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 --> 00:01:23.950 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:28.209 presented by our great friend, Man Lake. First 00:01:28.209 --> 00:01:31.370 up on the podcast today is our new weekly feature 00:01:31.370 --> 00:01:34.530 called Inside the Hive and it's brought to you 00:01:34.530 --> 00:01:37.569 by Primal Bee. When the outside temperatures 00:01:37.569 --> 00:01:40.390 drop, have you ever wondered exactly what's going 00:01:40.390 --> 00:01:45.049 on inside a beehive? Imagine if you and 20 ,000 00:01:45.049 --> 00:01:47.390 of your best friends were stuck in an ice box. 00:01:47.650 --> 00:01:50.250 The first thing you'd want to do is all gather 00:01:50.250 --> 00:01:53.489 close together to share your body heat. Honey 00:01:53.489 --> 00:01:56.290 bees are much the same. When the temperatures 00:01:56.290 --> 00:02:00.390 drop outside, they try to keep warm inside by 00:02:00.390 --> 00:02:03.489 clustering together. In fact, they cluster in 00:02:03.489 --> 00:02:07.450 a three -dimensional ball and vibrate similar 00:02:07.450 --> 00:02:10.870 to our shivering to keep warm. Bees on the inside 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:14.169 of the cluster take turns moving to the outside 00:02:14.169 --> 00:02:17.740 to share the duties of generating heat. At the 00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:21.599 same time, the bees inside the cluster are uncapping 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:24.919 cells of honey and eating their stores which 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:28.180 in turn helps them generate heat and keeps them 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:31.699 alive. When honey is depleted in one area of 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:35.419 the hive, the entire cluster slowly moves to 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:38.860 another area with more honey stores. The colder 00:02:38.860 --> 00:02:42.180 it is, the more food they need. Winter bees, 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:47.169 they are absolutely amazing. Next time on Inside 00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:49.449 the Hive, we'll look at how a queen bee gets 00:02:49.449 --> 00:02:52.729 made and it all comes down to what she eats for 00:02:52.729 --> 00:02:56.550 lunch. Now give a warm welcome to our very special 00:02:56.550 --> 00:03:04.669 guest. All right, one last time we're here at 00:03:04.669 --> 00:03:07.490 the North American Honey Bee Expo and we've got 00:03:07.490 --> 00:03:10.729 Joshua Scott with us today. Do you go by Joshua 00:03:10.729 --> 00:03:14.479 or Josh? Josh, thank you. Josh, how are you? 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:17.080 I'm doing good. How are you? I'm great. This 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.319 has been fun. It's the last day. Are you worn 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:22.240 out yet? I am worn out. I mean, I tell every 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:24.560 new beekeeper that comes to the North American 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.759 Honey Bee Expo for the first time that it's an 00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:29.180 absolute marathon. You got to pace yourself. 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:31.639 Don't try to get done with everything in one 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:33.659 day. I know they sell a one day ticket, but I 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:36.039 don't know how anybody could possibly see everything 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:38.900 within just one day. Well, and if you do you're 00:03:38.900 --> 00:03:41.639 gonna miss all the seminar all the seminars and 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:45.699 the honey show and I mean they have the Silent 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.500 auctions and of course this trade show is absolutely 00:03:48.500 --> 00:03:51.159 massive. They didn't give me a free pass So I'm 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:53.400 not gonna pitch them any more than that. We're 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:57.379 done with that No, it's been a lot of fun and 00:03:57.379 --> 00:04:01.099 just the energy. There's really a but sorry almost 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:03.460 said buzz around here I don't mean to be puns, 00:04:03.460 --> 00:04:06.840 but Josh you live here in the Louisville area. 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.289 I do How did you get into beekeeping in the first 00:04:09.289 --> 00:04:12.449 place? Or I should say why? Well, yeah, so I 00:04:12.449 --> 00:04:15.449 actually started about five years ago when the 00:04:15.449 --> 00:04:18.290 pandemic started. And just like a lot of people, 00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:20.290 you know, that were stuck at home, I was thinking, 00:04:20.290 --> 00:04:24.250 you know, maybe I need a new hobby. And my mother 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:27.069 -in -law visited and she had mentioned to me 00:04:27.069 --> 00:04:30.980 that she was going to get a nuke of bees. And 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:34.620 I'm an engineer by trade. I'm like, okay, so 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:37.379 what is a nuke of bees? And she said, well, it's 00:04:37.379 --> 00:04:40.519 a nucleus. It's the start of a beehive to be 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:43.040 able to keep bees. And that's all it took. And 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.279 then I immediately went down the rabbit hole 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.279 and started reading every book on bees I could 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:50.920 get my hands on, watching hundreds of hours of 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.540 YouTube videos. And then, of course, getting 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:57.779 my first nuke back in 2020. Let's talk about 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:00.620 YouTube videos for a minute. Because I love this 00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:04.600 topic in so many ways, because it's great and 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:06.939 it's horrible both. Oh yeah. Because there's 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:09.240 so much of it. There's a lot of it. And as you 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:11.779 know, every beekeeper's heard the old thing about 00:05:11.779 --> 00:05:14.399 you ask 10 beekeepers the same question, you 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:18.060 get 11 different answers. YouTube has taken that 00:05:18.060 --> 00:05:21.420 to the millionth degree. Absolutely. And so I'm 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:25.500 wondering if you have advice for people on, without 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:28.810 naming specific channels. How do they know what 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:32.149 they can believe on YouTube? Yeah, it's not easy. 00:05:32.250 --> 00:05:34.769 It's difficult, especially for somebody that's 00:05:34.769 --> 00:05:37.490 just getting started in beekeeping. The main 00:05:37.490 --> 00:05:40.689 advice that I generally give people that are 00:05:40.689 --> 00:05:43.589 just starting out, almost all beekeepers can 00:05:43.589 --> 00:05:46.490 agree as far as a book that beekeeping for dummies 00:05:46.490 --> 00:05:49.370 is a great start. So I will point people in that 00:05:49.370 --> 00:05:52.430 direction. And then when it comes to actual content, 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.420 I do point people towards the ones, the more 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:57.819 trusted names. We won't name any of them, but 00:05:57.819 --> 00:05:59.540 those of you probably listening know who I'm 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:02.079 talking about. A lot of them are here at the 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.759 North American Honey Bee Expo. But it's like 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:09.180 anything in life. You want to learn from someone 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:11.980 that has experience and a lot of experience. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:15.100 And so that's what I did. So when I first started 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:18.110 watching YouTube videos to try to learn... I 00:06:18.110 --> 00:06:20.269 did some research and I found out who some of 00:06:20.269 --> 00:06:23.250 the top YouTube beekeeping personalities were, 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:26.170 looked at their background to see how many years 00:06:26.170 --> 00:06:28.689 they had been keeping bees. A lot of them were 00:06:28.689 --> 00:06:31.069 commercial beekeepers and that you have to be 00:06:31.069 --> 00:06:32.689 careful with that because if you just want to 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:35.290 start out as a hobbyist, some of the advice that 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:37.009 they're going to be giving is going to be geared 00:06:37.009 --> 00:06:39.730 towards being a commercial beekeeper and not 00:06:39.730 --> 00:06:42.189 necessarily a backyard beekeeper, but it's a 00:06:42.189 --> 00:06:44.009 good place to start. You're not going to be able 00:06:44.009 --> 00:06:46.069 to get all your information and all you're learning 00:06:46.069 --> 00:06:48.350 from YouTube, but it is a tremendous resource 00:06:48.350 --> 00:06:51.550 that we have that beekeepers many years ago never 00:06:51.550 --> 00:06:53.550 never had never had that opportunity. Yeah, it 00:06:53.550 --> 00:06:57.129 really can be. If you're thinking, oh, wow, I'm 00:06:57.129 --> 00:06:59.769 going to do my first split this spring. I don't 00:06:59.769 --> 00:07:02.329 know how to do it. Well, the split bees. But 00:07:02.329 --> 00:07:04.410 there is a nice thing about YouTube, and that 00:07:04.410 --> 00:07:07.149 is that you can learn 10 different methods. Yep. 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:10.990 And then you can look at it and say, this one 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:14.769 kind of rings true with me. Yeah. or my mentor 00:07:14.769 --> 00:07:19.050 here in wherever I live, Minnesota or South Dakota 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:22.670 or South Florida recommends doing this kind. 00:07:22.769 --> 00:07:25.870 Now I can actually see it and do something about 00:07:25.870 --> 00:07:28.490 it. So that's some of the good things about it, 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:30.769 but start with a mentor. Start with somebody 00:07:30.769 --> 00:07:33.870 local too. Exactly. Yeah, I'd tell, I recommend 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:36.310 all new beekeepers. The first thing I do is join 00:07:36.310 --> 00:07:38.790 your local bee club if you have one in your area. 00:07:39.050 --> 00:07:41.810 If they have a Facebook group page, I recommend 00:07:41.810 --> 00:07:43.790 that they join that Facebook group page because 00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:45.670 you'll be able to start interacting with them 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:48.829 I think it's very important as a new beekeeper 00:07:48.829 --> 00:07:52.529 that you attend field days if your local club 00:07:52.529 --> 00:07:55.509 offers though because you truly don't know how 00:07:55.509 --> 00:07:58.689 you're going to feel or react when you have tens 00:07:58.689 --> 00:08:01.370 of thousands of bees buzzing and flying around 00:08:01.370 --> 00:08:04.209 your head until you experience it and Beekeeping 00:08:04.209 --> 00:08:07.139 can be very expensive to get into So you want 00:08:07.139 --> 00:08:10.879 to avoid spending thousands of dollars until 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:12.920 you know that you're actually going to be comfortable 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:15.959 around a bunch of bees, a bunch of stinging insects, 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.980 right? And so I always recommend that you participate 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:21.800 in your local club's field days to get that experience. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:24.839 And usually, you know, if you truly are going 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:26.680 to become a beekeeper, you're going to get hooked. 00:08:26.980 --> 00:08:28.899 There's something about the love of bees. Well, 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.080 that's what this is all about, but... What is 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.179 it? Why do we fall in love with them? They're 00:08:34.179 --> 00:08:38.019 just bugs. They're bugs, but they're God's little 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:40.740 miracles. I mean, they're so amazing. They're 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:46.279 a super organism. How is it that thousands of 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:50.299 insects can work in perfect harmony to produce 00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:52.960 all of these amazing products like beeswax and 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.700 honey and propolis and do it in complete darkness 00:08:56.700 --> 00:08:59.860 while silently communicating with each other? 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:03.360 and then they can swarm and bivouac out on a 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:07.120 tree and find a new colony miles away with pinpoint 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.279 accuracy because of a thing called the waggle 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:11.659 dance. Eric, I mean, it's it's absolutely mind 00:09:11.659 --> 00:09:13.899 blowing. And I think anybody that starts to go 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:17.159 down the rabbit hole of beekeeping and honeybees 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:19.879 quickly becomes fascinated with these creatures. 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:22.620 Let's see what we can learn today. Sure. I hear 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:26.659 you know a lot about winterization, even midwinter 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.019 checks and things like that. Let's talk about 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:31.639 that. What do you recommend? And again, it's 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:33.419 different for wherever you live. That's exactly 00:09:33.419 --> 00:09:36.259 right. Your winter is not as harsh as mine or 00:09:36.259 --> 00:09:38.580 somebody in Canada or something like that. That's 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:40.379 exactly right. But give me some recommendations 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:43.419 or tips. Yeah. So I mean, I think the main thing 00:09:43.419 --> 00:09:45.360 when you're preparing, at least and I'm going 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:48.000 to speak to this, I'm in the Kentucky Midwest 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:51.759 United States region. So we have cold winters, 00:09:51.779 --> 00:09:54.080 but they're not brutally cold winters. So we 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:56.399 only have like maybe two or three months here. 00:09:56.549 --> 00:09:59.870 where our bees are truly stuck inside. And so 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:02.909 late fall is generally when I'm focused, I've 00:10:02.909 --> 00:10:05.789 already extracted the honey, and now I'm in the 00:10:05.789 --> 00:10:08.409 mind frame of preparing my bees for the winter. 00:10:08.669 --> 00:10:11.070 So what exactly does that mean? Well, the number 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:13.870 one thing that you got to make sure is that you're 00:10:13.870 --> 00:10:16.750 taking care of mites. You know, Varroa destructor, 00:10:17.070 --> 00:10:19.250 public enemy number one, we've all heard of it. 00:10:19.590 --> 00:10:23.409 So you absolutely have to get your mite load 00:10:23.409 --> 00:10:27.480 down in the late summer. an early fall heading 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:29.860 into the winter. The beekeeping calendar starts 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.620 in August. That's when that queen is going to 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:35.240 start raising those fat bees that have the higher 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:38.299 fat bodies that have to be able to live for four 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:40.740 or five months in the colony all the way through 00:10:40.740 --> 00:10:43.980 the winter. If those bees are sick, your colony 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:46.230 is not going to make it. So the number one thing 00:10:46.230 --> 00:10:48.309 you have to do, and there's a large variety of 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:50.570 ways to kill the Varroa mites, but you have to 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:53.149 get your mite loads down as low as you can. I'm 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:55.610 sorry to interject, but I need to emphasize something 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:59.490 you said a minute ago. Late summer and fall, 00:10:59.690 --> 00:11:03.509 do not wait till October. It's too late. To test 00:11:03.509 --> 00:11:06.049 and then do something about it. That's exactly 00:11:06.049 --> 00:11:07.789 right. You've got to keep these things under 00:11:07.789 --> 00:11:10.610 control all year long, especially as you're getting 00:11:10.610 --> 00:11:13.080 later and later in the summer. And later in the 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:15.519 summer, when the bee population is on decline, 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:19.100 the Varroa population is actually on the increase 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:21.259 still. So that's why it's extremely important 00:11:21.259 --> 00:11:23.960 in that time of year to really knock the mites 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:27.480 down. Whether you use a formic acid or use a 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:29.960 thymol -based treatment or whatever, you need 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:32.440 to get a large knockdown and do your mite checks. 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:35.220 Now, once you get your mites under control, the 00:11:35.220 --> 00:11:36.820 other thing that you need to double check and 00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:39.340 make sure is that your colonies are at the appropriate 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:41.899 weight. If you've extracting a lot of the honey 00:11:41.899 --> 00:11:44.679 or taking most of the honey from the bees, you 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:46.700 need to feed your bees. You have to feed them. 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:49.059 You've got to get that colony weight up to where 00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:51.659 it needs to be heading into winter. Now in my 00:11:51.659 --> 00:11:54.779 own apiary, I exclusively run single brood management, 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.759 which means that my target weight for each colony 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:01.879 is somewhere in the 60 to 70 pound total weight, 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.539 everything, including not just the brood chamber, 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:07.620 but everything. And so if I can get my bees, 00:12:07.870 --> 00:12:10.950 by feeding them a thick two to one syrup and 00:12:10.950 --> 00:12:13.929 I can get them up to 60 or 70 pounds, I know 00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:16.710 that that colony is going to be pretty good going 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:19.009 into the wintertime. Let's just jump into single 00:12:19.009 --> 00:12:21.450 brood management for a minute, because a lot 00:12:21.450 --> 00:12:23.990 of people have never heard of it. I don't know 00:12:23.990 --> 00:12:26.629 enough about it. You were telling me earlier 00:12:26.629 --> 00:12:29.330 it's different than the Demery method, which 00:12:29.330 --> 00:12:32.769 is a form of single brood management. Tell me 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:35.169 how you do it. Yeah, so I mean. Basically, when 00:12:35.169 --> 00:12:37.429 I first started beekeeping, I think the very 00:12:37.429 --> 00:12:41.110 first year with my very first colony, I ended 00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:44.289 up using double deeps, which that means is there's 00:12:44.289 --> 00:12:47.230 two brood chambers for the queen to lay in, which 00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:49.409 if you're using the American Langstroth with 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:52.669 10 frames, that's a total of 20 frames. And that 00:12:52.669 --> 00:12:54.529 can produce some pretty large colonies, which 00:12:54.529 --> 00:12:57.470 is fine. But as a brand new beekeeper, there 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:00.110 are times where you need to find and locate the 00:13:00.110 --> 00:13:02.519 queen. And that can be quite challenging. with 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:05.559 these supermassive large colonies, right? And 00:13:05.559 --> 00:13:08.799 so I don't exactly know how I got turned on to 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:12.139 it, but I think it was my buddy Cody who actually 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:15.220 mentioned he runs some singles as part of his 00:13:15.220 --> 00:13:17.000 operations. I said, singles, what's that? And 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.000 he said, oh, just a single brood management. 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:21.259 Well, that was enough to pique my interest. So 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.360 then of course, you know me, I went down the 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.340 rabbit hole of singer brood management and did 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:27.860 a bunch of research on it. And there's just a 00:13:27.860 --> 00:13:30.120 lot of advantages with single brood management. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.320 Of course, there are some disadvantages and we 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.879 can talk about that. There's less equipment to 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:37.860 maintain. It's easier if you need to find the 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:40.480 queen. You're only looking in 10 frames versus 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:44.279 20 or 30 if you run triple deeps. The manipulation 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.820 is easier. There's just a lot of advantages to 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:51.019 the single brood management. And so I just, Eric, 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:52.460 I just turned to single brood management and 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:54.620 I never looked back and I've been doing it ever 00:13:54.620 --> 00:13:57.549 since. using queen excluders above that box. 00:13:57.549 --> 00:14:00.549 That's correct. So when I place honey supers 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:03.210 on, I will place a metal queen excluder right 00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:05.230 above the brood chamber, and then I'll put my 00:14:05.230 --> 00:14:08.009 honey supers on. But if you look at the actual 00:14:08.009 --> 00:14:11.110 math, and how many cells per frame, you know, 00:14:11.190 --> 00:14:14.190 you could get, what, 2, 3 ,000 cells per frame, 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:17.389 and then you multiply that times 10, that queen 00:14:17.389 --> 00:14:20.460 has plenty of room to lay in there. Now, that 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.139 you have to be more active in terms of your management 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:25.460 with single brood because one of the downsides 00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:28.259 is you'll have a lot more swarming behavior. 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:31.080 Because it's quicker for those bees and that 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.779 queen to run out of room, fill up with brood, 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:36.740 that brood pheromone triggers the urge for those 00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:39.399 bees to want to swarm, so you just have to be 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.100 careful and you have to really kind of manage 00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:44.620 the colonies a little closer than if you just 00:14:44.620 --> 00:14:47.399 had a double deep and you can kind of walk away 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:49.440 maybe for a while and come back and check later. 00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:51.710 So what do you do if they're filling up? Yeah, 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.149 if I mean, if they're filling up, generally speaking, 00:14:54.309 --> 00:14:57.330 I'll make sure that they have enough room for 00:14:57.330 --> 00:14:59.929 supers. So if my flow is just start right before 00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:02.289 the flow actually begins, I'll just make sure 00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:04.330 that I have plenty of drawn comb and that I would 00:15:04.330 --> 00:15:06.970 say I'll pause there. That's probably the biggest 00:15:06.970 --> 00:15:10.110 advantage is if you already have drawn comb and 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:13.730 you can provide drawn comb to your bees, that's 00:15:13.730 --> 00:15:16.840 going to suppress that urge to swarm. It may 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:19.480 seem early, but right now is a great time to 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:23.259 order your live bees for 2026 because they do 00:15:23.259 --> 00:15:26.799 sell out and because Man Lake is offering a discount 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:30.600 for Beelove Podcast listeners. Wait, what? I 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:33.340 know you're saying live bees, they never go on 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:36.799 sale. Well, they are now. Click on over to Man 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:40.840 Lake. order your bees any variety nukes or packages 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:44.340 and anything in the beginner essentials category 00:15:44.340 --> 00:15:47.539 and when you check out use the code get started 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.039 in bees it's down in the show notes so you don't 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:53.279 have to remember for a discount on everything 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:58.240 so get your orders in early and save our honey 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.000 bees work hard to keep warm and stay alive all 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.779 winter While we can't change the temperature 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:07.779 outside, we can make their work easier by providing 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:11.840 a better hive with more insulation. Primal Bee 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.100 builds hives around that idea, thick insulated 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:17.740 walls designed to work the way a tree cavity 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:22.059 works. And come spring, more live, happy, healthy 00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:25.279 bees. To me it just makes sense, that's why I'm 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.460 giving it a try. A hive built more like a bee's 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:32.480 home in a tree, only better. Go to PrimalB .com 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.200 to learn more. And so what I will do is if I 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:38.580 have a colony that's just absolutely taken off 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:41.419 and that queen is laying like crazy and there's 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:44.360 brood all over in that brood nest, I can pull 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.220 some of those brood frames and I can donate it 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:50.559 to colonies that are behind or smaller colonies 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:54.080 and then I can take a frame that has nothing 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:57.240 but drawn open comb, put that in that colony 00:16:57.240 --> 00:16:59.639 and now that queen has a whole new place to lay. 00:16:59.789 --> 00:17:02.590 and that helps suppress that urge to swarm. Explain 00:17:02.590 --> 00:17:06.190 why the drawn out comb is so important versus 00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:08.769 just empty frames with foundation. That's right. 00:17:08.930 --> 00:17:11.750 Well, for one, bees are not going to draw wax 00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:15.130 unless they have to, right? It takes energy, 00:17:15.349 --> 00:17:17.730 it consumes resources for the bees, and they're 00:17:17.730 --> 00:17:20.869 just not going to do it. So they won't draw wax 00:17:20.869 --> 00:17:23.730 all year round. So we always like to say in the 00:17:23.730 --> 00:17:26.849 beekeeping world that drawn comb is a beekeeper's 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:30.410 gold. because the resource is there and ready 00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:32.910 for the bees to use right away. So if you have 00:17:32.910 --> 00:17:35.849 drawn comb and you put that into a brood chamber 00:17:35.849 --> 00:17:38.910 or your single deep, your queen is going to immediately 00:17:38.910 --> 00:17:41.549 seek that out and start to lay in those cells. 00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:44.230 Now, if the bees also are running out of room, 00:17:44.269 --> 00:17:46.150 let's say you're in the middle of a nectar flow. 00:17:46.750 --> 00:17:48.910 And with one of the downsides of single brood 00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:51.730 management is that your colony can become what's 00:17:51.730 --> 00:17:54.950 called honey bound or nectar bound easier than 00:17:54.950 --> 00:17:57.500 in a double deep. you have to keep an eye on 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:00.200 that. If your bees are starting to plug the brood 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.640 chamber and the nest with nectar during a strong 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:06.259 flow, you got to have that drawn comb on hand 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:09.420 so you can pull those frames out, put the drawn 00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.579 empty comb back in there so the queen has a place 00:18:12.579 --> 00:18:17.140 to lay. Yeah. And if the queen sees a frame of 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:20.509 just foundation with no drawn comb, She doesn't 00:18:20.509 --> 00:18:22.930 see it as a place to lay. Correct. She's out 00:18:22.930 --> 00:18:24.890 of space. That's right. Time to head out. It's 00:18:24.890 --> 00:18:26.789 time to head out. It's gonna trigger that urge 00:18:26.789 --> 00:18:29.549 to swarm. The bees need time. They've got those 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:33.289 wax producing glands that are only active during 00:18:33.289 --> 00:18:36.470 a few days of a worker bee's life. It takes time 00:18:36.470 --> 00:18:38.890 to draw that comb out. That queen bee is wanting 00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:42.049 to lay one to two thousand eggs a day during 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:45.089 the strong, during a strong flow. And so really 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:46.910 only during a strong flow when there's plenty 00:18:46.910 --> 00:18:49.299 of nectar around. is when the bees are going 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:52.259 to want to draw that wax. Outside of that, they're 00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:55.140 not going to want to draw wax. OK, I know I got 00:18:55.140 --> 00:18:56.960 a soft track. Yeah. Let's get back to winter 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.660 for just a second. Do you do any kind of winter 00:19:00.660 --> 00:19:04.480 checks? I mean, how do you know come end of January 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.900 they've got enough to eat in there? No. So I 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:12.019 use a device called a Vivaldi board and it is 00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:14.769 basically it's a quilt box. And every single 00:19:14.769 --> 00:19:17.369 one of my colonies, I place a Vivaldi board on 00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:20.490 top of those colonies. Inside the Vivaldi board, 00:19:20.750 --> 00:19:24.730 I make a custom shim. And now I'm a fan of the 00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:28.049 Hive Alive winter fondant patty. So every single 00:19:28.049 --> 00:19:32.069 one of my colonies gets a fondant patty prophylactically. 00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:35.809 Meaning, even if that colony, and I do weigh 00:19:35.809 --> 00:19:38.509 my colonies going into winter, is up to the proper 00:19:38.509 --> 00:19:40.849 weight, like we talked about, 60 or 70 pounds, 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:43.539 There are some colonies that will still chew 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:45.519 through and eat a lot of that, and you have to 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:49.779 be careful in terms of starvation risks towards 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:53.140 early spring before the flow starts. And so every 00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:54.920 one of my colonies gets one of those fondant 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:57.359 patties, and the Volity Board makes it really 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.680 easy to where you can open the top, open the 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.789 inner cover, and you can visually see... if they've 00:20:03.789 --> 00:20:06.569 started to consume the paddy that's inside of 00:20:06.569 --> 00:20:08.869 them. So even on a cold day. Even on a cold day, 00:20:09.009 --> 00:20:11.490 that's like it. And I put insulation inside of 00:20:11.490 --> 00:20:13.710 a volatility board. So again, it functions in 00:20:13.710 --> 00:20:16.490 two ways. It functions as a quilt box, and it 00:20:16.490 --> 00:20:19.210 also allows me to feed the bees throughout the 00:20:19.210 --> 00:20:22.990 winter time, which really, I mean, really helps 00:20:22.990 --> 00:20:26.289 any sort of starvation issues. Yeah, great. All 00:20:26.289 --> 00:20:29.390 right. Where else do you go? I mean, we talked 00:20:29.390 --> 00:20:31.910 a little bit about swarms of where we came on 00:20:31.910 --> 00:20:36.289 camera here. And if this single brood management 00:20:36.289 --> 00:20:40.230 creates more swarms, are you only trying to control 00:20:40.230 --> 00:20:42.369 it or are you trying to catch swarms? Are you 00:20:42.369 --> 00:20:44.190 doing a lot of splits? What are you doing? Yeah, 00:20:44.309 --> 00:20:46.769 I don't do a lot as funny because I was just 00:20:46.769 --> 00:20:48.390 talking to some other beekeepers about this. 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:51.190 I don't do a lot of active swarm suppression. 00:20:51.730 --> 00:20:54.670 I guess in my particular setup, my apiary is 00:20:54.670 --> 00:20:57.230 on my property, so I'm able to go out there and 00:20:57.230 --> 00:20:59.549 just visually inspect two or three times a day. 00:20:59.829 --> 00:21:03.920 And if I happen to see a swarm, Generally, a 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.319 lot of times they will bivouac into a tree or 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.880 a branch that's very close to my apiary before 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:12.319 they actually relocate to their final destination 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.880 and I'll just go capture that swarm and provide 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.740 them with a new home. So I just don't, I don't 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:21.039 actively try to suppress the urge to swarm. Every 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:24.720 single colony wants to swarm and it can just, 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:26.839 it can be a lot of manipulation to act if you're 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:28.559 going to, you know, maybe some people like to 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.890 clip their queen's wings. Some people will inspect 00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:34.849 every frame and if they see swarm cells, they'll 00:21:34.849 --> 00:21:38.009 go in and pinch those swarm cells. I just kind 00:21:38.009 --> 00:21:39.910 of keep an eye on them. I can tell the ones that 00:21:39.910 --> 00:21:42.269 are doing really well that want to swarm. And 00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:44.410 really, Eric, I just hope to catch them in their 00:21:44.410 --> 00:21:47.410 biv -lack state within my apiary. I'm sure I 00:21:47.410 --> 00:21:50.690 lose a few every year that just take off. I just 00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:53.089 kind of look at it like I'm helping the natural 00:21:53.089 --> 00:21:56.630 bee population. Cool. Let's talk about your business 00:21:56.630 --> 00:21:58.789 a little bit. Sure. Is this a business for you 00:21:58.789 --> 00:22:02.500 or a hobby? I did officially form it as an LLC 00:22:02.500 --> 00:22:06.859 last year, but it is just a hobby. So my normal 00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.420 day job, like I mentioned, I'm an engineer. So 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:13.339 this is just a hobby for me, but it's, you know, 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:15.000 it's just something that kind of took off on 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.000 its own. And I started participating in the local 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:20.779 farmers market and being able to provide value 00:22:20.779 --> 00:22:24.099 added products like honey and beeswax and propolis 00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:27.119 and things for my local community. really just 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:30.559 kind of energize me. It makes me feel good when 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.740 people approach me and say, I love your honey 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:34.819 or really appreciate you doing this to provide 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:36.839 for the local community. How many colonies are 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:40.220 you managing? So I'm currently managing 22 colonies, 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:43.799 yeah, by myself. That's a lot for a hobbyist. 00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:46.400 It is a lot, but you know how B math works. You 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.339 start with one, then you have four, then you 00:22:48.339 --> 00:22:51.759 have 10, now you have 20. So it's funny, you 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:54.859 actually have to actively try to keep your numbers 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:59.299 down. at a certain point. And so, but yeah. I 00:22:59.299 --> 00:23:01.559 like it. And you do a lot of educational stuff 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:04.079 out there. Yeah. Tell us what you do and why. 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:07.559 Okay. So I started a YouTube channel, I think 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:10.720 it was a couple years ago called Bees in the 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:14.240 Weeds. And with the intent to just try to help 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.140 out newer beekeepers. So I was getting asked 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:19.680 a lot of questions from newer beekeepers. Josh, 00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:22.980 you know, how do I do a walk away split? Josh, 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:25.859 how do I mark a queen? How do I do this? How 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:28.220 do I do that? And I found that I was answering 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:31.240 the same questions over and over again. And I 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:33.680 thought there's a better way to do this. And 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:36.420 so I just I was like, I'm going to record myself. 00:23:36.579 --> 00:23:38.079 I'm just going to go out there in the bee yard. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:40.200 I'm going to record myself doing a walk away 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:42.660 split. I'm going to upload it to YouTube. And 00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:44.460 the next time I get asked that question, I'm 00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:46.559 just going to send him the link and say, watch 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:48.819 this video. If you have any follow up questions, 00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.599 reach out to me. I think it's great for business, 00:23:51.859 --> 00:23:55.890 too. And if people see you there, and they realize, 00:23:56.309 --> 00:23:59.250 oh, this guy knows what he's talking about. Okay. 00:24:00.150 --> 00:24:02.849 So, therefore, if I need to get a nuke or something 00:24:02.849 --> 00:24:05.829 else, he'd be a good guy to talk. Yeah, exactly. 00:24:06.269 --> 00:24:08.690 Yeah, and I think, you know, credibility is a 00:24:08.690 --> 00:24:14.369 big thing. Certainly, you have to, I don't know 00:24:14.369 --> 00:24:17.190 what the right word is, have thick skin and a 00:24:17.190 --> 00:24:19.569 high tolerance for some of the comments because 00:24:19.569 --> 00:24:22.569 I'd say one of my biggest pet peeves, Eric, is 00:24:22.569 --> 00:24:25.599 when I hear... Beekeepers say that there's only 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:29.480 one way to do something. You have to do it this 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:34.380 way. There's only the X way to do this wrong. 00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:38.519 There are so many different ways to successfully 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:40.940 keep bees. And I remind people that of all the 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:43.380 time. And so I'll get a lot of comments on the 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:45.700 channel that, oh, you shouldn't do that. You 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:47.660 have to do it this way. And I'm like, no, your 00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.839 way is is correct. Also, both are fine. You know, 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:53.200 it's like like beekeepers debating on screen 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.420 bottom boards versus solid bottom boards. They 00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:58.220 both work. There's lots of different ways to 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.940 successfully keep bees. And so a lot of the education 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:04.200 that I do out there is demonstrating one method. 00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:07.660 This is the method I use. If it speaks to you 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:09.700 and you think it seems like a good method you 00:25:09.700 --> 00:25:12.319 want to try, give it a try. If you don't like 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.220 it and you want to try something else, great. 00:25:14.619 --> 00:25:17.079 But it's like we were talking before we started 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:21.190 the podcast that folks that are beekeeping is 00:25:21.190 --> 00:25:24.509 a very difficult hobby for those that are indecisive 00:25:24.509 --> 00:25:28.250 because you have to just make a decision and 00:25:28.250 --> 00:25:30.589 go with it. There is a lot of trial and error 00:25:30.589 --> 00:25:34.130 with beekeeping. You will fail. Failure is fine. 00:25:34.450 --> 00:25:36.569 You learn from your failures. And that's what 00:25:36.569 --> 00:25:38.670 ends up making the really good beekeepers are 00:25:38.670 --> 00:25:41.009 the ones that learn from the mistakes because 00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:43.769 you just have to get in there and try. And that's 00:25:43.769 --> 00:25:45.890 really what it's all about. That's such a good 00:25:45.890 --> 00:25:49.509 attitude. How do you know who to trust? How do 00:25:49.509 --> 00:25:53.029 you if you're brand new? Okay, and maybe you 00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:56.349 are just a little bit indecisive because It's 00:25:56.349 --> 00:25:58.990 ten answers to this one question. What do I do? 00:25:59.549 --> 00:26:02.109 I I don't know. How do you do? Well, how do you 00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:04.569 decide? I think you have to find a mentor you 00:26:04.569 --> 00:26:07.009 have to find somebody local that you trust, right? 00:26:07.329 --> 00:26:09.529 And if you if you're in an area where you don't 00:26:09.529 --> 00:26:12.069 have a local bee club or somebody that can mentor 00:26:12.069 --> 00:26:17.160 you You just have to find maybe a YouTube channel 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.480 or somebody that speaks to you that's like, I 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:21.180 really like the way that they're doing it. It 00:26:21.180 --> 00:26:23.000 seems like that would work for me. I'm going 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:25.920 to give it a try. If it doesn't work, then maybe 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:28.440 try a different method and look on YouTube or 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:30.299 Google something different and try something 00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:33.180 else. There's just a lot of trial and error and 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:35.559 beekeeping and that's okay. I think some people 00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:38.339 get discouraged from that, but you should not 00:26:38.339 --> 00:26:40.720 be discouraged from that. It's all about learning. 00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:43.539 And bottom line, You're helping bees. You're 00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:45.819 helping bees no matter what. And so that's why 00:26:45.819 --> 00:26:48.420 I try to encourage new beekeepers. You're going 00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:51.500 to feel overwhelmed. You're going to. It's going 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:54.660 to happen. But keep at it. That's why the retention 00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:57.380 rate for beekeeping is so low. I want to say 00:26:57.380 --> 00:27:00.680 I had an EAS Master Beekeeper tell me that, at 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:03.019 least in the state of Kentucky, it's as low as 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:06.420 15 % to 20 % the retention rate for new beekeepers 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:09.700 because it's challenging and it's frustrating. 00:27:10.309 --> 00:27:12.670 But you just have to stick with it. You have 00:27:12.670 --> 00:27:15.349 to want to learn. You have to want to keep learning. 00:27:16.049 --> 00:27:18.670 And I really believe in using your intuition. 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:22.869 Yes. There are times when it's like, both of 00:27:22.869 --> 00:27:25.769 these will probably work. I just want to try 00:27:25.769 --> 00:27:27.910 to be in tune with my bees. And that sounds a 00:27:27.910 --> 00:27:30.430 little silly. Yeah. And you just can't be afraid 00:27:30.430 --> 00:27:33.809 to try. You can't. And the best experience is 00:27:33.809 --> 00:27:36.829 time in your bees. time with your bees. That 00:27:36.829 --> 00:27:38.710 is the best experience you're going to have. 00:27:38.789 --> 00:27:41.029 You can watch all the videos, read all the books, 00:27:41.470 --> 00:27:43.529 go to all the bee conferences that you want, 00:27:43.970 --> 00:27:46.349 but you're going to learn the most by spending 00:27:46.349 --> 00:27:49.089 time with your bees. And they may give you a 00:27:49.089 --> 00:27:51.289 different answer one day than another day. Yeah, 00:27:51.289 --> 00:27:52.990 they don't read all the books, Eric. They don't 00:27:52.990 --> 00:27:53.789 read all the books. I don't really follow the 00:27:53.789 --> 00:27:56.410 rules, right? And have you noticed their personality 00:27:56.410 --> 00:27:59.349 changes? It does change. Yeah. Weather can change 00:27:59.349 --> 00:28:02.910 it, environment, all sorts. I mean, they could 00:28:02.910 --> 00:28:05.190 turn on you. That's right. Yeah. What happened 00:28:05.190 --> 00:28:08.150 to my sweet, gentle bees? And then the next day, 00:28:08.230 --> 00:28:10.410 they're just, it's turned into a hot colony and 00:28:10.410 --> 00:28:12.190 they're chasing me out of the bee yard all the 00:28:12.190 --> 00:28:14.130 way back to the truck. Yeah. And that doesn't 00:28:14.130 --> 00:28:17.529 mean they need to be requited. Something else 00:28:17.529 --> 00:28:20.430 may be going on. Maybe a raccoon or a skunk has 00:28:20.430 --> 00:28:22.529 been bothering them at the night, you know? And 00:28:22.529 --> 00:28:25.210 so they're extra defensive, you know? So the 00:28:25.210 --> 00:28:28.069 more time that you spend in your colonies, you're 00:28:28.069 --> 00:28:31.059 going to be able to read your bees better. And 00:28:31.059 --> 00:28:32.720 you're going to be able to determine, like, well, 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.119 this is unusual behavior for this colony right 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:37.539 now. I wonder what's going on. And it even could 00:28:37.539 --> 00:28:40.140 be genetics. It could be that the particular 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:42.619 drone that the queen mated with at that time, 00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:47.339 that that drone, which the drones carry the defensive 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:50.859 characteristics, it could be that that particular 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:53.859 drone that was defensive, that those are the 00:28:53.859 --> 00:28:56.599 bees that are coming out now. And if you just 00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:59.440 give it time, the different drone, you know, 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:01.279 comes out later, and then all of a sudden you 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:02.940 have very common gentle bees again, and it's 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:05.579 the same queen. Yeah, because your queen's mating 00:29:05.579 --> 00:29:08.539 with how many different drones? 15, 20 different 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:10.759 drones. And if one of those... So all those different 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:12.700 genetics are in there? Exactly right. If one 00:29:12.700 --> 00:29:15.099 of the genetics is extremely hot and an angry 00:29:15.099 --> 00:29:18.200 bee, you know, there's going to be a set of workers 00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:20.519 that comes from that drone that's going to have 00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:24.140 the aggressive trait. OK, last question. I should 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:27.690 have warned you about this up front, Josh. Every 00:29:27.690 --> 00:29:30.529 beekeeper has had some kind of wild and crazy 00:29:30.529 --> 00:29:34.089 story happen to them. Okay. Or embarrassing or 00:29:34.089 --> 00:29:38.569 painful or hugely mistake or something. Do you 00:29:38.569 --> 00:29:41.950 mind sharing one or two with us? Sure. I have 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:44.990 a video that's called What a Mess. And the reason 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:48.369 why it's called that is because one of my colonies, 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:52.009 and it's a Langstroth, and I just have it on 00:29:52.009 --> 00:29:55.960 four by fours on concrete blocks, but... an entire 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:59.819 colony decided to take residence underneath of 00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:01.779 the Langstroth colony. And it's a screen bottom 00:30:01.779 --> 00:30:04.599 board. And when I mean take residence, I'm talking 00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:08.380 a massive open hive. And so they actually built 00:30:08.380 --> 00:30:10.559 out calm and everything, everything, everything. 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:14.440 I mean, it had to be 30, 40 ,000 bees underneath 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:17.880 this colony in between four by fours, tons of 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:20.779 drawn comb. So this video is me and my friend, 00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:24.289 Jason, just fumbling around. trying to figure 00:30:24.289 --> 00:30:27.650 out how to remove this open colony from underneath 00:30:27.650 --> 00:30:30.849 this existing colony because they're not supposed 00:30:30.849 --> 00:30:32.750 to be there. Now, I've been asked many questions, 00:30:32.750 --> 00:30:35.190 Josh, why do you think this happened? The answer 00:30:35.190 --> 00:30:37.430 is I don't know. What I think may have happened 00:30:37.430 --> 00:30:40.049 is a queen returning from her mating flight and 00:30:40.049 --> 00:30:42.250 she missed the landing board and went underneath. 00:30:42.430 --> 00:30:44.609 And then all the worker bees were like, well, 00:30:44.690 --> 00:30:46.269 she's under here. We're going to go under here 00:30:46.269 --> 00:30:48.250 and we're going to this is our new home. And 00:30:48.250 --> 00:30:50.069 so they just started building it from there. 00:30:50.109 --> 00:30:53.730 But it. It was kind of embarrassing just because 00:30:53.730 --> 00:30:57.170 I neglected it. I looked at it for weeks, and 00:30:57.170 --> 00:31:00.170 I was like, I don't want to tackle that. Not 00:31:00.170 --> 00:31:03.309 today. Not today. Maybe tomorrow. And of course, 00:31:03.690 --> 00:31:05.869 it didn't fix itself. It's a problem that's not 00:31:05.869 --> 00:31:08.529 going to fix itself. So eventually, I just had 00:31:08.529 --> 00:31:10.490 to tackle it. And it took me a little while to 00:31:10.490 --> 00:31:12.789 get it all corrected. I tried to harvest as much 00:31:12.789 --> 00:31:15.029 of the brood and the comus I could. I actually 00:31:15.029 --> 00:31:17.549 found the queen, which was crazy. I didn't think 00:31:17.549 --> 00:31:19.210 I would find her, but I was like, oh, there she 00:31:19.210 --> 00:31:21.940 is. rehomed them, put them in a different spot 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:24.119 in the apiary, tried to scrape everything away 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:26.359 so that it didn't happen again. What's the most 00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:29.440 you've ever been stung in one day? Most I've 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.920 ever been stung in one day. Honestly, it was 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:39.279 probably in the apiary during dearthy conditions. 00:31:40.279 --> 00:31:42.200 I just, you know, sometimes I glove up, sometimes 00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:44.740 I don't. Just getting into a colony and I could 00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:46.480 tell right away that they weren't having it. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:48.559 But I had to get in there and do an inspection 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:50.599 and they were just kind of... they weren't happy 00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:53.140 with me and they were letting me know. All right, 00:31:53.160 --> 00:31:55.680 Josh Scott, bees in the weeds. Yeah, if you want 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:57.759 to check out the channel, bees in the weeds. 00:31:58.059 --> 00:31:59.920 Thanks for spending time. Oh, thank you so much 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:05.519 for having me. This was a blast. Thank you. Thanks 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:08.400 again for joining us on Bee Love Beekeeping presented 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:10.980 by our great friends over at Man Lake. Hey, and 00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:13.480 don't forget to order your bees. And a shout 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:16.819 out to V2B Health for their support. Vita's Viroa 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:19.960 Control Ranger products includes Epistan, Epigard, 00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:23.940 and now Veroxan. Extended release, Oxalic Acid 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:27.579 Strips. Thank you so much guys. If you haven't 00:32:27.579 --> 00:32:30.660 yet, please subscribe and follow the show, tell 00:32:30.660 --> 00:32:33.579 your friends about it, and click on over to BeLoveBekeeping 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:37.319 .com to sign up for our free newsletter. If you 00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:40.299 have a guest suggestion or topic that you'd like 00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:43.220 discussed on the show, shoot me an email, erik 00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:46.000 at Be Love Beekeeping dot com. And remember, 00:32:46.299 --> 00:32:48.480 if you're not just in it for the honey or the 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.019 money, you're in it for the love. See you next 00:32:51.019 --> 00:32:51.339 week.