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 --> 00:01:05.569 Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing 00:01:05.569 --> 00:01:12.150 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:24.069 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping 00:01:24.069 --> 00:01:27.329 presented by Man Lake. Today we're going to have 00:01:27.329 --> 00:01:30.349 a change of pace with a fun conversation with 00:01:30.349 --> 00:01:33.430 a new beekeeper just finishing up her first year 00:01:33.430 --> 00:01:37.430 with her own bees. And just in time for Valentine's, 00:01:37.530 --> 00:01:41.590 yes it's a love story. First some news about 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:45.310 Neonicotinoid Pesticides also known as Neonics. 00:01:45.849 --> 00:01:48.010 These have been around for a number of years 00:01:48.010 --> 00:01:51.329 and are known to be toxic to honey bees as well 00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:53.989 as the pests that they're designed to kill but 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:57.709 until this newest research just came out we didn't 00:01:57.709 --> 00:02:01.430 fully understand why they're so toxic. Now I'm 00:02:01.430 --> 00:02:03.890 going to translate the findings from scientific 00:02:03.890 --> 00:02:07.290 jargon into plain old English but if you want 00:02:07.290 --> 00:02:09.590 to nerd out and read the research yourself there 00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:12.919 will be a link down in the show notes. In a nutshell, 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:16.560 the neonics tested led to an elevation in the 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:20.379 body temperature of honeybees. That is a problem. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.280 Furthermore, the researchers observed a considerable 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:29.539 upregulation of a flight gene. This gene accelerates 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:32.919 the homing behavior of honeybees and facilitates 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:37.099 the rapid and frequent transport of neonic contaminated 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:41.000 nectar to the hive. Consequently, this accelerated 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.599 the enrichment of neonicotinoid pesticides and 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:48.639 increased the toxicity risk to honeybee populations. 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:53.539 In addition, the interference of neonics induces 00:02:53.539 --> 00:02:57.300 a series of temperature and behavioral changes 00:02:57.300 --> 00:03:00.479 that are aided by the bee's strict social behaviors, 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:04.659 such as swarming, nectar collection, food hand 00:03:04.659 --> 00:03:07.680 -feeding transfer and food storage and feeding 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:11.939 behaviors. To make matters even worse, the honeybees 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:16.120 preferred to collect pollen from fields sprayed 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:19.560 with neonics, which significantly accelerated 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:23.419 the transfer, diffusion, and enrichment of the 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:27.259 pesticides in larvae, queens, and males of honeybee 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:31.400 populations, which then affected honeybee reproduction 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:35.610 over time. Bottom line, we knew neonics were 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:38.550 a problem, now we know they're even worse than 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:41.610 we thought. Alright, enough of the scary news, 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:44.689 now let's switch gears to go inside the hive 00:03:44.689 --> 00:03:48.449 presented by Primal Bee. Did you know that a 00:03:48.449 --> 00:03:51.849 queen bee and a worker bee start as the exact 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:56.250 same egg? Same DNA, same potential. The only 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:59.449 thing that decides which one she becomes? Food. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:02.860 Every larva gets fed royal jelly for the first 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:06.919 three days. After that, workers switch to a diet 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:09.879 of pollen and nectar. But if the colony decides 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:13.280 it needs a new queen, they keep feeding select 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.480 larvae, royal jelly, and nothing else. Three 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:20.060 days, that's the entire window. After that, the 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:23.480 switch is permanent. Queen or worker, decided 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:26.949 by lunch. Here's where it gets wild though. A 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:31.149 colony might raise five sometimes even ten queen 00:04:31.149 --> 00:04:34.550 cells at a time. When the first queen hatches 00:04:34.550 --> 00:04:37.110 she makes a high -pitched piping sound. I've 00:04:37.110 --> 00:04:40.569 heard it's really cool by the way. Then she listens. 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:44.670 The unborn queens pipe back from inside their 00:04:44.670 --> 00:04:48.110 cells and then the first queen goes and finds 00:04:48.110 --> 00:04:52.050 them and stings every one of them. Brutal right? 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:56.620 But it works. fastest, strongest queen wins. 00:04:57.240 --> 00:04:59.720 During her busy lifetime, she'll go on to lay 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:03.860 up to 2 ,000 eggs a day and live for years. The 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:07.620 workers who raised her? About six weeks. Next 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:10.120 time on Inside the Hive, we'll cover what actually 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:13.920 happens during a swarm. Spoiler alert, it's not 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:17.420 as scary as it looks. Now give a warm welcome 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:24.949 to our very special guest. I'd like to welcome 00:05:24.949 --> 00:05:27.350 to the show today, one of my favorite people 00:05:27.350 --> 00:05:30.790 in the entire world, in the entire universe. 00:05:31.250 --> 00:05:34.110 This is Juniper Bennett, my niece in Montana. 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:39.009 Hi, Juniper. Hi, Eric. Thank you. You're welcome. 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:40.970 And I know you're feeling under the weather today. 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:45.209 Thank you for joining me anyway. And best well 00:05:45.209 --> 00:05:47.410 wishes to you and your whole family. Get better 00:05:47.410 --> 00:05:50.930 soon. Thank you so much. Experiencing influenza 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:54.959 B, it is no joke this year. Well, we're not meeting 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.180 in person and maybe that's one of the reasons 00:05:58.180 --> 00:06:02.079 why we don't want to joke about it. But I do 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:04.899 want to talk to you all about your very first 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:07.819 year of beekeeping. It is such an exciting thing. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.079 And it's such a refreshing change on this show 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:13.579 because we have commercial beekeepers and all 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:17.319 these experts and stuff. And we can also learn 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:20.620 from people that are brand new at it and be reminded 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:22.800 of some of the reasons that we got into it in 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.680 the first place. And that's where I want to start 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.800 with you, Juniper, is what got you interested 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:33.019 in honeybees? Well, we live out in the middle 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:36.839 of nowhere and before we pushed record we were 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:40.540 talking about chemicals and how do we how do 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:43.720 we save our bees from all the chemicals and we 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:47.720 are lucky enough to live somewhere where we're 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:52.800 surrounded by wilderness and you know our closest 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.800 neighbor is over a mile away and he doesn't spray 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.079 his his fields and so I've always felt it in 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.740 my heart like we've opened our land up to making 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:07.339 a beautiful home for animals without expectations 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:11.899 of them and just to give them a safe and loving 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:15.279 home. I wanted to do the same for bees because 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.620 I think it's one of the few places left on earth 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:23.480 where we're not surrounded by a mass amount of 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:27.269 chemicals. It helps also that my son, my eight 00:07:27.269 --> 00:07:30.870 year old son, he loves bees. So as you know, 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:33.870 Eric, my family has spent much of the last decade 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:36.449 living and traveling in an airstream and everywhere 00:07:36.449 --> 00:07:40.269 we would go, he would find bees in a puddle or 00:07:40.269 --> 00:07:43.589 be limping or having a hard time. And he's always 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:47.009 trying to rehabilitate these bees. I don't know 00:07:47.009 --> 00:07:51.389 how many friend bees we've had in our airstream. 00:07:51.610 --> 00:07:54.639 And most of the time, you know, he just gives 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.459 them, holds them lovingly in his hand while they 00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:03.959 die. And then they join us. So his love for bees 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:08.459 also made me very interested. And so last winter 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:12.120 I decided, well, I know nothing about beekeeping, 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:14.560 but we're just going to go for it. And I want 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.180 to give people a little bit better picture of 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:20.199 where you're at, because you're in Montana, a 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:23.779 little ways north of the north end of Yellowstone. 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:27.449 And I'll let you fill in some of those blanks. 00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:30.829 You're on, I think, 10 acres. Beautiful little 00:08:30.829 --> 00:08:34.509 stream running through it. It is so picturesque. 00:08:35.049 --> 00:08:37.990 And what kind of animals do you also have now? 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:43.070 So we have a horse and two donkeys. One of our 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:47.350 donkeys, he just turned 27. We had no idea that 00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:51.019 donkeys live. so old, but apparently they can 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:53.759 live into their 50s. So he's this middle aged 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:58.320 sweetest thing. And gosh, what else? Well, can 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:00.299 I tell you about our chickens? I know you have 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:03.559 chickens. You'll love this story. So I had put 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:06.740 an ad when we decided to stop traveling and move 00:09:06.740 --> 00:09:09.799 home. I put an ad on Craigslist and said, we're 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:12.899 just opening our land up to animals who, who 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:16.100 need a loving home. And I didn't get any response. 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:19.230 And then many, many months went by. And I get 00:09:19.230 --> 00:09:22.429 a text from a woman and she's like, I have nine 00:09:22.429 --> 00:09:25.330 layer hens. Do you want them? And I was like, 00:09:25.629 --> 00:09:28.049 sure. And she's like, I'll deliver them tomorrow. 00:09:28.210 --> 00:09:29.850 Otherwise we have to butcher them. And I was 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:32.230 like, yep, bring them. And so I'm Googling, like, 00:09:32.269 --> 00:09:35.950 what is a nine layer hen? And she shows up and 00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:41.990 they're nine lang hens. But I love that story 00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:45.840 because it really just kind of. Shares the culture 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:49.980 and the energy of our home and our land is We 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:52.080 really don't know what we're doing But we're 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.279 just we're ready to learn and open our hearts 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:56.860 up and like we don't eat eggs were plant -based 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:01.320 and like these nine chickens are the biggest 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:05.419 healthiest happiest chickens and It's just been 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:08.840 so fun having them and our daughter got two ducks 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:11.720 and they are so fun with the chickens and then 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.860 Eric I'm gonna have to send you a picture we 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:17.379 have at first we thought they were grouse and 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:20.700 then partridges and we just learned in a bird 00:10:20.700 --> 00:10:24.120 book that they're called Chuckers so a couple 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.700 of months ago a Chucker just moved in and it 00:10:27.700 --> 00:10:29.620 started tucking itself into the hen house at 00:10:29.620 --> 00:10:34.159 night and It will just spend hours on our deck 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.700 peeking in our window and like wanting to be 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:39.580 really close. It's eating out of our hands and 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:43.159 then suddenly two more showed up. So we now have 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:46.940 three Chuckers that have joined our, our hens. 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:50.700 You're attracting all this. You're going to start 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:53.919 attracting swarms of bees too. You know, we live 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:56.419 in the middle of nowhere. So pigeons are not 00:10:56.419 --> 00:10:59.320 like a typical bird you see out here, but we 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:01.980 now have two pigeons that also moved into our 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:06.879 lean to. And so it's just this big love, love 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:11.820 house out there and Don't let me forget. My son 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:15.980 has his bearded jargon still. And we have a dog 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:19.340 and we have a cat. But it's also, it's big and 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:24.159 it's lovely and it's so alive. But it's also 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.539 big and our sky is really big and it doesn't 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:31.600 feel like an animal, like a zoo. You know what 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.830 I mean? Like it's just lovely. Yeah and just 00:11:34.830 --> 00:11:36.990 also to help people get to know you, when you 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:40.450 guys were traveling in the Airstream, you two 00:11:40.450 --> 00:11:43.909 with your four children and how many animals? 00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:47.370 Let's see we made our son's bearded dragon is 00:11:47.370 --> 00:11:50.149 truly his best friend in the whole world and 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:53.049 so we made an enclosure at the end of his bed. 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:58.029 So she traveled with us and we pulled the microwave 00:11:58.029 --> 00:12:01.549 out and my daughter had a bunny at the time and 00:12:01.529 --> 00:12:04.950 He was the love of her life. And so we turned 00:12:04.950 --> 00:12:09.389 the microwave spot into a cute bunny hatch. And 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:12.409 then we had our dog. You forget the snake. The 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:16.429 snake is right. Aki, he had his snake, but she 00:12:16.429 --> 00:12:20.149 passed away. He had the snake when we had stopped 00:12:20.149 --> 00:12:24.110 traveling to have our fourth baby. And she was 00:12:24.110 --> 00:12:27.669 like a rescued garter snake that he found outside. 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:31.200 that wasn't doing well, and he prolonged her 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.379 life and gave her so much love, but she ended 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:35.840 up passing before we moved back into the Airstream, 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.720 which I think was probably best for her well 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.940 -being. And by the way, a lot of people that 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:48.080 live an RV life have a cute little dog, a little 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:53.250 lap puppy. Not yours? No, we have a Czech Shepherd. 00:12:53.570 --> 00:12:57.169 He's huge. I think he's 90 pounds and he's his 00:12:57.169 --> 00:13:01.049 whole own story. He's so lovely. He had a very 00:13:01.049 --> 00:13:04.070 rough life before coming. He's awesome. And he 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:06.429 can carry a basketball in his mouth. We've seen 00:13:06.429 --> 00:13:09.950 it. All right. We're supposed to be talking about 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.610 bees and beekeeping. So I've got my job is to 00:13:12.610 --> 00:13:16.590 get us back on track here. You also met bees 00:13:16.590 --> 00:13:18.970 when you were at our house a few years ago, and 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:21.169 you got to put a bee suit on I think for the 00:13:21.169 --> 00:13:24.350 first time I'm sorry your son didn't I do have 00:13:24.350 --> 00:13:27.289 children sizes here now, but I didn't back at 00:13:27.289 --> 00:13:30.289 the time I remember they all kind of gathered 00:13:30.289 --> 00:13:33.889 around though like everybody was amazed and loved 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:37.830 it if I remember right we took a frame out of 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:41.929 a hive and Let them each stick a finger in and 00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:44.549 taste the fresh honey Mm -hmm. What was that 00:13:44.549 --> 00:13:47.129 like for them? Well, I mean that's rude that 00:13:47.129 --> 00:13:52.049 was even my first exposure to bees and I remember 00:13:52.049 --> 00:13:55.769 thinking that is probably pretty dangerous to 00:13:55.769 --> 00:13:58.990 have bees but you were just like This is Zen 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:02.549 be guy and it wasn't scary at all. And I think 00:14:02.549 --> 00:14:05.970 that that's probably My kids experience too is 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:11.250 that oh, wow. This is like a really calm Calm 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:15.429 happening here Yeah, that fear we number one 00:14:15.429 --> 00:14:18.149 we don't need to have and number two if we're 00:14:18.149 --> 00:14:21.149 working with bees We don't want to have they 00:14:21.149 --> 00:14:24.970 literally can smell it All right. Let's get back 00:14:24.970 --> 00:14:28.750 to your journey So this last winter so about 00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:31.750 a year ago right now you made the commitment 00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:35.669 How did you decide like where to buy bees and 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:39.429 what kind of beehive you wanted to use? So I 00:14:39.429 --> 00:14:43.639 had been watching different people in the bee 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:48.539 world, you know, just some friends who share 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:51.320 about their bee experience on their Instagram. 00:14:51.980 --> 00:14:54.440 And I have a friend who lives a couple miles 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:57.940 up the road and they caught a wild swarm. You 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:00.139 might know her husband actually, Casey Anderson. 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:04.440 He's like a big wildlife guy on YouTube. They're 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:07.860 very inspirational because they are wild. I fell 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:11.830 in love with the Flow Hives. I, it just really 00:15:11.830 --> 00:15:15.210 spoke to me and it really aligned with, it aligns 00:15:15.210 --> 00:15:19.929 with my vision of, you know, I have this philosophy 00:15:19.929 --> 00:15:22.990 that is very different than most people's, which 00:15:22.990 --> 00:15:25.690 is I don't believe that animals are on earth 00:15:25.690 --> 00:15:29.649 for our use. I believe that it's our obligation 00:15:29.649 --> 00:15:34.289 to really take care of animals and let their 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:38.340 souls feel peace in this life. And I love that 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:42.279 the Flow Hive offers that to the bees, that I 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:44.620 don't have to disrupt anything that they've created 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:48.120 to harvest the honey. Because ultimately, my 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:50.879 objective in having bees isn't really even for 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:54.179 the honey. It's to give the bees a magical home. 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.940 So I fell in love with the Flow Hive. And I think 00:15:57.940 --> 00:16:01.620 in my mind, when I picture land and a home with 00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:06.169 so many animals, my mind thinks like, very, very 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:10.490 messy and so something about me is I did grow 00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:16.549 up in a very messy home and it's very much, well 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:19.149 I guess I'll say I made a promise to myself when 00:16:19.149 --> 00:16:21.710 I was very little that I would give my family 00:16:21.710 --> 00:16:24.269 a different experience growing up and we would 00:16:24.269 --> 00:16:28.570 live in a very clean, beautiful space. Luckily 00:16:28.570 --> 00:16:32.200 Ty shares that. that vision in life. And we are 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:34.600 both very committed to a very clean, beautiful 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:40.519 space. And the Flow Hive is so stunningly beautiful. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:44.100 And, you know, we stained it and painted it too. 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:46.879 It looks just like a miniature version. We have 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:51.659 two of them. They're, gosh, 20 feet off of our 00:16:51.659 --> 00:16:54.539 deck. Like, we purposely put them, like, right 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:56.840 outside our back door so we can watch the bees 00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:00.700 all day. And... So if I can paint the picture 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:04.019 a little bit for you, there's a little pond right 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:07.740 outside the beehives and then our corral with 00:17:07.740 --> 00:17:10.140 the donkeys and the horse are right next to that 00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:13.579 and the hen houses in the corral and so everybody's 00:17:13.579 --> 00:17:16.240 like literally right outside our front door. 00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:20.519 But it's all so beautiful and it's so clean and 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:24.059 it all just kind of works. You know the bees 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:26.680 and the chickens are at the pond drinking water 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:29.920 together and So anyways, that was a long way 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.099 to answer that we went with the Flow Hive. So 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:36.220 shout out to Cedar at Flow. Yes. Good guy. He's 00:17:36.220 --> 00:17:38.980 been on the show. He was a lot of fun and I think 00:17:38.980 --> 00:17:41.079 they're great for a lot of people and they're 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:44.200 not for everybody and that's okay. But do your 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:47.319 research. What advice would you give to brand 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:50.059 new beekeepers on how to make decisions like 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:52.640 that and like where to buy your bees and what 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:56.839 kind to get? So I knew intuitively that that 00:17:56.839 --> 00:17:59.700 is what I wanted. And so I didn't ask anybody 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:03.140 their opinion because I didn't want anybody to 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:06.859 change what I intuitively felt was made for me. 00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:11.940 And so I purposefully didn't, like there were 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:13.559 many times where I was like in my mind thinking, 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:15.539 I wonder what Eric thinks about this, but I'm 00:18:15.539 --> 00:18:18.660 not gonna ask him because I don't want to influence 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:21.849 how I feel about this. And so. that would be 00:18:21.849 --> 00:18:24.670 my encouragement, is find what lights you up. 00:18:24.990 --> 00:18:27.970 Find what, find, like, if you see something that 00:18:27.970 --> 00:18:31.970 really resonates with you, trust that. And then 00:18:31.970 --> 00:18:35.490 be really proud of going that path. And, you 00:18:35.490 --> 00:18:38.390 know, I never even researched other behaves. 00:18:38.589 --> 00:18:41.369 I just knew that that one was exactly what I 00:18:41.369 --> 00:18:44.390 wanted. Aesthetically, the way that it works, 00:18:44.549 --> 00:18:47.630 the way that, you know, I really get to leave. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.440 the bees so much. I love everything about that 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.920 and I just have to say like I have no experience 00:18:54.920 --> 00:19:00.559 with any other hive but this company is unbelievably 00:19:01.349 --> 00:19:04.849 amazing and the quality is amazing and I'm not 00:19:04.849 --> 00:19:07.509 affiliated with them by any means but I just 00:19:07.509 --> 00:19:10.250 remember like opening the box to build the hive 00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:13.150 and just being completely blown away from how 00:19:13.150 --> 00:19:16.930 beautiful the tissue paper was to like this these 00:19:16.930 --> 00:19:20.589 beekeeping newspapers that are separating the 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:23.529 you know the different layers of wood and the 00:19:23.529 --> 00:19:26.210 smell I got the cedar hives and the smell is 00:19:26.210 --> 00:19:31.029 so phenomenal And so it's just very much in alignment 00:19:31.029 --> 00:19:34.390 with the life that I desire living. Every part 00:19:34.390 --> 00:19:39.089 of becoming a beekeeper was a really beautiful 00:19:39.089 --> 00:19:43.410 experience, and that was a big part of that. 00:19:43.849 --> 00:19:46.329 How about the kind of bees? How did you decide? 00:19:46.509 --> 00:19:48.849 Because there are different varieties of honeybees. 00:19:49.109 --> 00:19:52.150 OK, Eric, so this is where my newness really 00:19:52.150 --> 00:19:54.630 gets to shine. I have no idea what kind of bees 00:19:54.630 --> 00:19:59.690 I have. OK, thank you for being honest. Yes, 00:19:59.690 --> 00:20:03.950 I have no idea what I have. All I know is in 00:20:03.950 --> 00:20:09.009 so we are we're equal distance from Bozeman and 00:20:09.009 --> 00:20:12.089 Livingston, Montana. So there's a cute little 00:20:12.089 --> 00:20:16.430 bee shop here in Bozeman. And I had seen a sign 00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:19.950 outside. tend to order your honeybees and so 00:20:19.950 --> 00:20:24.630 I called them to ask all the questions and and 00:20:24.630 --> 00:20:27.650 she's the one and I was like so just one hive 00:20:27.650 --> 00:20:30.089 is good right and she's like oh no no no I highly 00:20:30.089 --> 00:20:32.210 recommend two so that you can really learn from 00:20:32.210 --> 00:20:36.990 both hives so like okay well I'll order two gosh 00:20:36.990 --> 00:20:38.730 do you call them swarms when you're ordering 00:20:38.730 --> 00:20:42.930 them I can't even remember right now well packages 00:20:42.930 --> 00:20:46.109 or new depending how you got them and buying 00:20:46.109 --> 00:20:48.549 and starting with two is really good advice by 00:20:48.549 --> 00:20:51.730 the way I agree when I was building my flow hives 00:20:51.730 --> 00:20:54.309 there were times because I forgot to mention 00:20:54.309 --> 00:20:57.710 this we homeschool so you know becoming beekeepers 00:20:57.710 --> 00:21:00.769 I just kind of incorporated into our school and 00:21:00.769 --> 00:21:03.509 with the flow hive they also have a course that 00:21:03.509 --> 00:21:05.809 I just kind of worked through with my kids so 00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:08.269 that we can all kind of learn it together and 00:21:08.269 --> 00:21:13.440 some of my kids are more Intuit and others kind 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:16.079 of like watching from a distance and both is 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.039 so beautiful but that course has been really 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:24.279 helpful to me and So when I called the the B 00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:28.160 store here, I ordered two packages and She's 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.839 like, okay, we'll send an email a week before 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.160 they're ready to pick up you have to be there 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:35.970 like there's no like you can't send a neighbor 00:21:35.970 --> 00:21:38.609 you can't like we can't hold them for you you 00:21:38.609 --> 00:21:40.609 just have to be there to pick up the package 00:21:40.609 --> 00:21:43.329 and i was like okay are you planning on expanding 00:21:43.329 --> 00:21:47.009 your apiary this year or are you a beginner thinking 00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:49.549 about jumping into beekeeping for the very first 00:21:49.549 --> 00:21:52.809 time take it from someone who's purchased beekeeping 00:21:52.809 --> 00:21:56.490 equipment from many different suppliers if you 00:21:56.490 --> 00:22:00.920 want made in usa woodenware premium feeds, top 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:04.000 quality, and great prices on everything, give 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:07.519 Man Lake a try. And whether or not you're a beekeeper, 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.240 you can help honey bees and other pollinators 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:13.660 by planting bee friendly forage. Man Lake has 00:22:13.660 --> 00:22:16.299 that too. In fact, download the free Man Lake 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:19.200 app and learn about some of the best plants for 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:23.220 your area. Go to manlakeltd .com and be sure 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:26.359 to use discount code GetStartedInBees. It's all 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:29.380 down in the show notes for savings on live bees, 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:34.039 beginner kits, and even seeds. Brood development 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:37.660 depends on stable temperatures. Even a few degrees 00:22:37.660 --> 00:22:40.940 off can mean wings that don't form right, shorter 00:22:40.940 --> 00:22:44.720 lifespans, bees that can't navigate, or even 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:48.240 no viable brood at all. Primal bee hives are 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.400 built with thick insulated walls that help your 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:55.099 colony hold those temperatures naturally. Bottom 00:22:55.099 --> 00:22:58.779 line, healthier brood, healthier bees. Learn 00:22:58.779 --> 00:23:03.140 more today at primalbee .com. Okay, we'll have 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:05.900 these hives ready and as I'm building these two 00:23:05.900 --> 00:23:08.440 hives, it's kind of a lot building two hives. 00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:11.099 We have a lot happening in our life and I was 00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:15.170 like, oh gosh. Two's a lot, but now I am so grateful 00:23:15.170 --> 00:23:18.130 I have two because my two, they have very different 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:21.910 personalities and it's so neat. Like I'm learning 00:23:21.910 --> 00:23:24.170 double time, right? Because I'm learning such 00:23:24.170 --> 00:23:27.049 different things from each hive. So I love that 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:31.049 she recommended that I get two. As far as the 00:23:31.049 --> 00:23:34.230 kind of bees to get, there are places online, 00:23:34.490 --> 00:23:38.670 including at Man Lake's website, where you can 00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:43.150 find a guide. and it will tell you, okay, buckfast 00:23:43.150 --> 00:23:46.410 bees, here's sort of the pros and cons of them. 00:23:47.049 --> 00:23:50.910 Italians, pros and cons of them. Carniolans, 00:23:51.430 --> 00:23:56.109 Russians, etc. And so you can look and say, okay, 00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:59.329 I'm in a place that's super warm weather, so 00:23:59.329 --> 00:24:02.470 maybe this kind of bee is different, or the opposite 00:24:02.470 --> 00:24:07.859 is true. And your local bee shop in Montana probably 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:12.039 realizes hey these are the best bees for Montana 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:15.140 and so this is just what we sell. Yes and it 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:18.460 turns out it's this really incredible they actually 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:22.839 raise and breed the bees here and so like I imagined 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:25.440 that it was just like a third party right they're 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.000 just buying them from somewhere else. It often 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.079 is so that's great that you got local. Yeah. 00:24:31.470 --> 00:24:35.130 So as you go down this journey, this beekeeping 00:24:35.130 --> 00:24:37.329 journey, you're going to find it's not always 00:24:37.329 --> 00:24:41.589 easy and sometimes there are heartbreaks. Most 00:24:41.589 --> 00:24:45.950 of us have had bees die and that can happen from 00:24:45.950 --> 00:24:49.710 disease or varroa or a number of different issues. 00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:53.549 Also where you are, you guys have bears. Did 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:56.170 you do anything to protect your hives from bears? 00:24:56.809 --> 00:25:00.089 No. You might want to think about that. Consider 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:03.589 it. That's interesting. They will destroy hives 00:25:03.589 --> 00:25:07.390 like overnight. You can find them completely 00:25:07.390 --> 00:25:11.470 destroyed out on the ground done. They can wreak 00:25:11.470 --> 00:25:14.650 terrible havoc with bees. And I remember seeing 00:25:14.650 --> 00:25:17.930 a picture of a bear at your house from a few 00:25:17.930 --> 00:25:21.150 years ago. So that's something to think about. 00:25:21.410 --> 00:25:23.309 Well, thank you. I appreciate that because I 00:25:23.309 --> 00:25:27.450 hadn't that had not crossed my mind. That's probably 00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:30.150 the worst predator problem that you might have 00:25:30.150 --> 00:25:32.970 to think about in your area. There's skunks and 00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:34.910 other things. The worst one I have, and you may 00:25:34.910 --> 00:25:38.710 get some of this too, is yellow jackets. Near 00:25:38.710 --> 00:25:40.849 the end of summer, they can be a big problem. 00:25:41.289 --> 00:25:44.309 So we can talk about all that stuff offline here 00:25:44.309 --> 00:25:47.190 sometime. I can tell you just love these bees. 00:25:47.289 --> 00:25:51.170 What is it about them? So maybe I'll share a 00:25:51.170 --> 00:25:53.730 story of when we first picked up the bees because 00:25:53.730 --> 00:25:58.640 it... I didn't know that I was going to love 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:03.779 the bees. So Ty and one of our boys, they were 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:07.000 out of town at a skateboarding competition. So 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:10.140 it's me and our three other kids, and I get the 00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:14.220 email that it's time to pick up the bees. And 00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:16.259 my eight -year -old thought it was so funny that 00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:19.700 we picked them up in the Applebee's parking lot. 00:26:21.380 --> 00:26:25.019 I like it. He's really quick with stuff like 00:26:25.019 --> 00:26:27.539 that. He was dying laughing. So just a trailer 00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:32.420 behind the Applebee's and I didn't know what 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:36.440 to expect at all. And I tried to learn like, 00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:38.799 what am I going to do when I bring these bees 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:41.119 home? Like, I don't know what we're doing. We 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:44.039 have our equipment, but that's it. We pull up 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:46.039 and there's maybe four other cars there. And 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:51.039 there's this man with this big trailer. and it's 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:55.400 full of these boxes of bees. And I'm just standing 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:57.779 there watching these other people collect their 00:26:57.779 --> 00:27:00.839 bees. And I'm sitting with my three kids and 00:27:00.839 --> 00:27:03.000 he's like, how many did you order? I was like, 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.319 we got two. And he's like, all right, let's get 00:27:05.319 --> 00:27:08.500 them loaded up. And I was like, okay, I'm not 00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:10.279 really sure what you're giving. Like, can you 00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:12.099 tell me what this is? You know, and he's like 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:14.480 pulling this like candy plug from his pocket. 00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:16.630 And I'm like. I don't even know what to do with 00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:19.849 that. And it turns out he owns the bee shop in 00:27:19.849 --> 00:27:22.410 town with his wife. And he just was so nice. 00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:24.329 He took like a half an hour to just kind of show 00:27:24.329 --> 00:27:28.049 us how you like tap them to the bottom. And as 00:27:28.049 --> 00:27:30.750 he's teaching me, he puts the box of beans in 00:27:30.750 --> 00:27:35.930 the back of the truck and Look over and my eight 00:27:35.930 --> 00:27:38.609 -year -old he's just climbed up into the back 00:27:38.609 --> 00:27:41.450 of the truck and he's sitting with his hip touching 00:27:41.450 --> 00:27:44.509 this box of bees and of course, there's bees 00:27:44.509 --> 00:27:48.089 that have gotten out and He just has his hand 00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:54.630 up to the box and he's so calm and so happy and 00:27:54.630 --> 00:27:57.910 When you're around that and like as a mom and 00:27:57.910 --> 00:28:02.029 just knowing that really any animal feels our 00:28:02.029 --> 00:28:06.390 energy like I I'm not gonna be the one to panic 00:28:06.390 --> 00:28:09.769 here and then still fear in him and like my youngest 00:28:09.769 --> 00:28:11.750 is sitting there watching him but of course there's 00:28:11.750 --> 00:28:16.529 like this oh okay all right this is this is okay 00:28:16.529 --> 00:28:20.670 and he starts singing to these bees and they 00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:24.230 start like they stop swarming the box and they're 00:28:24.230 --> 00:28:28.269 just on his bear arm and he's singing to these 00:28:28.269 --> 00:28:31.170 bees and then my youngest climbs up in the back 00:28:31.170 --> 00:28:33.950 of the truck and to him this is what you do with 00:28:33.950 --> 00:28:37.349 bees this is all he's ever seen is his big brother 00:28:37.349 --> 00:28:40.269 singing to bees so then now I have these two 00:28:40.269 --> 00:28:43.490 little boys singing to bees and my eight -year 00:28:43.490 --> 00:28:46.910 -old he's laid back and he's just so comfortable 00:28:46.910 --> 00:28:50.670 and he's singing to these bees and he's so happy 00:28:50.670 --> 00:28:55.119 to be with these bees No fear in him whatsoever. 00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:59.119 They have yet to be stung. Nobody has been stung 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:03.279 by these bees yet. They are the calmest hives. 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:07.900 And we're pulling away. And he says, Mom, our 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:13.279 family just grew by 40 ,000 bees. And I was like, 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:16.720 oh my gosh, you're right. Our family just grew 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:21.559 so much. And it's just like this calm, beautiful 00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:25.240 presence. you know so setting up our our boxes 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:27.220 i mean he's really guiding you know he's like 00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:30.940 mom remember to do this part he's just like so 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:34.440 into these bees and so i wouldn't i don't even 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:36.680 know if it's my i don't even know if beekeeping 00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:39.980 is my thing or if i'm just like holding the space 00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:41.960 for him to run with this i know i'm not really 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:45.960 sure but It's just so beautiful. And so I, I 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:50.420 don't have like any knowledge yet, really. It's 00:29:50.420 --> 00:29:53.819 just the experience of being their presence and 00:29:53.819 --> 00:29:56.960 having the gift to be able to offer them a really 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:02.039 loving home. So beautiful. Wow. And a good tip 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.420 for people that are going and picking up their 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:09.720 first package or nuke of bees is sometimes they'll 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:12.220 pull up to the place to get them and then realize 00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:17.099 Oh, wait, where do I put them? In the back seat 00:30:17.099 --> 00:30:20.519 of the car? And that can make some people very, 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:23.859 very nervous. Well, we were in awe. There's this 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:26.039 cute older couple and they're just putting them 00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:30.759 in the back seat of their Subaru and like, yeah. 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:33.119 Yeah. And that's what you do. That's what most 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:35.779 people do is just stick them on the floor in 00:30:35.779 --> 00:30:38.400 the back seat. It's fine. And a couple may get 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.380 out, not very many, but yeah, it's all good. 00:30:41.690 --> 00:30:45.970 But to your point of losing bees, I shared this 00:30:45.970 --> 00:30:47.349 with you when we were talking a couple weeks 00:30:47.349 --> 00:30:50.690 ago. I'll be very honest, this winter in Montana 00:30:50.690 --> 00:30:53.869 is quite a breath of fresh air. I mean, I know 00:30:53.869 --> 00:30:56.630 that it's not wonderful for the earth, but it's 00:30:56.630 --> 00:30:59.529 so sustainable and manageable. Like we haven't 00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:03.390 had the negative temperatures, but it's been 00:31:03.390 --> 00:31:07.990 astronomically warm and I feel so scared for 00:31:07.990 --> 00:31:11.730 my bees. They're so busy. Have you been feeding 00:31:11.730 --> 00:31:15.289 them? Yes. After we talked, I did some research 00:31:15.289 --> 00:31:19.309 and I did put some food out there for them and 00:31:19.309 --> 00:31:22.490 they're going to be okay. But they're flying 00:31:22.490 --> 00:31:25.470 like it's summer. It's wild. That's crazy how 00:31:25.470 --> 00:31:28.470 warm it is. Yeah. And it sounds like your bees 00:31:28.470 --> 00:31:31.630 are pretty adapted to the kind of weather that 00:31:31.630 --> 00:31:33.910 you have there, but still you're not going to 00:31:33.910 --> 00:31:36.970 see bees flying at 30 degrees. They're not capable 00:31:36.970 --> 00:31:40.420 of it. I've seen them try. and they'll get about 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:43.420 three feet and then just nosedive into the snow, 00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:48.220 and that can be kind of sad too. So, okay, so 00:31:48.220 --> 00:31:51.539 you're learning about food. How about the big 00:31:51.539 --> 00:31:54.559 V word, Varroa? What's your knowledge of Varroa, 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:57.920 and did you do any testing in the fall? No, my 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:02.299 knowledge is low, and I'm sure that experienced 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:04.700 beekeepers listening are going to say, well, 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:09.740 being naive is dangerous, but But that's where 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:13.559 I am. And I kind of also took this approach with 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.839 the bees. I mean, it's kind of my philosophy. 00:32:17.019 --> 00:32:19.180 I mean, it was with birthing my children and 00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:23.279 being a mother and having our animals is I want 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:28.839 to give space for life to happen as it's supposed 00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:31.779 to happen, while also, you know, of course, doing 00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:35.339 what we can to love and protect. But I kind of 00:32:35.339 --> 00:32:38.609 took the approach. This year of, you know, I 00:32:38.609 --> 00:32:41.109 did a couple of hive checks, but I was very hands 00:32:41.109 --> 00:32:44.970 off and very much I want to let the bees do the 00:32:44.970 --> 00:32:48.549 bees thing. What has surprised you the most? 00:32:49.049 --> 00:32:53.690 Definitely that we run around barefoot and play 00:32:53.690 --> 00:32:58.430 outside all day every day and no one has been 00:32:58.430 --> 00:33:03.180 stung. We have bees that just seem like curious 00:33:03.180 --> 00:33:04.960 of what we're doing. They'll come and watch in 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.440 the same exact doors as these new birds that 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:13.019 have joined our hands. They'll just sit outside 00:33:13.019 --> 00:33:16.960 that door and just like watch in and that is 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.160 just amazing to me. You know when you sit and 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:25.480 you watch you see like they are so focused on 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:31.700 doing their jobs and then to see just some of 00:33:31.700 --> 00:33:34.519 them come and sit at the door and just watch 00:33:34.519 --> 00:33:38.660 the happenings of life. It feels magic. All right. 00:33:38.740 --> 00:33:42.380 Last thing, Juniper. Yeah. What advice from your 00:33:42.380 --> 00:33:44.759 first year beekeeping, what advice do you have? 00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:48.059 I'm going to ask for two pieces of advice. One 00:33:48.059 --> 00:33:50.180 for people that are brand new and don't have 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:53.599 their bees yet. And the other for seasoned beekeepers 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:57.980 that may be helping mentor or guide some beginners. 00:34:00.070 --> 00:34:05.250 I would say for new beekeepers, it's very similar 00:34:05.250 --> 00:34:08.309 to gardening. We built this new beautiful garden 00:34:08.309 --> 00:34:11.690 this summer, and I had these expectations that 00:34:11.690 --> 00:34:14.530 it would, by the end of summer, be this big, 00:34:14.809 --> 00:34:18.230 lush, beautiful, weed -free garden. And it was 00:34:18.230 --> 00:34:21.130 this huge wake -up of, okay, this is actually 00:34:21.130 --> 00:34:25.650 a very timely endeavor here. It's not going to 00:34:25.650 --> 00:34:29.110 happen overnight. I think beekeeping is the same 00:34:29.110 --> 00:34:33.530 and that it's not about harvesting the honey 00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:37.570 or whatever your goal and having the bees. It's 00:34:37.570 --> 00:34:41.010 not about that goal. It's about the process of 00:34:41.010 --> 00:34:43.969 becoming with your garden or becoming with your 00:34:43.969 --> 00:34:47.110 bees and what you're learning throughout that 00:34:47.110 --> 00:34:52.409 journey. For seasoned beekeepers helping new 00:34:52.409 --> 00:34:56.260 people like myself, probably You know, Eric, 00:34:56.460 --> 00:35:00.739 if you lived here, I would have probably asked 00:35:00.739 --> 00:35:03.119 you to come and pick up the bees with me and 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:07.260 help me move the bees into their hive and come 00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:09.579 and do the first several checks with me. And 00:35:09.579 --> 00:35:12.719 that would have been amazing. But I don't think 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.039 that I would have been able to get to really 00:35:16.039 --> 00:35:21.500 know. myself and my my one son who's really into 00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:24.920 it and my bees the way that I have because I 00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:29.780 just kind of figured it out on my own and So 00:35:29.780 --> 00:35:32.260 while I would have absolutely loved to have had 00:35:32.260 --> 00:35:36.179 you here I think if if someone is helping others 00:35:36.179 --> 00:35:40.179 with bees probably encouraging them to take space 00:35:40.179 --> 00:35:44.900 and to you know experience some trial and error 00:35:44.900 --> 00:35:48.940 and Because it's in that space that we kind of 00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:51.960 learn our own ways and I did it like you did 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:56.599 I did it without a mentor and That's right for 00:35:56.599 --> 00:35:59.539 some people and some other people really want 00:35:59.539 --> 00:36:02.820 somebody holding their hand and Most people are 00:36:02.820 --> 00:36:05.860 some probably somewhere in between those two 00:36:05.860 --> 00:36:10.679 places. So I'd say for mentors don't assume that 00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:13.199 they want you to help them with every single 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:16.900 thing but let them have their space and learn 00:36:16.900 --> 00:36:20.619 at their own speed and get as much help as they 00:36:20.619 --> 00:36:24.300 want but not more than they want or maybe not 00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:27.539 more than is good for them. Well and I will say 00:36:27.539 --> 00:36:30.460 like I didn't really know anybody that I could 00:36:30.619 --> 00:36:34.159 call or that could be a mentor to me. And had 00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:36.480 that been an option, I probably would have been 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:38.579 the one that's like, okay, please help me with 00:36:38.579 --> 00:36:41.260 all the things. And like even myself, I would 00:36:41.260 --> 00:36:43.840 think like, I want my hand to be held throughout 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:46.619 this whole process because it's so new and intimidating. 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:49.519 But just like with everything in life, gosh, 00:36:49.659 --> 00:36:51.699 the fastest way to learn, it's just like diving 00:36:51.699 --> 00:36:55.159 head first in. And so how beautiful for somebody 00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:58.719 to be able to have a mentor. But I love what 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:01.340 you said. Not just assuming that that means that 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:04.099 they want you to do everything for them or with 00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:08.780 them, but really encouraging them to To learn 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:13.719 it. Yeah, let them grow at their own pace and 00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:16.300 Be in tune with the bees and you said something 00:37:16.300 --> 00:37:20.599 really early on about being intuitive And I'm 00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:23.780 a huge believer in that with our beekeeping that 00:37:23.780 --> 00:37:27.949 whether it's what kind of hive design you buy 00:37:27.949 --> 00:37:31.730 or where you buy your bees or whether you treat 00:37:31.730 --> 00:37:35.469 them or don't treat them for Varroa or things 00:37:35.469 --> 00:37:38.289 like that. It's really important that we are 00:37:38.289 --> 00:37:40.889 intuitive. I've probably mentioned this on this 00:37:40.889 --> 00:37:44.210 show before but I have been known to actually 00:37:44.210 --> 00:37:47.590 sometimes not know what to do for my bees and 00:37:47.590 --> 00:37:51.150 to ask them. And if somebody was there watching 00:37:51.150 --> 00:37:53.900 they'd probably think I'm a little crazy. You 00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:57.219 know, there's Eric talking to his bees, but asking 00:37:57.219 --> 00:38:00.679 them, I think you need something. I don't know 00:38:00.679 --> 00:38:02.480 what it is. You're going to have to give me some 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:07.300 help here. That's so beautiful. So be intuitive. 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:10.500 Anyway, keep it up, Juniper. We're going to talk 00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:13.619 Varroa offline and go from there. And good luck 00:38:13.619 --> 00:38:15.860 with year number two. You're going to learn a 00:38:15.860 --> 00:38:18.880 whole bunch more. And before you know it, knowing 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:21.480 you guys and your family, you're going to have 00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:24.449 a lot of beehives around there. So just plan 00:38:24.449 --> 00:38:27.510 on that. I'll let Ty know. Okay, yeah, you let 00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:33.949 Ty know. Alright, thanks, Juniper. Thanks again 00:38:33.949 --> 00:38:36.590 for joining us on Bee Love Beekeeping presented 00:38:36.590 --> 00:38:39.170 by our great friends over at Man Lake. Hey, and 00:38:39.170 --> 00:38:41.670 don't forget to order your bees. And a shout 00:38:41.670 --> 00:38:45.010 out to V2B Health for their support. Vita's Varroa 00:38:45.010 --> 00:38:48.130 Control Ranger products includes Epistan, Epigard, 00:38:48.690 --> 00:38:52.190 and now Varroxan. Extended release, Oxalic Acids 00:38:52.190 --> 00:38:55.750 Trips. Thank you so much guys. If you haven't 00:38:55.750 --> 00:38:58.829 yet, please subscribe and follow the show, tell 00:38:58.829 --> 00:39:01.769 your friends about it, and click on over to BeLoveBekeeping 00:39:01.769 --> 00:39:05.510 .com to sign up for our free newsletter. If you 00:39:05.510 --> 00:39:08.489 have a guest suggestion or topic that you'd like 00:39:08.489 --> 00:39:11.409 discussed on the show shoot me an email eric 00:39:11.409 --> 00:39:14.769 at Be Love Beekeeping .com and remember if you're 00:39:14.769 --> 00:39:17.469 not just in it for the honey or the money you're 00:39:17.469 --> 00:39:19.550 in it for the love. See you next week.