WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.660 in a world brimming with complexity few creatures 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:12.839 embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:17.699 precision she dances from bloom to bloom each 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:22.420 motion guided by millennia upon millennia of 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:28.800 instinct each act in service to the whole and 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.560 then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.500 of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist, 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.460 part poet, they move along their hives with the 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:50.539 efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to 00:00:50.539 --> 00:00:54.219 the bees' needs as best they can comprehend, 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:59.670 and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:05.590 Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing 00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:12.150 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:27.109 journey. A lot of us complain about some of the 00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:29.950 difficulties in beekeeping. Others put their 00:01:29.950 --> 00:01:32.730 brains together and do something about it. I'm 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:35.670 referring specifically to all of the heavy lifting. 00:01:36.250 --> 00:01:39.349 And frankly, if you're like me, I admit I don't 00:01:39.349 --> 00:01:42.409 do my varroa washes as often as I should because 00:01:42.409 --> 00:01:46.450 it's so difficult lifting the honey supers, maybe 00:01:46.450 --> 00:01:49.750 three of them at 60 pounds each, finding somewhere 00:01:49.750 --> 00:01:52.849 to put them, eventually putting them back on. 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:56.060 There has got to be a better way and our guest 00:01:56.060 --> 00:01:59.819 today and his father have figured that one out. 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:02.920 First this week's headline from Arizona about 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:06.560 a wild and crazy beekeeping story that unfortunately 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:11.080 turned tragic. A pedestrian was fatally struck 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:14.560 after a swarm of bees escaped their container 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.479 and began stinging the driver that was transporting 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.099 them. This happened on November 8th in Mesa Arizona 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:24.400 in the morning and according to authorities the 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:27.580 driver was in the process of transporting a swarm 00:02:27.580 --> 00:02:31.159 of bees when they began to escape their container. 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.080 The bees quickly spread throughout the cab of 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.060 the transport vehicle and began aggressively 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:41.240 stinging the driver. Sadly, while suffering multiple 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:43.840 stings, the driver lost control of the vehicle 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.240 and struck a pedestrian before crashing into 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.840 a pole. Unfortunately the pedestrian lost their 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:54.020 life as a result of the accident. The driver 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:56.460 was taken to the hospital following the crash 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:59.520 and treated for minor injuries. I'm not quite 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.599 sure what to do with this. I'm just going to 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.319 let it sit for a minute with a reminder for all 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:08.979 of us to think safety first in every aspect of 00:03:08.979 --> 00:03:12.080 our beekeeping. On a much lighter note, research 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.780 into the mental well -being impact of being connected 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:19.000 with bees is also taking flight. A recent Irish 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.360 study linked caring for bees with stress reduction, 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.879 emotional regulation, social correctedness, and 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.780 a sense of purpose. An Italian study found that 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:33.759 it fosters positive emotions, psychological flow 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.280 and feelings of amazement. Bees are known for 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.099 batting well above their weight when it comes 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:42.000 to supporting human well -being. You know, we 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.240 thank them for sustaining our food supply, maintaining 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.819 biodiversity and producing ingredients that are 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:52.219 used in skin care, medicine and elsewhere. Now, 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:55.099 it seems that they may also hold a key to our 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:57.900 emotional wellness as a growing number of people 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:01.240 are discovering that caring for bees is a powerful 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:04.659 way to nurture their inner calm. While specific 00:04:04.659 --> 00:04:07.000 beekeeping studies on mental health are still 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.460 emerging, psychologist Tosh Balakis says the 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:15.139 skills involved in caring for bees such as attention 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:19.360 restoration, gentle physical movement, and sensory 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.459 grounding align strongly with what's already 00:04:22.459 --> 00:04:25.100 known to work well for mental health. What makes 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:28.300 it so fascinating is that it's a blend of science 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:32.079 and soul says Belakis. We know from environmental 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:35.579 and occupational psychology that engaging in 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:38.259 structured purposeful outdoor activities can 00:04:38.259 --> 00:04:42.040 lower stress hormones and improve mood regulation. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.319 Time spent in nature combined with caring for 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:48.899 another living thing boosts well -being. Now 00:04:48.899 --> 00:04:51.319 for today's guest, we're heading down under to 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:54.060 the east coast of Australia for a discussion 00:04:54.060 --> 00:04:57.939 with Cedar Anderson, co -founder of Flow Hive. 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:04.500 Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping everybody. 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:06.920 And we're going a long ways. We're going clear 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:10.019 down under to meet with Cedar Anderson today. 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:14.240 Cedar, how are you? Thank you very much for having 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.019 me Eric and I'm great it's a beautiful sunny 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:20.980 day here good for beekeeping. Why don't you let 00:05:20.980 --> 00:05:24.480 everybody know where in Australia are you? So 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.779 we're in Byron Bay which is a little town on 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:29.740 the east coast of Australia and it's a subtropical 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:33.319 region which means the bees forage all year round 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:35.600 and sometimes in winter we get some really good 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.699 honey flows too depending on the weather. What 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:41.490 kinds of things do they forage on? So in the 00:05:41.490 --> 00:05:43.709 wintertime they'll be foraging on the paper bark 00:05:43.709 --> 00:05:47.949 which the rains set off and then in the springtime 00:05:47.949 --> 00:05:49.949 you've got a whole lot of things flowering and 00:05:49.949 --> 00:05:53.870 you get really light honeys from the forest and 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:56.389 also from the farmland with the macadamia trees 00:05:56.389 --> 00:05:59.910 and then the rest of the year we tend to get 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:01.870 the darker honeys and especially through the 00:06:01.870 --> 00:06:05.189 winter you get honeys that are almost black so 00:06:05.189 --> 00:06:07.290 we've got the range from almost black through 00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:11.680 to almost clear. It's pretty neat. It's cool. 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:17.480 Well, most of us beekeepers, we tend to whine 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:21.500 and complain about things like, oh man, that 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:23.579 super weighs 80 pounds. I don't want to have 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:27.379 to pick that thing up or extracting is such a 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:31.439 big hassle. You and your father are people that 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.819 just did something about it instead of complaining 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:37.259 about it. Tell us who you are. Tell us what you 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:40.019 guys have come up with. So I used to keep bees 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:42.279 in the conventional way, selling honey to the 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.000 local shops by the bucket full. And it was through 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.870 that I went, hang on, this is a real pain. harvesting 00:06:49.870 --> 00:06:52.829 in the conventional way you know how it goes 00:06:52.829 --> 00:06:54.870 you've got the extraction room which was the 00:06:54.870 --> 00:06:57.329 shed I lived in you got a big sticky mess you've 00:06:57.329 --> 00:06:59.329 got the centrifuge you've got the sieving buckets 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:01.730 the decapping knives the stainless steel benches 00:07:01.730 --> 00:07:05.230 and a whole stack of sticky boxes getting ants 00:07:05.230 --> 00:07:08.269 and wax moths and so on right a normal kind of 00:07:08.269 --> 00:07:11.129 conventional setup I thought hang on a second 00:07:11.859 --> 00:07:14.000 Isn't there a better way to do this? Can't we 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:15.860 just tap the honey straight out of the hive? 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.860 And that thought's what sparked a decade long 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:22.720 journey with my father and I inventing the Flow 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:27.199 Hive. Now we simply, and I still get mesmerized 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.379 by watching it, you turn the handle on the hive 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:31.860 and the honey flows straight out, straight into 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:34.399 your jars, bypassing that whole extracting room. 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:37.740 So it's like your extraction room built right 00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:40.560 into your hive, if you like. It's kind of not. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.579 necessarily apples for apples either because 00:07:43.579 --> 00:07:47.339 a single flow hive box can take the place of 00:07:47.339 --> 00:07:51.060 multiple sticky boxes if you like because you 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.000 can keep tapping the honey out and storing it 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.459 in jars on the shelf instead of boxes on the 00:07:55.459 --> 00:07:59.500 hive to batch harvest. Well that makes sense 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.959 so so like a lot of us we're really proud of 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:06.980 showing our Gee, look at my hives with five supers 00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:09.800 on top. So they're 10 feet tall, which is completely 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.920 impractical and things like that. In some areas, 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.660 how often do people do you call it tapping the 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:19.360 hive? Yeah, we call it harvesting. I mean, the 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.920 conventional term is robbing, but we tend to 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.660 call it harvesting. And that sort of delineates 00:08:25.660 --> 00:08:29.420 between the robbing behavior of bees and humans 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:32.320 in a way. So we call it harvesting the hive. 00:08:32.509 --> 00:08:35.789 Yeah, now a process of just walking out to the 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:39.049 hives with your jars and ready to go. One of 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:42.149 the things that we really didn't set out to invent 00:08:42.149 --> 00:08:46.269 but has become an amazing kind of side benefit 00:08:46.269 --> 00:08:50.230 is the way you can isolate different flavors 00:08:50.230 --> 00:08:52.950 from the single hive because if you imagine the 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:55.490 bees are filling up the frames as they go from 00:08:55.490 --> 00:08:58.490 the center, slowly moving out, then you get a 00:08:58.490 --> 00:09:01.960 variety of honeys in each frame. And then you 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:03.519 start harvesting a couple of those and they'll 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:05.700 fill it with whatever's flowering right now. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.159 So you get this checkerboarding and these beautiful 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:11.320 different flavors and colors coming out of a 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:14.240 single hive, which I find fascinating. I mean, 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:18.080 I really love honey. So to be able to taste those 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:20.700 differences and isolate those differences is 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:23.279 a real benefit. Well, I would guess especially 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.059 in a place like where you are, where you have 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:28.679 different things. flowering different nectar 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:31.779 flows what half a dozen or so different ones 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:34.600 during the year? Yeah I mean there'd be hundreds 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:36.600 of different flowers flowering but there's a 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:41.639 few key ones that really do go and you can get 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:44.419 more of a monofloral flavor one of them is the 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:48.259 paperbark another one that we get in in the springtime 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:51.600 is that the Goya or Wild Quince is a nicer name 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:53.899 for it but that's a really blow your taste buds 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:57.559 off really light colored honey and the Melaleuca 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:01.960 on the other hand Bababark is a is a almost burnt 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:07.000 toffee darker honey. Well and most of us even 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.059 though we have various flows some of the things 00:10:10.059 --> 00:10:13.120 you mentioned earlier it's such a hassle harvesting 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.789 honey. Just the cleanup alone let alone pulling 00:10:16.789 --> 00:10:20.330 frames Getting wax cappings off all that kind 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:22.750 of stuff that we only want to do it once or twice 00:10:22.750 --> 00:10:26.470 a year So we end up with what we call wild flower 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:28.850 honey because it's just a mixture of everything 00:10:28.850 --> 00:10:31.830 But yeah, that would be fun to be able to say 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:35.169 okay You know this month we have these fruit 00:10:35.169 --> 00:10:37.889 trees flowering and I'd like to taste the honey 00:10:37.889 --> 00:10:39.909 from those and then next month It's something 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:43.090 else. I'd like to taste that makes sense And 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:44.610 there's a beautiful little feature where you 00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:46.970 can actually just harvest part of a frames if 00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:49.509 you're just curious and you can even do that 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:52.129 even before it's ripe if you want to just crack 00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:55.409 the last little cell line and taste that flavor 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:59.750 coming in and to me that really helps me connect 00:10:59.750 --> 00:11:04.429 what's flowering as to what honey is being produced 00:11:04.429 --> 00:11:08.730 and be able to work out which flowers are determining 00:11:08.730 --> 00:11:11.809 which flavor. Let's talk about Flow Hive for 00:11:11.809 --> 00:11:14.529 a minute. Specifically, I like the business side 00:11:14.529 --> 00:11:17.590 of things and you guys did a crowdfunding thing 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:20.710 that everybody saw. I mean everybody, even whether 00:11:20.710 --> 00:11:23.649 you were a beekeeper or not. So congrats on that 00:11:23.649 --> 00:11:26.250 because that is not an easy thing to do. To you 00:11:26.250 --> 00:11:29.389 and your dad, big congratulations on that. Give 00:11:29.389 --> 00:11:33.009 me just a rough idea. I don't need any sacred 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:36.549 information, but about how many Flow Hives have 00:11:36.549 --> 00:11:42.309 you sold? So it's upwards of 150 ,000 now to 00:11:42.309 --> 00:11:45.409 130 different countries in the world. The U .S. 00:11:45.470 --> 00:11:49.990 is a very popular place for flow hives, as well 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:53.929 as Australia. It's been this, I mean, real joy 00:11:53.929 --> 00:11:56.549 to have a global community. And, you know, I 00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:59.330 still pinch myself, of course, amazing success 00:11:59.330 --> 00:12:02.409 for our invention. But this global community 00:12:02.409 --> 00:12:05.179 that sprung up is Something that we've learnt 00:12:05.179 --> 00:12:09.159 so much from and every week I spend an hour head 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:11.460 to camera answering questions from all over the 00:12:11.460 --> 00:12:14.240 world. It's fascinating to hear them coming in 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:19.240 from all corners of the globe and have that rich 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.580 knowledge of beekeeping being shared in a global 00:12:23.580 --> 00:12:26.919 way. Who do you find mostly are your typical 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:31.159 buyers? Is it beginners? Who is it? So we get 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:35.000 about half beginners and half existing beekeepers 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.379 and we don't get the large -scale commercial 00:12:38.379 --> 00:12:42.039 beekeepers we tend to get the small -scale what 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:46.200 we call boutique honey producers where you've 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.460 just got 30 or 40 hives in your yard and you're 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:53.519 jarring up your honey and selling it to the local 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:58.480 shops and so on. What we find is clever beekeepers 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.340 We'll actually market the fact that a single 00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:04.919 frame honey has this higher flavor retention 00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:08.179 which has been proven by universities and things 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:12.100 because the honey hasn't been processed by a 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:14.340 whole lot of machinery, it hasn't been mixed 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:17.620 with 30 other hives' honeys and so on. So you 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:21.679 do get this flavor profile really present. Clever 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.620 Boutique commercial beekeepers are going direct 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:28.000 to jar by passing the Production, shed, all of 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.600 the decapping line, all of that. And even the 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:32.120 bottling machine, they're just bottling it right 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:35.600 up at the hives and then able to tell that story 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.779 and not only harvest in an easier way, but also 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:41.379 fetch a much higher price for their honey. I 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:43.580 don't have one of your Flow Hives yet. I know 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.080 some people that do that absolutely love them. 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:52.259 I also know some people that naively bought them. 00:13:52.509 --> 00:13:55.029 Okay and I'm sure you've heard this and this 00:13:55.029 --> 00:13:57.990 is no slam on you. This is probably a slam on 00:13:57.990 --> 00:14:00.669 people not doing their research but they saw 00:14:00.669 --> 00:14:03.450 the stuff from your crowdfunding, bought a Flow 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:07.850 Hive, set it up and then in the backyard and 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:10.429 then went okay where's the bees and where's my 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:13.330 honey and they didn't realize they had to not 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:16.809 only by bees, but they had to learn how to be 00:14:16.809 --> 00:14:19.370 a beekeeper. And I think that's something that 00:14:19.370 --> 00:14:21.850 we need to talk about here, is the flow hive 00:14:21.850 --> 00:14:24.909 doesn't do all your beekeeping for you. There's 00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:26.690 still a lot that you have to learn. Would you 00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:30.590 address that? Absolutely, yes. Like any bee hive, 00:14:30.809 --> 00:14:33.250 the bees still need the same care they've always 00:14:33.250 --> 00:14:35.509 had, and that is different in different regions. 00:14:35.730 --> 00:14:39.269 So local knowledge is good to know what... level 00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:42.629 of intervention or care you need to give your 00:14:42.629 --> 00:14:45.929 hive. The Flow Hive invention itself is specific 00:14:45.929 --> 00:14:49.049 to the honey harvesting and although we've built 00:14:49.049 --> 00:14:52.070 more features into the Flow Hive to assist your 00:14:52.070 --> 00:14:55.070 beekeeping bit, the Flow Hive invention with 00:14:55.070 --> 00:14:58.950 our Flow Frames is basically the extraction room 00:14:58.950 --> 00:15:02.549 built into the hive and as far as the bees looking 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:06.250 after them it's much the same as it's always 00:15:06.250 --> 00:15:10.039 been. We get a wide variety from people that 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.600 get totally fanatical about their bees and become 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:16.120 amazing beekeepers. And like you say, beekeepers 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.559 that start and actually don't want to put in 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.200 the effort to look after their bees. And I think 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:26.899 that's the same across any kind of beekeeping 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:29.679 or hobby pursuit. You get the people that just 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.019 jump in and don't want to do the learning. You 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:35.899 get other people that really do. We did about 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:38.240 it because that became very apparent early on. 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:41.059 I mean, when we did our crowdfunding, we were 00:15:41.059 --> 00:15:43.860 expecting existing beekeepers to buy our flow 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:46.899 frames. What we found is that most people wanted 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:49.580 the whole kit and caboodle, the hive, and at 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:51.679 least half of them were new to beekeeping at 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.580 that moment. So all of a sudden, we realized 00:15:55.580 --> 00:15:58.399 that we needed to educate. And out of the gate, 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:03.340 we started creating lots of online training material. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.120 to address the new beekeeper and what they needed 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.879 to know and what they needed to learn. And we've 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.559 been doing that ever since, creating an enormous 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:14.980 amount of training material. Are you a beekeeper 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:18.000 who loves sharing tips, asking questions, and 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.360 showing off your latest honey haul? Then join 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.259 The Hive, introducing the Man Lake beekeeping 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:26.960 community on Facebook, your new go -to for everything 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.100 honey bees. Whether you're struggling with mites, 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:33.200 trying a new winterization method, or just need 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.440 to know what that weird thing on your frame is, 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.779 our group is a supportive, spam -free zone for 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.659 beginners and pros alike. Stop scrolling through 00:16:42.659 --> 00:16:45.460 endless forums and connect directly with beekeepers 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:48.480 and the professionals at Man Lake in one buzzing 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.019 place. We'll put a link to it down in the show 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:54.820 notes. Just click over and join up. I also jump 00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:57.600 in front of the camera an hour still every week. 00:16:57.950 --> 00:17:01.470 answering questions to anybody who wants to ask. 00:17:01.889 --> 00:17:05.950 On top of that we put a dedicated online training 00:17:05.950 --> 00:17:08.869 course at the beekeeper .org with experts from 00:17:08.869 --> 00:17:11.150 all over the world that have tuned in so it's 00:17:11.150 --> 00:17:13.930 not only our knowledge but a lot of experts from 00:17:13.930 --> 00:17:17.349 the USA and Europe and so on. That course gets 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:21.109 rave reviews and is also an amazing fundraiser 00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:23.730 for the bees and we're really proud to support 00:17:23.730 --> 00:17:26.670 a whole lot of initiatives. from funds raised 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:31.390 from the beekeeper .org. So education is super 00:17:31.390 --> 00:17:36.109 key to our mission, if you like. We're going 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:39.569 to put your website down on the show notes. And 00:17:39.569 --> 00:17:43.710 if you have a special link to that once a week, 00:17:43.930 --> 00:17:46.890 one hour thing, I want to go on there and think 00:17:46.890 --> 00:17:49.849 up a really hard question for you. Okay. Please 00:17:49.849 --> 00:17:53.579 do, please. You probably know a hundred times 00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:55.859 more than I do, so I can't stump you, but it'd 00:17:55.859 --> 00:17:59.180 be fun to try. I'm sure there's some things that 00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:02.039 are specific to your region that we don't have, 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:05.660 but yeah, there's certainly a lot of great questions 00:18:05.660 --> 00:18:08.279 that come in. By the way, one of the things that 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:12.359 I love is that you and all your videos and the 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:15.819 people whose flow hives I've seen tend to leave 00:18:15.819 --> 00:18:19.329 a natural wood look. I assume you're using varnish 00:18:19.329 --> 00:18:22.109 or oil or something to preserve that wood. I 00:18:22.109 --> 00:18:26.089 absolutely love that. That just is a beautiful 00:18:26.089 --> 00:18:30.730 thing. I have one that is that is a wax dipped 00:18:30.730 --> 00:18:34.390 and so it looks like it's varnished of regular 00:18:34.390 --> 00:18:36.910 Langstroth hive and I just love the look of them. 00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:40.200 It is a beautiful thing to have that natural 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:43.720 wood look and You know and I think people also 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.200 like the aesthetic of the peaked roof and it 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:50.460 just looks beautiful in in your yard Yeah, definitely. 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:53.119 All right. Let's talk seasonality just a little 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.619 bit If I have a flow hive and I live in a warm 00:18:56.619 --> 00:19:00.740 place like where you are Do I leave that flow? 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:03.420 I'm sorry. Do we call it box? Yeah, you can call 00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:06.230 it a super Do we leave the flow super on all 00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:08.930 year? And if I'm in a cold climate, am I taking 00:19:08.930 --> 00:19:11.589 that off in the winter? So it's common, as you 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:14.970 know, in those places that get a long, cold winter 00:19:14.970 --> 00:19:18.450 to reduce the size of the hive to make it a bit 00:19:18.450 --> 00:19:22.009 easier on the colony. But what you're doing is 00:19:22.009 --> 00:19:24.109 you're also juggling honey stores to survive 00:19:24.109 --> 00:19:26.089 through that time. And if you're way up north, 00:19:26.670 --> 00:19:32.049 then you may find you need quite a lot of honey 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.210 stores for your bees to survive. So most people 00:19:34.210 --> 00:19:37.069 are feeding them up if they need to prior to 00:19:37.069 --> 00:19:41.029 the long winter. Whether you take the flow super 00:19:41.029 --> 00:19:44.750 off will depend on I guess how big your hive 00:19:44.750 --> 00:19:48.569 is already. If you have just a single brood box 00:19:48.569 --> 00:19:51.470 and a single super on, you might decide to leave 00:19:51.470 --> 00:19:54.809 it on. so the bees can forage on the remaining 00:19:54.809 --> 00:19:58.069 honey that's left in it and stay alive during 00:19:58.069 --> 00:19:59.769 the winter. However if you're going to do that 00:19:59.769 --> 00:20:03.069 you should remove the queen excluder so that 00:20:03.069 --> 00:20:05.509 your queen isn't left behind as that cluster 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:09.690 moves up and consumes the remaining stores in 00:20:09.690 --> 00:20:13.089 your flow frames. Now the flow frames won't be 00:20:13.089 --> 00:20:15.890 an issue in a really cold winter, they'll be 00:20:15.890 --> 00:20:18.869 completely fine so you can choose to leave them 00:20:18.869 --> 00:20:21.930 on. However, a lot of beekeepers do take the 00:20:21.930 --> 00:20:24.009 flow super off in those regions because they 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:27.670 might have two boxes underneath that and they 00:20:27.670 --> 00:20:31.309 decide to reduce it to two box colony. So you've 00:20:31.309 --> 00:20:35.130 got maybe a double brood or you might have a 00:20:35.130 --> 00:20:38.329 brood box and just an ideal on top of it to survive 00:20:38.329 --> 00:20:41.690 the winter. Local knowledge is key, but you can 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:43.869 configure it any way you like. There's no right 00:20:43.869 --> 00:20:46.950 or wrong. What we find in those really cold regions 00:20:46.950 --> 00:20:51.980 is that people like perhaps a single brood box 00:20:51.980 --> 00:20:54.319 and I might go for the 10 frame size which we 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.440 call the Flow 7 because flow frames are a bit 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:00.000 wider. Then an Ideal on top of that and then 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.559 perhaps a Super on top of that. So the colder 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:07.539 regions can use an Ideal box as a honey barrier 00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:12.480 and therefore not need an excluder. Then you 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:15.240 might decide to remove the Flow Super for winter 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.440 and just leave them with the Ideal. and the brood. 00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:21.359 So that becomes a popular configuration in the 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:23.839 colder areas as well. I think it'd be a good 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:27.140 idea to get in touch with beekeepers in your 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:30.420 area already using Flow Hives, see what's working 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:33.539 for them, connect with that group, totally makes 00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:38.059 sense. I was recently at Appamondia over in Copenhagen 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:42.180 and happened to walk by your booth and saw your 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:46.470 new Superlifter. And I went, oh god, that thing 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:49.309 is pretty cool. Would you tell everybody what 00:21:49.309 --> 00:21:52.730 that is? I know it's a little bit hard to explain, 00:21:52.869 --> 00:21:55.089 so maybe just tell us what it does and we'll 00:21:55.089 --> 00:21:57.369 figure out how to get some video in. Yeah, so 00:21:57.369 --> 00:22:01.740 my father and I set our minds to... Solving the 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.000 next big thing as we see it in beekeeping, and 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.799 that's lifting the heavy boxes. No one likes 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.519 it. It's a hard job. It's something that's prohibitive 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:12.779 for going and looking after your colonies. You 00:22:12.779 --> 00:22:14.400 know, you've got to get into that bottom box. 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:18.019 You've got to lift potentially a number of supers 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:22.220 off. And we thought, hang on. Can't we just make 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:24.930 something simple here? But it was surprisingly 00:22:24.930 --> 00:22:27.529 hard to come up with something simple, something 00:22:27.529 --> 00:22:29.769 that would fit in a bag and something that would 00:22:29.769 --> 00:22:34.609 be easily transferable from hive to hive. So 00:22:34.609 --> 00:22:38.369 we riddled away for years with draw sliders, 00:22:39.329 --> 00:22:42.190 with things like, I don't know if you know the 00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:45.910 AZ hives that have the frames that pull out, 00:22:46.329 --> 00:22:51.289 contraptions like that, ones that had the box 00:22:51.289 --> 00:22:54.400 below. the top ones would jack up and the box 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:58.039 below would then slide out all sorts of quite 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:02.960 complex contraptions and we thought well let's 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:04.400 see if we can come up with a simple thing we 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:07.680 can attach to the hives as they are. So that 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:11.460 led us to where we ended up with something we 00:23:11.460 --> 00:23:15.440 walk up to the hive with and in 10 seconds you 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.500 can have the hive open like a box if you like 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:24.160 with the top box or there might be two supers 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.519 on top laden with honey and you can then easily 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:31.299 tip them over and begin beekeeping and the contraption 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:35.240 itself that we call a superlifter is also a stand 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:38.940 for those boxes and I've actually there's one 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:42.380 behind me here you can see now I might have to 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:46.839 pull the headphones out for a second this is 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:49.140 the superlifter so it fits in a little bag like 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:52.210 that and folds up into a very neat little thing 00:23:52.210 --> 00:23:55.049 that you can just move from hive to hive. Now, 00:23:55.089 --> 00:23:58.190 I can just walk up to my hive and the only modification 00:23:58.190 --> 00:24:01.329 you need to make to a Flow Hive or a conventional 00:24:01.329 --> 00:24:06.450 Langstock hive is these stronger low point screws, 00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:12.549 if you like. And what that does is allow you 00:24:12.549 --> 00:24:16.849 then connect on your lifter, like this, just 00:24:16.849 --> 00:24:20.660 by folding the upper arms onto the low point 00:24:20.660 --> 00:24:25.539 screws then you can lift this like it's a handle 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:30.420 if you like and roll it around so I still haven't 00:24:30.420 --> 00:24:34.980 really bent down but what I've got there is now 00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:39.460 a hive that's ready to open like a box right 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:43.740 and that saves an incredible amount of weight 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:48.470 and you're straight into your brood nest And 00:24:48.470 --> 00:24:52.849 what people are really enjoying is that putting 00:24:52.849 --> 00:24:54.970 the box back on is often, you know, you're waddling 00:24:54.970 --> 00:24:58.309 up with this big heavy box and you usually just 00:24:58.309 --> 00:25:01.410 have to drop it. There's no other way around 00:25:01.410 --> 00:25:04.730 it. And that's a bit of, you know, it's hard 00:25:04.730 --> 00:25:06.809 to then get it in line. You've crashed a whole 00:25:06.809 --> 00:25:09.250 bunch of bees, but you've got this beautiful 00:25:09.250 --> 00:25:12.990 controlled method where the only place it's landing 00:25:12.990 --> 00:25:15.309 is here. So that's the only spot you need to 00:25:15.309 --> 00:25:20.000 sweep bees out of the way. And then if we come 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:23.880 back to this side, you've got as slow as you 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:26.519 like, gentle closure here where we can use a 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:28.759 bee brush or some smoke to get the bees out of 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:32.680 the way as we close it. And that just gives you 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:37.259 this perfect landing, if you like. And then you're 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:39.799 onto your next hive like that. So a couple other 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.059 questions that I had. You mentioned you can use 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:45.519 that with Langstroth or Flow Hive. Can we use 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:49.660 it with eight? or 10 frame supers? Yes absolutely 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:53.339 8 or 10 frames you can even mix up ideal boxes 00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:56.599 in the configuration as well. So and we can use 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:59.579 it with deeps mediums whatever we can come up 00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:02.660 with okay. Yes you can it's just about configuring 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:05.299 your screw position your load point screws in 00:26:05.299 --> 00:26:08.960 the right place for the lifter to then lift and 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:13.779 you can also one added thing we have is for when 00:26:13.779 --> 00:26:17.799 you've got a really heavy few boxes on top then 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:20.839 we have some extension handles that clip on which 00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:25.400 give you an even easier lift again. And if you've 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:27.920 got a stack of hives usually the propolis of 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.299 the bees glue them together but we also have 00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:34.420 some nice brass toggle latches to really hold 00:26:34.420 --> 00:26:36.619 those boxes together to make sure they don't 00:26:36.619 --> 00:26:39.519 come apart if you're then tipping them over. 00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:42.599 And one really common question we get, right, 00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:44.359 is how come the honey doesn't come out? It's 00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:46.779 because we're tipping it in the plane of the 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:49.779 frame. So if you like the cells are just moving 00:26:49.779 --> 00:26:52.460 from facing this way where the bees are depositing 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:56.740 honey, turning around that 90 degrees. So you 00:26:56.740 --> 00:26:59.500 don't get any nectar spilling out as you roll 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:02.700 that box over. Now a beginner might also think, 00:27:02.819 --> 00:27:05.589 well, wait a minute. you're taking that box, 00:27:06.069 --> 00:27:08.710 you're full of bees, you're turning it up 90 00:27:08.710 --> 00:27:12.549 degrees. Do the bees care? Doesn't that bother 00:27:12.549 --> 00:27:15.490 them? And I can tell you, no, it does not bother 00:27:15.490 --> 00:27:18.809 them. In fact, it's a good thing to do that sometimes 00:27:18.809 --> 00:27:22.289 because you want to see underneath those frames 00:27:22.289 --> 00:27:24.750 you want to see if any queen cells are being 00:27:24.750 --> 00:27:28.809 developed under there there may be honey propolis 00:27:28.809 --> 00:27:31.509 whatever sticking everything together so from 00:27:31.509 --> 00:27:33.930 time to time it's actually a good thing to do 00:27:33.930 --> 00:27:36.490 so you can clean that stuff up if you need to 00:27:36.490 --> 00:27:40.430 absolutely yeah and the way the contraption makes 00:27:40.430 --> 00:27:43.210 a nice little stand is great and we don't find 00:27:43.210 --> 00:27:46.480 we ever get the bees crossing between the brood 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:49.759 box and the super so we haven't found any issues 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:51.759 where the queen's moving from one to the other 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:53.980 because we've put a little distance across the 00:27:53.980 --> 00:27:58.220 brackets from your brood box to your supers cedar 00:27:58.220 --> 00:28:01.400 you like everybody that comes on the show gets 00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:04.400 the opportunity to tell a fun wild and crazy 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.980 beekeeping story have you thought of anything 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:10.460 i warned you a little earlier i've got plenty 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:14.329 of them actually it can be more than one Let's 00:28:14.329 --> 00:28:18.549 start with one related to the superlifter and 00:28:18.549 --> 00:28:20.970 that's my father and I were doing all sorts of 00:28:20.970 --> 00:28:23.910 experiments and we had we had contraptions on 00:28:23.910 --> 00:28:26.609 hives and we're at my place and the hives are 00:28:26.609 --> 00:28:29.690 on a slope I've got 40 hives under a row of trees, 00:28:29.690 --> 00:28:33.769 but it's sloped there. This is going back six 00:28:33.769 --> 00:28:35.609 years ago. So we're working on this lifter for 00:28:35.609 --> 00:28:41.200 a long time actually and we had two 10 frame 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:43.799 boxes totally laden with honey, a gabled roof 00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:47.079 on top full of honey as well. So a lot of weight 00:28:47.079 --> 00:28:53.539 and our prototype lifter actually gave way. So 00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:56.299 you can imagine what happened next. All hell 00:28:56.299 --> 00:29:02.119 broke loose and the hive itself fell down, ripped 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:05.700 our contraption apart and continued to roll down 00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:12.000 the hill. Oh man, I need video of that. And this 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:14.460 is when you really wish you had a proper bee 00:29:14.460 --> 00:29:18.519 suit on. The bees did not like that and I kept 00:29:18.519 --> 00:29:21.559 pretty wild bees at the time as well. That was 00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:25.079 definitely a bit of an inventing moment going 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:28.740 wrong. So what did you learn from it to improve 00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:32.079 from that prototype to the next one? Yes, we 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:35.140 learnt that we needed something that was a stronger 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:37.960 mounting point onto the hub, which is why we 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:41.380 came up with these load point screws, which are 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:44.619 really quite strong and they're longer than normal 00:29:44.619 --> 00:29:47.000 screws as well, so they go deep into the timber, 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:51.920 enabling a much stronger attachment point. The 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:55.660 lifter itself, it's solid steel, right? It is, 00:29:55.740 --> 00:30:00.720 it's aluminium, so it's an all metal construction. 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:03.200 When you've got that thing set up right you can 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:06.180 jump on it and it's solid. The time when you 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:09.460 can get into issues is if you have not attached 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.839 your brackets properly and you go to do a lift 00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:16.480 with one side disconnected so watch out for that. 00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:20.079 Make sure you set it up right. All right Cedar 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:22.960 it's been a ton of fun. I need to get down to 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:24.759 Australia sometime. We had somebody on the show 00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:28.000 recently from Kangaroo Island and he was really 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:31.819 entertaining too and it'd be fun to go and see 00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:36.500 some of these sites down under. Hey, last thing, 00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:39.839 tell us what is it about honey bees and beekeeping 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:43.359 that you love? So for me it's this fascinating 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:45.420 learning journey that never stops. You think 00:30:45.420 --> 00:30:48.559 you know everything when you start out but in 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:50.539 actual fact it's the other way around. The more 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:53.750 you learn, the more there is to learn. So that 00:30:53.750 --> 00:30:58.150 keeps you pretty engaged all the way and as you 00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:00.170 build more knowledge you have more questions. 00:31:00.309 --> 00:31:03.609 So it's this beautiful space of curiosity and 00:31:03.609 --> 00:31:06.549 a never -ending learning journey that keeps going 00:31:06.549 --> 00:31:10.250 and I'm learning so much from our amazing global 00:31:10.250 --> 00:31:14.789 community about bees in every part of the world. 00:31:15.109 --> 00:31:20.089 The other big thing is I really like the way 00:31:20.089 --> 00:31:24.000 they're intertwined with us as humans and the 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:28.779 way that we need enough bees to do our pollination. 00:31:29.380 --> 00:31:33.319 Otherwise we lose a lot of food off our supermarket 00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:37.519 shelves. Humans have taken the honeybee wherever 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:39.740 they've gone because they're such extreme little 00:31:39.740 --> 00:31:42.720 pollinators. In fact a single hive could pollinate 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.920 50 million flowers in a day and that's just unbelievable. 00:31:46.039 --> 00:31:49.920 We don't have anything else to replace that function. 00:31:50.950 --> 00:31:53.789 So it's really important to have enough beekeepers 00:31:53.789 --> 00:31:57.329 to look after enough bees to keep our whole system 00:31:57.329 --> 00:32:01.029 going. So that's a really rewarding thing is 00:32:01.029 --> 00:32:03.890 to be part of that and be part of a global community 00:32:03.890 --> 00:32:09.890 doing a function that's so integral to pollination, 00:32:10.349 --> 00:32:12.529 not only of our agricultural pursuits, but beyond 00:32:12.529 --> 00:32:15.630 that, to the very matrix of life that we completely 00:32:15.630 --> 00:32:20.109 depend on. Wow, beautiful. All right. Cedar Anderson, 00:32:20.309 --> 00:32:22.430 Flow Hive, thank you a ton for being with me 00:32:22.430 --> 00:32:24.569 today. Thank you very much for having me, Eric. 00:32:28.029 --> 00:32:30.829 Thanks for joining us on Be Love Beekeeping presented 00:32:30.829 --> 00:32:33.890 by Man Lake. If you like this content, I hope 00:32:33.890 --> 00:32:36.789 you'll share it with a friend. Follow and subscribe 00:32:36.789 --> 00:32:40.230 to this podcast and even sign up for our newsletter 00:32:40.230 --> 00:32:43.619 at BeLoveBeekeeping .com Also, just a shout out 00:32:43.619 --> 00:32:46.180 to Vita B Health for their support, we appreciate 00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:49.200 them. Vita's Varroa Control range of products 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:53.480 includes Epistan, Epigard, and now Veroxan, Extended 00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:57.339 Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys. And 00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:59.839 remember, if you're not just in it for the honey 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.819 or the money, you're in it for the love. See 00:33:02.819 --> 00:33:03.660 you next week.