WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.660 in a world brimming with complexity few creatures 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:12.839 embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:17.699 precision she dances from bloom to bloom each 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:22.420 motion guided by millennia upon millennia of 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:28.800 instinct each act in service to the whole and 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.560 then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.500 of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist, 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.460 part poet, they move along their hives with the 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:50.560 efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:54.219 the bees' needs as best they can comprehend, 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:59.670 and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:05.549 Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing 00:01:05.549 --> 00:01:12.090 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.090 --> 00:01:23.510 journey. Well, this is going to be totally different 00:01:23.510 --> 00:01:26.329 today. By the way, welcome, welcome to Be Love 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:29.489 Beekeeping. Normally we start off in the studio, 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:32.530 today we're outside. Our show today is going 00:01:32.530 --> 00:01:35.750 to focus on the concept of sustainability and 00:01:35.750 --> 00:01:39.609 beekeeping. And one of the points of that is 00:01:39.609 --> 00:01:42.609 not having to buy bees. For a lot of people, 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:46.049 we're doing splits, we're catching swarms, we're 00:01:46.049 --> 00:01:48.430 doing swarm removals, we're doing all kinds of 00:01:48.430 --> 00:01:51.930 things. And I just wanted to tell you about here 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:57.269 in my woodshed, I keep equipment. over the winter 00:01:57.269 --> 00:02:01.829 when there's extra room and there's just various 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:04.530 parts and pieces in there and I clean those up 00:02:04.530 --> 00:02:06.549 and use them from time to time. And one of the 00:02:06.549 --> 00:02:09.909 things that I pulled out was a swarm trap that 00:02:09.909 --> 00:02:12.030 I made just a few years ago and I cleaned it 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:15.370 all out, got it beautiful and pristine inside, 00:02:15.909 --> 00:02:19.129 put some frames inside that had some drawn out 00:02:19.129 --> 00:02:23.129 comb, put some lemongrass oil in, made it just 00:02:23.129 --> 00:02:26.439 all perfect. I hung this thing on the perfect 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:30.419 spot on the chicken coop and it's, oh by the 00:02:30.419 --> 00:02:33.620 way, hi chickens, on the chicken coop and it 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:37.979 is ready to go and it gets morning sun and there's 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:41.219 not a single bee looking at it. Oh well, they 00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:44.539 don't come. Let's go back to the wood shed because 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:47.280 I had a little surprise yesterday. I have another 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.419 swarm trap just like that that I didn't clean 00:02:50.419 --> 00:02:54.340 up. The lid on it's broken. It has old gross 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:57.400 comb inside and I didn't do anything to make 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.840 it nice. I didn't bait it. I didn't hang it up 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:01.919 eight feet in the air or anything like that. 00:03:02.099 --> 00:03:06.159 It's just in this woodshed and yesterday I came 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.159 out here and I saw some bees flying around. I'm 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:14.020 like what's going on? So I got closer and this 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:17.599 old swarm trap that was just on the floor has 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:21.180 bees going in and out. No swarm commander, no 00:03:21.180 --> 00:03:24.349 lemongrass oil, no nothing. It's falling apart 00:03:24.349 --> 00:03:26.909 and let's just take off the lid and see if anything's 00:03:26.909 --> 00:03:35.949 going on in here. Uh yeah. So sometimes bees 00:03:35.949 --> 00:03:39.090 surprise us. They don't do things the way that 00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:42.409 we ask them to do, but we get some fun surprises. 00:03:43.229 --> 00:03:46.110 So yeah sure enough a whole swarm moved in there 00:03:46.110 --> 00:03:49.370 and um and they're just having a good old time 00:03:49.370 --> 00:03:55.460 in this old woodshed. making a new home. So that's 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:58.520 all part of sustainability, and it's all part 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:01.699 of the fun. I love when they surprise us. When 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:04.300 we think we're doing everything right, they'll 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:08.580 say, oh, you silly beekeeper, just let us do 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:16.480 what we want. I'd like to welcome to the show 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.500 today, Michael Scott, who's coming to us from 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:22.649 Indiana, Pennsylvania. That sounds like two states 00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:24.810 in a row. What's going on there, Michael? It's 00:04:24.810 --> 00:04:27.410 just meant to confuse people, but it's pretty 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:31.889 effective. You are some kind of an expert on 00:04:31.889 --> 00:04:36.050 sustainability with beekeeping, and that's going 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:38.470 to be our main topic today. I did have one quick 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:41.290 question before we jump in. I was just looking 00:04:41.290 --> 00:04:45.509 at your website and I'm seeing honey that you 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:49.990 have for sale. that on one end it is a super, 00:04:50.149 --> 00:04:54.189 super light amber color, and then you also have 00:04:54.189 --> 00:04:57.649 some very, very dark honey. Tell me about those. 00:04:58.029 --> 00:05:00.509 What are your bees foraging on that's making 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:04.089 the differences? Typically what we'll have with 00:05:04.089 --> 00:05:07.350 the really light honey, like I have three different 00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:10.860 bee yards that can give something that's really 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:15.199 light but Apple would be some of them and I don't 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:17.259 get much of that because I have an Apple orchard 00:05:17.259 --> 00:05:20.180 and you know we've we just lost all of the blossoms 00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:22.639 this year because of the cold snap. I have another 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:25.860 bee yard that has linden trees and has 150 linden 00:05:25.860 --> 00:05:29.180 trees and that's a nice light yellow color and 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:32.100 if I can time things right where like that one 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:34.699 comes into bloom just about the summer solstice 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.620 and that's also the time that the second swarms 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:40.439 come in so it's one of those words hit and miss. 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:43.750 But the really big one would be tulip poplar. 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:46.410 And tulip poplar trees, when they go into bloom, 00:05:46.990 --> 00:05:50.589 the flower you can actually take the flower and 00:05:50.589 --> 00:05:52.829 do this and shake it and nectar will come out 00:05:52.829 --> 00:05:56.370 on the ground. And that is our like biggest flow 00:05:56.370 --> 00:05:59.629 of the season. And that one's the same light 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:02.449 golden color. It has kind of a citrusy flavor 00:06:02.449 --> 00:06:04.670 to it too. It's part of the magnolia family. 00:06:05.230 --> 00:06:09.230 But it is a really good tasting honey. And you 00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:11.250 know, having that light colored people aren't 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.910 used to seeing that they're used to seeing the 00:06:13.910 --> 00:06:17.410 just the mid row cloven. When does that come 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:19.930 on? When does that flow? That's the tool of poplar. 00:06:20.029 --> 00:06:23.410 And that happens pretty much at the end of June. 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:26.129 You'll have that happening somewhere around June 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:29.850 15th. And that's like During that time, the colonies 00:06:29.850 --> 00:06:32.209 are just building up like crazy. They can bring 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:35.430 in so much nectar, it's unreal. I've noticed 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:39.189 that something that's happened recently is that 00:06:39.189 --> 00:06:41.810 some of my bigger colonies will get honey bound. 00:06:42.550 --> 00:06:45.310 And instead of doing what beekeepers were told 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:48.209 to do, where you expand, I just let them kind 00:06:48.209 --> 00:06:51.480 of... Get honey bound and do that with sustainable 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:54.019 beekeeping You're looking at brood breaks is 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:55.939 one of the things that helps control the mite 00:06:55.939 --> 00:06:58.180 problem and getting bees to have better winter 00:06:58.180 --> 00:07:01.620 survival So these large colonies are getting 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:04.279 honey bound. It's giving them a long brood break 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.379 during what would be like a dearth I mean, we 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:09.639 don't I don't think we have a dearth But we have 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.180 a time where it slows down and it's where you're 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:15.899 that in between period of trees and shrubs into 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.319 the weeds But when they get honey -bound like 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.879 that, they just basically shut down. During that 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:25.720 time, they render the nectar into honey, and 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:28.120 then they're right on track for the fall flow. 00:07:28.579 --> 00:07:31.259 They have a long brood break, and I have some 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:34.139 hives that have been, well, this is the fourth 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:36.579 year that they haven't swarmed on me, and they've 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.180 just done that from being honey -bound. So before 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:42.300 we get off this topic, there was the really dark 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:44.420 -colored honey. When is that and what's that 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:48.629 from? That's knotweed. Knotweed is a, it looks 00:07:48.629 --> 00:07:51.790 like a bamboo. It grows along stream banks for 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:56.430 the most part. It is a really sweet honey, does 00:07:56.430 --> 00:08:01.529 not crystallize. And it's in late August, early 00:08:01.529 --> 00:08:04.290 September, but it is one of the other big flows 00:08:04.290 --> 00:08:06.829 that we have. And, you know, even though it's 00:08:06.829 --> 00:08:09.980 an invasive plant, If we didn't have that, I 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:12.319 don't know how well our bees would do because 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:14.519 that is one of the best honeys that they can 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:18.019 get. Not weeding in itself is a medicinal plant 00:08:18.019 --> 00:08:20.959 and you know you have to wonder if some of that 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.459 medicinal property doesn't transfer over into 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:27.470 the honey and the nectar. I know in our cabinet 00:08:27.470 --> 00:08:30.769 where my wife keeps a million and one supplements 00:08:30.769 --> 00:08:34.470 of every variety. Japanese knotweed is one of 00:08:34.470 --> 00:08:37.750 them in there. I've seen it. So I believe you 00:08:37.750 --> 00:08:40.690 on that. Anyway, you had mentioned something 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:43.909 about brood breaks. Let's get back to sustainability. 00:08:44.549 --> 00:08:47.230 When I hear brood breaks for varroa control, 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:50.830 I think of treatment free beekeeping. So if you'd 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:53.909 give us just a minute about quote, sustainable 00:08:53.909 --> 00:08:56.549 beekeeping, and then how does that relate to 00:08:56.549 --> 00:08:58.629 treatment free and other types of beekeeping? 00:08:58.690 --> 00:09:01.289 Let's start there. When it comes to sustainable 00:09:01.289 --> 00:09:03.570 beekeeping, I think you have to look at it from, 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:07.110 most people think of it just simply as they don't 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:10.350 have to buy bees. And by definition, that would 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:14.090 be accurate, but that's for the individual. And 00:09:14.090 --> 00:09:16.980 if you look at, for the individual, you could 00:09:16.980 --> 00:09:19.379 have sustainable beekeeping and still be treating 00:09:19.379 --> 00:09:22.720 your bees but you're reaching your goal by not 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.240 having to buy new bees and it still fits the 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:28.580 definition. But then you can take it to the other 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:30.399 level where it's that you're not just thinking 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:32.279 about yourself you're thinking about the bees 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:35.639 and everything around you. So my definition of 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:38.139 sustainable beekeeping would be that in the long 00:09:38.139 --> 00:09:41.080 term your relationship with the bees is better 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:43.899 for your bees and the bees that are surrounding 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:47.379 you, especially the feral bee population, then 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:50.059 it would be if they didn't have that relationship 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:52.580 with you. And that's when you're getting into 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:55.340 what I think real sustainable beekeeping is. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.639 Now, treatment -free beekeeping is one of those 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:02.960 things where by definition, if you decide to 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.379 do nothing, that is your decision on what treatment 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:09.730 you're going to give your bees. That really can't 00:10:09.730 --> 00:10:12.129 be treatment free because you're making that 00:10:12.129 --> 00:10:14.830 decision to do it or not. But real treatment 00:10:14.830 --> 00:10:18.009 free would be, in a sense, sustainable beekeeping, 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:22.049 where you've got the area doing so well that 00:10:22.049 --> 00:10:25.409 you don't have to make a decision to treat or 00:10:25.409 --> 00:10:27.889 not. It's that everything is working the way 00:10:27.889 --> 00:10:30.269 it's supposed to work, the way that nature kind 00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:33.169 of intended it. And in that, you don't have to 00:10:33.169 --> 00:10:34.769 treat, you don't have to even think about treating. 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:37.659 So I know a little bit about the term sustainable 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:42.059 farming and that concept, which to my understanding, 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.399 and I probably am not going to abbreviate this 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:49.960 very well, but the general idea is you have cows 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:53.879 grazing here and they're depositing waste there, 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:57.340 which is fertilizer and everything is, you know, 00:10:57.340 --> 00:10:59.279 it makes it so you don't need to use a lot of 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:02.080 chemicals and a lot of fertilizer. And it's just 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:06.299 sort of animals and the land. interacting how 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:08.960 they're supposed to, how Mother Nature intended. 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:11.639 Right. Is that sort of what we're talking about 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:15.659 with sustainable beekeeping? In some ways with 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:18.679 the cattle, what they do now is it's called paddock 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:21.580 farming. And what they're doing is they're setting 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:25.200 up different small areas. and the cows will go 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:28.179 into that area graze it to the point where they're 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:30.019 not just eating the things they like they're 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:31.860 eating everything and then they move them to 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:35.399 the next paddock because in the wild in natural 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:38.440 circumstances they would have really large herds 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:40.759 that would go into the area eat everything and 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.899 move on and in that they would like deposit the 00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:47.659 manure and it would just keep like recycling 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:50.379 that would be the sustainability of it all with 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:54.789 beekeeping It's more or less where you kind of 00:11:54.789 --> 00:11:56.970 have to like you can't really have sustainable 00:11:56.970 --> 00:11:59.269 beekeeping when you don't have everybody on board 00:11:59.269 --> 00:12:03.350 with the idea. So where I have isolated yards, 00:12:03.350 --> 00:12:07.149 I do really well. I have one yard that just lost 00:12:07.149 --> 00:12:10.009 its first colony in four years and I keep somewhere 00:12:10.009 --> 00:12:12.490 around eight to nine colonies there every year. 00:12:12.850 --> 00:12:15.350 That's without doing any kind of chemical treatments. 00:12:15.429 --> 00:12:18.990 I actually stopped doing any of the bird breaks 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.370 that I was forcing, you know, by getting rid 00:12:21.370 --> 00:12:23.970 of the queen or doing splits, I was just letting 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:27.950 them propagate the area. But in that kind of 00:12:27.950 --> 00:12:32.009 situation, you're not introducing new genetics 00:12:32.009 --> 00:12:34.009 that aren't really from the area. You're not 00:12:34.009 --> 00:12:37.129 introducing viruses and bacterias that, you know, 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:39.269 like you'll have from commercial yards where 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:42.809 they basically can keep the bees alive with those 00:12:42.809 --> 00:12:45.870 problems and then sort of spread them throughout. 00:12:46.350 --> 00:12:49.230 the country every spring whenever people are 00:12:49.230 --> 00:12:52.889 buying bees. So what I look at with the sustainable 00:12:52.889 --> 00:12:55.509 beekeeping is that you can only really do it 00:12:55.509 --> 00:12:58.049 if you're isolated or you get everybody in your 00:12:58.049 --> 00:13:01.590 area to do the same kind of things that you're 00:13:01.590 --> 00:13:04.629 doing and to look at it as the bigger picture, 00:13:04.990 --> 00:13:08.610 not just that these are my bees and I need my 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:11.669 bees to live. It's more of you want all the bees 00:13:11.669 --> 00:13:14.149 in the area to do well. What else is there to 00:13:14.149 --> 00:13:16.929 it that we should know? I mean I'm thinking like 00:13:16.929 --> 00:13:20.549 feeding for example. If it's sustainable I shouldn't 00:13:20.549 --> 00:13:24.009 be buying sugar and feeding them right? Yeah 00:13:24.009 --> 00:13:26.950 that's one of those things where too if you need 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:31.769 to feed them that means that the feral bee population 00:13:31.769 --> 00:13:34.350 isn't being taken care of in the same way that 00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:35.970 your bees are being taken care of. It means that 00:13:35.970 --> 00:13:37.830 you're over the threshold of what the area can 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:41.269 support. I mean I was looking at some of the 00:13:41.269 --> 00:13:44.379 posts last year or the year before we had a a 00:13:44.379 --> 00:13:46.539 kind of dry summer and there were people that 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:49.419 were complaining about how there was no nectar 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:53.460 flow in the fall and you know weeds pretty much 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:56.379 produce nectar all the time even though we had 00:13:56.379 --> 00:13:58.500 a drought they're still going to be able to do 00:13:58.500 --> 00:14:00.340 that because they have really deep root systems 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:03.679 but then the one person I remember them posting 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.100 a video of their bee yard and they had 50 colonies 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:09.580 there and it wasn't that that was a dry summer 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:11.779 I mean maybe that contributed a little bit to 00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:14.799 it but It was that they had 50 colonies. They 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.840 did. But what about the bees that are around? 00:14:17.899 --> 00:14:20.240 Because I think there's a lot more feral population 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.940 than people know. And so you have those 50 and 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:27.519 you might have another like 10 or 15 more. So 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.100 you have to look at this from a perspective of 00:14:31.100 --> 00:14:34.519 every area has a trajectory and every area has 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.279 a threshold. And you need to be keeping your 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:40.850 bees on that trajectory. where they're ready 00:14:40.850 --> 00:14:44.870 for the different flows and they have that downtime 00:14:44.870 --> 00:14:47.529 in the middle of the summer where if they don't 00:14:47.529 --> 00:14:51.450 have any brood to raise they don't use up the 00:14:51.450 --> 00:14:55.330 resources. So they can do it with much less honey 00:14:55.330 --> 00:14:57.330 going into winter like you know having to bring 00:14:57.330 --> 00:15:00.070 in more and you don't have to feed. The other 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:03.340 thing about feeding is that Whenever you do it, 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.519 it's going to affect the gut microbiome of the 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.159 honeybee. So are you really doing something that's 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.139 good for the bees and trying to prepare them 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:14.679 for winter with having more winter stores? Or 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:17.879 are you doing more harm by creating a problem 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:20.059 with their gut microbiome, which is part of their 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:22.460 immune system, right before they go into winter? 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.960 I guess another factor too with the feeding aspect 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:30.620 is that have colonies that are in my swarm boxes 00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:32.820 and that's I catch them in those I keep them 00:15:32.820 --> 00:15:35.840 in those for that first year but these are deep 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:39.000 narrow boxes and they get sunlight on all through 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:42.259 like on the three sides of the box so the Sun 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:45.200 is kind of aiding in the process just like it 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:48.789 would in a tree But those colonies are only using 00:15:48.789 --> 00:15:51.509 about 6 to 10 pounds of honey over the winter 00:15:51.509 --> 00:15:54.669 because it's a more efficient system. So when 00:15:54.669 --> 00:15:56.990 you have people who are using Langstroth boxes 00:15:56.990 --> 00:16:00.279 still using ventilation, They are trying to get 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.440 that 150 pounds of honey that they were told 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.940 to get, not realizing they created a thermal 00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:09.519 mass in there that's going to get just as cold 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.340 inside as it is outside because of the ventilation. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:14.899 Their bees are going to have to work harder to 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:18.059 stay warm, and they're going to use up more honey, 00:16:18.139 --> 00:16:19.879 but at the same time, they're going to use up 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:22.559 more of their lifespan, and they have less chance 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:26.399 of making it through winter. If you do things 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.879 in a way where it's more efficient, like the 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:32.820 bees are living in nature, there's not that much 00:16:32.820 --> 00:16:36.179 need for feeding because they aren't really going 00:16:36.179 --> 00:16:38.639 to need to use that much honey. And they'll come 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.700 out of winter with plenty of extra honey to get 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:44.659 started for the next year. I feel like I'm so 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:50.080 messed up. I don't know. How am I doing everything 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.539 wrong? Now, I don't feed my bees in the fall. 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:55.460 I leave them lots of honey. But in the spring, 00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:58.200 I get paranoid. Oh, no, are they going to starve 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.059 now that it's spring? And I tend to feed them 00:17:01.059 --> 00:17:04.339 then. But I also look, get a little feel for 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:06.680 the weight. If you've got a ton of honey, I'm 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:08.559 not going to feed you. Why would I feed you? 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.720 And people do anyway. And they do anyway. And 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:14.740 they know that they have it and they know that 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:17.700 it doesn't make sense. But You know, it's like 00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:19.920 Mark Twain said, it's easier to fool somebody 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.779 than to convince them they've been fooled. And 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:25.819 so once you get something established, getting 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:30.039 them to like forget what they learned to learn 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.119 what they should have in the first place, it's 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.759 very difficult. There are so many different philosophies 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:40.079 on beekeeping. They're just the whole thing about 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:43.859 ask 10 beekeepers, get 11 answers. It is so much 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:49.000 worse than that. It just is way beyond. What 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:52.279 people don't realize is that if you ask 10 beekeepers 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:55.119 a question you get like 11 or 12 different answers. 00:17:55.779 --> 00:17:57.559 Most of those answers are probably going to be 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:00.680 wrong. Quick break to discuss what just might 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:04.130 be on your mind. Right now come on admit it. 00:18:04.150 --> 00:18:07.809 You're imagining the upcoming honey harvest because 00:18:07.809 --> 00:18:09.809 no matter where you live in the world It's either 00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:13.210 here now or it will be in the near future and 00:18:13.210 --> 00:18:16.750 Man Lake is making it so easy to plan for Click 00:18:16.750 --> 00:18:19.769 on over to Man Lake's website for an amazing 00:18:19.769 --> 00:18:24.009 selection of extractors filters bottling supplies 00:18:24.009 --> 00:18:28.170 uncapping knives supplies for a comb, honey everything 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:31.509 and I mean everything you'll need. But if you 00:18:31.509 --> 00:18:33.970 aren't there quite yet and the honey flow is 00:18:33.970 --> 00:18:36.930 right around the corner, make sure you have extra 00:18:36.930 --> 00:18:40.430 supers on hand. You never can have too many or 00:18:40.430 --> 00:18:43.589 be too prepared. And right now Man Lake is offering 00:18:43.589 --> 00:18:48.170 podcast listeners $10 off your next order. Just 00:18:48.170 --> 00:18:52.890 enter code MLBlove10 at checkout. That's manlakeltd 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:59.200 .com. Discount code MLBlove10. that's the one 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.619 thing that you really have to get into your brain 00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:06.180 that yes there are different ways of doing things 00:19:06.180 --> 00:19:08.539 but does that mean that it's the best way I mean 00:19:08.539 --> 00:19:12.259 in anything there's only going to be one best 00:19:12.259 --> 00:19:14.980 way and that best way is going to be most effective, 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.920 efficient, successful but there are other ways 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:20.859 that you can do it that aren't going to be as 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:26.119 good but A lot of people attach to an idea. They 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:29.920 join a tribe of beekeepers and whatever the adjective 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:33.119 is that they use, that's their tribe. And a lot 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.000 of those tribal things, they don't really want 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:38.819 you to talk about anything that's outside of 00:19:38.819 --> 00:19:42.519 the tribe. And whenever they get you really indoctrinated, 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:48.119 you're going to defend that to your death. because 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:50.880 you just don't want to let go of it. It's become 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.460 part of your identity. And I think people need 00:19:53.460 --> 00:19:55.660 to kind of let go of the identity and start putting 00:19:55.660 --> 00:19:59.920 the bees, the population around them, and the 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:03.980 whole country basically is the goal. You want 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:07.420 that to be doing great, not just you doing great 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:10.779 or you being acknowledged in your group. And 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:14.700 what works for you in Pennsylvania may not work 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:19.200 for Mary in Florida. Probably won't in fact. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.740 I have different mic different climates five 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:25.980 miles apart Like where I am here is going to 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:30.599 be ten Maybe fifteen degrees warmer on the cold 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:32.799 winter nights than it is five miles away from 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.180 me So, you know each area is going to take a 00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:38.559 little bit of a different turn. It's going to 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.920 Have the the trees going into bloom at different 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.960 times So yeah, I mean it's like what happens 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.099 in pennsylvania isn't going to be the same in 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:50.279 north carolina Definitely not in florida But 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:53.519 as I said earlier every area has its own trajectory 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.000 and you have to learn what the trajectory is 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.799 in your area Now if I can kind of jump on this 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:02.660 soap box with you I want to mention when we were 00:21:02.660 --> 00:21:05.980 formulating this podcast one of the names that 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:10.500 we were looking at was intuitive beekeeping because 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:14.579 I'm a big believer on just all these things you've 00:21:14.579 --> 00:21:18.720 just said how do I know which one to pick which 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:20.839 one is going to make sense for me and my bees 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:24.819 and somehow we have to get in tune with our bees 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:29.740 enough to be able to feel or communicate or in 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:33.819 somehow intuitively know this philosophy is going 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:37.460 to work for these bees here. Yeah, that's like 00:21:37.460 --> 00:21:39.380 when I was talking about with the bees getting 00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:42.440 honey bound. And, you know, I was using my intuitive 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.299 sense on that, that they might know what they're 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:48.039 doing. I'm not going to expand the space because 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.220 in the past, I'd expanded before only to find 00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:54.099 out that all they were going to do is put on 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:57.819 more nectar. They weren't going to like. Most 00:21:57.819 --> 00:21:59.880 beekeepers are putting in more space so they'll 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:03.000 raise brood, but they don't, they don't, they're 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:05.519 not thinking that way. And just kind of trusting 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.039 my instincts on it that what are they going to 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:10.240 teach me here? Like, what is it that I'm, I've 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:13.640 been missing? And you go by the logic or the 00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:16.690 beekeeping aspect. It's like, the other day somebody 00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:18.890 came up here they just showed up out of the blue 00:22:18.890 --> 00:22:20.410 it's like are you the beekeeper and i'm like 00:22:20.410 --> 00:22:22.509 yeah and she said well you know i thought i'd 00:22:22.509 --> 00:22:25.470 take a ride up and she's from 50 miles away and 00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:27.490 she had told me that she wants to get into beekeeping 00:22:27.490 --> 00:22:30.529 and she got certified and and i was like well 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:32.809 that's that's great but all you learned about 00:22:32.809 --> 00:22:34.730 was beekeeping you didn't learn anything about 00:22:34.730 --> 00:22:37.349 bees and now you're going to have to learn about 00:22:37.349 --> 00:22:39.130 the bees and the best way to learn about the 00:22:39.130 --> 00:22:42.079 bees is to let them teach you Yeah, love it. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:43.759 Alright, the other day when we were chatting, 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:47.039 you used the term, and I wrote it down, ethical 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:49.880 beekeeping. What is that and how does it fit 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:51.779 into all the things we've just talked about? 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.119 Well, I think that we have to start taking more 00:22:56.119 --> 00:22:59.140 responsibility for our bees. Not just in that 00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:01.440 idea that you have to keep them alive, because 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.819 in keeping them alive, you might be hurting the 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:07.480 rest of the bee population around you. So... 00:23:07.549 --> 00:23:09.549 You know, that colony that wouldn't have been 00:23:09.549 --> 00:23:12.730 able to survive winter is now survived winter 00:23:12.730 --> 00:23:17.589 because you put your individual ideas first and 00:23:17.589 --> 00:23:21.369 you didn't put the area in that decision making 00:23:21.369 --> 00:23:24.890 process. But the next year then you'll have weak 00:23:24.890 --> 00:23:27.710 genetics that are now going to be breeding with 00:23:27.710 --> 00:23:31.000 the new queens. that would never have had that 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:34.099 chance. It's like this winter we had a really 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:37.539 really bad winter and I mean we had a long time 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:40.200 with really cold and it took out a lot of the 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:42.740 bee population but it took out the weak bees 00:23:42.740 --> 00:23:46.640 and that in a really strange sense is kind of 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.539 like a gift from nature. Most people won't look 00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:53.240 at it that way but it made it to where the viruses 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:56.220 and bacterias that were there that were going 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:59.119 to contribute to the deaths of the bees died 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:02.440 off with the bees. And if we would have just 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:05.599 left it alone at that and let the bees rebuild 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.680 with the bees that were left and not bring bees 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:11.960 in, we wouldn't be bringing in bad genetics that 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:14.000 couldn't survive the area. We wouldn't be bringing 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:17.599 in the viruses and bacteria. And where we would 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.640 have had this gift and we would have had better 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:23.059 bees because of the process. Instead, we had 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:26.099 lot of people getting bees from out of the area 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:28.900 from commercial yards more so than they would 00:24:28.900 --> 00:24:32.400 in normal years and Instead of things getting 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:36.400 way better. It's going to like Take a hit it's 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:39.579 gonna make it worse. So we have to look at it 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:43.539 from an ethical standpoint. That's Looking at 00:24:43.539 --> 00:24:46.700 nature and nature doesn't really have the same 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:49.039 kind of discernment. We have it's looking at 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:51.819 survival of the fittest It's not survival of 00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:55.039 my bees If I could just interject something on 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:58.220 the ethics and this is me personally. Everybody 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:02.640 has their own set of morals and ethics and one 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:04.980 of the things that I read when I was first into 00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:10.539 beekeeping 12 years ago, it was a book that was 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:13.700 put out by a university and I won't name their 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:17.480 name but they're in the upper Midwest and their 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:21.549 recommendation was in the fall take 100 % of 00:25:21.549 --> 00:25:23.910 the honey and just let your bees die because 00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:25.990 they're probably going to die over winter anyway 00:25:25.990 --> 00:25:29.529 and next spring buy a new package of bees. That 00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:32.690 just didn't ring right with me personally, with 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:36.910 my personal beliefs of how to do things. I want 00:25:36.910 --> 00:25:40.250 to at least try to help them get through winter. 00:25:40.529 --> 00:25:42.349 I don't know if that figures in your ethics, 00:25:42.490 --> 00:25:45.089 what do you think of that? Well, I mean if you 00:25:45.089 --> 00:25:48.130 look back before the removable frames that's 00:25:48.130 --> 00:25:51.329 what they were doing then too You know that poem 00:25:51.329 --> 00:25:54.329 a swarm in May is worth a load of hay a swarm 00:25:54.329 --> 00:25:56.890 in June It was worth a silver spoon the swarm 00:25:56.890 --> 00:26:00.190 in July is worth it isn't worth a fly You know, 00:26:00.250 --> 00:26:04.369 that was I think a 17th century poem That was 00:26:04.369 --> 00:26:07.430 about how they did beekeeping at that time. They 00:26:07.430 --> 00:26:10.599 had them in skeps and in the fall they would 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:12.819 kill them with sulfur by burning it in front 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:15.240 of the hive and they would harvest all the honey 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:17.700 and then in the spring they would let swarms 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:21.480 come in and the swarm in May would produce honey. 00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:24.000 Swarm in June would still produce some honey 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:26.720 but a swarm that they got in July wouldn't. And 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:29.099 people are still using that poem today thinking 00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:31.940 that a swarm in July is bad but we're in a completely 00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:34.740 different set of circumstances now. I can get 00:26:34.740 --> 00:26:38.240 a swarm in July and get them to survive winter. 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:42.480 And if it's a colony that looks like they're 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:45.480 not going to make it, sometimes they really surprise 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.200 you. And it was just because their trajectory 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:51.539 was off and you as the beekeeper kind of take 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:53.960 that ethical responsibility to learn the trajectory 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:56.240 of your area and get them back on the right trajectory 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.519 so that they can go into the fall the way they 00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:00.660 should and go into the winter the way they should. 00:27:00.940 --> 00:27:03.240 we just have to start looking at things from 00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:06.779 a more nature kind of way of doing things. I 00:27:06.779 --> 00:27:09.180 like it. All right my last question on this topic 00:27:09.180 --> 00:27:12.740 and that is if you could just wave a magic wand 00:27:12.740 --> 00:27:16.440 for all of the beekeepers in the whole world 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:21.400 and say please do your beekeeping this way what 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:25.259 would one or two pieces of advice be? That's 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:27.640 a good question. I think my first thing would 00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:33.829 be to never buy bees from out of the state. In 00:27:33.829 --> 00:27:36.809 fact, not even out of your area. If you've lost 00:27:36.809 --> 00:27:40.450 your bees and you aren't going to have any bees 00:27:40.450 --> 00:27:44.130 until like maybe mid -summer, maybe even next 00:27:44.130 --> 00:27:47.650 year, like you need to sit on it and wait until 00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:51.910 that time. You don't have to have bees and that 00:27:51.910 --> 00:27:54.009 bringing bees in from out of the area is one 00:27:54.009 --> 00:27:56.789 of the worst things that we are doing and it 00:27:56.789 --> 00:27:59.660 really just needs to stop. The other thing I 00:27:59.660 --> 00:28:04.140 think would be that you have to put the bees 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:08.039 outside of your area in part of the equation. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:12.180 You just can't focus on your bees and that your 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:16.420 well even just your financial like investment 00:28:16.420 --> 00:28:19.019 in it or the financial return that you're looking 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:21.440 for. I think that's one of the problems that 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:23.799 we have is that when we start putting financial 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:26.059 things in there we make our decisions differently 00:28:26.059 --> 00:28:29.750 and poorly. Alright, let's switch topics a little 00:28:29.750 --> 00:28:33.029 bit. Let's talk about, and I warned you of this, 00:28:33.390 --> 00:28:35.690 I would love to hear a wild and crazy beekeeping 00:28:35.690 --> 00:28:39.809 story from Michael. Can you think of one? Yeah, 00:28:40.430 --> 00:28:42.650 yeah. When I started beekeeping, and that was 00:28:42.650 --> 00:28:44.970 12 years ago, just like you, I had a friend that 00:28:44.970 --> 00:28:48.230 started at that time too. Now this friend, he 00:28:48.230 --> 00:28:51.869 at that time rode a bicycle and had a cart that 00:28:51.869 --> 00:28:56.150 he pulled behind on his bicycle. He was an interesting 00:28:56.150 --> 00:28:58.819 character. I had been talking to him because 00:28:58.819 --> 00:29:01.259 I had a mentor at the time, an older gentleman 00:29:01.259 --> 00:29:05.259 who was like in his 90s, and I wasn't really 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:07.279 learning much from him, but he was going to help 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:09.400 me with a B removal that I had been watching 00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.480 for, like it was an old garage that I was gonna 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:17.619 do my first removal with. And every day he was 00:29:17.619 --> 00:29:20.299 like, oh, it's just not right, it's just not 00:29:20.299 --> 00:29:24.170 right. And so finally I was like, okay. It's 00:29:24.170 --> 00:29:26.309 getting late. I'm just I just need to do it and 00:29:26.309 --> 00:29:28.890 I told my friend that it's like I'm just gonna 00:29:28.890 --> 00:29:31.789 I'm gonna have to do this on my own and When 00:29:31.789 --> 00:29:33.849 I got back from lunch, there's my friend with 00:29:33.849 --> 00:29:35.869 his bicycle and his cart and all of his B stuff 00:29:35.869 --> 00:29:40.049 and he's like, let's go I'm like I didn't mean 00:29:40.049 --> 00:29:45.869 today and and like but Alright, let's go. And 00:29:45.869 --> 00:29:49.549 so we went there didn't really have the tools 00:29:49.549 --> 00:29:53.539 for this didn't really know What we were getting 00:29:53.539 --> 00:29:56.680 into I mean between the two of us We still didn't 00:29:56.680 --> 00:30:00.019 have enough knowledge to attempt this and I really 00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:02.980 don't recommend it But you know it was like these 00:30:02.980 --> 00:30:06.500 bees Would move into this wall every year and 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:08.720 they would die every year because it was a garage 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:12.579 that had lost its roof And it was just too exposed 00:30:12.579 --> 00:30:15.519 and I was like it has to be done And so we got 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:18.259 out there had some like hand tools because we 00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:21.039 didn't have any electric there I had a smoker 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:24.759 and at that time all I had were gloves and a 00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:27.759 veil. and I'd been watching these bees for a 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:30.599 long time so they were always really pretty gentle 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:32.680 and I just I'd never been stung I would just 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:35.119 sit there and watch them and watch them and and 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:39.059 so I did my first kind of cut and got the board 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:42.359 ready and and as I pulled that first board off 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:44.619 and it made that snap now I didn't know that 00:30:44.619 --> 00:30:46.460 that snap is something that can trigger them 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:50.819 and this really gentle colony of bees went into 00:30:50.819 --> 00:30:55.059 ballistic mode and I didn't have any idea that 00:30:55.059 --> 00:30:57.180 this would happen or could happen or what to 00:30:57.180 --> 00:31:01.099 do and I know that there are lots of other beekeepers 00:31:01.099 --> 00:31:03.900 that have done this and it's that run where you're 00:31:03.900 --> 00:31:06.420 slapping your legs and you're running like this 00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:09.359 and if you had a video of you like doing the 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:11.019 run with the slap trying to get the bees that 00:31:11.019 --> 00:31:12.680 are like getting you everywhere on your legs 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:16.039 and as I got like about 50 yards away they're 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:18.160 still attacking me so I'm down on the ground 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:20.920 doing the drop and roll and I finally it was 00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:23.640 like I got them off and then went back because 00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:26.440 it's like, okay, we're going to do this. And 00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:29.240 we finished the removal, but we didn't get the 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:31.859 queen. The queen was still up there and I didn't 00:31:31.859 --> 00:31:34.259 know any better at the time of what to do and 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:35.980 how to just like, you know, grab them and put 00:31:35.980 --> 00:31:40.359 them into the other box. And so instead of just 00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:42.400 like kind of letting them stay up there on their 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:44.960 own, what I did was I built an insulated wall 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:48.680 and I put that up for them as opposed to the 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:51.099 boards that were up there before. And then I 00:31:51.099 --> 00:31:54.619 put insulation on the other side and that colony 00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:56.980 rebuilt and they were in there until they tore 00:31:56.980 --> 00:32:01.099 the garage down. So that's my story. I like it. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:04.200 That's unusual enough. And I have a term that 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:07.079 I use for that running and slapping. We call 00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:12.140 it flailing. Flailing because all body parts 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:14.839 are just kind of running and flapping all over 00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:17.660 the place. Yeah, it's it's pretty it's kind of 00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:20.539 like the Tahitian dancing. Yeah, where everything 00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:23.779 is like shaking all at once. And by the way, 00:32:23.819 --> 00:32:26.740 the bees love that, do they? Because they yeah, 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:28.880 it makes it easier to find where I want to stay. 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:36.059 And by the way, if some gigantic monster of a 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:40.299 of an animal came and cut the side of my house 00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:43.319 and then ripped a whole wall off, I would attack 00:32:43.319 --> 00:32:46.480 him too. So I can't blame the bees at all for 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:48.980 how they behave in these kinds of situations. 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:53.380 Yeah, and I'm quite like I was like yesterday 00:32:53.380 --> 00:32:56.839 I had a removal and it was one where I got stung 00:32:56.839 --> 00:32:59.539 one time and that was just my fault. I had like 00:32:59.539 --> 00:33:01.319 grabbed onto something and the bee was under 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:04.859 it. It does amaze me sometimes that They're fine. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:07.279 Like even when you use a chainsaw on a tree, 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:09.019 you know, like the tree is dropped and you're 00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:10.940 using this chainsaw and you'd think that they'd 00:33:10.940 --> 00:33:13.440 all go ballistic on you and they they don't come 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:16.240 out. And then other days you open the lid and 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.779 they're just going to kill you. Some guard bees 00:33:18.779 --> 00:33:21.460 really know how to do their job. That's for sure. 00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:26.019 We're just about out of time. I looked at some 00:33:26.019 --> 00:33:28.900 of the things that you created on your website, 00:33:29.500 --> 00:33:32.519 which is thethrivinghive .com, and I'd recommend 00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:35.220 people go over there. Can you take just a minute 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:38.619 or two to talk about your Renaissance hive and 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:41.599 what it looks like and how it works? What I was 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:44.440 doing, because I've been doing bee removals for 00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:47.700 12 years now, I noticed that there are a lot 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:50.440 of things that are going to be kind of like... 00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:54.900 Universal in the way that bees build and if it's 00:33:54.900 --> 00:33:58.579 not the way that it's universally done There's 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:01.339 usually a really good reason why they've done 00:34:01.339 --> 00:34:04.859 it differently So they they are looking at the 00:34:04.859 --> 00:34:08.059 way that the Sun is hitting everything and how 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:10.340 they can use that as a thermal mass like for 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:13.860 instance typically you're going to have Your 00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:16.480 brood close to the entrance when you do a removal. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.900 So let's say you have a floor space and that 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:22.250 floor space The entrance is right on the outside 00:34:22.250 --> 00:34:24.489 of the building and there will be brood right 00:34:24.489 --> 00:34:26.530 there in the front and then everything that's 00:34:26.530 --> 00:34:30.130 behind that will go into honey. One time and 00:34:30.130 --> 00:34:33.449 only one time that I ever see where the brood 00:34:33.449 --> 00:34:35.869 wasn't by the entrance and it was a brick house 00:34:35.869 --> 00:34:38.210 and that's because the entrance was right by 00:34:38.210 --> 00:34:40.389 the brick house and it would have been harder 00:34:40.389 --> 00:34:43.550 for them to manage the temperature. that because 00:34:43.550 --> 00:34:46.510 of the brick being absorbing the sunlight all 00:34:46.510 --> 00:34:49.329 the time, you can kind of gauge things as well. 00:34:49.329 --> 00:34:51.369 What's the purpose of it by looking at those 00:34:51.369 --> 00:34:54.570 two different things? So the Renaissance hive 00:34:54.570 --> 00:34:57.510 was just the idea that if the bees were going 00:34:57.510 --> 00:35:00.030 to build a box using a Langstroth frame, how 00:35:00.030 --> 00:35:02.949 would they do it? And that's kind of how I build 00:35:02.949 --> 00:35:06.309 it. And I started looking at, OK, how big are 00:35:06.309 --> 00:35:09.619 the colonies that I do removals from? How do 00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:12.320 you make that kind of space better for them? 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.099 And how do you make more thermal mass? Like, 00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:19.079 the roof of the box sticks out just far enough 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:23.000 where it shades the whole box during the, like, 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:26.360 heat of the day. So, like, if you face the box 00:35:26.360 --> 00:35:28.739 towards the south, and this was actually based 00:35:28.739 --> 00:35:31.539 off the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi Indians. 00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:33.820 I had read a book about it years ago and how 00:35:33.820 --> 00:35:38.289 they utilized that. And so you create shade during 00:35:38.289 --> 00:35:40.809 the summertime, but whenever the sun is low in 00:35:40.809 --> 00:35:45.610 the wintertime, the box, I paint mine black and 00:35:45.610 --> 00:35:48.849 it's absorbing more heat. And I have it set up 00:35:48.849 --> 00:35:51.949 in a way where it actually kind of is able to 00:35:51.949 --> 00:35:54.730 move that heat through the box through channels. 00:35:55.070 --> 00:35:58.849 so that it's heating down below the box or below 00:35:58.849 --> 00:36:01.869 the hive so it gives them a few extra degrees 00:36:01.869 --> 00:36:04.230 depending on what the outside temperature is 00:36:04.230 --> 00:36:08.190 but if you add that few extra degrees up over 00:36:08.190 --> 00:36:10.349 like the course of the winter that can make a 00:36:10.349 --> 00:36:13.989 big difference also having the two entrances 00:36:13.989 --> 00:36:16.969 and having them on each side and having the frames 00:36:16.969 --> 00:36:20.449 going in the way where they're able to like defend 00:36:20.449 --> 00:36:23.449 the hive better. It also is allowing the airflow 00:36:23.449 --> 00:36:26.889 to go much better so that they usually will be 00:36:26.889 --> 00:36:29.809 using one entrance to go in and out of and the 00:36:29.809 --> 00:36:33.449 other entrance to blow air in or blow air out 00:36:33.449 --> 00:36:35.570 so they can regulate the temperatures better. 00:36:35.929 --> 00:36:38.309 So that's kind of the basics of the Renaissance 00:36:38.309 --> 00:36:41.510 Box. Super interesting. Anyway, Michael Scott, 00:36:42.050 --> 00:36:44.250 I appreciate it. We need more beekeepers like 00:36:44.250 --> 00:36:47.150 you in the world. Well, thanks. All right. Thanks 00:36:47.150 --> 00:36:52.510 a lot. Thanks again for joining us on Be Love, 00:36:52.610 --> 00:36:55.730 Be Keeping presented by Manlite. Another big 00:36:55.730 --> 00:36:58.269 thank you goes to Vita B Health for their support. 00:36:58.809 --> 00:37:01.610 Vita's Varroa Control Ranger products includes 00:37:01.610 --> 00:37:05.889 Epistan, Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release 00:37:05.889 --> 00:37:09.510 Oxalic Acid Strips. Hey thanks a lot guys. And 00:37:09.510 --> 00:37:12.070 if you haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow 00:37:12.070 --> 00:37:14.349 the show, tell your friends about it, and click 00:37:14.349 --> 00:37:17.630 on over to BeLoveBeKeeping .com to sign up for 00:37:17.630 --> 00:37:20.789 our free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion, 00:37:21.099 --> 00:37:23.940 or topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot 00:37:23.940 --> 00:37:26.840 me an email, eric at be love beekeeping dot com. 00:37:27.179 --> 00:37:29.659 And remember, if you're not just in it for the 00:37:29.659 --> 00:37:32.599 honey or the money, you're in it for the love. 00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:33.739 See you next week.