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 --> 00:00:50.560 efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to 00:00:50.560 --> 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 --> 00:01:12.150 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:30.140 journey. And we've got on the line with us today 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:33.260 Chris Hyatt, was good enough to come back, had 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:37.040 him last year, and before we jump into everything 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:41.180 for those that don't know Chris, well most people 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:44.519 in beekeeping do know Chris, but Chris say hello 00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:46.359 and give us a little bit about your background 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.980 and what you do. Sure Chris Hyatt, past president 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:53.340 of the American Honey Producers Association and 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:56.829 pretty much lifetime beekeeper. My dad started 00:01:56.829 --> 00:02:00.730 our company like 58 years ago and I've got four 00:02:00.730 --> 00:02:03.409 other brothers along with me that we run our 00:02:03.409 --> 00:02:05.810 18 ,000 highs between North Dakota, California 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:08.789 and Washington. Been part of the leadership for 00:02:08.789 --> 00:02:11.169 American Honey Producers for about 13 years, 00:02:11.530 --> 00:02:13.330 executive board and then went through vice president, 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:15.050 president, now past president. So I'm still on 00:02:15.050 --> 00:02:17.789 the board for a little while longer. No, it's 00:02:17.789 --> 00:02:20.840 just been fun. fun learning and fun going to 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:23.860 DC and helping serve and just you know met so 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:26.580 many good friends and And it's just been a fun 00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:29.759 ride Well, we appreciate you. We need people 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:31.680 like you that are willing to do that kind of 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.300 legwork We've really really appreciate it and 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:37.840 thanks for coming on the show again. You were 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:41.300 on about a year ago Yeah, and we had just started 00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:44.520 to get some numbers on how bad the winter bee 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.539 die -off was Want to talk about that just a little 00:02:47.539 --> 00:02:50.740 bit first and then we're gonna get on some positive 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:54.240 things talking about this year and some of that 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:58.460 but as a commercial beekeeper With what happened 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:02.580 last winter give me an idea of where your company 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:05.419 came out and other commercial beekeepers that 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:08.419 you saw Well, that's a good question. Unfortunately, 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:11.979 for us, we were well below the national average 00:03:11.979 --> 00:03:14.599 or whatever, 62%. I had some of my friends that 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.400 had some of their worst losses on record. Even 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.199 like the famous Randy Oliver that writes for 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:22.379 the American Bee Journal, him and his sons had 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:24.840 high losses. So it just seems like no matter 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:28.259 what you do, the viral virus complex will get 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:30.939 you eventually. And I know there's a lot of variables. 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:34.280 between the amitras resistance and where you're 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:36.979 running and how you manage your bees. But talking 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:39.159 with Zach Lamas and all those guys that are involved 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:41.620 in the sampling, when all this happened last 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:45.379 winter, people pointed to amitras resistant mites 00:03:45.379 --> 00:03:48.400 at the beginning, but it's pretty complex. And 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:50.699 a lot of it, you know, is got to be associated 00:03:50.699 --> 00:03:53.560 with the viruses, maybe some pesticide pressure, 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:56.939 but Yeah, it's a complex mess and sometimes you 00:03:56.939 --> 00:03:59.659 just don't you do the best you can and still 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:02.259 you'll have problems even if you go to the sheds 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:04.300 The winter or if you're even outside for the 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:07.199 winter, so it's they're just so many variables 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.280 Well, I was hoping you'd have some kind of clear 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:14.219 answer but Wow No still kind of don't know I 00:04:14.219 --> 00:04:16.980 mean it just seems like there are several there's 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.040 there's some friends I put bees in here in the 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.579 almonds for They stuck three, four years straight, 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:24.519 great bees, great bees, and last year they didn't 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.860 have any bees for me to put in. They had such 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:30.240 high losses. And they had nothing to change on 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:34.519 their part. So, yeah, it's tough to say. Well, 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:38.000 that's why I wondered how important the amatras 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.100 resistance was in this whole formula. Because 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:43.100 a lot of people just don't do anything different, 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:45.939 and unfortunately sometimes we need to. Right, 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:49.319 right. Well... Yeah, we mix it up and everyone, 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:51.500 a lot of the friends that I know, they all mix 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:53.300 it up. They're using Okthalic, they're using 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:56.660 Formic, they're using Apigard, other things. 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:01.439 But still, the number one is Amitraz to keep, 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:03.899 especially in the fall, to have the quick knockdown. 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:07.060 There's like Betafarma is reformulating their 00:05:07.060 --> 00:05:09.139 treatment of Amitraz to have more of a knockdown. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.560 And there's some new things coming online that 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:15.829 we're excited about, but it's still By far amateur 00:05:15.829 --> 00:05:18.269 as is you know what's carrying and keeping us 00:05:18.269 --> 00:05:21.850 in business. Based on what happened this this 00:05:21.850 --> 00:05:24.029 past year now that we're in twenty twenty six 00:05:24.029 --> 00:05:27.009 I can call it last year did beekeepers do anything 00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:30.389 different going towards this fall and winter. 00:05:31.269 --> 00:05:33.810 I do know that some guys some of my friends didn't 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:36.709 get their numbers back up to their high colony 00:05:36.709 --> 00:05:39.490 number because it was just too hard and you can't 00:05:39.490 --> 00:05:41.550 you can only split so many. You can only make 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:43.750 so many nukes out of your good hives. Plus it's 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:45.870 expensive to buy packages or buy other people's 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.370 hives. Management style, I do know there are 00:05:48.370 --> 00:05:50.670 more mite treatments. I've heard more oxalic 00:05:50.670 --> 00:05:55.009 acid glycerin use multiple times during the year 00:05:55.009 --> 00:05:57.310 with the pads. Yeah, just trying to change it 00:05:57.310 --> 00:06:00.350 up and do more monitoring. Like the old Be Inform 00:06:00.350 --> 00:06:02.449 Partnership guys are out monitoring more and 00:06:02.449 --> 00:06:04.910 our employees are more than they had in the past. 00:06:05.529 --> 00:06:08.430 I think those that had higher losses are even 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:11.509 seeking, you know, to get more control and more 00:06:11.509 --> 00:06:15.430 monitoring of the mites. So what is the feeling? 00:06:15.870 --> 00:06:18.689 Is it optimistic, pessimistic, somewhere in between? 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:22.149 Well, the two conventions, the last two I went 00:06:22.149 --> 00:06:24.230 to, American Honey Producers and California State 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:27.050 Beekeeping, it was kind of depressing, I guess, 00:06:27.529 --> 00:06:30.620 just because of the high losses. low honey price. 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:33.019 There was some good news on the almond side at 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:35.120 the price of almonds is going up and I do know 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:38.360 some guys are charging more for pollination because 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:41.060 there was a shortage last year for pollination. 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:44.420 That's kind of another funny topic is that some 00:06:44.420 --> 00:06:46.139 of the almond growers are saying, hey, you had 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:47.879 this record high loss, but we still are going 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:52.279 to have this 2 .5, 2 .6 billion pound crop. Which 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:54.879 is what their estimate was way off some said 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.579 three billion two point nine billion which yeah 00:06:57.579 --> 00:06:59.860 they had beautiful weather last year that was 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:02.639 probably the most important factor. As i do know 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.959 there was hives out there that were weaker than 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.680 normal but the beautiful weather one high per 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.259 acre can do it on a rainy year. Bad weather you 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:13.480 got to have multiple ice breakers so it could 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:15.420 have been way worse for the only girls but they 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:17.579 have beautiful weather. with probably weaker 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:19.899 hives and I know there was some orchards that 00:07:19.899 --> 00:07:22.540 were lacking hives because I put some in for 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:25.439 a friend you know way past bloom that had no 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.759 bees in it so I was putting the very last remainder 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:31.699 of my hives just in the dead center of this big 00:07:31.699 --> 00:07:33.899 huge three four hundred acre block of almonds 00:07:33.899 --> 00:07:37.300 so they had something out there so so it almost 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:40.720 sounds like the growers are saying hey we had 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:43.220 less bees and that was okay so maybe we don't 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:45.870 need as many bees in the future is that part 00:07:45.870 --> 00:07:48.370 of the economics? Well some are saying that but 00:07:48.370 --> 00:07:50.750 the more seasoned experienced growers know they 00:07:50.750 --> 00:07:54.490 had beautiful flight time and if they didn't 00:07:54.490 --> 00:07:56.189 have that they would have been in trouble and 00:07:56.189 --> 00:07:59.290 that's why a lot of guys I mean it's a deep insurance 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:01.430 policy if you want to put it that way to have 00:08:01.430 --> 00:08:03.990 two three highs per acre to make sure you have 00:08:03.990 --> 00:08:06.670 the highs needed to pollinate that crop. Yeah 00:08:06.670 --> 00:08:09.930 that totally makes sense. Give me an idea of 00:08:09.930 --> 00:08:12.290 what's the buzz out there how are people feeling? 00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:15.850 Pretty good about This upcoming almond season 00:08:15.850 --> 00:08:17.970 i did hear in north dakota that there are some 00:08:17.970 --> 00:08:20.129 guys that still had high might since september 00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:23.750 and september can quite get under control. There's 00:08:23.750 --> 00:08:27.449 some consolidation in the business some some 00:08:27.449 --> 00:08:32.139 big big beekeepers selling out. One went to private 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:34.539 equity firm so there's some consolidation some 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:36.919 other guys buying other guys out which you do 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:39.559 get usually you know when prices are low and 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:41.820 people want to get out and they're tired of it 00:08:41.820 --> 00:08:44.500 there's some optimism i think with some of the 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:47.940 things going with the dumping suit there's there's 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:50.480 things i can't talk about attorney client privilege 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:54.460 but there's some. Things in the works that will 00:08:54.460 --> 00:08:57.419 hopefully help with the price getting up to share 00:08:57.419 --> 00:08:59.899 and then there's a big push. There's some new 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:02.299 leadership at Subi, the biggest, you know, the 00:09:02.299 --> 00:09:04.700 largest co -op in the United States trying to 00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:07.519 promote American honey. And we have some packer 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:10.340 buy -in and it seems like kind of that's the 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:13.120 next thing forward is like, let's do, cause the 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.659 national honey board by law, it's a checkoff 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:18.059 program and they can't promote us honey. And 00:09:18.059 --> 00:09:20.539 now there's so much imports. Most of the checkoff 00:09:20.539 --> 00:09:24.259 for that is foreign honey and foreign money anyways, 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:28.179 but we. We're thinking that yeah, it's time to 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:31.200 do it. Put some money in and put a concerted, 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:34.240 focused effort to the public to eat American 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.700 honey. I mean, we've tried in different forms 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:38.580 in the past, but it seems like there's a bigger 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:41.840 push this time. And that was like a big open 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:44.159 roundtable at the California State Beekeeping 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.139 Convention that was talked about and some good 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:49.179 input there. So hopefully we'll have some things 00:09:49.179 --> 00:09:53.159 in the future to help on the honey price. Yeah, 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:56.480 I like it. The general public has no idea, right? 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.740 They they simply don't I know that you know that 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:04.059 and I was talking recently with Matt Malika and 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:06.720 we were talking about this too and the general 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:11.000 public they just they don't know what's in their 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.500 Honey bunches of oat cereal and they don't know 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:16.720 what's in that plastic bear that they're getting 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:20.080 at the grocery store If they did a lot of them 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.039 would say yeah I want something better. I want 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:27.200 the good stuff. I want it to be American so that 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.259 I know what's in it or for Canada, Canadian or 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:33.779 whatever. This really applies all over the world. 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:36.120 I love that you're doing that kind of stuff. 00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:40.210 Yeah, we wish we could copy Canada and their 00:10:40.210 --> 00:10:42.250 labeling laws. Our labeling laws have been updated 00:10:42.250 --> 00:10:45.409 for whatever, 20, 30 years. That USDA grade A 00:10:45.409 --> 00:10:47.649 doesn't mean anything. Everyone's looking the 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:50.129 price on the shelf. They're not looking somewhere 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.149 stamped on the side there. You see country of 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:56.149 origin, Argentina, Vietnam, India, Brazil, whatever. 00:10:56.669 --> 00:10:59.590 We would love to have some teeth behind that. 00:11:00.129 --> 00:11:04.039 So it would be like USDA. Or just say, copy Canada, 00:11:04.340 --> 00:11:08.620 USA one would be USA honey 95 % or more. And 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:11.779 if it's below that, it's USA two or just number 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:13.899 one without the USA in it. So it can be more 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:17.620 obvious, but we're optimistic that Greg Stubbe 00:11:17.620 --> 00:11:20.279 from Florida, you know, we got that bill, the 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:22.559 honey integrity act that we can get some things 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:25.659 done to help right the ship. I guess you could 00:11:25.659 --> 00:11:28.860 say get some legislation that'll help beekeepers 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:32.039 and mainly get the honey price out. So that was 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:33.940 kind of a big success for the honey producers 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:37.580 this year is getting that pill through and partnering 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:41.019 with Senator Tuberville from Alabama I mean that 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:43.159 that was some there's some good things I guess 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:46.419 you could say on the horizon on testing and Hopefully 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:49.279 FDA getting access to Packers what they're testing 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.019 and then looking a little more oversight Basically 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:54.100 is what we're looking there's very few industries 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:56.580 that want more federal oversight. Well, we're 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:59.440 one of them I mean, it's so many hundreds of 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:02.629 millions of pounds of Honey coming in and we 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:05.330 just don't think all that sticky stuff is legit 00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:08.350 Some of it is you know, especially in the industrial 00:12:08.350 --> 00:12:11.169 market. We feel pretty confident stuff on the 00:12:11.169 --> 00:12:13.750 shelf Especially with the Costco recall a few 00:12:13.750 --> 00:12:16.750 years ago that it wasn't the country. They said 00:12:16.750 --> 00:12:19.750 it was and they got sued the consumer is safe, 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:22.460 but Like they've told us in the past, as long 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:25.179 as anybody's dying, they don't care. Well, economic 00:12:25.179 --> 00:12:28.080 adulterated adulteration is still cheating and 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:31.259 not good for the consumer and her speakeepers 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:34.179 in which are mostly small own family farms that 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:36.720 are pollinating most of our food that we eat. 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:39.899 I mean, do we want to import more food from Mexico 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:42.100 and Canada and other places, or do we want to 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:44.340 grow our own food? I think COVID showed us we 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:47.120 want to be more independent and not dependent 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:49.539 on other countries and that's keeping us in business 00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:52.940 is a national food security issue so we keep 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:56.740 pounding that drum. Amen to all of that. People 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:01.220 want to know what's in their food. Yeah. I think 00:13:01.220 --> 00:13:04.179 more than ever because people are afraid of all 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.940 the bad stuff going into food and if I go to 00:13:06.940 --> 00:13:09.279 the store and buy something that says honey, 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.029 it should be honey. It shouldn't have high fructose 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:17.169 corn syrup or water or any whatever else might 00:13:17.169 --> 00:13:19.809 be in it. It should be honey. But people don't 00:13:19.809 --> 00:13:21.409 realize that that's not what they're getting. 00:13:21.549 --> 00:13:24.929 So if you could do some kind of a national campaign 00:13:24.929 --> 00:13:27.889 that would lift that awareness that would be 00:13:27.889 --> 00:13:30.149 awesome. Tell me a little bit more about the 00:13:30.149 --> 00:13:32.870 legislation. You mentioned a couple of points 00:13:32.870 --> 00:13:36.809 but dive a little deeper into that. Well, mainly, 00:13:37.129 --> 00:13:39.309 it's like I'm saying it would be the oversight, 00:13:39.649 --> 00:13:43.049 FDA oversight, the Packers, they would have access 00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:44.990 to what the Packers are already testing that 00:13:44.990 --> 00:13:47.409 honey. They would have access to those reports. 00:13:47.769 --> 00:13:50.870 It may seem early, but right now is a great time 00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:54.590 to order your live bees for 2026 because they 00:13:54.590 --> 00:13:57.590 do sell out and because Man Lake is offering 00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:01.500 a discount for beloved podcast listeners. Wait, 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:04.419 what? I know you're saying live bees, they never 00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:08.059 go on sale. Well, they are now. Click on over 00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:11.799 to Man Lake, order your bees any variety, nukes 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:15.179 or packages and anything in the beginner essentials 00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:18.460 category. And when you check out, use the code 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:21.320 get started in bees. It's down in the show notes 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:23.759 so you don't have to remember for a discount 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.480 on everything. So get your orders in early and 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:31.379 save. Part of the problem we're seeing is that 00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:34.220 a lot of the Packers are getting their results, 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:36.960 and it's Germany, to be honest. You know, there's 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.059 like basically no American lab now. There used 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:41.720 to be one at the University of Missouri, and 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:44.980 that one closed down. And then a lot of friends 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:46.980 would ask and colleagues, and they would send 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.019 their honey to British Columbia to a lab. And 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:52.539 evidently, he's slowing down and getting away 00:14:52.539 --> 00:14:56.440 from that. So by far, almost all the honey that's 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:59.559 consumed, part of it is even the Fournheim coming 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.500 in is going to Germany. And there are partial 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.919 test results coming back and not the full spectrum, 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:07.019 especially on NMR. I don't want to get too deep 00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:09.840 into high resolution mass spec and all this other 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.379 testing, but there's partial test results coming 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:14.960 back. And so if we can get a little bit oversight 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.720 FDA and have access to those records, we feel 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:20.720 like that would in itself clean up a lot of the 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.559 foreign junk from coming in. Of course, the US 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:26.320 has some of their own testing, but they are so 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.340 overwhelmed. The last time we talked to them, 00:15:28.379 --> 00:15:30.240 say they came out this summer to North Dakota, 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:34.159 one of our board members, and we spent the half 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.279 day with them, went to the bee yard, showed them 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.480 the extract plant, and they're just seeing a 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.980 lot of fraud coming from China, and they had 00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:44.340 some questions. They wanted to see how we syrup, 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:48.139 how we feed bees, how we extract, etc. And they 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:51.059 recently had a bust, a little country, Myanmar. 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.299 I think it was Myanmar or was it Taiwan? Oh, 00:15:54.299 --> 00:15:57.740 man, I can't remember. They had a bunch of syrup 00:15:57.740 --> 00:16:00.090 from China. and they asked customs to help test 00:16:00.090 --> 00:16:02.570 it and they helped and had a pretty good size 00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:06.990 bust in over on the in Asia. We just want fair 00:16:06.990 --> 00:16:10.429 we wanted a fair playing field and part of that 00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:14.870 bill there's no labeling per se on it we that's 00:16:14.870 --> 00:16:17.929 you know that would be step number two but just 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:20.029 enforcement that's probably the biggest part 00:16:20.029 --> 00:16:23.669 of the whole bill. Well to me enforcement should 00:16:23.669 --> 00:16:27.779 be not just saying This isn't what you say it 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:30.759 is. So we're sending it back to Taiwan now or 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.440 Vietnam or wherever. But this is not what you 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:36.759 say it is. So it's getting dumped or you're getting 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.919 a huge fine or something. Otherwise, they're 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.299 just going to take it back, stick a new label 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:44.480 on it. And it comes right back. Isn't that the 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:46.679 case? Right? No, it doesn't go back. It just 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.860 gets relabeled here is like syrup and stays here. 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:53.210 And we've asked for destruction. of the product. 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:56.769 But I guess, for the most part, they say that's 00:16:56.769 --> 00:16:58.889 a non -starter for them, that we have to be in 00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:02.289 the middle. So I mean, they have, Customs has 00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:04.630 had cases in Chicago with the big honey gate 00:17:04.630 --> 00:17:06.630 that they've gone to the dump and they took pictures 00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:09.490 of them dumping the honey in the dump. But I 00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:11.569 mean, just at least getting it out of the market 00:17:11.569 --> 00:17:14.609 and out of the honey side, it goes into cattle 00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:17.349 feed, whatever. But yeah, we're still working 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:20.750 on the details on that. And it sounds like testing 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.630 is a big deal. If things have to be sent all 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:26.509 the way to Germany to get tested, that is not 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:30.210 fast enough. No, I mean, it was a big point of 00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:32.970 discussion at Appamondia in Copenhagen that I 00:17:32.970 --> 00:17:37.170 went to in September. Just what tests and there's 00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:39.650 some unproven tests on the whole metagenomics 00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:43.869 and DNA barcoding stuff. A lot of that goes over 00:17:43.869 --> 00:17:46.589 my head, but it's some of that's unproven and 00:17:46.589 --> 00:17:49.720 you got to stay with stuff that's proven. The 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:52.140 European Union is pretty aligned with the United 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:55.119 States and they talk to each other, but the testing, 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:57.980 it's a huge point of discussion and you always 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:00.660 have to stay in front of the fraudsters, right? 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.279 So you always, they're always, these designer 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:06.599 syrups are designed to cheat the test. So you're 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:08.539 always trying to improve and get better and better. 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:12.799 Man, all right. What else economically needs 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.460 to happen? Well, I mean, along with agriculture, 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:18.660 we're suffering with low prices. I mean, the 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:21.839 honey price is one of them. We finally got some 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.819 relief this year. A lot of that probably is the 00:18:24.819 --> 00:18:27.980 Trump administration that the AEWR for our H 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.660 -2A visa workers, it went down for the first 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:35.500 time in like over a decade or more, maybe 15 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:38.079 years. I didn't look it up. And that's finally 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.440 brought some relief because we're just like all 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.380 the farmers I talked to in North Dakota, South 00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:46.950 Dakota. Corn soy wheat really low producer prices 00:18:46.950 --> 00:18:49.410 but everything else stays up i mean you know 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:52.130 you go to the grocery store fertilizer still 00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:55.589 up fuel is still up labor is record high so all 00:18:55.589 --> 00:18:58.230 these things are up but we're getting really 00:18:58.230 --> 00:19:01.509 twenty year old price so that a w r will help 00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:04.309 us to a small degree on the labor side because 00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:06.650 in the past are brand new workers that would 00:19:06.650 --> 00:19:09.269 come in would be making whatever nineteen seventy 00:19:09.269 --> 00:19:12.569 or twenty dollars an hour. You trying to have 00:19:12.569 --> 00:19:14.349 a differential between your best guys that have 00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:16.869 been with you five ten fifteen twenty years and 00:19:16.869 --> 00:19:20.690 guys that can drive forklift trucks. No bees 00:19:20.690 --> 00:19:23.049 better than other guys but there was the gap 00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:27.549 was it was artificially narrowed because of the 00:19:27.549 --> 00:19:31.349 high a w r. So the alternative the wage rate 00:19:31.349 --> 00:19:34.349 so it's now we can get back to that bigger rage 00:19:34.349 --> 00:19:36.670 for your best guys that know the beers better 00:19:36.670 --> 00:19:40.039 be keepers no trucks drive forklift. and your 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:43.079 rookies can go back lower. That will help us. 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:45.160 Just the bottom line. So that was probably a 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.759 good win this year. And then honestly, economic 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:51.559 wise, we had a really big win. Elap, you know, 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.819 Eric Silver, our lobbyist for Honey Producers, 00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:56.460 that was also in the big, beautiful bill. Some 00:19:56.460 --> 00:19:59.519 of the largest producers were not eligible if 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.000 your income was above whatever 900 ,000. So now 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:05.980 with that waiver, everybody can collect Elap, 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:09.450 which is fair. So, I mean, we probably will be 00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:11.589 approaching $100 million probably this year, 00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:14.150 ELAP payments. That's helping people stay in 00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:15.910 business with these low honey prices and these 00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:20.190 huge hive losses. So that was a big win on the 00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:23.529 ELAP side. Well, we need the commercial beekeepers. 00:20:24.430 --> 00:20:27.369 Plain and simple. It's a huge part of our economy, 00:20:27.670 --> 00:20:31.430 our food supply, everything else. So someone 00:20:31.430 --> 00:20:34.309 recently made a comment to me that I thought 00:20:34.309 --> 00:20:38.309 was very unfair and called commercial beekeepers 00:20:38.309 --> 00:20:42.609 just livestock handlers. And I said maybe some 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:44.730 are, but I also know some guys like Chris that 00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:48.089 I really think love honey bees and love what 00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:51.230 they do. Give me an idea of where you come from 00:20:51.230 --> 00:20:54.750 on all this. Yeah, I mean I have a passion for 00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:57.329 it and I see the importance of it of the food 00:20:57.329 --> 00:21:00.430 supply and being an important cog in the wheel 00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:04.750 to keep things going but It to some degree. Yeah, 00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:07.829 we are livestock Handlers, I guess you could 00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:11.230 say but there's a lot more. I mean, it's not 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:13.819 A plus B equals C. Like, you know, with the chicken, 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:16.359 you have this much input, blah, blah, blah. Beekeeping 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:19.779 is an art. It's so hard. I mean, there's experience 00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:22.960 of a lot of private equity buying beekeepers 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.480 and or almond growers buying beekeeping outfits 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:27.420 and it being ran into the ground and bankrupt 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:30.440 in two, three years. So you know, new beekeepers 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.900 need to apprentice and learn. It's a trade and 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:36.700 it's a beautiful trade, but it's definitely takes 00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:40.059 years to master. And I'm still not there yet. 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:41.900 Look, I mean, you look at some of these guys 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:44.079 that I know that have ran bees for 40, 50 years 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.400 and still have losses as many as they do. It's 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:51.559 a lot of work and even more. I had a good friend 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:53.980 in Eastern Washington. I grew up and he was a 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:56.519 farmer and a rancher and he says he told my dad 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.690 one time. Did you beekeepers even put the dairyman 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:02.269 to shame the way the hours you're working, you 00:22:02.269 --> 00:22:04.630 know, and my dad grew up milking cows because 00:22:04.630 --> 00:22:06.710 it's late night hours moving bees and you got 00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:08.569 to work all day, get the bees ready to go into 00:22:08.569 --> 00:22:11.230 the next pollination set or pulling honey or 00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:13.630 run out of supers and there's not enough hours 00:22:13.630 --> 00:22:17.670 in the day. So yes, we're livestock, but I it's 00:22:17.670 --> 00:22:20.430 more beautiful and. It's a lot more nuanced. 00:22:20.430 --> 00:22:23.329 I guess than just handling a cow or something. 00:22:23.789 --> 00:22:26.109 We're strategically moving the highs where we 00:22:26.109 --> 00:22:29.089 think they'll do the best and I mean pulling 00:22:29.089 --> 00:22:31.509 them out of places and into places in the right 00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:34.809 time so and just managing and trying to keep 00:22:34.809 --> 00:22:37.289 You know these beautiful creatures alive. So 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:40.029 and they smell better than cows. Yeah, that's 00:22:40.029 --> 00:22:42.450 true I like the smell of honey pulling honey 00:22:42.450 --> 00:22:44.089 though when you have to use Vigo that of course 00:22:44.089 --> 00:22:46.170 a lot of people don't like that Do you have any 00:22:46.170 --> 00:22:49.629 advice for hobby beekeepers out there? Always 00:22:49.629 --> 00:22:51.970 just don't walk away from it. I just hear story 00:22:51.970 --> 00:22:54.630 after story of you know friends of mine have 00:22:54.630 --> 00:22:57.670 a couple highs that just Just put in the backyard 00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:00.470 and leave it alone. You got to take care of it 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:02.630 You got to check it. You got to feed it. You 00:23:02.630 --> 00:23:05.029 got to medicate it all these things I mean, I 00:23:05.029 --> 00:23:06.970 was telling hobbies other day about paw and patties. 00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:09.569 They didn't know about ball and patties and There's 00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:11.970 a lot of things to do a lot of inputs to keep 00:23:11.970 --> 00:23:13.910 these hives healthy and alive Especially during 00:23:13.910 --> 00:23:16.690 the winter that they had no idea. So I would 00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:20.099 just say Any hobbyist you've got to stay on top 00:23:20.099 --> 00:23:22.559 of it basically you got to visit that thing at 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:26.700 least once a month and Work it pull honey Replace 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:30.059 a queen whatever it is. You're my checks. Yeah 00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:34.019 my checks I have friends who have Casually gotten 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:37.180 into it like what you've explained and they either 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:40.200 quit or they learn hey Yeah, I do love these 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:43.880 bees. I need to get busy and learn a lot I have 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.279 other neighbors around here with horses. I think 00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:49.460 you have to learn every bit as much, if not more, 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.619 about bees as if you had horses. Yeah, yeah, 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:59.779 100%. Honestly, I think it's harder because there's 00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:03.700 a lot more proven, you know, and you can control... 00:24:03.369 --> 00:24:06.549 The environment more like the horse in a pasture 00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:09.910 where bees they're flying two three four miles 00:24:09.910 --> 00:24:12.750 picking up you don't know what from a field that 00:24:12.750 --> 00:24:15.710 got sprayed or someone's house that sprayed something 00:24:15.710 --> 00:24:20.009 or Yeah, it's it's way more of a wild card. There's 00:24:20.009 --> 00:24:22.549 so many more uncertainties. I think uncertainties 00:24:22.549 --> 00:24:24.970 You know the chickens and turkeys they're all 00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:26.930 in that house and it's bio controlled No one 00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:28.650 goes in except for the workers and blah blah 00:24:28.650 --> 00:24:31.450 blah Honey bees are flying dust mops that fly 00:24:31.450 --> 00:24:34.109 so many miles, but you don't know where they're 00:24:34.109 --> 00:24:36.890 getting water from. And I get that every drought 00:24:36.890 --> 00:24:39.289 year. I'll put out a brand new barrel of water, 00:24:39.349 --> 00:24:42.029 55 gallons next to the hive, and they'll still 00:24:42.029 --> 00:24:44.509 fly a mile to someone's house to a dirty cattle 00:24:44.509 --> 00:24:46.910 trough. And I'm like, why are you doing that 00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:49.690 for? Or to a chlorinated swimming pool. Yeah, 00:24:49.769 --> 00:24:53.289 that's true. We have all experienced that. They're 00:24:53.289 --> 00:24:55.650 goofy. I think that's part of why we love them. 00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:58.420 Yep. All right. You have a new wild and crazy 00:24:58.420 --> 00:25:03.279 story for us since last time. I don't remember 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:06.279 what yours was last time. So if you repeat it, 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.559 I won't even know the difference. But every beekeeper 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:12.559 has funny stories. Let's hear one. OK, July. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.579 It's a sad story. It's a good story and a sad 00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:18.480 story. So I have a beer right on the Montana, 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:20.859 North Dakota state line, literally like quarter 00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:24.710 mile. And as you look. Over to Montana. It's 00:25:24.710 --> 00:25:27.269 all nothing but grass. There's nothing planted 00:25:27.269 --> 00:25:29.930 So it's only good on a clover year, which happens 00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:32.150 that area is only like every three four years 00:25:32.150 --> 00:25:35.490 five years You might get clover Anyways, my son 00:25:35.490 --> 00:25:37.589 and I and one of my best guys Diego We're pulling 00:25:37.589 --> 00:25:40.289 honey course of thunderstorms comes through and 00:25:40.289 --> 00:25:42.369 that first clap of lightning. We're halfway pulling 00:25:42.369 --> 00:25:43.990 the honey We just leave the gath boards on like 00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:46.130 hey, let's get in the truck We wait ten minutes 00:25:46.130 --> 00:25:49.549 and it blows through didn't rain too much We 00:25:49.549 --> 00:25:53.470 get out and just the honey was really heavy Beautiful 00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:55.769 would start of the season probably 10th of July 00:25:55.769 --> 00:25:57.930 12th of July. It was just fun I love working 00:25:57.930 --> 00:26:01.549 with my only son pulling honey we get home and 00:26:01.549 --> 00:26:04.269 I have a biologist buddy in North Dakota That 00:26:04.269 --> 00:26:06.950 he's a good birdwatcher good birder that he's 00:26:06.950 --> 00:26:10.009 the number one like fish and game what he called 00:26:10.009 --> 00:26:12.329 that game bird guy, right so he's on the little 00:26:12.329 --> 00:26:16.150 local Bismarck station and Right by my be yard 00:26:16.150 --> 00:26:19.109 and I knew this there's a LEC for sage -grouse, 00:26:19.130 --> 00:26:22.349 you know the LEC is Eric That's where they dance. 00:26:22.509 --> 00:26:25.509 So for thousands of years the males go and dance 00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:28.890 for the females and you know That's how you get 00:26:28.890 --> 00:26:31.769 new little sage -grouse. So the lek is where 00:26:31.769 --> 00:26:34.529 they dance They dance every year at that same 00:26:34.529 --> 00:26:37.450 spot the males and the females will go to the 00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:40.349 male and if you ever seen pictures of sage -grouse 00:26:40.349 --> 00:26:42.210 or prairie chicken They fluff up their feathers 00:26:42.210 --> 00:26:44.390 and they have the big like air sack and it's 00:26:44.390 --> 00:26:47.150 really pretty iconic species of the sagebrush 00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:49.849 west, right? I've seen the dance. I just didn't 00:26:49.849 --> 00:26:52.849 know they went to a grouse disco to do it. Yep. 00:26:53.109 --> 00:26:55.910 The same spot every year. Usually a little dirty 00:26:55.910 --> 00:26:59.109 grassy mound so the females can see them and 00:26:59.109 --> 00:27:02.500 they got they boom loud. Anyways. So this was 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:05.079 the very last lech in North Dakota that they 00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:07.420 knew that sage grouse were dancing. And this 00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:10.440 April, this past April, they had zero sage grouse. 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:13.079 So they think, well, that's it for sage grouse 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:15.960 in the state of North Dakota. I see one, I've 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:18.940 seen probably two, three in my lifetime, because 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:21.299 they're just right in that corner in the Badlands, 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:25.029 some into South Dakota, Wyoming. Montana. But 00:27:25.029 --> 00:27:27.349 anyways, just because, you know, habitat has 00:27:27.349 --> 00:27:29.829 gone away. So that was kind of my point. I told 00:27:29.829 --> 00:27:32.509 the story at the California meeting is that it's 00:27:32.509 --> 00:27:34.930 habitat loss and we're never going to get it 00:27:34.930 --> 00:27:37.309 back. And it's kind of sad that, you know, our 00:27:37.309 --> 00:27:39.650 honey production is down because there's so much 00:27:39.650 --> 00:27:41.829 corn and soy planted and the grasslands are going 00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:45.329 away. And we really need conservation and the 00:27:45.329 --> 00:27:48.049 CRP acres, the conservation reserve where they're 00:27:48.049 --> 00:27:51.099 paid not to farm, those are going away. And so 00:27:51.099 --> 00:27:53.920 we need like a renaissance of protected acreage 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:56.779 that have cover crops on them and just not to 00:27:56.779 --> 00:28:00.079 help bees, but to help all other species, insects 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.660 and birds and mammals. So anyways, I guess that 00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:05.980 wasn't a crazy story with the lightning, but 00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:08.140 it ended up being a sad story, but a lesson in 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:10.680 it, I guess we need good habitat. Yeah, more 00:28:10.680 --> 00:28:13.019 and more habitat. There are a couple of nonprofit 00:28:13.019 --> 00:28:15.859 groups out there that are trying to help with 00:28:15.859 --> 00:28:18.799 that a little bit and we wish them well. We need 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:23.039 a ton more. Oh yeah. They're getting at a few 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:26.519 hundred or a few at the most thousand acres a 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:29.220 year and we need millions of acres it sounds 00:28:29.220 --> 00:28:31.859 like. The honey bees are sort of the canary in 00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:35.000 the coal mine too. Yeah, yeah. If they're suffering 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.339 you can bet the the grouse and other things that 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:40.940 you don't even see are having some of the same 00:28:40.940 --> 00:28:43.720 problems. Hey I won't keep you too much longer, 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:46.039 but I do have one question that somebody asked 00:28:46.039 --> 00:28:48.619 me this morning, and I thought I had a brilliant 00:28:48.619 --> 00:28:51.859 answer for, but it probably wasn't. That is, 00:28:52.099 --> 00:28:55.240 out here in the western part of the United States, 00:28:55.380 --> 00:29:01.059 we have had a long, warm fall. Here in the mountains 00:29:01.059 --> 00:29:04.599 of Utah, we don't even have winter yet. How is 00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:07.839 that affecting the bees? And if it's hard on 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:11.099 them, what can we do to help? Well feed number 00:29:11.099 --> 00:29:13.460 one we saw the same thing in north dakota this 00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:16.519 fall we usually have you know four forty four 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:19.259 four forty four fifty six on a load for thirty 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:22.059 two lot of them came down at four eighty five 00:29:22.059 --> 00:29:25.160 twelve so they eat and a lot of that stores we 00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:27.759 left for them cuz it was way above average well 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.619 in november there was some fifties a few sixties 00:29:30.619 --> 00:29:33.730 usually down in the twenties and thirties. And 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:36.710 so we've had to feed this this winter a lot more 00:29:36.710 --> 00:29:39.210 than we have in the past. I would get out if 00:29:39.210 --> 00:29:41.509 I was, you know, if you're in Utah or whatever 00:29:41.509 --> 00:29:44.130 in the Mountain West and you don't want your 00:29:44.130 --> 00:29:46.029 hive to starve, definitely go feed them because 00:29:46.029 --> 00:29:47.829 they'll be out flying even though there's nothing 00:29:47.829 --> 00:29:50.250 for them to do. They'll just use up their use 00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:52.369 instead of hibernating and staying in that nice 00:29:52.369 --> 00:29:54.970 cluster. They're out flying, using their calories 00:29:54.970 --> 00:29:58.190 and burning it up. So yeah, feed them. Well, 00:29:58.190 --> 00:30:00.309 and that's what we see. You know, we've had a 00:30:00.309 --> 00:30:03.690 lot of days that it's in the mid to high 50s, 00:30:03.809 --> 00:30:06.670 even some low 60s. And this isn't just Utah. 00:30:07.210 --> 00:30:09.869 I've spoken with people in Montana and Colorado 00:30:09.869 --> 00:30:12.890 and a bunch of other states here. And, you know, 00:30:12.890 --> 00:30:14.430 the bees are flying around and they're coming 00:30:14.430 --> 00:30:18.349 back with nada. So there's waste in it. They're 00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:20.829 not only burning through their reserves, but 00:30:20.829 --> 00:30:23.230 I hope they're not wearing themselves out too 00:30:23.230 --> 00:30:26.130 much. Winter bees aren't really meant to be doing 00:30:26.130 --> 00:30:28.450 that, are they? Nope, they aren't. And so that's 00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:31.500 why you might have a smaller cluster coming out 00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:34.740 of winter. And my main concern is don't let them 00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:36.220 starve. You're going to have to probably do more 00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:40.779 protein patties and more corn syrup to feed them. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:43.740 Feed, feed, feed. All right. Any other great 00:30:43.740 --> 00:30:46.180 wisdom you want to leave with us, Chris? No. 00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:49.420 Be ready. We might have some letters to we want 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:51.779 from different states for our congressmen when 00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:54.079 we are ready to move the Honey Integrity Act 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.779 forwards. But we'll get the word out. But yeah, 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.750 we might need some grassroots reports. That's 00:31:00.750 --> 00:31:03.230 something everybody can do is support those kinds 00:31:03.230 --> 00:31:06.109 of things. Write the letters when they come up. 00:31:06.349 --> 00:31:08.069 It's the little things like that we can jump 00:31:08.069 --> 00:31:11.369 in and do. Hey, Chris, I really appreciate it. 00:31:11.970 --> 00:31:13.509 Oh, Eric, I was gonna say one thing we on that 00:31:13.509 --> 00:31:16.430 Beltsville, Maryland lab, the Trump administration, 00:31:16.529 --> 00:31:18.609 that's one bad thing they've done. They want 00:31:18.609 --> 00:31:21.910 to close it down. We've got pretty good support 00:31:21.910 --> 00:31:24.029 and a lot of letters in and I've been on a bunch 00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:26.819 of the calls. You know, trying to keep it open 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:29.420 because any time you close the lab, less than 00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:31.619 half the people go relocate because they don't 00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:34.319 want to move for that. And that's our flagship 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:37.440 B lab and they do the National Disease Survey. 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:40.740 It's important. So anyways, I just want to kudos 00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:42.980 to those that wrote letters and helped on. We 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:45.220 don't know yet, but yeah, on the Beltsville lab. 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:47.799 Hopefully it'll still be there. Yeah, I hope 00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:51.140 so. All right. Chris, I appreciate it. I'd love 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:53.859 to have you back from time to time. Sorry, I 00:31:53.859 --> 00:31:56.019 missed you at Epimonia. If I knew you were there, 00:31:56.019 --> 00:31:58.339 we could have gotten together. Yeah, sorry. I 00:31:58.339 --> 00:32:00.799 got that from a lot of people. I goofed off a 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:02.900 couple days, too, because you're in a new country. 00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:05.380 You got to go see it. And with eight to ten thousand 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:07.799 people in that convention center, you know, there's 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.140 no way you're going to accidentally or almost 00:32:10.140 --> 00:32:13.079 no way. Oh, yeah, there's Chris over there. Yeah. 00:32:13.660 --> 00:32:15.880 Anyway, thanks. Appreciate your time. OK, thanks, 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:21.390 Eric. Thanks for joining us on Be Love Beekeeping 00:32:21.390 --> 00:32:24.690 presented by Man Lake. If you like this content 00:32:24.690 --> 00:32:27.150 I hope you'll share it with a friend, follow 00:32:27.150 --> 00:32:30.490 and subscribe to this podcast, and even sign 00:32:30.490 --> 00:32:33.170 up for our newsletter at BeLoveBeekeeping .com 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:36.160 Also, just a shout out to Vita B Health for their 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:39.559 support, we appreciate them. Vita's Varroa Control 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:42.539 range of products includes Epistan, Epigard, 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:46.359 and now Varroxan, Extended Release Oxalic Acid 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:49.859 Strips. Thanks guys, and remember, if you're 00:32:49.859 --> 00:32:52.539 not just in it for the honey or the money, you're 00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:54.819 in it for the love. See you next week.