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 --> 00:01:05.549 Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing 00:01:05.549 --> 00:01:12.090 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.090 --> 00:01:23.629 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping 00:01:23.629 --> 00:01:27.189 presented by Man Lake with today's special guest 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:29.829 We'll be discussing the overall condition of 00:01:29.829 --> 00:01:32.989 the beekeeping industry, new trends in technologies, 00:01:33.590 --> 00:01:36.450 and a whole bunch more. First I want to mention 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:39.849 the new report just released, North American 00:01:39.849 --> 00:01:44.540 Honey Bee Strategy. I know that's not the most 00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:47.359 exciting title in the world, but the contents 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:50.280 are really important. It's a collaborative effort 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.620 with the American Beekeeping Federation, American 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:57.060 Honey Producers Association, Canadian Beekeepers 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:00.900 Federation, and the Canadian Honey Council. Other 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.540 sources noted are the Honey Bee Health Coalition, 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:08.300 Honey Bee Pests, and Project APIS -M. The purpose 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:12.000 of the report is quote, to unify the beekeeping 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.960 industry and provide a path toward industry sustainability. 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:19.819 Beekeepers need to have a stronger unified voice 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:23.080 in the face of increasing obstacles to maintain 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:26.120 a sustainable beekeeping industry. Commercial 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:29.120 beekeepers across North America face similar 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.680 challenges and share similar interests. We can 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:34.960 work toward these interests more effectively 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:39.509 together. The strategy outlined focuses on external 00:02:39.509 --> 00:02:43.009 threats and internal mechanisms for success. 00:02:43.550 --> 00:02:45.810 We will have someone involved in the report as 00:02:45.810 --> 00:02:48.550 a guest on the show soon but in the meantime 00:02:48.550 --> 00:02:51.169 there's a link to it down in the show notes and 00:02:51.169 --> 00:02:54.250 in our weekly newsletter you can sign up for 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:58.389 it for free at BeeloveBeekeeping .com. This report 00:02:58.389 --> 00:03:00.969 isn't just for commercial beekeepers it's for 00:03:00.969 --> 00:03:03.710 all of us with a love of honey bees and their 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:11.139 management. We've got such a special guest with 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:15.099 us today Rob Wright who's the CEO the Big Cheese 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:18.979 of Man Lake Hey Rob, good morning. How are you? 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:21.919 Good morning. I'm good. How are you? I'm great. 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:25.020 Have you been called cheese recently? No, that's 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:27.479 the first time in a long time. My kids might 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:31.960 call me that Anyway, it's good to see you and 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:33.659 it's gonna be great to have you on the show today 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:36.319 We have a ton to talk about I want to let our 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.849 listeners know right up front Just because Rob's 00:03:39.849 --> 00:03:41.990 with Man Lake doesn't mean this is gonna be an 00:03:41.990 --> 00:03:45.430 infomercial. It is not We're gonna talk about 00:03:45.430 --> 00:03:48.189 the whole beekeeping business and everything 00:03:48.189 --> 00:03:51.310 that's going on with beekeeping and new products 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:54.789 and all kinds of fun stuff So I don't know where 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:58.650 you want to jump in. I I have an idea I was told 00:03:58.650 --> 00:04:02.349 by a little bird that you did your first swarm 00:04:02.349 --> 00:04:06.590 removal recently That's correct. Yeah, how did 00:04:06.590 --> 00:04:09.759 it go? Well, you know, I actually did two of 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:13.400 them, and it's sort of an outgrowth of... I've 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:16.639 been catching swarms. There are a lot of feral 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:20.319 bees in my area here in Santa Barbara, and I 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.639 think I caught five swarms in the same swarm 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:26.819 trap this spring in the course of about two or 00:04:26.819 --> 00:04:29.279 three weeks. You know how it is as a beekeeper. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:31.180 Everybody always gets so excited when you tell 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:33.779 them you're involved with bees, and often people 00:04:33.779 --> 00:04:36.339 say, oh, I want to get bees, so... I've taken 00:04:36.339 --> 00:04:39.759 to capturing swarms and giving them to my friends 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.279 and neighbors who say they're interested in bees. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:47.180 In a man -like box, of course. So anyway, my 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:52.019 wife's friend, who has a big farm north of here, 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.779 had an old dairy cow building with hollow walls, 00:04:56.339 --> 00:05:00.540 and she had a pretty big colony of bees in there, 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.860 and she's looking to repurpose that building. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:05.360 and asked if I could come and remove some of 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:07.800 those bees. And then I had another neighbor in 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:10.779 town just shortly after that say that he'd had 00:05:10.779 --> 00:05:15.759 a swarm of bees land in his garden and they had 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.199 established a hive actually on the outside of 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:22.680 a little small date palm just kind of hanging 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:26.120 from the palm fronds. So I removed that one as 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:29.220 well. That one I added to a colony of mine that 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:32.829 was weak and needed a new queen. So we're one 00:05:32.829 --> 00:05:35.550 of those unusual. Why did this come up? Well, 00:05:35.709 --> 00:05:39.050 I think Jenna maybe mentioned it because we did 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:42.269 some film of it just for honestly, just for marketing 00:05:42.269 --> 00:05:45.250 purposes, but it was a really large colony and 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:48.230 it took me several hours to remove it. Erica 00:05:48.230 --> 00:05:50.889 Thompson, who you probably know her name, gave 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.589 me a little bit of advice on how to handle my 00:05:53.589 --> 00:05:56.730 first B removal and it was super helpful. So 00:05:56.730 --> 00:06:00.910 yeah, removed this wall had a sheet metal panel 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:02.769 on the outside. outside of it. And the hardest 00:06:02.769 --> 00:06:05.610 part was getting that panel off. And Erica had 00:06:05.610 --> 00:06:08.709 told me, you know, the whole key to it is to 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:12.069 be really gentle in removing the wall and not 00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:14.889 to get the bees all agitated right from the start. 00:06:15.189 --> 00:06:17.889 But that was really hard because the sheet metal 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:20.449 was, you know, trying to bend sheet metal away 00:06:20.449 --> 00:06:23.269 from the wall as you're removing nails. And it 00:06:23.269 --> 00:06:25.569 was this whole probably eight, four by eight 00:06:25.569 --> 00:06:28.850 panel of old sheet metal. So yeah, we were able 00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:31.449 to get that down with some effort and the bees 00:06:31.449 --> 00:06:34.129 weren't really super agitated, didn't really 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:37.230 even need gloves or a suit. Started putting the 00:06:37.230 --> 00:06:41.069 bees into a box and I very carefully measured 00:06:41.069 --> 00:06:44.629 the comb and cut it to fit, to maximize the amount 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:46.810 of comb I could fit in the frames and it filled 00:06:46.810 --> 00:06:50.389 up two 10 frame boxes. I've just taken all the 00:06:50.389 --> 00:06:53.120 comb out. I think we'd refer to that more as 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:55.240 a cutout, wouldn't we, if you're actually removing 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:57.939 part of a structure to get to them? Yeah, I guess 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:00.240 that's right. It took me a very long time to 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.259 find the queen. There were a lot of bees there, 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:06.399 and she was shy. I was afraid that I was going 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:08.850 to have to leave without. Knowing if I had gotten 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:11.889 the Queen and eventually I saw that she was already 00:07:11.889 --> 00:07:14.769 in the box So I must have missed her when I was 00:07:14.769 --> 00:07:18.310 when I was kind of a coma Sometime off microphone 00:07:18.310 --> 00:07:22.829 remind me to tell you about my first swarm Yeah 00:07:22.829 --> 00:07:26.850 Because it was a hilarious disaster that unfortunately 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.199 we weren't filming and I ended up with a great 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:32.939 swarm but oh man was it a mess we won't get into 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:35.759 that today because it's not embarrassed the host 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.620 day today but I often get embarrassed anyway 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:42.500 so what kind of swarm trap were you using that 00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:44.620 you caught all those swarms with you know somebody 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:47.279 had given me a colony in an old nuke box I'll 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.459 bet it was 2020 five years old and I decided 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:53.519 well this thing's probably run its useful course 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.600 so I cut the bottom out of it and extended it 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:59.759 into a double deep nuke box and put a little 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:04.110 open enclosure thing on the on the entrance and 00:08:04.110 --> 00:08:06.569 just hung that in a tree, in a palm tree in my 00:08:06.569 --> 00:08:09.149 front yard. Yeah, I just get so many swarms there. 00:08:09.430 --> 00:08:12.189 We have a lot of California live oaks in my area 00:08:12.189 --> 00:08:14.870 and a lot of them have cavities with little holes 00:08:14.870 --> 00:08:17.089 that are just perfect for the bees. The bees 00:08:17.089 --> 00:08:20.170 love them. So, you know, as I go for my morning 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:23.310 run around my neighborhood, I'm always seeing 00:08:23.310 --> 00:08:26.750 bees in oak trees. I guess spring conditions 00:08:26.750 --> 00:08:28.769 were good and there were just a lot of swarms. 00:08:28.910 --> 00:08:31.149 That is really fun, isn't it? And being able 00:08:31.149 --> 00:08:34.200 to share them. is great yeah and you know i i 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:36.840 have some swarms in my coli i only have six colonies 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.799 but i think four of them are swarms that i've 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.379 caught and they they seem to do better than packages 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:44.700 i think maybe just they're adapted to the local 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:46.860 environment better or something okay now you're 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:49.919 truly not doing an infomercial those men like 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:52.840 packages are so much better than swarms and Yeah, 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.320 don't worry. We sell swarm traps and swarm lure 00:08:55.320 --> 00:09:00.440 as well. All right. So you go to a lot of different 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:03.779 bee shows. I think you were recently at the California 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:07.279 Beekeepers Association. I saw you at Appamondia 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:11.440 in Copenhagen. Can you give me a feel for just 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:14.580 being out there in the industry. How does everybody 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:16.740 feel? Is there a really good positive attitude 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:19.519 right now? Are people a little nervous after 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:23.120 the die off last year? What's the general makeup 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.379 of how people are feeling? Well, it varies, as 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:28.940 you might imagine, pretty starkly between hobbyists 00:09:28.940 --> 00:09:32.659 and commercial beekeepers. That speaks to a dichotomy 00:09:32.659 --> 00:09:34.700 in our business that we're constantly managing 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:38.139 because the reasons people keep bees and how 00:09:38.139 --> 00:09:41.049 they think about beekeeping. is so fundamentally 00:09:41.049 --> 00:09:44.490 different in those two worlds. So speaking about 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:48.210 Appamondia, which was more geared towards the 00:09:48.210 --> 00:09:50.909 hobbyist from my perspective, I just found it 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:54.970 fascinating speaking with all the, it had a pretty 00:09:54.970 --> 00:09:57.889 heavy European bias, as you know, and I really 00:09:57.889 --> 00:09:59.830 wanted to learn about what's happening in Europe 00:09:59.830 --> 00:10:02.370 that might be helpful for our customers in the 00:10:02.370 --> 00:10:06.230 United States. And I saw lots of products and 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:09.500 different ideas coming out of Europe that Hopefully, 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:12.039 we'll have some success in introducing to the 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:13.980 US. I can't talk about anything in particular 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:16.059 right now, but for me it was very interesting. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.840 I went to the CSBA show, the California State 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:21.620 Beekeepers Association, which is down in Temecula, 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:24.320 California last week. Yeah, I spoke to a lot 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:26.960 of our commercial beekeeping customers. It's 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:29.080 interesting because I've only been in this industry 00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:32.110 now coming up on four years. and I found that 00:10:32.110 --> 00:10:34.889 this time of year the beekeepers are pretty nervous 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:37.769 and tense generally because you know they're 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:40.730 coming up on next year's almond pollination and 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:42.809 they're starting to find out how their colonies 00:10:42.809 --> 00:10:45.169 are doing depending on whether they're putting 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:47.409 them away in storage or moving them to the south 00:10:47.409 --> 00:10:49.350 or whatever they're doing they're starting to 00:10:49.350 --> 00:10:52.110 get early reads on how the the colony survival 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:54.629 is going to be but they don't really know yet 00:10:54.629 --> 00:10:58.360 and so Yeah, I'd say a handful of people I spoke 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:01.039 to said it's going to be as bad or worse as last 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.379 year. But then I kind of got the sense they were 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:07.139 just kind of bracing themselves for whatever's 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:09.580 going to come. And then I had probably an equal 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:11.279 number of people say, oh, it looks better. I 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.539 think it's going to be better. But I would definitely 00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:17.419 say the preponderance of people I spoke to were 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:21.139 not optimistic about this coming year, unfortunately. 00:11:21.549 --> 00:11:23.490 So one of the things that we're really trying 00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:27.049 to do is to play as positive a role in helping 00:11:27.049 --> 00:11:29.970 our customers succeed in beekeeping as we can. 00:11:30.570 --> 00:11:33.149 And the way that we have decided to focus in 00:11:33.149 --> 00:11:36.149 on that is to try to help in the introduction 00:11:36.149 --> 00:11:39.610 of new nutrition -based products. I mean, everybody 00:11:39.610 --> 00:11:43.309 knows that Varroa and its surrounding issues 00:11:43.309 --> 00:11:45.659 are the biggest challenge in keeping your bees 00:11:45.659 --> 00:11:48.120 alive year to year. We're not going to be a drug 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:50.480 development company or a miticide development 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.620 company for a variety of reasons, but we feel 00:11:53.620 --> 00:11:57.220 that helping beekeepers bring the best possible 00:11:57.220 --> 00:12:00.019 nutrition to their bees is something that we 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:04.019 actually can do to help beekeepers succeed. I've 00:12:04.019 --> 00:12:06.299 felt in my time in the industry that there's 00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:09.860 not strong enough bridges between the latest 00:12:10.430 --> 00:12:13.750 understanding of bee nutrition in academia and 00:12:13.750 --> 00:12:16.710 in the industry. So we felt like that's a positive 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:19.590 role that we can play. And we're trying to get 00:12:19.590 --> 00:12:23.370 smarter about bee nutrition and bring to market 00:12:23.370 --> 00:12:25.389 products that we think will actually help your 00:12:25.389 --> 00:12:29.250 bees be healthier and stronger. I like it. Speaking 00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:32.519 of Appamondia, we did a second ago. sure there 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:36.879 was uh as you remember this great big area i 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.379 forget what they called it the world honey tasting 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:42.259 or something like that yeah yeah that was so 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:44.139 fun i don't know if you spent much time there 00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:47.399 i did i tasted a lot of honeys yeah for people 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:50.039 that weren't there what they did is they had 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.740 this huge area of this expo center with banquet 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:57.600 tables with samples of honey from all over the 00:12:57.600 --> 00:12:59.960 world and it had marked next to it what country 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:02.240 it was and then there were these little teeny 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.419 wooden spoons and you would take a dip and just 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:05.960 have this little bit of honey and then throw 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:09.009 your wooden spoon away. I found after I don't 00:13:09.009 --> 00:13:13.450 know. I don't know maybe 20 samples. I just couldn't 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:16.210 handle anymore and I'd have to go back a few 00:13:16.210 --> 00:13:18.850 hours later the next day or something like that. 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:22.769 Right. I found that really fun. The only honey 00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:24.929 that really surprised me a lot and there were 00:13:24.929 --> 00:13:28.309 different colors and none of these were infused. 00:13:28.409 --> 00:13:30.730 These were just the straight honey. Do you remember 00:13:30.730 --> 00:13:34.049 the honey from the stingless bees? I do remember 00:13:34.049 --> 00:13:37.370 that. It was so different, wasn't it? It was 00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:41.549 very runny. It has a much higher moisture content 00:13:41.549 --> 00:13:45.629 and just a very strong flavor. I don't know how 00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:49.330 else to explain it. Yeah, I'm trying to remember. 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:52.210 There are several honeys that I was just surprised 00:13:52.210 --> 00:13:54.789 that it was even honey. The taste is so different. 00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:58.029 It was really inspiring. I mean, just the different, 00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:00.090 I guess all the different floral sources the 00:14:00.090 --> 00:14:05.620 bees are relying on ends up creating such a Thanksgiving 00:14:05.620 --> 00:14:08.620 or cornucopia flavors. I mean, it's kind of shocking. 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:12.740 Then yesterday we had fun as a family We had 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:15.080 a big get -together and it was kind of fun because 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:19.120 I had brought back a jar of honey from Lars and 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.960 Zofus I don't know if you met them they helped 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:25.720 put on the conference and They live in Denmark 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.500 and I had them on the show a month or two before 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:31.539 the conference They had a few years ago won an 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:36.980 award for the world's best honey Okay, so I'm 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.500 like I've got to try this and they were so nice 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:42.460 to bring me a jar of this and it's a creamed 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:45.100 honey That's what they're famous for. Yeah, but 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:48.059 as you know, most cream honey gets really hard 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:51.940 and The crystals can be kind of almost crunchy. 00:14:51.940 --> 00:14:54.899 They can get a little too big Yeah, their honey 00:14:54.899 --> 00:14:57.440 as we were all tasting it yesterday. This was 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:01.429 really A fun family activity. Their honey is 00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:06.710 so smooth and buttery for a creamed or crystallized 00:15:06.710 --> 00:15:09.049 honey, whatever you want to call it. It was just 00:15:09.049 --> 00:15:11.830 amazing. I mean everybody just sat there with 00:15:11.830 --> 00:15:13.750 it just kind of like rubbing it on their tongue 00:15:13.750 --> 00:15:18.289 going, whoa, this is so cool. So I just want 00:15:18.289 --> 00:15:20.350 to encourage everybody when you travel, when 00:15:20.350 --> 00:15:22.990 you go to different places, try honey from all 00:15:22.990 --> 00:15:24.850 over the place, all over the world, or all over 00:15:24.850 --> 00:15:26.649 the country, or all over your state, wherever 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:29.990 you are. It is a really fun thing to do. Absolutely, 00:15:30.490 --> 00:15:35.029 absolutely. Yeah, I've even noticed my colonies. 00:15:35.330 --> 00:15:38.149 So we're lucky out here that we've got a pretty 00:15:38.149 --> 00:15:40.870 long season when the bees can be out foraging 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:43.409 and collecting nectar. Depending on when you 00:15:43.409 --> 00:15:46.029 harvest the honey in this area, it can look very 00:15:46.029 --> 00:15:49.059 different. It may seem early, but right now is 00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:52.620 a great time to order your live bees for 2026 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:56.100 because they do sell out and because Man Lake 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:59.700 is offering a discount for Be Love podcast listeners. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.139 Wait, what? I know you're saying live bees, they 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:06.899 never go on sale. Well, they are now. Click on 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:09.919 over to Man Lake. Order your bees any variety. 00:16:10.250 --> 00:16:13.590 nukes or packages and anything in the beginner 00:16:13.590 --> 00:16:17.049 essentials category and when you check out use 00:16:17.049 --> 00:16:19.889 the code get started in bees it's down in the 00:16:19.889 --> 00:16:22.230 show notes so you don't have to remember for 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:25.570 a discount on everything so get your orders in 00:16:25.570 --> 00:16:29.690 early and save my bees are are pretty heavy into 00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:32.309 the avocado trees at certain times of the year 00:16:32.309 --> 00:16:34.610 but then there's sage at other times of the year 00:16:34.610 --> 00:16:37.830 and and then just a lot of various flowers as 00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:41.909 well. So we get a pretty wide variety even just 00:16:41.909 --> 00:16:45.309 in the same location. I wanted to get back to 00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:47.309 bee health for just a minute because I think 00:16:47.309 --> 00:16:52.090 the nutrition is fabulous and I personally believe 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:56.470 the bottom line to getting your bees through 00:16:56.470 --> 00:17:00.379 winter, insulation helps. air circulation helps, 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:03.139 all these things. But the thing that is probably 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:06.500 the most important is just be health. If your 00:17:06.500 --> 00:17:10.220 bees are healthy, if your Varroa levels are low, 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.299 they have a much, much, much, much better chance 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:15.839 of getting through winter. When all the harsh 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.240 things come, whether it's cold or wet or whatever, 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:21.920 if they're strong and healthy, they're much more 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.279 likely to get through it. The same with they're 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:27.140 much more likely to survive other kinds of pests. 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:30.839 Do you want to speak to that topic? Yeah. So, 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:33.339 so the thing that inspired me about getting more 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:35.359 involved with bee nutrition is exactly what you 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:40.160 said, I found that in the industry there's so 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:43.460 many bee nutrition products, but very few of 00:17:43.460 --> 00:17:46.640 them have any real scientific data associated 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.380 with them. It's almost like the human nutraceutical 00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:53.859 world, where you can buy a dozen different remedies 00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:57.460 for the same affliction, and honestly, 10 of 00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:00.039 them probably don't do anything. And some of 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.200 them might actually make it worse. And it's the 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:04.880 same in the bee world where I feel like there's 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:07.980 so much science going on with respect to bees 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:10.779 and what keeps them healthy and strong, and not 00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:13.299 all that information is making its way into products. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:17.359 So from my perspective, if you think about getting, 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:20.819 I don't know, the flu, if you get the flu and 00:18:20.819 --> 00:18:23.240 then you get something on top of the flu, it 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:25.660 can kill you. Whereas if you get the flu and 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:29.660 you're fit and you eat well, you've got a good 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:32.269 diet, you're well -nourished, It's really not 00:18:32.269 --> 00:18:34.809 that big a deal. And I think the bees are facing 00:18:34.809 --> 00:18:38.609 so many stressors with habitat loss, exposure 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:41.950 to pesticides. out in the world, exposure to 00:18:41.950 --> 00:18:44.589 pesticides that are accumulating in the wax. 00:18:45.150 --> 00:18:46.630 You know, in the case of commercial beekeepers, 00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:48.430 they're trucking their bees all over the place, 00:18:48.470 --> 00:18:50.250 which is not, you know, that's stressful for 00:18:50.250 --> 00:18:53.490 the bees as well. So anything we can do to boost 00:18:53.490 --> 00:18:56.089 their overall health level is going to help them 00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:59.269 survive, whether it's Varroa or the viruses that 00:18:59.269 --> 00:19:01.670 are vectored by Varroa. The bee nutrition is 00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:04.009 just going to help our overall success. For me, 00:19:04.009 --> 00:19:07.470 it's not just introducing new products, but also 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:10.470 introducing new products with to scientific data, 00:19:11.089 --> 00:19:14.049 we're going to be doing controlled studies to 00:19:14.049 --> 00:19:16.789 test the products that we introduce so that we 00:19:16.789 --> 00:19:19.920 can actually show you that they... They make 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.079 the bees healthier, they result in greater brood 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.859 production, whatever the relevant factor is. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.839 We don't want to just throw things out there 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.099 and say, well, you know, the bees like it, so 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:30.920 it must be good for them. I've heard so many 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.519 people say, well, this must be good for the bees 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.220 because they just gobble it up as soon as I put 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.680 it in the colony. What I always say to them is, 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:41.839 if I put a bag of Doritos in a bowl of carrots 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:44.160 in front of my kids, which one do you think is 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.009 going to get eaten first? It may or may not be 00:19:47.009 --> 00:19:49.390 an indicator of the healthiness of the snack, 00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:53.349 but it's not a reliable indicator. So we want 00:19:53.349 --> 00:19:56.289 to really do what we can to introduce products 00:19:56.289 --> 00:19:59.170 that are proven to work and to help you make 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:01.890 your bees healthier. That is such a good analogy. 00:20:02.089 --> 00:20:03.990 The other one that I'm going to use is think 00:20:03.990 --> 00:20:08.349 about your bees. It seems like if I put beautiful, 00:20:08.829 --> 00:20:13.349 clear well water out for them to drink, they're 00:20:13.349 --> 00:20:17.009 not drinking it. They are next door in the neighbor's 00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:19.450 pool with chlorine or they're in a mud puddle 00:20:19.450 --> 00:20:22.930 or they're somewhere and I can't explain why. 00:20:23.109 --> 00:20:25.690 Yeah. But you got me thinking about another thing 00:20:25.690 --> 00:20:27.529 when you were talking about the research which 00:20:27.529 --> 00:20:30.170 I love that idea and that is there's so many 00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:33.490 products out there. For example just miticides 00:20:33.490 --> 00:20:37.269 okay there's a whole bunch of different ones 00:20:37.269 --> 00:20:40.569 and there are people that try to do it without 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:44.609 using any at all. and there are ways to kill 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:46.910 mites with heat and all kinds of other things. 00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:51.569 How is a beekeeper supposed to decide what to 00:20:51.569 --> 00:20:56.490 use? What to do? Yeah, I think it's very dependent 00:20:56.490 --> 00:20:59.329 on your personal values and why you're in beekeeping 00:20:59.329 --> 00:21:02.930 and what's important to you. We're actually working 00:21:02.930 --> 00:21:04.849 on a couple of things there that I think will 00:21:04.849 --> 00:21:07.869 expand the hobbyist choices. I think commercial 00:21:07.869 --> 00:21:11.569 beekeepers struggle because if you've got 10 00:21:11.569 --> 00:21:14.410 ,000 hives, you can't afford as a commercial 00:21:14.410 --> 00:21:17.410 beekeeper to go and do an alcohol wash on every 00:21:17.410 --> 00:21:20.009 one and see what your mite counts are. And so 00:21:20.009 --> 00:21:22.950 a lot of times they're taking more of a prophylactic 00:21:22.950 --> 00:21:25.950 approach. And in the end it can backfire because 00:21:25.950 --> 00:21:29.349 we end up creating resistance to some of these 00:21:29.349 --> 00:21:31.829 treatments. But as a hobbyist, you have more 00:21:31.829 --> 00:21:35.190 options because you really can gather more information 00:21:35.190 --> 00:21:39.789 about a single colony. and make a decision that's 00:21:39.789 --> 00:21:42.950 tailored to that specific colony. I think that 00:21:42.950 --> 00:21:45.450 one of the things I'm most excited about is seeing 00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:47.990 what a lot of the queen breeders are doing in 00:21:47.990 --> 00:21:51.549 terms of developing Varroa resistant traits, 00:21:51.869 --> 00:21:54.950 good hygienic behaviors. They're choosing queens 00:21:54.950 --> 00:21:58.470 that have good hygienic behaviors and then breeding 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:01.809 those queens and producing a stock that is just 00:22:01.809 --> 00:22:04.410 naturally more resistant to Varroa. I think that's 00:22:04.410 --> 00:22:06.910 the winning path in the long run. But in the 00:22:06.910 --> 00:22:09.190 meantime, we have to deal with the situation 00:22:09.190 --> 00:22:12.569 at hand and as a hobbyist beekeeper, again, you 00:22:12.569 --> 00:22:14.210 just have to choose what you're comfortable with. 00:22:14.470 --> 00:22:17.750 The natural acids, the miticides, whatever works 00:22:17.750 --> 00:22:21.069 for you. One other thing that we're... looking 00:22:21.069 --> 00:22:23.450 at, Eric, is what we might be able to do to help 00:22:23.450 --> 00:22:26.589 beekeepers. I'm very aware of the fact that the 00:22:26.589 --> 00:22:30.730 wax is sort of a repository for all these pesticides, 00:22:30.910 --> 00:22:33.009 not only the ones that we're using to treat mites, 00:22:33.250 --> 00:22:35.450 but pesticides that the bees are bringing out 00:22:35.450 --> 00:22:38.829 from the outside world into the hive. Wax is 00:22:38.829 --> 00:22:41.069 a perfect place for those things to live forever. 00:22:41.470 --> 00:22:42.950 There have been some studies that have shown 00:22:42.950 --> 00:22:45.470 that some of the pesticides that show up in beeswax 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.519 have been out of use for 30 years but they're 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:50.900 still showing up in the wax because we're just 00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:53.440 recycling the same old wax time after time after 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.359 time. We're looking to see if there's something 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.200 that we could do to make that better as well. 00:22:57.460 --> 00:22:59.920 Well also because some of those pesticides don't 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:03.059 go away. They don't just become inert after a 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:06.559 few months. They can hang around for a long long 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.119 time. Just because of the chemical makeup of 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.700 wax, it's a very good repository for those molecules, 00:23:13.059 --> 00:23:15.200 and that's part of the reason they don't go away 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.440 as well. So reminder to change those out from 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:21.339 time to time. Most people I talk to say at least 00:23:21.339 --> 00:23:24.160 once every three years. Make sure you're changing 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.250 those out. And you don't have to do... a whole 00:23:27.250 --> 00:23:29.450 box at the same time. You can do every other 00:23:29.450 --> 00:23:31.630 frame and then the next year do the frames in 00:23:31.630 --> 00:23:34.849 between, things like that. If you would come 00:23:34.849 --> 00:23:38.109 up with a little test strip that I could stick 00:23:38.109 --> 00:23:40.970 in my wax and it would say overabundance of this 00:23:40.970 --> 00:23:43.720 and this pesticide, that'd be awesome. Yeah, 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:47.180 so we're looking at what we can do to help people 00:23:47.180 --> 00:23:49.519 with that. I don't have anything specific to 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.839 talk about at this point but I think there will 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:53.680 be a couple things we can do to make that better. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:55.799 I was being a little facetious because I didn't 00:23:55.799 --> 00:23:58.759 think that was possible but you sound serious 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:01.500 like you're figuring that out. We have a couple 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:04.460 ideas that we're working on that might be useful, 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:09.500 yeah. So Rob, I know I've bought so many things 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.119 from Man Lake and just had great experiences 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:15.630 and I wish I lived where you have a store, but 00:24:15.630 --> 00:24:19.710 I have found that the shipping on stuff is fast 00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:22.529 and easy and usually free. You only have to spend, 00:24:22.529 --> 00:24:25.349 what, 150 bucks or something and shipping's free. 00:24:25.710 --> 00:24:29.069 So to me, it's just, it's easy from wherever 00:24:29.069 --> 00:24:31.349 you are. But give me an idea of what's going 00:24:31.349 --> 00:24:35.470 on with the company. What overall, you know, 00:24:35.730 --> 00:24:38.069 you're the big cheese. Take a look down and tell 00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:41.039 us what's up. You know, I actually spoke about 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.140 that last week at the CSBA conference with all 00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:46.460 the commercial beekeepers in California. One 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:50.099 of the things I've discovered from my sales team 00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:52.259 is that they get asked a lot of questions about 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:54.859 what's going on at Man Lake and isn't it owned 00:24:54.859 --> 00:24:58.559 by a financial institution or did it change control 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:02.559 or what's happening with Man Lake. Personal view 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.480 of the world is that transparency is important 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.559 in business and in life generally, so I just 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.140 kind of laid it all out and I'll give you a quick 00:25:11.140 --> 00:25:13.839 version of that. Man Lake was purchased by a 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.799 private equity firm in 2018. I'm one of the co 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.319 -founders of that private equity firm. At the 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:22.339 time, the founders of Man Lake, Jack and Betty, 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:26.220 sold the business. Sadly, Jack passed away before 00:25:26.220 --> 00:25:29.039 the transaction closed and Betty moved on to 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:32.250 other things. And then in the years after 2018, 00:25:32.849 --> 00:25:35.289 the sales of the company really boomed because 00:25:35.289 --> 00:25:38.069 of COVID. And then on the commercial side, we 00:25:38.069 --> 00:25:40.269 weren't dealing with these high levels of colony 00:25:40.269 --> 00:25:42.990 loss that we've seen in the last few years. So 00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:45.630 times were better. Sales of the company boomed. 00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:49.009 Unfortunately, the profits of the company went 00:25:49.009 --> 00:25:52.670 way down. And the debt of the company was going 00:25:52.670 --> 00:25:54.730 up because the company was losing money every 00:25:54.730 --> 00:25:59.880 year. So by 2022, the debt had doubled, the profits 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:03.960 were near zero, and the company was in financial 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:07.400 distress. And that's actually how I got introduced 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:10.259 to the business. I had retired from investing 00:26:10.259 --> 00:26:12.759 during that period of time and was no longer 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.720 working. My wife told me that I was not meant 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:17.700 for retirement and I needed to get out and have 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:19.700 a purpose in the world. And she was right about 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:23.240 that. So I was always a big believer in beekeeping 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:25.359 and the importance of pollinators in the world. 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:27.700 So I decided, you know what, I'm going to A, 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:30.079 become a beekeeper and B, I'm going to take over 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:32.380 Man Lake as the CEO and get it turned around. 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:36.259 I felt a pretty strong obligation to the employees 00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:39.500 and also the customers of Man Lake to not let 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:42.650 Man Lake basically go down the tube. I stepped 00:26:42.650 --> 00:26:46.730 in as CEO in May of 2022. I went to visit the 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:49.769 company's lender in Boston, who informed me that 00:26:49.769 --> 00:26:51.869 I had three weeks to come up with a plan. And 00:26:51.869 --> 00:26:53.269 if they didn't like it, they were going to take 00:26:53.269 --> 00:26:57.190 over the business. For those of you who are not 00:26:57.190 --> 00:26:59.849 familiar with what that means, it usually means 00:26:59.849 --> 00:27:02.390 the company gets liquidated. I was just not willing 00:27:02.390 --> 00:27:06.009 to let that happen. So I got with the team. We 00:27:06.009 --> 00:27:08.490 came up with a plan. Three weeks became three 00:27:08.490 --> 00:27:12.420 months, became a year. And we were able to make 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:14.640 some big impacts in the company in a short period 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:17.240 of time. We paid off over half the debt in the 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:20.619 first two years. And then I knew this was going 00:27:20.619 --> 00:27:23.099 to happen eventually. Eric, I kind of dreaded 00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:25.500 the day. But I got the phone call from the lender 00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:27.980 who said, hey, you've paid off half the debt. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.019 And now if we just sell the company, we can get 00:27:30.019 --> 00:27:32.130 the rest of our money back. They essentially 00:27:32.130 --> 00:27:35.230 forced a sale of the company. I was not in a 00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:38.190 position to stop that so I did my best to try 00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:40.490 to find a buyer for the company that would be 00:27:40.490 --> 00:27:43.130 a good long -term home for the business. But 00:27:43.130 --> 00:27:45.450 ultimately the lender decided to sell the company 00:27:45.450 --> 00:27:48.950 to another financial firm. I met with this financial 00:27:48.950 --> 00:27:52.930 firm more than once with my team. The whole team 00:27:52.930 --> 00:27:55.029 agreed that this was not going to be a good future 00:27:55.029 --> 00:27:58.480 for Man Lake and that we really didn't did not 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.180 support selling to this firm, but we could not 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:07.200 get our lender to back off from that deal. So 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:11.519 I decided to step out of Man Lake and put together 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:15.019 my own buying group. I got five family friends 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:18.880 who are all big believers in pollination, the 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:21.319 importance of pollination, beekeeping generally. 00:28:21.849 --> 00:28:25.089 And we bought the company in less than a week. 00:28:25.490 --> 00:28:28.650 We outbid this financial firm and bought the 00:28:28.650 --> 00:28:32.309 company in... March of this year. For me, that 00:28:32.309 --> 00:28:35.390 was a really huge and important step for Man 00:28:35.390 --> 00:28:37.910 Lake because Man Lake is now back in the hands 00:28:37.910 --> 00:28:40.809 of family ownership. None of us bought the company 00:28:40.809 --> 00:28:43.410 to flip it and make a quick buck. We bought it 00:28:43.410 --> 00:28:45.470 because we believe in the mission of Man Lake 00:28:45.470 --> 00:28:48.130 and we want the company to thrive, you know, 00:28:48.309 --> 00:28:50.910 decades into the future. Man Lake today is debt 00:28:50.910 --> 00:28:53.210 free. It's owned by a group of families, all 00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:55.680 of whom are personal friends of mine and are 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:58.700 just fantastic individuals who bring a lot to 00:28:58.700 --> 00:29:01.559 the company. Many of them have great business 00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:04.279 successes in their background and have advised 00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:06.779 me on ways to improve the performance of Man 00:29:06.779 --> 00:29:09.099 Lake. Gosh, I think some of the important things 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:11.559 for our customers, Eric, are that we have gone 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:14.660 back to the basic blocking and tackling that 00:29:14.660 --> 00:29:17.380 made Man Lake what it was in the first place. 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:20.660 So for example, our goal is to get to 24 -hour 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:22.960 turnaround on all orders by the time we hit the 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:25.279 busy season next year. We're currently at about 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:28.680 48 hours. And you know, that's down from probably 00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:31.900 11 days or something like that when I joined 00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:34.380 the company a few years ago. When I first started 00:29:34.380 --> 00:29:36.019 in the company, just to give you an example, 00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:39.079 we were out of stock on 400 key items just in 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:42.200 our California location alone. I had one of our 00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:44.059 customers call me up when I first joined and 00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:46.640 said, I don't understand how you can claim to 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:49.619 no bees when it's May and you don't have any 00:29:49.619 --> 00:29:52.549 smokers. And I didn't really have an answer for 00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:55.269 that. So what we've done over the last few years, 00:29:55.289 --> 00:29:57.470 Eric, is that we've invested in the team. We've 00:29:57.470 --> 00:30:00.509 invested in information systems. And we're now 00:30:00.509 --> 00:30:03.089 using state of the art technology to manage our 00:30:03.089 --> 00:30:05.809 business, predict our inventory, trigger the 00:30:05.809 --> 00:30:08.589 right actions in terms of buying goods and building 00:30:08.589 --> 00:30:11.509 goods so that we're always going to be in stock 00:30:11.509 --> 00:30:14.690 on the right items at the right time. Those things 00:30:14.690 --> 00:30:17.029 make a difference to the customers. As you know, 00:30:17.029 --> 00:30:19.430 when you've got an issue in your hive, getting 00:30:19.430 --> 00:30:22.450 something 10 days later is just not good enough. 00:30:22.890 --> 00:30:25.009 So it's important that we have the things you 00:30:25.009 --> 00:30:27.349 need when you need them. Anyway, that was sort 00:30:27.349 --> 00:30:29.430 of a long answer to your question, Eric, but 00:30:29.430 --> 00:30:31.970 hopefully that gives listeners a little bit of 00:30:31.970 --> 00:30:35.029 a sense of what's happening at Man Lake. I almost 00:30:35.029 --> 00:30:38.650 don't know what to say because when you say equity 00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:42.150 firms are buying it and stuff, I just think about, 00:30:42.549 --> 00:30:47.470 well, I can think of quite a few movies, one 00:30:47.470 --> 00:30:49.849 being Wall Street, which is one of my favorites. 00:30:50.369 --> 00:30:52.950 And the big, what's that one called? The big 00:30:52.950 --> 00:30:56.269 something, the big short is another one of those. 00:30:56.509 --> 00:30:59.890 And you guys are doing the exact opposite of 00:30:59.890 --> 00:31:02.509 those. And I think that's really cool. And I 00:31:02.509 --> 00:31:06.049 think it's cool that that you also jumped headfirst 00:31:06.049 --> 00:31:09.380 into beekeeping so that you really get it. Yeah, 00:31:09.380 --> 00:31:11.980 I just wish I had done it sooner. It's been really 00:31:11.980 --> 00:31:15.240 transformative for me. I just love the bees and 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:18.920 everything to do with them and I feel like my 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:22.759 experience of the last 30 years turning around 00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:25.660 basic industry companies that have just lost 00:31:25.660 --> 00:31:28.839 their way. turns out to be perfectly suited for 00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:31.900 what man like needs. So I'm still a newbie when 00:31:31.900 --> 00:31:34.000 it comes to bees. I'm only out at four years, 00:31:34.019 --> 00:31:36.500 but I just devour any information I can get about 00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:39.460 bees because I love them. And I think that the 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:41.799 more informed we are as a supplier, the more 00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:44.420 we can support our customers who, if they share 00:31:44.420 --> 00:31:47.279 anything with us, it's the love of bees. Last 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:50.359 thing before I let you go. And that is as we 00:31:50.359 --> 00:31:52.859 look forward to the future. And you've been to 00:31:52.859 --> 00:31:56.049 all these trade shows and things. So you've seen 00:31:56.049 --> 00:31:59.990 all the newest gadgets and there are things using 00:31:59.990 --> 00:32:04.130 AI and robotic arms and beekeeping and trying 00:32:04.130 --> 00:32:07.009 to take people out of the mix, the beekeepers. 00:32:07.609 --> 00:32:09.289 What do you think about the whole future? Is 00:32:09.289 --> 00:32:12.789 that going to be part of it or what? Well, that's 00:32:12.789 --> 00:32:14.730 a really good question, Eric. I mean, you'll 00:32:14.730 --> 00:32:17.029 see we've introduced some technology like on 00:32:17.029 --> 00:32:19.529 our app where you can identify a plant and it 00:32:19.529 --> 00:32:22.210 will tell you if it's good for bees or not. We 00:32:22.210 --> 00:32:25.069 have our AI chat bot, Bella, who we educated 00:32:25.069 --> 00:32:28.069 about beekeeping and who actually is pretty effective 00:32:28.069 --> 00:32:31.109 at giving good advice. And so I think what I 00:32:31.109 --> 00:32:33.049 would say is that we're trying to be realistic 00:32:33.049 --> 00:32:35.230 about the way the world is developing. And I 00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:38.339 don't think we can shun these technologies. but 00:32:38.339 --> 00:32:41.259 at its heart beekeeping is it's something that 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:43.619 we do to connect us with nature which in some 00:32:43.619 --> 00:32:46.720 ways is sort of anti -technology and don't get 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:49.500 me wrong i'm not anti -technology but i i think 00:32:49.500 --> 00:32:53.180 the important part of beekeeping for me is cracking 00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:56.599 open that hive and smelling it and seeing what's 00:32:56.599 --> 00:33:00.579 happening with the bees and having that remind 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:04.589 you that We are all part of this natural world. 00:33:05.490 --> 00:33:08.349 And as much as we can get sucked into our screens 00:33:08.349 --> 00:33:11.390 and watching 10 second clips of people doing 00:33:11.390 --> 00:33:14.430 whatever, the most rewarding times that we have 00:33:14.430 --> 00:33:17.849 are when we feel that connection and we actually 00:33:17.849 --> 00:33:20.730 go with it. And that's what we're trying to promote 00:33:20.730 --> 00:33:23.009 as a business. I wish people spent more time 00:33:23.009 --> 00:33:25.829 with their bees and less on their smartphone. 00:33:26.190 --> 00:33:28.789 I think the world would be a better place. The 00:33:28.789 --> 00:33:31.150 world would be a better place. We have just solved 00:33:31.150 --> 00:33:34.170 the whole nature of humanity. Yes, that's right. 00:33:34.390 --> 00:33:37.630 Thanks to the bees. Hey, Rob and Man Lake. I 00:33:37.630 --> 00:33:40.309 appreciate you being on the show and really appreciate 00:33:40.309 --> 00:33:44.210 Man Lake being such a huge supporter of the show. 00:33:44.609 --> 00:33:48.950 It has really meant a lot and has really been, 00:33:48.950 --> 00:33:51.690 I hope, a good partnership because we've had 00:33:51.690 --> 00:33:54.289 so much growth over the last year or so since 00:33:54.289 --> 00:33:56.940 we got this thing going. So we just appreciate 00:33:56.940 --> 00:33:59.380 it very much. Take care, my friend. Thank you, 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:04.599 Eric. I appreciate your time. Thanks for joining 00:34:04.599 --> 00:34:07.660 us on Be Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake. 00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:10.179 If you like this content, I hope you'll share 00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:13.059 it with a friend. Follow and subscribe to this 00:34:13.059 --> 00:34:16.420 podcast and even sign up for our newsletter at 00:34:16.420 --> 00:34:19.489 BeLoveBeekeeping .com. Also, just a shout out 00:34:19.489 --> 00:34:22.050 to Vita B Health for their support, we appreciate 00:34:22.050 --> 00:34:25.070 them. Vita's Varroa Control range of products 00:34:25.070 --> 00:34:29.349 includes Epistan, Epigard, and now Veroxen, Extended 00:34:29.349 --> 00:34:33.230 Release Oxalic Acid Strips. Thanks guys, and 00:34:33.230 --> 00:34:35.690 remember, if you're not just in it for the honey 00:34:35.690 --> 00:34:38.670 or the money, you're in it for the love. See 00:34:38.670 --> 00:34:39.449 you next week.