.310 --> 00:04:31.350 to us putting a lid on a jar. It limits the availability 00:04:31.350 --> 00:04:34.550 of oxygen and there's another barrier to growth. 00:04:34.939 --> 00:04:39.139 This is a state known as low water activity among 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:42.899 food scientists and in fact lowering a substance's 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:45.379 water activity is a common trick to preserve 00:04:45.379 --> 00:04:49.000 processed foods. Now this doesn't mean that honey 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.680 can withstand all challenges to freshness. If 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:55.480 your house is anything like mine sometimes there's 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:59.300 a jar that's open which means its surface is 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:02.180 regularly exposed to the air and maybe somebody 00:05:02.180 --> 00:05:05.240 is dipping licked spoons in which will bring 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:08.100 bacteria and moisture that weren't there before 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:11.180 the jar was sealed. Anyway it is amazing, yes 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:14.259 once again honey bees are absolutely amazing. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:16.740 Maybe in the future we'll take a deep dive into 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.899 the actual chemistry of honey but for now while 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:23.500 you're still awake let's meet Lars and Zofus 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:28.730 in Denmark. This is going to be really fun today, 00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:32.149 everybody. We're going across the pond to Denmark 00:05:32.149 --> 00:05:36.410 to meet with Lars Fischer and his buddy Zofus. 00:05:36.449 --> 00:05:39.129 I didn't catch your last name, Zofus. Knusen, 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:42.850 Zofus Knusen. It's a good thing I didn't try 00:05:42.850 --> 00:05:46.449 to say that. I have a hard time pronouncing these 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:50.170 Scandinavian words. They're not built into our 00:05:50.170 --> 00:05:53.269 American tongues. I apologize for that. But Lars 00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:57.370 will mostly be speaking with you. Good afternoon, 00:05:57.709 --> 00:06:00.970 and how are you today? Well, I'm fine, Eric. 00:06:01.089 --> 00:06:05.370 Thank you. Sufis and I, we've been making queens 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:09.050 today, so it's been a full day. I got stung in 00:06:09.050 --> 00:06:12.750 my face just below the eye. Now I'm on video, 00:06:12.750 --> 00:06:17.069 so I don't hope it's too swollen yet. That's 00:06:17.069 --> 00:06:19.569 sort of on the shady side of your face, so I 00:06:19.569 --> 00:06:22.629 don't notice it too much. I'm curious, did you 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:26.009 have a veil on when you got stung? No, you know, 00:06:26.009 --> 00:06:29.110 that's always the problem. I stood some meters 00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:32.269 away and everything was calm. And then suddenly 00:06:32.269 --> 00:06:36.350 one bee decided that I should be some kind of 00:06:36.350 --> 00:06:39.610 target. Yeah, so I only had myself to blame, 00:06:39.670 --> 00:06:43.189 actually. Well, that is usually the case. Yeah, 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:46.199 it is. When we first start beekeeping, at least 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:50.459 with me, I was covered from head to toe and hardly 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.319 ever got stung. But then we get a little bit 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:55.980 more lax and a little bit more lax and we get 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.379 stung more. And it's our own fault because of 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:00.720 that, I guess. But we're going to talk about 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.319 all kinds of things today, including apomondia. 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:05.939 And that's why we're over in Denmark, because 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:08.800 that conference is coming up in September in 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:13.699 Copenhagen. Or I assume you would pronounce Copenhagen? 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:18.180 København. København. Yeah, København. But we 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:21.220 get Copenhagen as well. I wasn't even close. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:24.279 I'm sorry about that. But first, I want to hear 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.180 about you raising queens. What kind of technique 00:07:27.180 --> 00:07:31.399 do you happen to use? So I have the bees together 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:36.339 with Sofus and we have the luxury of being hobby 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:39.699 beekeepers. So we don't do it for a living and 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:42.819 we don't have to earn a lot of money doing it. 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:45.959 So we do it for the fun and for the adventure. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.160 So we can sort of, we can try new things each 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:51.920 year if we want to. What we have done this year 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:56.459 is we've been making 13 or 14 small families, 00:07:56.759 --> 00:08:00.980 small new families. And we waited a week and 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:03.779 then we took out all the queen cells they have 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:07.439 started making. And today we grafted, I think 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.839 it's called grafting, from our two best families. 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:14.540 And we put in three cells in each of the new 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:17.160 families. We did that the last few years and 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:21.819 that's a technique that's good for our sort of 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:26.420 level of doing it. So as hobbyists, how many 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:32.320 hives do you two have? We have 15 hives and now 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:36.679 13 small families. We started as beekeepers in 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:42.379 2009 and pretty soon we sort of found our level. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.620 Especially after we won this honey championship 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:52.179 in 2017, we got a lot of offers from big stores 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:55.860 and chains and smaller stores of making something 00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:58.639 with them or selling our honey with them. And 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:01.860 we were totally excited. I guess both Soufis 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:05.350 and I, we are pretty easily ignitable. when it 00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:08.370 comes to excitement. So we had all these huge 00:09:08.370 --> 00:09:13.490 plans until we talked with our wives, who sort 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.929 of, well, we'd like to see you once in a while 00:09:16.929 --> 00:09:20.870 too. And then we sort of realized what was important 00:09:20.870 --> 00:09:23.649 for us in our beekeeping. Well, that's the hobby 00:09:23.649 --> 00:09:26.149 part of it. And then we realized that what's 00:09:26.149 --> 00:09:28.990 important for us in our beekeeping is, you know, 00:09:29.169 --> 00:09:32.370 relaxing in the bees, de -stressing in the bees, 00:09:33.149 --> 00:09:36.080 being together with each other and the bees, 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:39.879 the hobby part of it. So we actually ended up 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.779 cancelling all these plans and proposals we have 00:09:43.779 --> 00:09:46.620 got from the companies and saying this season 00:09:46.620 --> 00:09:49.980 and the next season, it's all about back to basics. 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:53.879 It's about what's the values of our beekeeping, 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.279 what's important for us. And that is the hobby 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:59.840 part of it. And that's been our level ever since. 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:04.409 So 15 beehives, that's our level. Otherwise, 00:10:04.730 --> 00:10:08.210 you get too busy. I absolutely love that attitude 00:10:08.210 --> 00:10:12.009 because for so many of us, it's easy to just 00:10:12.009 --> 00:10:15.509 be into, wow, it's going well. I want to expand. 00:10:15.649 --> 00:10:17.230 I want more hives. I want more hives. I want 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:19.950 more hives. But unless you really want to do 00:10:19.950 --> 00:10:23.029 it for a living, just find a level that's comfortable 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:25.870 for you so that you have time to really enjoy 00:10:25.870 --> 00:10:29.070 it. Now, I understand commercial beekeepers, 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:31.889 they're in a different zone and it's a business. 00:10:32.650 --> 00:10:36.690 For the rest of us, even for some sideliners, 00:10:37.129 --> 00:10:39.929 but especially for hobbyists, yeah, find your 00:10:39.929 --> 00:10:42.409 sweet spot and just really enjoy it. That is 00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:47.250 fantastic. It should all be a balance, a beekeeping 00:10:47.250 --> 00:10:51.309 life balance between beekeeping and all the other 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:53.769 stuff in our lives and work and family and that, 00:10:53.929 --> 00:10:56.730 but also a balance between the amount of bees 00:10:56.730 --> 00:10:59.629 and the amount of honey we get. So because we 00:10:59.629 --> 00:11:03.049 have to sort of sell or use the honey too. Yeah, 00:11:03.129 --> 00:11:06.149 give me an idea of how much honey per high view 00:11:06.149 --> 00:11:09.570 average. We have three different apiaries here. 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:12.409 We have one here at home where we live and it's 00:11:12.409 --> 00:11:16.750 sort of Danish countryside. And Danish is a very, 00:11:17.330 --> 00:11:21.929 it's farmland. We are an agricultural land. So 00:11:21.929 --> 00:11:25.100 there are big fields around where we live. Then 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:28.559 we have an apiary in a forest nearby, and it's 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:32.279 a newly planted forest, so there are huge amounts 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:36.539 of different weeds there, and we love it. Thistle. 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:39.940 We love thistle. And then we have an apiary in 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:42.720 the middle of the neighboring city of Odense, 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.980 and that's a city with around 200 ,000 people. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.940 And the reason I'm saying that is because at 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:54.210 home and in the forest, we get maybe 50 to 60 00:11:54.210 --> 00:11:59.909 kilos. That must be 100, 120 pounds of honey 00:11:59.909 --> 00:12:03.909 per hive per year. Right. And that's a good yield. 00:12:03.909 --> 00:12:06.850 That's excellent. But in the middle of Odense, 00:12:07.129 --> 00:12:14.490 the city, we get maybe 200 to 220 pounds honey 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:18.529 per year per hive. Wow. Huge amounts of honey. 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:21.049 Is that because a lot of people grow flowers 00:12:21.049 --> 00:12:24.450 or why is that? We can measure that there's much 00:12:24.450 --> 00:12:28.429 more nature in the city than on the Danish countryside. 00:12:29.110 --> 00:12:33.590 And that really gives food for thought. Because 00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:36.549 somehow it shouldn't be that way. We wouldn't 00:12:36.549 --> 00:12:39.450 expect it to be that way. We would expect the 00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:42.049 nature to be on the countryside. But the nature, 00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:46.090 the flowers, the nectar, it's in the city. And 00:12:46.090 --> 00:12:48.509 Ulense is a green city. It has a lot of parks. 00:12:48.570 --> 00:12:51.840 It has a lot of gardens. But still, we get twice 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.240 as much honey in the city as we do on the countryside. 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:58.340 You must do something right in your cities over 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.679 there. We need to take a lesson from you. Yeah, 00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:05.639 we have a lot of parks and greenery. I think 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.200 we have that in Uhrenstedt, but also in Copenhagen. 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:11.500 There are a lot of beekeepers in Copenhagen as 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:14.679 well, and it's a good place to have bees. Speaking 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.580 of Copenhagen, let's talk about Appamondia for 00:13:17.580 --> 00:13:19.679 a minute. And then don't let me forget, I want 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:23.519 to get back to 2017 and hear about your big award 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:26.940 for the world's best honey. Yeah. But tell us 00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:29.799 about, if someone has never heard of Appamondia, 00:13:30.179 --> 00:13:32.960 just go from the start, explain what it is and 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.440 why it's going to be in Copenhagen this year. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.480 So Appamondia is the the congress held by the 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:43.620 Epimondia Federation and the Epimondia Federation 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:47.039 that's sort of the world organization for beekeepers. 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:51.559 And there are a lot of national associations 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.919 that are member associations of the Epimondia 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:58.840 Federation. Denmark as a whole has one big beekeepers 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:01.720 association and we are members of the Epimondia 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:05.539 Federation. And I think actually there are five 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:10.169 members in the USA But it's global. It's for 00:14:10.169 --> 00:14:12.450 beekeepers from all over the world. And every 00:14:12.450 --> 00:14:15.570 second year, there is this congress somewhere 00:14:15.570 --> 00:14:19.009 in the world. Sofis and I, we have attended six 00:14:19.009 --> 00:14:24.509 congresses in Kiev, in the Ukraine, in South 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:29.350 Korea, in Istanbul, obviously, and in Canada, 00:14:29.509 --> 00:14:32.549 in Montreal, and in Istanbul again, and in Chile. 00:14:32.700 --> 00:14:36.379 So it's really a traveling event. Next time in 00:14:36.379 --> 00:14:38.620 September this year, it will be in Copenhagen. 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:44.580 So in 2022, the three Scandinavian Beekeepers 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:48.120 Association, we teamed up and we made this bid 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:53.659 to win the right to host the Appamontia Congress. 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:56.720 It's a bit like the Olympic games, you know, 00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:59.990 the cities or the countries they compete. and 00:14:59.990 --> 00:15:02.870 won CC, they win and they made this grand show. 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:06.590 Next time there's an Olympic Games. It's the 00:15:06.590 --> 00:15:09.269 same with the Appymontia Congress. So it'll come 00:15:09.269 --> 00:15:13.669 to Copenhagen in September. And it's a bit like 00:15:13.669 --> 00:15:18.730 the other big conferences. There's an Appy Expo, 00:15:18.809 --> 00:15:20.850 we call it, where all the companies, they have 00:15:20.850 --> 00:15:23.409 their stands, they have their booths. They sort 00:15:23.409 --> 00:15:26.070 of show what they have invented since the last 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:28.659 time and they... They meet and they trade and 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:31.940 they sell and they sell honey and they buy honey. 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:36.820 And then there's also a scientific part. All 00:15:36.820 --> 00:15:39.000 the scientists, they come to Copenhagen and we 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:41.879 don't see them much during that week because 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:46.519 they have three or four hundred lectures and 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:51.240 talks, roundtable discussions, all kinds of meetups. 00:15:51.700 --> 00:15:54.799 And then there is something new, which we call 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:58.490 the Global Honey Bar. So we have basically invited 00:15:58.490 --> 00:16:02.769 every country in the world to come to Copenhagen 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:06.750 and bring their most prestigious honeys, the 00:16:06.750 --> 00:16:09.590 honeys they are mostly proud of, their signature 00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:13.090 honeys. And we make this huge table and they 00:16:13.090 --> 00:16:16.269 put it and every participant, they can come and 00:16:16.269 --> 00:16:19.590 they can taste on honey from all over the world. 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:22.820 Quick break here to thank our presenting sponsor, 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:25.620 Man Lake. Whether you're a beekeeper or not, 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:28.580 you know that nutrition is key for healthy honey 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:32.059 bees, native bees, and other pollinators. The 00:16:32.059 --> 00:16:35.460 Man Lake app is a great resource for determining 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:38.019 pollinator -friendly plants that thrive in your 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:41.159 area, and its plant identification feature is 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:44.000 super helpful and fun. When I see a plant covered 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:47.080 in bees, I fire up the app, find out what it 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.659 is, then plant them in my yard. If you haven't 00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:51.840 already downloaded the Man Lake app, give it 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:54.740 a try today. Oh, and did I mention it's free? 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:57.620 And if you're shopping for beekeeping supplies, 00:16:58.019 --> 00:17:01.240 don't forget your discount code MLBlove10, it's 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:04.660 in the show notes, for $10 off your first $100 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:10.400 purchase. And we expect between 8 ,000 to 9 ,000 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.099 visitors from all over the world. There's also 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:17.339 a huge social program. We want to make an evening 00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:21.180 bar for all the beekeepers. We want to make parties 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:25.859 and receptions. And in the venue we want to make 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:30.240 a lot of coffee spots, nice spots to sit, spots 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:34.559 to meet old friends and new friends and old acquaintances. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.160 We want to make it this huge place where people 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:42.809 from all over the world can meet. Are there language 00:17:42.809 --> 00:17:45.049 barriers with people from all over the world 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:48.190 or is there a common language? Of course there 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:51.349 is the language barriers, but it's somehow a 00:17:51.349 --> 00:17:54.470 bit easier when all of us are beekeepers. We 00:17:54.470 --> 00:17:57.130 tend to find this common language when we meet 00:17:57.130 --> 00:17:59.869 someone. Many people obviously speak English 00:17:59.869 --> 00:18:02.990 and you always ask, well, how many hives do you 00:18:02.990 --> 00:18:06.049 have? And then you're sort of already in some 00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:09.460 kind of exchange or conversation. By the way, 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.960 your English is very, very good. Thank you. Yeah, 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:15.500 congratulations. That must be a lot of work. 00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:19.900 It's really good. So why would a hobbyist go 00:18:19.900 --> 00:18:21.880 to something like this? You guys have been to 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.339 a few of them. Why would you invest the time 00:18:24.339 --> 00:18:27.299 and the money to do something like that? Well, 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:29.799 that's the great part of being a hobbyist. We 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.059 do it for the experiences and for the adventure. 00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:36.569 So the first time we have had bees for four years 00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:38.930 and we heard about this Congress in the Kiev 00:18:38.930 --> 00:18:41.349 and we thought we got to see that, we got to 00:18:41.349 --> 00:18:45.049 try that. And then when we had decided to go 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:49.569 there, we heard about these WBA honey contests 00:18:49.569 --> 00:18:54.289 and we, well, if we are going, why not try participating, 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:57.829 try bringing our honey. And I think that we were 00:18:57.829 --> 00:19:01.549 the first Danes ever to bring our honey. to the 00:19:01.549 --> 00:19:05.210 WBA, the World Beekeeping Awards. And we just 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:08.849 did it because we are, as I said, easy, ignitable. 00:19:09.910 --> 00:19:12.950 And that was a steep learning curve, bringing 00:19:12.950 --> 00:19:15.990 our honey to the contest. Basically, some of 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:18.930 our honey got stuck in customs and it was all 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:24.049 very frustrating. But it was also a big experience 00:19:24.049 --> 00:19:28.630 and super rewarding. So in 2015, we decided we'll 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.759 We'll try it again. We learned a lot. We'll try 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:35.700 to use what we've learned the last time. So there 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:38.740 are some great conferences in the USA too, and 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:41.900 also here in Europe. But I think what makes the 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:45.920 Appimondia Congress stand apart is it's a truly 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:49.619 international congress. So it's people from from 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:54.019 all over the world. You see big black guys in 00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:58.190 in Lyonford. You see Asian guys with strange 00:19:58.190 --> 00:20:03.049 hats. And in Kiev, there were these Eastern European 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:06.650 men with swords on their side. You see shite 00:20:06.650 --> 00:20:10.109 from Arabia. You see all kinds of people. And 00:20:10.109 --> 00:20:12.450 they all walk there and they all have something 00:20:12.450 --> 00:20:17.869 in common. This flavor of international brotherhood 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:21.309 somehow. That's also why we've called this a 00:20:21.309 --> 00:20:24.359 congress in Copenhagen. the social congress, 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:28.720 because that's very important for us, making 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.039 space for people to come together and discover 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.500 that we all have something in common, because 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:37.559 we live in a very fragmented world. You know, 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:40.839 there are many things sort of dividing us and 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:43.299 keeping us apart, but beekeeping, that's one 00:20:43.299 --> 00:20:46.880 thing that brings us together, and we love that 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:50.319 perspective of it. When this episode comes out, 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:53.259 we're only going to be a month or two away from 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:55.579 the conference. Is it going to be too late for 00:20:55.579 --> 00:20:58.299 people to make plans now? I'm sure there are 00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:01.180 free tickets for the congress. But if you come 00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:04.339 from the States, it's a big thing to go to Europe. 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:07.700 I know, but we will, even if you come to the 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:10.279 door and buy a ticket, we will welcome you all 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.819 with open eyes. Open arms, it's called. So it 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:17.359 doesn't sell out. We'll be able to get in even 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:19.960 if we're at the last minute. Yeah, the Bella 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:22.779 Center, the venue, it's huge. We would just be 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:25.160 happy. The more the merrier. And by the way, 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:29.000 I will say for people that haven't been to Copenhagen, 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:33.220 wow, beautiful place, wonderful people, great 00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:36.400 food. The conference would just be an added bonus 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:38.900 on top of that. Visiting there is worth doing. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:42.940 And Copenhagen is an easy city to get around 00:21:42.940 --> 00:21:46.430 in as well. There's a metro in Copenhagen and 00:21:46.430 --> 00:21:49.109 as an Epimondia participant, you will be able 00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:52.769 to buy it for greatly reduced price of a week 00:21:52.769 --> 00:21:55.730 ticket. And you can go around in the whole of 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:59.150 Copenhagen and it's very easy, I think. Okay. 00:21:59.369 --> 00:22:02.609 How about if we get Zofus on for a minute? Yeah. 00:22:03.650 --> 00:22:07.089 Oh, there he is. My beekeeping buddy. Hey, beekeeping 00:22:07.089 --> 00:22:09.009 buddy. I didn't want to leave you out of this 00:22:09.009 --> 00:22:11.490 thing. It's good to see you too. Thank you very 00:22:11.490 --> 00:22:14.480 much, Uri. And thanks for inviting us to talk 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.180 about Appimondia and our beekeeping here in Denmark. 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:20.119 If I can't make it to the conference this year, 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:23.099 I will come see you guys sometime either way. 00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:26.099 Yes, we've been discussing whether or not we 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:28.319 should invite everybody to come and visit us. 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:32.059 And basically, everybody is very welcome, both 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:35.079 in Denmark and also in our place. Oh, I didn't 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:37.640 wait for an invitation. I just invited myself. 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:42.319 Some of that Danish pastry. It's been too long. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:45.019 I need to come get some of that. Hey, how about 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:48.519 if we let you tell us about your award -winning 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:52.640 honey from 2017? When you actually won the award 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.420 for the world's best honey, what does that mean? 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:59.119 Why is your honey better than everybody else's? 00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:03.160 We won the Carl and Virginia Webb Trophy, the 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:06.140 award for the best honey in the world, with our 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:08.519 granulated honey, which was actually the first 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:11.319 time granulated honey won. Do you know what your 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:14.200 bees were foraging on to make that world's best 00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:17.539 honey? Yes. So we want the world's best honey 00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:20.680 with our spring honey. And it's a very light 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:25.259 and mild granulated, creamed honey we make together 00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:28.019 with the bees. And the bees, they had been visiting 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:33.539 the dandelion and all the fruit trees in the 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:38.400 area, and then the rape. the rape flowers. And 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:42.839 then there is a lot of the granola. Canola. What's 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:46.599 it called in USA? Canola? Yeah, canola. We have 00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:48.799 a lot of canola here in Denmark and it makes 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.019 this very light and mild honey. And the canola 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:57.420 honey has a tendency of becoming very hard. And 00:23:57.420 --> 00:24:00.460 so every Danish beekeeper has to sort of learn 00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:03.220 how to treat it, how to stir it, and how to treat 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:06.309 it so it... doesn't become that hard, but becomes 00:24:06.309 --> 00:24:10.029 spreadable and nice and soft and creamy. And 00:24:10.029 --> 00:24:13.890 Sufis and I, we are really good at that. So the 00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:17.910 consistency is just perfect. And that's always 00:24:17.910 --> 00:24:20.710 the craft of a granulated honey. It's to make 00:24:20.710 --> 00:24:23.849 the consistency perfect. So I think that's why 00:24:23.849 --> 00:24:27.930 it won. So what's your secret to keeping it spreadable, 00:24:28.190 --> 00:24:31.599 as you put it? Because the honey that my bees 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:35.720 make, depending on the time of year, yeah, it 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:39.900 can really get hard quite fast. Yeah. And so 00:24:39.900 --> 00:24:42.119 what's your secret? Is it a lot of stirring? 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:47.099 Is it warm temperatures? So what we do is we 00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:50.000 seed our spring honey with a couple of jars of 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.519 spring honey from last year, because we want 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.779 to make it. We want to make it a lot of tiny 00:24:55.779 --> 00:25:00.339 crystals. So it becomes a fine crystalline. We 00:25:00.339 --> 00:25:03.200 jar it on the right time. And then if it becomes 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:06.640 hard, Eric, and I think this is the secret. You 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:12.900 put it in 30 degrees for like 24 hours. And then 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:15.960 you take it out in the cold again. We don't warm 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:19.420 it up so it melts or anything, but 30 degrees 00:25:19.420 --> 00:25:24.180 sort of speeds up the process, this natural maturing 00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:27.529 process that the honey does in the jar. Instead 00:25:27.529 --> 00:25:30.690 of it taking half a year, it takes a day. And 00:25:30.690 --> 00:25:33.230 after that, our honey is spreadable and nice, 00:25:33.390 --> 00:25:38.049 and it stays that. And by the way, 30 degrees 00:25:38.049 --> 00:25:41.150 Celsius, that's about 86 degrees Fahrenheit. 00:25:41.630 --> 00:25:44.150 So let me make sure I get this straight. So you 00:25:44.150 --> 00:25:48.230 warm it to that temperature for one day, and 00:25:48.230 --> 00:25:51.849 then you cool it back down? Yeah, as quick as 00:25:51.849 --> 00:25:55.039 possible. We cool it down. And then the crystallization 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:59.440 is just very smooth and consistent. Yeah, the 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.720 heating doesn't change the crystal structure, 00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:06.859 but it makes the honey softer, and it stays soft 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.900 even after we put it back into our honey storage. 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:14.099 And then the other secret is when we do our honey 00:26:14.099 --> 00:26:17.240 treatment, when we seed the honey and we stir 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:21.480 it, it has to be cold. It has to be below... 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:28.980 below 19 and better 14 than 20 or better 5 degrees 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:32.140 as 20. And what's that in Fahrenheit? I'm talking 00:26:32.140 --> 00:26:35.880 Celsius here. What's that in Fahrenheit? So 14 00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:39.279 degrees, that's about 57 degrees Fahrenheit. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:42.480 Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty cold. So that's not 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:46.319 as cold as a refrigerator, but that's pretty 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:51.220 chilly. Yeah, and I would always choose to have 00:26:51.220 --> 00:26:54.559 it in a refrigerator, if it was possible, instead 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:59.200 of having it in 20 or 22 degrees. Because if 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:02.099 it's too hot, you'll get larger crystals. And 00:27:02.099 --> 00:27:05.299 if it's cold, you'll get smaller crystals. Okay. 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:08.660 We're all learning something here today. Thank 00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:12.180 you for that. If you don't seed it with last 00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:14.619 year's honey, it's still going to crystallize, 00:27:14.619 --> 00:27:17.910 right? Yeah. But just in a way that you don't 00:27:17.910 --> 00:27:21.130 like as much? Is that why you seed it? Well, 00:27:21.289 --> 00:27:26.410 it's not a matter of liking it. We call it a 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:29.589 crystal honey if it has very coarse crystals. 00:27:29.730 --> 00:27:32.650 And we make some of it each year because some 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:35.410 people like it very much. They had it in their 00:27:35.410 --> 00:27:38.509 childhood. You know, the honey you had as a kid, 00:27:39.089 --> 00:27:42.309 it's still the best honey in the world. And the 00:27:42.309 --> 00:27:46.720 honey I had as a kid, was this finely crystallized 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:50.819 cream spring honey. So my granddad was a beekeeper 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:54.240 and I'm raised on huge amounts of Danish spring 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:57.940 honey. So that's the one I like most. And Sufis' 00:27:58.099 --> 00:28:01.819 favorite is the Heather honey. It's darker and 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:04.279 it's more tasteful, but we don't have Heather 00:28:04.279 --> 00:28:06.900 here where we live. So we ended up participating 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:11.960 in these championships with the mild spring honey. 00:28:12.250 --> 00:28:15.089 Yeah, we had a beekeeper a few months ago on 00:28:15.089 --> 00:28:18.009 the show that was from Scotland and they made 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:20.910 Heather honey there. Yeah. He was saying how 00:28:20.910 --> 00:28:22.769 wonderful it is. That is something I haven't 00:28:22.769 --> 00:28:25.569 tried yet, so I'm going to do that. I just want 00:28:25.569 --> 00:28:28.369 to get a couple of definitions out there for 00:28:28.369 --> 00:28:30.730 people that are new to beekeeping and honey. 00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:35.750 Crystallization is completely normal for honey, 00:28:36.250 --> 00:28:38.990 okay? Yes. It does not mean it's gone bad. When 00:28:38.990 --> 00:28:42.630 we use other terms like creamed honey, That is 00:28:42.630 --> 00:28:46.630 honey that has been crystallized, but the crystals 00:28:46.630 --> 00:28:50.690 are very fine and so it's a very creamy substance 00:28:50.690 --> 00:28:55.730 kind of honey. Yeah. Versus honey can also get 00:28:55.730 --> 00:28:59.250 larger crystals that are almost like, I don't 00:28:59.250 --> 00:29:02.349 know, like BB size and everything in between. 00:29:02.730 --> 00:29:05.750 And none of those means there's something wrong 00:29:05.750 --> 00:29:09.349 with the honey. If you take a honey in any of 00:29:09.349 --> 00:29:12.609 those states and warm it enough, it will go back 00:29:12.609 --> 00:29:17.250 to a liquid kind of form. Some honeys crystallize 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:20.569 faster than others, some crystallize in a more 00:29:20.569 --> 00:29:24.289 creamy way, some in a more coarse way. I think 00:29:24.289 --> 00:29:27.470 they're all good and they all have their own 00:29:27.470 --> 00:29:31.210 place out there. Yeah, and that's the great thing 00:29:31.210 --> 00:29:34.390 about honey. tastes wonderfully, even though 00:29:34.390 --> 00:29:37.009 you can make different products out of it. I 00:29:37.009 --> 00:29:40.289 often also get asked by people, well, why isn't 00:29:40.289 --> 00:29:43.009 the honey in the grocery store crystallizing? 00:29:43.450 --> 00:29:46.349 I'm not sure how it is in Denmark, but the answer 00:29:46.349 --> 00:29:49.650 to most people here in the States is usually 00:29:49.650 --> 00:29:53.210 that honey has been pasteurized at a high enough 00:29:53.210 --> 00:29:56.750 level that it's sort of killed that process. 00:29:57.009 --> 00:30:00.309 And so that honey is going to stay liquid for 00:30:00.309 --> 00:30:03.920 much, much, much longer. But you've also damaged 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:07.759 the honey by heating it too much. Yeah. The qualities 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:10.640 that come with the raw honey, many of those are 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:14.920 now gone. Yeah. So we try to sort of work with 00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:18.099 the honey and its nature instead of fighting 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:21.259 with it and heating it up in order to make it 00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:24.519 stay liquid for longer. All right. You told me 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:26.940 that you had a good wild and crazy beekeeping 00:30:26.940 --> 00:30:30.740 story, Lars. Yeah. Go for it. What happened? 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:35.119 So a few years ago, Eric, we had bees on the 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:38.740 top of a hotel roof. It was a wonderful flat 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:42.279 roof. We have a beautiful view. We could see 00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:45.079 all the trees in the city. And on that roof, 00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:47.940 there were two small houses, you know, where 00:30:47.940 --> 00:30:51.880 the elevator goes up. And we soon found out that 00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:54.380 that little house, that's a perfect place to 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:58.099 put our smoker. Then we don't have to sort of 00:30:58.099 --> 00:31:00.299 bring the smoker in the car every time. We can 00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:03.259 just put it off and then put it in there. And 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:07.880 that's what we did until one day we were there. 00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:10.680 And then the manager of this hotel, he came to 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:14.000 us and he said, well, guys, I had a visit the 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:17.759 other day. Yeah. We said, yeah, suddenly the 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:20.839 fire department was here. The fire alarm in the 00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.920 hotel went off. We had this inkling where this 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:27.319 conversation would bring, would turn to, would 00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:32.480 go. Yeah. So all the guests, they went out on 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.859 the street and the fire department, they came 00:31:34.859 --> 00:31:37.200 and they had this little machine. They could 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:40.319 sort of track where the smoke was coming from 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:45.200 and they tracked it to your smoker. And we were 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:48.920 very pale at that point because obviously we 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:53.599 did not put our smoker out as efficient as we 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:57.160 thought we were. And we could sort of imagine 00:31:57.160 --> 00:32:00.460 this bill, 100 ,000 kroner or something coming 00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:03.160 our way and all the guests standing in their 00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:06.180 night robes. Luckily, he was very, very killed 00:32:06.180 --> 00:32:10.359 about it. And the fire department was too, because 00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:12.960 when they were there, they discovered that they 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:16.140 needed to sort of draw the hotel again and make 00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:19.880 new drawings with all the rooms on and you are 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:22.380 here and where is the newest fire extinguisher. 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:26.000 So they ended up doing that instead. So Sufis 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:30.380 and I, we got no bill, but we got a giant wake 00:32:30.380 --> 00:32:34.000 -up call, always, always to put out our smoker. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.740 And I think the trouble was we didn't put it 00:32:36.740 --> 00:32:39.779 out as efficiently as we thought we were. And 00:32:39.779 --> 00:32:43.660 then this elevator, it worked like it made a 00:32:43.660 --> 00:32:47.339 lot of wind in this house. So the smoke was drawn 00:32:47.339 --> 00:32:51.440 down all the six floors, where then they could 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:55.200 smell the smoke, the guests. I think we were 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:59.140 very, very lucky. I think you were too. Yeah. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:01.960 Not to get a big bill for that one, but hey, 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:04.819 that is a good reminder for us. Yeah, it is. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:07.220 Yeah. It took a few weeks and we can laugh about 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:09.380 it. Yeah. We want to make sure that those things 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:12.440 are really all the way out. How do you put it 00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:15.660 all the way out now? Well, we basically, we empty 00:33:15.660 --> 00:33:19.980 it and we step on it really hard. Yeah. And then 00:33:19.980 --> 00:33:22.759 we want to buy a metal box for it, but we haven't 00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:25.559 gotten that far yet. Actually, we don't use the 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:28.460 smoker that much anymore. Only if we have some 00:33:28.460 --> 00:33:31.640 bee families who are really angry for some reason. 00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:34.660 But mostly we just use a wet towel and we place 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:37.519 it on top of the boxes. That works really well 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:41.500 for us. Explain that. So is that like you take 00:33:41.500 --> 00:33:45.039 a lid off and then you put a wet towel on? So 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:48.240 when we open the beehives and we take apart the 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:52.289 boxes, Instead of having boxes open, we put a 00:33:52.289 --> 00:33:56.490 wet towel on top of each box. And then when we 00:33:56.490 --> 00:33:59.829 work in a box, we sort of take the towel to the 00:33:59.829 --> 00:34:03.029 side and we can take out the frames and put the 00:34:03.029 --> 00:34:06.150 towel back in a way. And if the towel is wet, 00:34:06.549 --> 00:34:09.449 the bees, they go down a bit. So when we put 00:34:09.449 --> 00:34:12.010 the boxes back together on top of each other, 00:34:12.429 --> 00:34:15.650 when we take the towel off, bees are a few centimeters 00:34:15.650 --> 00:34:18.409 down and we can put up, put on the next box. 00:34:19.069 --> 00:34:21.630 without crushing too many bees or crushing bees. 00:34:22.130 --> 00:34:24.130 I've never heard of that before. I'm going to 00:34:24.130 --> 00:34:27.969 try it. Yeah, do that. Make it wet so it's wet 00:34:27.969 --> 00:34:30.690 and cold. And it's not so wet that it's dripping 00:34:30.690 --> 00:34:34.630 in the hive, right? It's just very moist. Yeah. 00:34:35.150 --> 00:34:38.849 We put it under the water and then we sort of 00:34:38.849 --> 00:34:41.829 squeeze it as much as we can. Get the extra water 00:34:41.829 --> 00:34:45.349 out. So then you take a lid off. You put it on 00:34:45.349 --> 00:34:48.500 top of the frames. And then you just peel back 00:34:48.500 --> 00:34:50.780 a little bit at a time to pull a frame out, put 00:34:50.780 --> 00:34:54.619 it back in. Yeah. Or you can just have it on 00:34:54.619 --> 00:34:57.260 the other boxes and have it off the box you're 00:34:57.260 --> 00:35:00.960 working with, if that's easier for you. I love 00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:03.360 how we can learn from each other. Yeah, I hope 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:06.179 it works for you too. I don't know the bees you 00:35:06.179 --> 00:35:08.400 have over there. Oh, they're bees that like wet 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:13.699 towels, I'm sure. Yeah. Now we primarily here 00:35:13.699 --> 00:35:17.659 in the States have Italians, Carniolans. There 00:35:17.659 --> 00:35:20.920 are others and there are some that get very grumpy 00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:24.219 and we'll let you know it. We also have parts 00:35:24.219 --> 00:35:26.780 of the States, especially in the South, where 00:35:26.780 --> 00:35:30.659 we have Africanized genetics have moved in. And 00:35:30.659 --> 00:35:33.219 so these are not as friendly. I don't believe 00:35:33.219 --> 00:35:36.420 you have those. Do you have other pest problems? 00:35:36.579 --> 00:35:38.500 Like are you getting the yellow -legged hornet 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:41.809 where you are? Well, we've been looking out for 00:35:41.809 --> 00:35:44.610 it for the last years, because we know it's in 00:35:44.610 --> 00:35:48.150 Europe, we know it's on its way up. And then 00:35:48.150 --> 00:35:52.090 as late as last week, a beekeeper here on the 00:35:52.090 --> 00:35:55.489 island where we live, Thun, he enjoyed a beer 00:35:55.489 --> 00:35:58.809 on his terrace, and suddenly a yellow -legged 00:35:58.809 --> 00:36:02.320 hornet jumped down in his beer. And that's the 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:04.480 only one we've ever seen in Denmark that was 00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:07.099 in this man's beer who got quite famous. Now 00:36:07.099 --> 00:36:09.579 we are even looking even more for it because 00:36:09.579 --> 00:36:12.099 we have to keep an eye on it. Well, it had to 00:36:12.099 --> 00:36:14.880 come from somewhere and they don't all commit 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:18.400 suicide in beer. No, there must be some hive 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:22.079 somewhere. So I'm sure it's just a matter of 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:25.460 time because we have hoped that the winters would 00:36:25.460 --> 00:36:28.800 be too cold here. for it to thrive. But the winters 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:31.400 here in Denmark, they get warmer and warmer for 00:36:31.400 --> 00:36:34.599 each year. So I think we have it now. Hey, one 00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:37.239 other topic that is a big one, but we'll try 00:36:37.239 --> 00:36:39.679 to touch on it just quickly. And that is, do 00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:41.679 you have a lot of problems with varroa mites 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:44.360 there? We have to have a good strategy and we 00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:47.300 have to keep it at bay like you have. And most 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:49.940 beekeepers in Denmark, they use a different kind 00:36:49.940 --> 00:36:53.119 of organic acids to treat their varroa mites. 00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:57.460 Like oxalic acid? Formic acid. And then the last 00:36:57.460 --> 00:37:01.480 years, many beekeepers have started using sticks 00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:04.800 with oxalic acid and glycerin. You put it down 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:06.920 and it stays there for a month. And it's also 00:37:06.920 --> 00:37:10.460 a really effective treatment against the varomites. 00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:13.900 But everyone has to have a strategy of which 00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:17.659 time to treat and to keep an eye on it. Okay. 00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:22.099 Very last thing for both you and Zofus. And that 00:37:22.099 --> 00:37:26.019 is I can tell that you guys love honeybees. and 00:37:26.019 --> 00:37:29.119 beekeeping. Tell me what it is that you love 00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:31.820 about it so much. Tofus, what do we love about 00:37:31.820 --> 00:37:35.019 honeybees? We love being together with the bees 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:37.179 and being together with each other and being 00:37:37.179 --> 00:37:40.380 together with other beekeepers, being together 00:37:40.380 --> 00:37:43.280 with you here, making adventure. It's like a 00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:46.179 magic world. The beekeeping is like a magic world. 00:37:46.380 --> 00:37:50.460 And you never really get fully educated in beekeeping. 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:52.980 I like that very much. There's always something 00:37:52.980 --> 00:37:57.360 new to learn, but there's always also new things 00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:03.780 to invent or small new wooden things to make 00:38:03.780 --> 00:38:05.980 that you can use in your beekeeping. There's 00:38:05.980 --> 00:38:09.239 always something new to try out. I like that. 00:38:09.900 --> 00:38:12.679 And people working with bees tend to be very 00:38:12.679 --> 00:38:15.719 enthusiastic and energetic. And I really like 00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:18.219 this. You know, when you work in the beehives, 00:38:18.360 --> 00:38:21.380 you have to use all your senses. You look at 00:38:21.380 --> 00:38:24.480 the bees, you can see how they are, you listen 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:27.639 to them, you can listen to their sound, how they 00:38:27.639 --> 00:38:30.860 are and how they thrive. But you can also smell, 00:38:31.139 --> 00:38:33.840 if the beehive smells bad, we can smell where 00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:38.179 the queen is in the beehive. Because we tried 00:38:38.179 --> 00:38:41.179 it out, especially in the spring, we can smell 00:38:41.179 --> 00:38:44.179 on top of the frames and we can smell where she 00:38:44.179 --> 00:38:47.880 is. And I love this. It's the thing for all the 00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:50.119 senses when you work in the bees and you sort 00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:54.340 of you have to be fully present. Also not to 00:38:54.340 --> 00:38:56.840 crush bees because if you are hurry or stressed 00:38:56.840 --> 00:39:00.059 or anything you crush bees and I hate that or 00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:03.400 you get stung. Hey Lars and Sophus, thank you 00:39:03.400 --> 00:39:05.780 so much for being with me and we'll have a link 00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.579 in the show notes for anybody that wants to look 00:39:08.579 --> 00:39:11.440 up and learn more about Apomondia. You guys have 00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:14.239 been awesome. I love talking to people that love 00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:16.340 bees and I'm going to get a wet towel and take 00:39:16.340 --> 00:39:19.920 it out with me next time. Try that again. Could 00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:22.940 you put a link on to our YouTube channel as well? 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:26.780 Yes. Send me that link and I'll post it as well. 00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:31.719 We have a playlist on that YouTube channel with 00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:36.679 English subtitles. Subtitles. Subtitles. And 00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:38.900 they are really great, our videos, we think. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:45.960 Alright, sounds fantastic. Thanks guys. Thanks 00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:48.099 again for joining us here on Be Love, Be Keep 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:51.960 being presented by Man Lake. Remember right now 00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:55.000 to follow or subscribe and share this podcast. 00:39:55.500 --> 00:39:58.559 Also a shout out to V2B Health for their support 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:02.210 of the show. Vita's Varroa Control range of products 00:40:02.210 --> 00:40:06.949 includes Apistan, Apigard, and now Veroxan Extended 00:40:06.949 --> 00:40:10.150 Release Oxalic Acids Trips. Hey thanks guys, 00:40:10.429 --> 00:40:13.309 we really appreciate it. Enjoy this beautiful 00:40:13.309 --> 00:40:16.269 summer, enjoy your bees, and remember, if you're 00:40:16.269 --> 00:40:19.130 not just in it for the honey or the money, you're 00:40:19.130 --> 00:40:21.150 in it for the love. See you next week.