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 --> 00:01:12.170 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.170 --> 00:01:23.530 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:26.510 presented by our great friends over at Man Lake. 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.340 Are you trying to make money selling honey? Or 00:01:30.340 --> 00:01:32.319 are you maybe thinking about it in the future? 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.799 Last week we had a great discussion with Danielle 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.739 Brooks all about how to make money with honey. 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:41.579 Today we're wrapping up that discussion with 00:01:41.579 --> 00:01:44.859 even more great advice for anyone who wants to 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:48.519 make beekeeping more than just a hobby. If you 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:51.620 missed part one it's episode 312 but as long 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:53.640 as you're here go ahead and listen to today's 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.599 episode then go back to last week's for even 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:00.120 more excellent info. But first let's take a minute 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.319 to go inside the hive, this feature presented 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:06.560 by Primal Bee. Here's one that keeps a lot of 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.460 beekeepers up at night. You've got two colonies 00:02:09.460 --> 00:02:12.020 sitting right next to each other, same mite load, 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:15.400 same treatment, same management. One pulls through 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:20.000 just fine, the other falls apart. What is the 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.900 difference? Think about it the way you'd think 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:26.080 about your own health. When you're rested, eating 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.360 well, not stressed out, you can fight off a cold 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.000 no problem. When you're running on three hours 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.659 of sleep and skipping meals, that same cold puts 00:02:35.659 --> 00:02:38.819 you in bed for a week. Bees work very much the 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:42.550 same way. A colony with energy despair can actually 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:45.469 fight back against mites. They groom them off 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:48.669 each other. They detect and remove infected brood. 00:02:49.150 --> 00:02:52.250 These are real behaviors that healthy colonies 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:55.789 do every day. But those behaviors are expensive. 00:02:56.490 --> 00:02:59.889 They take energy. A colony that's already spent 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:02.270 everything it has just keeping the hive warm 00:03:02.270 --> 00:03:05.770 in winter or cool in summer doesn't have much 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:09.150 left in the tank for mite defense. And the mites 00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:12.129 aren't always what killed the colony. It's the 00:03:12.129 --> 00:03:14.990 diseases they spread. Sometimes they're just 00:03:14.990 --> 00:03:17.590 the last thing that happened before it collapsed. 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:21.509 That's why overall colony health matters. You 00:03:21.509 --> 00:03:23.969 can't just treat the mites and call it a day. 00:03:24.250 --> 00:03:26.509 You have to look at what else is draining the 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:29.389 tank and what else you can do to strengthen your 00:03:29.389 --> 00:03:32.889 colonies. Next time on Inside the Hive, we'll 00:03:32.889 --> 00:03:36.449 talk about why brood temperature has to be exact 00:03:36.449 --> 00:03:40.770 and what happens when it's not. Now back to our 00:03:40.770 --> 00:03:42.990 conversation with Danielle. We're going to pick 00:03:42.990 --> 00:03:45.110 it up where we were talking about packaging, 00:03:45.469 --> 00:03:53.460 bottles, and farmers markets. I've made my bed 00:03:53.460 --> 00:03:56.400 with the French square jar. I'm now married to 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.780 it. And I do think, you know, going back to brand 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.620 identity, I do think that it is important to 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:03.919 the ethos of honey truck. You know, like I've 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.719 watched, I've spent countless years watching 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:08.960 people sitting in a farmer's market, watching 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:12.259 people interact with my honey. As soon as they 00:04:12.259 --> 00:04:15.419 pick up a jar, it fits nicely in their hands. 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:18.360 They like that it's glass. As soon as they pick 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:20.959 it up, they don't put it down. So when I'm working 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:23.300 a farmer's market, my goal is to get a jar of 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:25.600 honey into that consumer's hands because I know 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:26.959 they're not going to put it down. They're going 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.220 to want to buy it. And that's going to generate 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:33.240 a sale. And so for me, I hang my hat, so to speak, 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.579 on the French square jar. It's part of our identity 00:04:36.579 --> 00:04:39.170 as the honey truck. I love it. We're learning 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:41.949 a lot here. Do you, when you're at these farmers 00:04:41.949 --> 00:04:46.310 markets and people buy a jar of honey, what do 00:04:46.310 --> 00:04:48.709 you do to keep them as a long -term customer? 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:52.699 Great question. I think a lot of that has to 00:04:52.699 --> 00:04:55.000 do with their first experience coming to the 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.379 honey truck Whether that's stopping by our brick 00:04:57.379 --> 00:05:00.339 -and -mortar or meeting us at the farmers market 00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:03.339 It's all in how you make your client feel, you 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:05.300 know, somebody comes up to the honey truck Typically 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:07.160 they see the vehicle and they're like, oh my 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:10.139 gosh, this is so cool My my dad had one of these 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.379 or my granddad drove one around and you know 00:05:12.379 --> 00:05:14.279 Like it's a great way to connect with people 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:16.240 you talk about the truck but then you start talking 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:19.269 about bees and how they make honey and Oh yeah, 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:21.149 and they're like, oh yeah, I don't really drink 00:05:21.149 --> 00:05:24.889 tea. I'm like, hey, great, I use honey in a myriad 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:27.149 of different ways. Do you eat granola in the 00:05:27.149 --> 00:05:31.310 morning? Oh yeah, yeah, I eat granola and yogurts, 00:05:31.310 --> 00:05:34.129 great. Our lavender infused honey is amazing 00:05:34.129 --> 00:05:36.430 on those things. You could throw it into a smoothie. 00:05:36.930 --> 00:05:39.810 Do you work out? Honey is a great natural source 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:42.509 of energy. Instead of getting a sugary drink, 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:44.870 you could just drizzle some honey into your drink 00:05:44.870 --> 00:05:47.829 the next time. So a lot of what we do is we're 00:05:47.829 --> 00:05:51.750 selling a lifestyle. People realize, oh, I can 00:05:51.750 --> 00:05:53.850 totally do that with honey. I eat ice cream. 00:05:53.850 --> 00:05:56.149 I could drizzle some honey on top of it. That 00:05:56.149 --> 00:05:59.310 sounds really delicious. And so a lot of what 00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:02.680 we do is... talk about how people can use honey. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.740 I think that that helps them to establish a feeling 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:11.939 or a sense of trust that they're talking directly 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:14.199 with the business owner. Now I obviously have 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:15.959 somebody who's working the farmers market for 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:20.120 me, but we are open and honest and transparent 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:22.759 about where our honey comes from. I think building 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:26.439 that trust is also another avenue that keeps 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:29.740 people coming back because I know businesses 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:33.189 that rapidly growing scale get so far away from 00:06:33.189 --> 00:06:38.029 their original business motto that you get kind 00:06:38.029 --> 00:06:40.050 of lost in the noise. And one of the things that 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:42.350 I've loved about honey truck, even though I do 00:06:42.350 --> 00:06:45.589 struggle with that, is the slow growth over time 00:06:45.589 --> 00:06:47.750 mentality. You know, like I follow a lot of food 00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:49.990 brands and I watched them just explode on social 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:52.509 media. And I'm like, why is my business not growing 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:54.769 that quickly? Like, oh man, I get so jealous 00:06:54.769 --> 00:06:58.160 of people sometimes, but The slow growth has 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:00.680 allowed me to scale my business in a way that's 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.860 sustainable. I still work with local beekeepers. 00:07:04.569 --> 00:07:07.370 who produce honey. I'm still able to establish 00:07:07.370 --> 00:07:11.430 those relationships and that translates with 00:07:11.430 --> 00:07:13.889 my clients because they know that I'm not lying 00:07:13.889 --> 00:07:16.449 to them. I have nothing to hide. If you want 00:07:16.449 --> 00:07:18.310 to come to Honey Truck and see how we put honey 00:07:18.310 --> 00:07:21.430 in a bottle, come visit. We have a huge, you 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:23.910 can't really see it, but just off to my left 00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:27.230 is a big window through the wall so you can see 00:07:27.230 --> 00:07:29.550 our production space. It's like a big glass window 00:07:29.550 --> 00:07:32.329 because I think it's important that people understand 00:07:32.329 --> 00:07:35.120 that process. Honestly, I think it's just building 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:37.319 trust that keeps your clients coming back. Have 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:40.379 you ever thought about giving people something 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:45.480 so that they are reminded, hey, wow, the next 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:48.139 time I run out of honey, there's no farmers market 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:53.120 going on. I can go to honeydruck .com and buy 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.899 what I need there. Have you done any of that, 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:59.399 whether it's a flyer or a little sticker or whatever 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:03.540 it is? We have done stickers. My kids have business 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:06.439 cards. They, uh, that have a little discount 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.000 code on it. My son, who is six, it makes him 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.699 feel extremely professional that he can walk 00:08:11.699 --> 00:08:15.100 up to somebody and say, my mom sells honey, but 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:18.560 here's my card because it will get you $5 off 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.819 your first order. And so, I mean, it's small 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:24.240 and cheesy, but I know it does work and it's 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.879 got that code on it so that when somebody uses 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.079 that code on my website, I'm able to track that. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.899 Every single year I can say, okay, these business 00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:34.659 cards that we've handed out made X dollars. And 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:37.620 these clients over time have been returning clients 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:41.039 to Honey Truck. And like I said, with our wholesale 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.440 partners, I think it's great when I make a sale 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:47.730 because I make 100 % of that margin. But... I'm 00:08:47.730 --> 00:08:50.389 all about supporting the businesses that support 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:53.490 Honey Truck. So if I'm not open, I'm very quick 00:08:53.490 --> 00:08:55.710 to tell clients, hey, you could go to Chop Shop 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:57.970 here in St. Augustine. You can go to Hagen Ace. 00:08:58.409 --> 00:09:01.149 Go support those businesses because then you're 00:09:01.149 --> 00:09:03.210 supporting too. You're supporting me and you're 00:09:03.210 --> 00:09:05.929 supporting them. It's a win -win situation. I 00:09:05.929 --> 00:09:08.049 think that that's kind of how we've chosen to 00:09:08.049 --> 00:09:12.419 handle that. Those wholesale customers. They 00:09:12.419 --> 00:09:14.600 get that from a lot of other things they sell 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.299 so they kind of expect you to be doing something 00:09:17.299 --> 00:09:21.279 to help them out Yeah, absolutely. You know that's 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.360 something else to consider in the cost of your 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:26.750 jar Have you thought about where are your marketing 00:09:26.750 --> 00:09:28.789 materials going to come from? We have pronounced 00:09:28.789 --> 00:09:31.909 for postcards for crystallization, you know, 00:09:32.029 --> 00:09:34.929 how to reverse the process. What is crystallization? 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:37.769 Why does it happen? We have shelf talkers that 00:09:37.769 --> 00:09:39.950 are little folding cards that sit on the shelf 00:09:39.950 --> 00:09:42.570 that say our honey has been featured on the Today 00:09:42.570 --> 00:09:45.070 Show. We're a best of the South by Southern Living 00:09:45.070 --> 00:09:49.500 brand. Those sorts of things. are signals from 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:51.700 other businesses, not me just sitting there saying, 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.019 I sell really delicious honey. These are huge 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:58.759 companies that are saying, this brand is credible. 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:01.840 She is who she says she is and we stand behind 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:05.320 her. But again, have you considered what those 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:07.820 things cost and have you rolled it into what 00:10:07.820 --> 00:10:10.120 you are selling it to your wholesale client for? 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.879 And I assume on your website, you've got a list 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.879 of all those retailers. We do. So if somebody 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:18.120 goes to your website, wants a brick and mortar 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:20.799 purchase that day, they can do that. That's one 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.490 way you're supporting them. And we we do feature 00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:26.629 them on our social media as well Sometimes I'll 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:28.289 walk into a shop and be like, hey, I'm doing 00:10:28.289 --> 00:10:31.289 a drop -off today I'm a declaration and co and 00:10:31.289 --> 00:10:32.990 oh my goodness Look at this cute dress that I 00:10:32.990 --> 00:10:35.149 just found and that's also another way that I'm 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:37.370 able to help our wholesale clients Okay, let's 00:10:37.370 --> 00:10:39.210 talk about some of the things that people might 00:10:39.210 --> 00:10:43.330 not think of for example You're talking about 00:10:43.330 --> 00:10:47.049 a wholesale distribution channel here and you 00:10:47.049 --> 00:10:51.070 also have to think about inventory because if 00:10:51.070 --> 00:10:55.309 that one retail store calls up and says, Danielle, 00:10:55.669 --> 00:11:01.909 I need 50 more jars of this. And you say, well, 00:11:02.509 --> 00:11:04.629 we're kind of out of honey for the next three 00:11:04.629 --> 00:11:08.009 months, but we'll be happy to get you some come 00:11:08.009 --> 00:11:13.269 July. What's that going to do? Yeah. So that's 00:11:13.269 --> 00:11:15.809 that goes back to the sustainable scale that 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:18.590 I was talking about. I've had opportunities. 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:23.320 I had QVC call me and say, hey, we have an opportunity 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:26.259 for Honey Truck. I'm very flattered that QVC 00:11:26.259 --> 00:11:29.200 would call me. However, when you run the numbers 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.419 or when I ran the numbers based on what it was 00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:33.639 that they wanted, the price points and all of 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:37.240 the things, I was like, the numbers don't add 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:43.500 up. And so I also don't want to be on QVC or 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:48.580 get into Publix or whatever and not be able to 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:51.919 support that account. That goes all back to, 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.039 you know, one of our brand identity words is 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.860 trust. So when a wholesale client calls me and 00:11:56.860 --> 00:11:58.440 they say, hey, I would love to stock honey truck, 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:02.139 I know confidently that I can either supply that 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:05.279 business with honey or I can't. And I think that 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.519 people are afraid to say no to an opportunity. 00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:11.159 But people are far more reasonable if you say, 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:15.590 hey, I absolutely would love to supply you guys 00:12:15.590 --> 00:12:19.070 with honey. But here's what I can do. I'm not 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:21.309 saying yes to all of your doors. What I'm saying 00:12:21.309 --> 00:12:24.309 is I would love to sustainably grow my business 00:12:24.309 --> 00:12:28.370 alongside yours. So would it be possible to only 00:12:28.370 --> 00:12:32.230 be in 10 of your 30 shops? Because that is what 00:12:32.230 --> 00:12:36.700 I can sustainably produce right now. with the 00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:40.379 intent that I am going to scale and would be 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:43.120 able to produce honey that you guys could have 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.039 in your other shops. And nine times out of 10, 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:47.899 that business is like, yeah, oh, yeah, absolutely. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:51.059 I totally get it. How many times as you as a 00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:52.879 consumer are told no on something and you're 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:56.019 like, oh, OK, yeah, yeah, I'll come back or whatever, 00:12:56.179 --> 00:12:58.159 you know. It's great that you're willing to say 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:00.580 that, because not every opportunity is a good 00:13:00.580 --> 00:13:03.730 opportunity. if a qvc and i'm not saying they 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:07.129 did this but if someone like that said hey we 00:13:07.129 --> 00:13:11.309 are going to sell 10 000 jars of honey for you 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:14.090 and you're only going to lose 50 cents on each 00:13:14.090 --> 00:13:17.789 jar is that really a good deal for you does that 00:13:17.789 --> 00:13:23.720 make sense well no although maybe Because if 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:26.480 you could turn those 10 ,000 jars into 10 ,000 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.860 long -term customers that were paying full retail, 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.220 then it may make sense. You have to look at all 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:37.200 those angles. Right. And we did look at that 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.679 specifically with QVC because at the end of the 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.179 day, you could say, even if I'm losing money, 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.379 is that a marketing expense? You know, like how 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:48.700 much exposure does QVC give Honey Truck? A lot. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:51.799 It gives us a lot of exposure. And honestly, 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:55.700 that particular decision boiled down to, is this 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:59.480 my exact target audience? And for me at Honey 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.279 Truck, my answer was no. And that's why I chose 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:06.179 to not take that opportunity then. However, I 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.220 would say that that door is still open. You know, 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.860 the contact that I had at QVC, I said, hey, here's 00:14:11.860 --> 00:14:15.620 where I'm at financially and why I'm making this 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:18.500 choice. But I would love to leave the door open 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:22.120 when we grow in scale and we're able to buy in 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.340 even more volume than I'm purchasing now. And 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:27.860 my costs come down. Is this still a situation 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:30.019 where I could email you back and say, hey, I'm 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:32.559 ready for another bite at QVC? And she was like, 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:36.019 yeah, sure. So that could shift things in the 00:14:36.019 --> 00:14:37.960 future, especially as my target audience is getting 00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:41.379 older. But it's still an open door, even though 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:43.820 I said no in the moment. Because you handled 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:46.490 it right. Have you ever thought about some kind 00:14:46.490 --> 00:14:49.350 of a subscription deal, honey of the month kind 00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:53.549 of thing? I have. I just haven't thought of the 00:14:53.549 --> 00:14:56.629 right thing yet. If we do it, I want it to be 00:14:56.629 --> 00:15:01.090 done well. So I typically would, I use the term 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:04.529 crock potter. When I'm in a big meeting or having 00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:06.870 a discussion with a friend, I like to just kind 00:15:06.870 --> 00:15:10.250 of sit quietly for a while. And I'm like, Hey, 00:15:10.269 --> 00:15:12.779 I'm just absorbing information. and I like to 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:15.940 let it stew or crock pot. And in about three 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:18.740 or four hours, that's when I start having questions 00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:20.360 like, oh, well, what about this? And what about 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:22.820 that? And it's just kind of how my brain processes 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:25.360 things. So whenever we release a new product, 00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:29.039 I like to consider all avenues before I just 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.879 release it because I want it to be in line with 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:33.919 our brand identity. I want to make sure that 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:35.600 it's something that our clients are really going 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.440 to enjoy and be excited about versus, oh, I'm 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:42.289 just adding another skew. to just do it. I admit 00:15:42.289 --> 00:15:44.990 a pet peeve of mine is that it seems all bee 00:15:44.990 --> 00:15:49.149 hives are white, yet boring old white. And just 00:15:49.149 --> 00:15:52.149 when I get a pet peeve, Man Lake comes to the 00:15:52.149 --> 00:15:55.730 rescue with their new color collection. The vibrant 00:15:55.730 --> 00:15:59.470 new line of colorful beekeeping hive kits designed 00:15:59.470 --> 00:16:02.529 to turn your backyard into a buzzing work of 00:16:02.529 --> 00:16:06.250 art. Each kit comes completely assembled, ready 00:16:06.250 --> 00:16:09.970 to add to your bee yard, but with a big splash 00:16:09.970 --> 00:16:13.929 of personality. We're talking Dandelion Yellow, 00:16:14.529 --> 00:16:18.929 Garden Green, Cone Flower Blue, and even Bold 00:16:18.929 --> 00:16:23.179 Wild Rose Pink. because who says a beehive has 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:26.440 to be plain old boring white? Imagine stepping 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:31.159 into your bee yard and seeing a rainbow of thriving 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.519 hives, each one buzzing with life producing golden 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:38.200 homegrown honey. And right now Man Lake is offering 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:42.700 podcast listeners 10 % off color collection hive 00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:47.000 kits. Visit manlakeltd .com and use the code 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:51.720 Show me the color at checkout. That's manlikeltd 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:56.580 .com. Discount code. Show me the color. Strong 00:16:56.580 --> 00:17:00.259 colonies simply fight mites better. They groom 00:17:00.259 --> 00:17:03.299 more. They remove infected brood. They bounce 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:07.180 back faster. But all of that takes energy. Primal 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:11.079 Bee Hives reduce thermal stress so your bees 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:14.119 have more in the tank when it matters. If you 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:17.220 want to give Primal Bee Hives a try, I've arranged 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:20.539 a 10 % discount just for bee love listeners. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.279 Click on over to primalbee .com forward slash 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:27.740 bee love and use discount code bee love, that's 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:31.319 all one word, at checkout. So that's primalbee 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:35.779 .com slash bee love and use code bee love at 00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:38.519 checkout. Think what we're gonna do in a few 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:41.019 minutes is we're gonna talk about a lot of common 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:44.759 mistakes that people made So or make so that 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:47.380 we can head those off and people can avoid those 00:17:47.380 --> 00:17:51.539 But first I want to talk about some of the beautiful 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:55.660 joys and blessings That your family is getting 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:59.000 because of how you do this. You're a mom. You 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:02.640 have what two kids? Two kids a four and a six 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:05.880 year old a son Lincoln who is six and my daughter 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:09.359 Imogen is four and Because of the way you run 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.519 your business How does that afford you more time 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:15.940 with them? Because it's easy to get into a business 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:18.140 and have it take over our whole life and we're 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:22.180 working 80 hours a week absolutely So starting 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:24.779 the business the way that I did, it kind of started 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.359 off as my side gig. I was a full -time family 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.880 photographer, and I was just beekeeping on the 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:31.700 side, doing farmers markets on the weekend. And 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:33.460 it was pretty great. And then there was a moment 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:36.319 where I pivoted and said, I'm done with photography. 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:40.880 I'm pursuing Honey Truck full -time. And it was 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.220 when we first started Honey Truck that my husband 00:18:43.220 --> 00:18:45.960 and I decided that was when we wanted to start 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:49.609 having kids. We couldn't. It took three years 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:53.289 to get pregnant. And even then, we thought that 00:18:53.289 --> 00:18:55.710 our first child, Lincoln, was a miracle baby. 00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:58.269 You know, like, great. We were going to go down 00:18:58.269 --> 00:19:00.069 the road of adoption, which I think is beautiful 00:19:00.069 --> 00:19:02.109 and lovely, but we weren't quite ready for it 00:19:02.109 --> 00:19:05.150 yet. And so him coming along was definitely a 00:19:05.150 --> 00:19:09.740 surprise. And then... COVID happened and the 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:12.480 world shut down which honestly I wasn't terribly 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:14.660 sad about because I was at home with my newborn 00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:16.299 baby and I was like great I don't have to see 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:18.799 anybody I'm gonna stay home and my jammies and 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.539 be a mom and do my mom thing and I was doing 00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:24.539 online marketing with honey truck and making 00:19:24.539 --> 00:19:26.559 online sales and able to ship from my house which 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:30.660 was great and then I very quickly got pregnant 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:33.500 with my daughter because we didn't think we could 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:36.660 get pregnant, and we did. And she has been amazing. 00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:39.619 But again, I'm at home with two kids under two 00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:42.380 years old. It really just kind of set, again, 00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:44.859 the trajectory of Honey Truck. Anybody who has 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:47.119 a child in childcare can tell you right now, 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:50.259 it is incredibly expensive to put your kid in 00:19:50.259 --> 00:19:52.880 childcare. And we could not afford it at the 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:55.980 time. And so... I made the choice to say, I'm 00:19:55.980 --> 00:19:57.759 going to be a part -time stay -at -home mom. 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:00.619 We're going to pay for childcare on Tuesdays 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:02.700 and Thursdays. We found a great school that was 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:06.900 willing to work with us on that. And then slowly 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.160 over time, it became, all right, well, we're 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:11.160 going to switch at the school year to do Monday, 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:13.460 Wednesday, Friday. And then suddenly, my son 00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:16.039 is in VPK, so he's in school five days a week, 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:19.099 and my daughter is there three days a week. And 00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:22.039 it just kind of worked with the schedule, so. 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:25.920 As of March 12th, when we're filming this, I 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.799 have only been full, really full time at Honey 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:33.279 Truck for about six or eight months since my 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:35.799 daughter has started VPK and my son is in kindergarten. 00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:39.759 And that flexibility has been everything to me. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.119 But that means that I say no to things, which 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.579 is really hard because I want to say yes. I want 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:51.160 to do all of the things, but My first job is 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:55.440 being a mom to my kids. And so that has been 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.900 the choice that I've made. And that kind of helps 00:20:57.900 --> 00:21:01.819 me determine what else I need to do that is a 00:21:01.819 --> 00:21:05.119 priority. And so I use the term primary parent, 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:07.279 which is not a knock on my husband at all. He 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.960 is a very involved parent, but... kid gets sick, 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:11.980 hey, your daughter has a fever, you need to come 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:13.740 and get her from school. I'm the one that goes 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:17.240 and does that. And so at the end of the day, 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:19.819 like we have hours at Honey Truck and I try and 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:23.700 be as informative as possible. Like, hey, emergency, 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.039 I had to leave the shop. It's open when I'm here 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.079 and it's closed when I'm gone because my family 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:33.150 is my priority and I don't want to... worry about 00:21:33.150 --> 00:21:36.650 the stress of other things. And now I do have 00:21:36.650 --> 00:21:39.029 a part -time employee that knows the business 00:21:39.029 --> 00:21:42.289 well enough that if I need to not be here, she's 00:21:42.289 --> 00:21:45.589 able to keep things running. So just as people 00:21:45.589 --> 00:21:48.849 think about growing and scaling, this year I've 00:21:48.849 --> 00:21:52.829 been able to say, have I created myself a stressful 00:21:52.829 --> 00:21:56.670 job or have I created a business that I can sell? 00:21:57.009 --> 00:21:59.650 Because for me, my end game is I want to sell 00:21:59.650 --> 00:22:02.869 honey truck. I'm not today, you know, like I'm 00:22:02.869 --> 00:22:05.029 in my thirties. So maybe in 20 years from now, 00:22:05.029 --> 00:22:06.930 I would love to sell honey truck. And so I've 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:09.650 got a long ways hopefully to work myself towards 00:22:09.650 --> 00:22:12.410 that goal. But in order to be able to do that, 00:22:12.410 --> 00:22:14.970 I have to have systems and operations in place 00:22:14.970 --> 00:22:17.190 that aren't just up here. They're on paper so 00:22:17.190 --> 00:22:19.950 that somebody knows this is what Danielle does. 00:22:20.029 --> 00:22:22.890 This is how it gets done. And this is my job. 00:22:22.930 --> 00:22:24.930 Should she not be here? So when you're thinking 00:22:24.930 --> 00:22:27.549 about those things and bringing along somebody. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.039 make sure that you start writing that stuff down 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:33.619 so that you're not just creating yourself a stressful 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:36.759 job, you're creating something that is a sellable 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:41.420 entity. Such valuable advice. The thing that 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:43.680 you were just talking about with your priorities. 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:46.720 It reminds me of what you said a little while 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.579 ago about the priorities in the business itself, 00:22:50.680 --> 00:22:54.789 which is You defined your target audience. Once 00:22:54.789 --> 00:22:57.869 you did that, it helped you make all these other 00:22:57.869 --> 00:23:01.910 decisions. Should I be on QVC? Should I be in 00:23:01.910 --> 00:23:04.630 a hardware store? Should I be in an upper end 00:23:04.630 --> 00:23:06.990 store? It helps you make all those decisions. 00:23:07.309 --> 00:23:09.549 And when you do that with your personal life 00:23:09.549 --> 00:23:13.950 priorities as well, it helps you make all the 00:23:13.950 --> 00:23:17.069 decisions that you need to make regarding not 00:23:17.069 --> 00:23:20.569 only that, but how your business influences that. 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:24.559 Thank you. Great advice. And this, it might not 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.980 be the same story for somebody else. You know, 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:28.960 like I could totally hear somebody listening 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.339 to this and, you know, like they don't have kids 00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:35.819 or their kids are already out of the house. That 00:23:35.819 --> 00:23:38.119 looks different. Priorities shift and change 00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:41.240 over time. And so wherever you're at, the analogy 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:44.539 that I like to use is you, you're a juggler and 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:46.839 you juggle a lot of balls and some of them are 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:48.940 glass balls and some of them are plastic balls 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:53.309 and they're material can change. So sometimes, 00:23:53.730 --> 00:23:55.769 right now, my kids are plastic balls. They're 00:23:55.769 --> 00:23:58.430 both healthy. They're both in school. There's 00:23:58.430 --> 00:24:00.569 nothing, you know, right now that is emergent. 00:24:00.849 --> 00:24:03.450 But suddenly... I get a call from school, hey, 00:24:03.529 --> 00:24:05.130 Lincoln is throwing up. You have to come get 00:24:05.130 --> 00:24:08.009 him. That plastic ball just became glass. And 00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:10.349 I got to let another plastic ball go. Like, that's 00:24:10.349 --> 00:24:12.690 my priority that I need to keep juggling is my 00:24:12.690 --> 00:24:15.630 son. And so that looks different for every business 00:24:15.630 --> 00:24:18.710 owner that may not have kids. And you have different 00:24:18.710 --> 00:24:21.609 glass balls. Like, hey, this account that I have 00:24:21.609 --> 00:24:24.710 is my main priority. I love this so very much. 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:28.049 And I'm going to do everything I can to keep 00:24:28.049 --> 00:24:31.210 that account going. And this account over here, 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.720 does meh you know like it's a plastic ball for 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:36.500 now like this is my priority and this one is 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:40.579 not and though they can change and shift it also 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:42.980 may be an account at some point that you have 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:45.980 to be willing to just let it go right and just 00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:48.779 say absolutely right they're just not worth working 00:24:48.779 --> 00:24:52.420 at and then back to this these personal things 00:24:52.420 --> 00:24:54.599 like you're talking about where you are in life 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:00.319 If you're maybe 25 years old and sit down and 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:03.859 say, okay, I'm not married. I want to really 00:25:03.859 --> 00:25:07.759 build a beekeeping business and I want to work 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:13.240 up to 2 ,000 hives and my source of income is 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:16.879 going to mostly be pollination. Okay. Completely 00:25:16.879 --> 00:25:19.299 opposite of what you're doing, Danielle. And 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:21.859 that's okay. So figure out where you want to 00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:24.299 be, what you want to do. There's so many things 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:27.039 that you can do with beekeeping and bee products. 00:25:28.180 --> 00:25:30.420 Right. I'm chuckling because those are the people 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:33.099 that I work directly with. Like, I'm able to 00:25:33.099 --> 00:25:36.640 do what I do because somebody else says... I'm 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.960 going to be a full -time beekeeper. I'm going 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.420 to have thousands of hives and I'm going to do 00:25:41.420 --> 00:25:44.799 these things. Like I'm not ignorant. This is 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:47.160 me and my beekeepers. I can tell you right now 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:50.220 that I live in Florida. We get hurricanes every 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:53.059 year and I am consistently watching where is 00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:55.480 that storm going. I know where my beekeepers 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:57.779 have their bees generally speaking and if it's 00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:59.720 going to an area where I know I have a beekeeper 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.059 who has bees I'm very quick to pick up the phone 00:26:02.059 --> 00:26:05.039 and say hey. I know that I'm not a commercial 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.099 beekeeper, but you know I know my way around 00:26:07.099 --> 00:26:09.880 the beehive. Do you need help relocating your 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:13.579 bees? What do you need from me? Because in some 00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:16.779 ways, that is very selfish. Like, if they're 00:26:16.779 --> 00:26:18.960 gonna get hit by a storm, that directly affects 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.259 me. I care very much about what's happening to 00:26:22.259 --> 00:26:24.579 those beekeepers, which is why I've spent a lot 00:26:24.579 --> 00:26:27.690 of time... speaking at UF. I speak at Bee College 00:26:27.690 --> 00:26:31.470 every year, and I love going to Beekeeper meetings 00:26:31.470 --> 00:26:35.289 and talking to people because those are my partnerships, 00:26:35.490 --> 00:26:38.369 those are my people, and what affects them is 00:26:38.369 --> 00:26:41.589 gonna have a trickle -down effect to me. And 00:26:41.589 --> 00:26:44.930 even in the big global world, we have the tropolalaps 00:26:44.930 --> 00:26:47.109 mite that is not here in the United States, but 00:26:47.109 --> 00:26:49.650 it... It probably will be at some point and we 00:26:49.650 --> 00:26:52.349 will have to deal with it because what is affecting 00:26:52.349 --> 00:26:54.970 a third world country right now is going to come 00:26:54.970 --> 00:26:57.630 directly into our land and affect us as well. 00:26:57.690 --> 00:27:00.630 And so the more research that we can do, I know 00:27:00.630 --> 00:27:02.549 that Sammy Ramsey has done a ton of research 00:27:02.549 --> 00:27:04.569 on the tropal elapsed mite and he's gone all 00:27:04.569 --> 00:27:07.289 over the world to research it, like support those 00:27:07.289 --> 00:27:09.630 people because they're on the front lines of 00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:13.329 it and understand what's happening. And I don't 00:27:13.329 --> 00:27:15.720 know, I just see it as a very simple symbiotic 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:18.559 relationship, you know? Well, absolutely. I mean, 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:21.460 your suppliers are just as important as the people 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:23.559 you're selling to. Otherwise, you have nothing 00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:26.779 to sell. Right. You don't have a thousand hives 00:27:26.779 --> 00:27:31.380 yourself. Nor do I want to. Nor do you want to. 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.200 Doesn't mean you don't love bees, right? It's 00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:37.759 correct. I like to stay less than 10. That's 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.079 my safe space. Yeah. Everybody has where they 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:44.000 want to be and I think that's great to find it 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.319 for yourself. One last thing that we're going 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:49.779 to get into before we find out about Danielle's 00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.880 wild and crazy story and that is let's just talk 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:56.480 about some common mistakes that people use. I'm 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:58.960 going to be an entrepreneur for the first time. 00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:02.019 I happen to be a hobby beekeeper so that's where 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:04.819 my entrepreneurial spirit is going to come out. 00:28:05.339 --> 00:28:08.319 What are some mistakes you've seen people make? 00:28:10.189 --> 00:28:13.089 not pricing their honey high enough would be 00:28:13.089 --> 00:28:16.049 a big one. Again, like we talked about, make 00:28:16.049 --> 00:28:18.430 sure that you understand how much that jar costs 00:28:18.430 --> 00:28:20.990 you, how much that label, that lid, that safety 00:28:20.990 --> 00:28:23.549 seal if you want it, all of it costs you. And 00:28:23.549 --> 00:28:25.630 if you're like me, you also have to factor in 00:28:25.630 --> 00:28:28.069 the cost of how much the honey costs and how 00:28:28.069 --> 00:28:30.490 much time it costs you to put it into that bottle. 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.819 That would be one of the big ones. And I would 00:28:34.819 --> 00:28:38.440 also say probably should take a business class. 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:41.940 Again, I have taken zero marketing classes, and 00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:45.859 I've also taken zero business classes. So while 00:28:45.859 --> 00:28:49.220 it looks really great, I guarantee you that there's 00:28:49.220 --> 00:28:52.440 a lot of mistakes that I've made over time just 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:55.460 because I didn't have that knowledge. But I would 00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:58.650 also say that on the flip side, that's a benefit 00:28:58.650 --> 00:29:01.509 because no one taught me. I had to figure it 00:29:01.509 --> 00:29:03.369 out on my own. I had to figure out QuickBooks 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:08.490 on my own. I had to figure out how to decrystallize 00:29:08.490 --> 00:29:10.529 an entire drum of honey. You know, like those 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:13.059 aren't things that you can just... people aren't 00:29:13.059 --> 00:29:15.900 forthcoming with that information. And so figuring 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:17.940 it out on your own, sometimes you figure out 00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:23.359 a new way that is a lot better or more efficient 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:26.680 than your competition is. And so sometimes that 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:30.019 can be a benefit that you didn't have that background 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:33.380 in engineering or whatever. Okay, I like it. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:36.839 I would also say like if specifically when you're 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:39.240 selling honey, because that is what we're talking 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:41.859 about, not necessarily like beekeeping mistakes. 00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:44.279 But when it comes to selling your honey, I would 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:47.359 also say like, not establishing your target audience 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:51.200 from the get go, know who your audience is, how 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.339 you can sell to them, and be in front of them 00:29:55.339 --> 00:29:58.259 consistently. Not everybody is your client. And 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:02.809 that's okay. You know, my My husband is not my 00:30:02.809 --> 00:30:04.970 target demographic. He supports my business, 00:30:05.029 --> 00:30:08.509 but I'm not marketing to men who are 40, you 00:30:08.509 --> 00:30:10.650 know, like, well, he's not 40 yet. He's going 00:30:10.650 --> 00:30:13.210 to be upset with me, but that's not my target 00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:16.930 audience. And so know who they are because that 00:30:16.930 --> 00:30:20.990 will set the tone for the rest of your accounts 00:30:20.990 --> 00:30:22.670 that you're going to want to go after in terms 00:30:22.670 --> 00:30:24.970 of wholesale. Or even if you don't want to wholesale 00:30:24.970 --> 00:30:28.650 and you just want to have a roadside stand that 00:30:28.650 --> 00:30:31.069 matters. Do you want to be a part of Christmas 00:30:31.069 --> 00:30:35.049 markets? Do you want to do church bazaars? Do 00:30:35.049 --> 00:30:37.529 you just want to do flea markets? That's totally 00:30:37.529 --> 00:30:39.690 fine. And if you're going to do a flea market 00:30:39.690 --> 00:30:41.789 and you have a price in mind, please add at least 00:30:41.789 --> 00:30:44.549 $2 to what you think you should sell your honey 00:30:44.549 --> 00:30:46.849 for because let's raise the price of honey for 00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:50.150 every beekeeper. A rising tide lifts all boats. 00:30:51.029 --> 00:30:53.329 And speaking of your target market, how did you 00:30:53.329 --> 00:30:56.369 decide to sell tea? And how do you make tea? 00:30:57.329 --> 00:31:00.069 That's a great question. I do get my tea white 00:31:00.069 --> 00:31:03.750 labeled. I don't produce it myself. But tea is 00:31:03.750 --> 00:31:08.029 a natural product that pairs well with honey. 00:31:08.250 --> 00:31:12.130 And it is also very shelf stable. I don't have 00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:14.890 to worry about tea going bad within two or three 00:31:14.890 --> 00:31:17.910 weeks, like bread or something else. It makes 00:31:17.910 --> 00:31:21.730 a really great giftable item, a gift basket item. 00:31:21.829 --> 00:31:25.299 Somebody is coming to the farmer's market. November, 00:31:25.339 --> 00:31:27.640 and they're looking for a Christmas gift. Oh, 00:31:27.859 --> 00:31:30.759 my aunt Susie, she loves honey. Great. Does your 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:32.779 aunt Susie drink tea? Because you could do like 00:31:32.779 --> 00:31:36.680 a small jar of honey. You could do our six sachet 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:39.720 envelope. And if she doesn't have a honey pot, 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:41.259 you could do a honey pot with a dipper. And that 00:31:41.259 --> 00:31:42.960 would make like a really great gift that you 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:44.900 could give her versus just one jar of honey. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:48.470 So it It does kind of boil down to how much is 00:31:48.470 --> 00:31:50.589 somebody putting in their basket when they come 00:31:50.589 --> 00:31:52.490 and shop at Honey Truck. You're always trying 00:31:52.490 --> 00:31:56.630 to increase that revenue and those margins. I 00:31:56.630 --> 00:31:59.630 never want to be pushy when it comes to selling. 00:31:59.829 --> 00:32:02.549 So I tell anybody who works at Honey Truck, we're 00:32:02.549 --> 00:32:05.250 all about education. Let them try the honey. 00:32:05.369 --> 00:32:07.950 Talk about how bees make honey. Talk about why 00:32:07.950 --> 00:32:10.789 our honey has a higher standard than anybody 00:32:10.789 --> 00:32:14.069 else's honey. And people generally will make 00:32:14.069 --> 00:32:18.000 a choice on their own. But that that would be 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:21.000 my two cents on mistakes that people make. All 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:24.140 right. Before I let you go entertain us, tell 00:32:24.140 --> 00:32:26.559 us something funny or crazy that has happened 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:30.539 to you while beekeeping. OK, so I did think about 00:32:30.539 --> 00:32:33.400 it. I kind of have two things. One is about beekeeping. 00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:36.259 And since my main vein is honey, putting honey 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:38.940 in bottles, I have one there. So my first beekeeping 00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:42.819 story has to do with I was. out in my yard, not 00:32:42.819 --> 00:32:46.319 even doing a hive inspection and a bee out of 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:49.140 nowhere just flies up and stings me right on 00:32:49.140 --> 00:32:53.380 the bridge of my nose. And I come inside the 00:32:53.380 --> 00:32:56.460 house and my husband, like I'm starting to turn 00:32:56.460 --> 00:32:57.900 red and he's like, are you okay? I was like, 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:00.960 yeah, I just got stung. It was really weird and 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:03.539 random. And then like my hands started itching, 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:06.480 my feet started itching. And I was like, hey, 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:08.819 I need you to go get me some Benadryl. So I took 00:33:08.819 --> 00:33:12.359 Benadryl. And in about 20 minutes, I had no eye 00:33:12.359 --> 00:33:14.799 sockets. I couldn't see anything. I had to sit 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.759 on the couch, you know, like just completely 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:22.240 helpless. And thankfully, I ended up getting 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:25.220 a stronger antihistamine to help with that. But 00:33:25.220 --> 00:33:28.440 I had. I've actually just gotten back from B 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:31.099 college and heard Dr. Jamie Ellis talk about 00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:33.740 bee stings and how as long as your throat's not 00:33:33.740 --> 00:33:36.099 closing up, you're pretty okay with a bee sting. 00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:38.220 And so the whole time, even though I'm freaking 00:33:38.220 --> 00:33:41.299 out that my vision is now going away with the 00:33:41.299 --> 00:33:43.619 swelling, I was like, but I can breathe. I can 00:33:43.619 --> 00:33:45.619 breathe just fine. So the Benadryl will work 00:33:45.619 --> 00:33:49.019 at some point and I'll be all right. So that's 00:33:49.019 --> 00:33:51.640 kind of my story with beekeeping. And then with 00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:54.759 honey, as you can imagine, moving honey in drums 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:58.880 is no small feat, especially for a small set 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:01.880 female. But we have our methods. And so I was 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:05.210 making bourbon honey. and I had actually pumped 00:34:05.210 --> 00:34:08.170 honey into the barrel. There are these huge oak 00:34:08.170 --> 00:34:10.929 barrels that they put bourbon in and so it had 00:34:10.929 --> 00:34:15.750 a the hole on the front is called a bung and 00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:17.670 I was on the phone with my friend and I'm just 00:34:17.670 --> 00:34:19.750 kind of walking around our production space and 00:34:19.750 --> 00:34:21.630 I noticed that there's a little bit of honey 00:34:21.630 --> 00:34:24.250 dripping from the bung and I was like well that's 00:34:24.250 --> 00:34:27.730 not great so I go and I take mallet and I'm like 00:34:27.730 --> 00:34:30.610 I'm just gonna tap this in and I go tap tap tap 00:34:30.610 --> 00:34:32.869 and all of a sudden the bung shoots out and honey 00:34:32.869 --> 00:34:35.210 starts flying everywhere and I'm on the phone 00:34:35.210 --> 00:34:37.329 with my friend and I'm like oh my gosh oh my 00:34:37.329 --> 00:34:39.389 gosh oh my gosh and she's like what what what 00:34:39.389 --> 00:34:40.909 I'm like honey's everywhere honey's everywhere 00:34:40.909 --> 00:34:43.789 and so I like you know it's literally just gushing 00:34:43.789 --> 00:34:46.210 and I'm seeing dollar bills just flying out the 00:34:46.210 --> 00:34:47.949 window and I'm like okay I gotta find the bung 00:34:47.949 --> 00:34:50.570 so I find it and I shove it back in there and 00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:52.710 I'm covered in honey there's no one here with 00:34:52.710 --> 00:34:56.860 me and I'm like what am I gonna do? So I try 00:34:56.860 --> 00:35:00.039 as hard as I can to just get it stabilized and 00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:03.199 shove it in as hard as I can. And then I like 00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:04.800 slowly remove my hand and I'm like, all right, 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.760 it's gonna stay. I know I have ratchet straps 00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:09.019 in my truck. So I run out to my truck, completely 00:35:09.019 --> 00:35:11.760 coated in honey, grab the ratchet strap and ratchet 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:15.420 it all together and finally stabilize it. But 00:35:15.420 --> 00:35:17.980 that would probably be like my funniest story 00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:20.079 in terms of honey production that's happened 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.980 here. That is awesome. Do you happen to have 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:25.579 pictures of either of those things? Like when 00:35:25.579 --> 00:35:32.500 your eyes swelled shut? No, I do not. Darn. Okay, 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:37.519 social media would love that one. Yeah. And I 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:39.460 can see how you would not have been able to take 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:42.519 a picture when you're covered with honey with 00:35:42.519 --> 00:35:47.099 the oak barrel. No, and yeah, you know, you think 00:35:47.099 --> 00:35:49.420 twice about posting things to social media. You 00:35:49.420 --> 00:35:52.739 know, you, I don't know. I have no problem posting 00:35:52.739 --> 00:35:55.139 something embarrassing of you to social media. 00:35:55.900 --> 00:35:59.179 I know, I know. That's why I don't have that 00:35:59.179 --> 00:36:02.699 photo of myself anymore. All right. So you did 00:36:02.699 --> 00:36:05.099 have one. Your husband has it somewhere. I'll 00:36:05.099 --> 00:36:08.599 call him. I'm sure he does. Danielle Brooks from 00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:11.320 Honey Truck. It's been really a lot of fun and 00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:13.139 we've learned a ton. Thank you for being with 00:36:13.139 --> 00:36:16.219 me today. Thank you so much for having me. I 00:36:16.219 --> 00:36:30.219 appreciate it. Vita's Varroa Control Ranger products 00:36:30.219 --> 00:36:34.639 includes Epistan, Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended 00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:37.940 Release Oxalic Acids Trips. Hey thanks a lot 00:36:37.940 --> 00:36:40.719 guys. And if you haven't yet, please subscribe 00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:43.000 to and follow the show, tell your friends about 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:45.719 it, and click on over to BeLoveBeKeeping .com 00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:49.019 to sign up for our free newsletter. If you have 00:36:49.019 --> 00:36:52.079 a guest suggestion or topic you'd like discussed 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:55.440 on the show, shoot me an email eric at BeLoveBeKeeping 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:58.769 .com and remember if you're not just in it for 00:36:58.769 --> 00:37:01.530 the honey or the money, you're in it for the 00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:02.949 love. See you next week.