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 --> 00:01:23.989 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love, Be Keeping 00:01:23.989 --> 00:01:26.790 presented by our great friends over at Man Lake. 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:31.140 Today's show features Yappy Bee Man, so of course 00:01:31.140 --> 00:01:34.739 we'll be talking all about bee removals and mixing 00:01:34.739 --> 00:01:37.519 it up with some real controversy in the beekeeping 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.659 world and his most crazy removal of a colony 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:45.319 that's been in the wall of a house for over 75 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:49.689 years. But just quickly before we jump into that, 00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:52.269 hey, we just received this year's numbers from 00:01:52.269 --> 00:01:55.790 the US beekeeping survey. If you remember, last 00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:58.930 year we saw record colony losses among commercial 00:01:58.930 --> 00:02:01.829 beekeepers. The good news is that there's some 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:04.909 improvement this year with reported colony losses 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:10.310 of 39 .9%. So should we be excited or think the 00:02:10.310 --> 00:02:13.509 problem is fixed? Here's a quote from Stephen 00:02:13.509 --> 00:02:16.490 Coy, president of the American Honey Producers 00:02:16.490 --> 00:02:20.330 Association. He says, while it's encouraging 00:02:20.330 --> 00:02:23.129 to see colony loss rates come down from last 00:02:23.129 --> 00:02:27.509 year's historic highs, losing nearly 40 % of 00:02:27.509 --> 00:02:30.930 managed colonies in a single year is not a victory. 00:02:31.469 --> 00:02:35.189 It's a crisis in slow motion. Our industry and 00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:38.389 the crops that depend on it cannot sustain these 00:02:38.389 --> 00:02:41.550 levels of losses year after year. We need real 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:44.509 action now before our industry reaches a point 00:02:44.509 --> 00:02:48.330 of no return. We must continue to invest in research, 00:02:48.789 --> 00:02:51.750 support, and solutions that get these numbers 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:55.289 down closer to the truly acceptable level of 00:02:55.289 --> 00:02:58.810 15 to 20 percent. So I guess it's good news. 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:02.819 Maybe a better term is sobering news. But now 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:05.560 let's shift gears and forget about all that serious 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.139 stuff and have a fun fun conversation with one 00:03:09.139 --> 00:03:17.400 of YouTube's biggest beekeeping stars I'm so 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:22.080 happy to welcome our guest today Yappy the bee 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.020 man. How are you Yappy? I'm doing great and I 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:28.379 appreciate you having me on Well, thank you for 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:31.259 being on I know how busy you are you were just 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.680 telling me you're a firefighter and you do all 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:38.479 kinds of be removals and you're Super like famous 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.979 dude on YouTube. How did that ever happen? By 00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:43.439 the way, how'd you get started with that? Oh 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.900 man that that's that's a story in itself You 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:48.180 ain't got enough time to hear that entire what 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:51.479 I would call testimony I as a fireman. We always 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:54.960 have a secondary job something and I cut you 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.259 know on the side I cut grass did landscaping 00:03:57.259 --> 00:04:01.740 for 14 years and then my wife wanted to start 00:04:01.740 --> 00:04:04.199 kind of getting into the herbal medicine stuff 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:06.879 you know plants trees vines whatever turn it 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.639 into medicine they came where the class we were 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:11.780 talking about the you know the products of a 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.620 beehive that can be used you know for other things 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:17.600 other than just honey and uh as soon as they 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.379 started talking about that I kind of perked up 00:04:19.379 --> 00:04:21.980 and went oh hey that's something I can mess with 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:25.370 and um Learned a little bit about it and I mean 00:04:25.370 --> 00:04:27.990 I was already hooked pretty much real quick one 00:04:27.990 --> 00:04:30.870 of the members in the class had a Bee colony 00:04:30.870 --> 00:04:32.990 in the back of a barn wall and they said man 00:04:32.990 --> 00:04:34.910 You can have them bees if you can get them out 00:04:34.910 --> 00:04:37.410 talked to a couple local beekeepers They they 00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:39.209 said yeah, we'll help you get them out and things 00:04:39.209 --> 00:04:40.870 just kind of rolled from there Well, the day 00:04:40.870 --> 00:04:43.870 came to go get the bees and one guy brought his 00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:47.100 homemade shop not shop vac his homemade b vac 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:50.220 and bunch of buckets and man we were just going 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:52.360 at it well i didn't have a bee suit so i got 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:55.000 to just stand back and watch well they went through 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.779 and they cut and tore up and and did everything 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:00.360 and you know got to point where they had two 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.620 boxes full of bees and you know said okay well 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:05.899 you know uh we got about it as much as we can 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:08.120 get it looks good we got all the comb out and 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.379 they kind of left and they were framing comb 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.180 up in you know in in the frames as we were going 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:16.720 got home and put all that together and kind of 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.399 went from there. I fell in love with that aspect 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:22.839 of beekeeping because it was my first experience 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.439 and from that point it just kind of I pursued 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.959 it I wanted to learn more about it and I have 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:32.220 made this joke before they both know it so I'm 00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:35.759 not really speaking ill of them but as I started 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.199 to learn and research more I come to find out 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:40.759 that well they taught me how to do everything 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:46.779 wrong. in the process so I started watching some 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:49.120 stuff on YouTube I kind of watched how people 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.579 did things and then I adapted to that and I went 00:05:52.579 --> 00:05:55.420 and had another friend called me and says you 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:57.519 know I've got bees between the floor insurance 00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.879 is coming out tomorrow the house got hit by lightning 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:01.680 I'm afraid they're gonna cancel our insurance 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:03.839 because we got bees can you come get them I'm 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:08.480 like well yeah so up on a ladder for six seven 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.899 hours getting bees out of this void space and 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:13.980 it just kind of went from there and then you 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:16.079 know it's just been a steady progression ever 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:17.860 since i've had doors that have opened for me 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:19.639 that i didn't even know to knock on when it came 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:22.579 to this how many years ago did you get started 00:06:22.579 --> 00:06:27.379 right about 15 about 15 years ago and it's kind 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:30.930 of funny because the i had I had friended one 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:33.110 of the most well -known bee removers in the world 00:06:33.110 --> 00:06:35.269 at that time. In my opinion, his name was JP 00:06:35.269 --> 00:06:38.250 the Bee Man. JP does videos online. He's been 00:06:38.250 --> 00:06:40.509 doing it for years. And he was one of the primary 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:42.709 people that I had watched how he did things. 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:44.910 You know, start to finish, open things up, how 00:06:44.910 --> 00:06:47.329 he handled things. Ended up, I reached out to 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:49.629 him and we started communicating and got to be 00:06:49.629 --> 00:06:52.149 really good friends. And he invited me to come 00:06:52.149 --> 00:06:55.509 to a little bee gathering thing that they called 00:06:55.509 --> 00:06:58.779 the bud gathering. Back. well before our normal 00:06:58.779 --> 00:07:00.980 social media that we know now, you used to pretty 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:03.800 much get on the internet and go to a .com and 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:06.459 go into chat rooms. And it was just basically 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:08.399 threads. Somebody would ask a question, people 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:10.560 would answer. And the original group, one of 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.519 the original groups that were more well known 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:16.800 was the B Master Group. They had a lot of good 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.689 contributors that had really deep beekeeping 00:07:19.689 --> 00:07:22.430 knowledge, and they would mentor people through 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:24.670 those chat boards. Well, once a year, they would 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:26.949 have a get together over in Mississippi, anybody 00:07:26.949 --> 00:07:28.810 that wanted to come could come. That was the 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:31.470 invitation. JP invited me to come to one of those. 00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:35.250 It was I think bud five is what the fifth one 00:07:35.250 --> 00:07:37.910 is when I went to when I got there, I was just 00:07:37.910 --> 00:07:41.439 full yappy fashion. Once you got there. It was 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.680 at Mr. Bud's house. Okay. Well once you got there 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.180 Bud was going to give you a nickname and it took 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:49.240 him all of about five minutes before he gave 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:51.439 me one. He said I'm gonna call you yap yap and 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:53.959 I said yap yap. He said yeah you won't show up 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:57.160 and I said well I accept it. So we went through 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.860 the whole weekend and you know had a great time. 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:02.779 Opportunities opened up from that but it was 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:05.560 a year later. You talk about fast -forwarding. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:10.149 A year later I went to Bud's six. And when I 00:08:10.149 --> 00:08:12.350 showed up and said hello to everybody Big Bud 00:08:12.350 --> 00:08:14.589 walks up and he says, okay. Yep. Yep. He said 00:08:14.589 --> 00:08:16.490 this year He said well you're gonna you're gonna 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:18.149 take this group of people and you're gonna go 00:08:18.149 --> 00:08:19.990 do this and this group of people And they're 00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:22.449 gonna go JP and they go go do that. So I went 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:27.009 for showing up to learn to the next year I had 00:08:27.009 --> 00:08:30.389 groups of people that I was teaching and That 00:08:30.389 --> 00:08:32.450 was pretty amazing and then things kind of went 00:08:32.450 --> 00:08:35.029 from there um JP and I continued our friendship 00:08:35.029 --> 00:08:37.110 and one day he said man You need to get a YouTube 00:08:37.110 --> 00:08:39.279 channel you know let's get you up a channel going 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.179 and he said I'll help support it you know and 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:43.399 I had other people that did and it kept me going 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:45.539 because YouTube's really a hard platform to get 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:48.100 into anybody can post a video I mean you got 00:08:48.100 --> 00:08:50.179 a cell phone you can make a video it's a matter 00:08:50.179 --> 00:08:53.279 of learning how to make content that keeps people 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.519 watching if I go back and I look at some of my 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.120 earlier stuff a camera sitting on a tripod just 00:08:58.120 --> 00:08:59.980 pretty much one angle of it that's all I knew 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:02.919 how to do I was imitating those that I saw we 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:05.259 kind of went from there to you know progress 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:09.690 in our how we made our content but it was just 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:11.870 put the videos out and continue to grow and it 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:14.090 gets real disheartening when you know you put 00:09:14.090 --> 00:09:15.809 your stuff out there and you're getting you know 00:09:15.809 --> 00:09:17.990 two or three thousand views and then all of a 00:09:17.990 --> 00:09:21.129 sudden one year i just happened to hit just right 00:09:21.129 --> 00:09:25.230 the video that put me on the map was one that 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:28.429 i got a phone call for a huge swarm monster -sized 00:09:28.429 --> 00:09:32.460 swarm in a in a cedar tree And I get there and 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:34.919 was like, whoa, this is so cool. Backed my truck 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.659 up under, put out a tarp, put out 10 frame box 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:40.519 on it, climbed on top of my truck, and all I 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:44.049 had to record it was my cell phone. and I hit 00:09:44.049 --> 00:09:46.710 record and started recording. It was a little 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:49.889 bit wobbly in there. It was my worst video. Seven 00:09:49.889 --> 00:09:52.169 minutes later after all this went through I'm 00:09:52.169 --> 00:09:54.190 not giving you all the details so that way people 00:09:54.190 --> 00:09:55.769 look down in the description everything they 00:09:55.769 --> 00:09:58.549 can go find it. But if they don't see it it's 00:09:58.549 --> 00:10:01.129 just find me yappy beeman and the video is if 00:10:01.129 --> 00:10:02.929 I hadn't caught it on camera you wouldn't believe 00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:05.090 me. The reason why I titled that was because 00:10:05.090 --> 00:10:07.889 I didn't even think about it. There was one particular 00:10:07.889 --> 00:10:10.730 thing that happens in this swarm that never happens 00:10:10.730 --> 00:10:13.870 and that is I had reached up there and had a 00:10:13.870 --> 00:10:16.049 handful of bees and I was like oh yeah the bees 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:18.350 are great shook them down and when I looked back 00:10:18.350 --> 00:10:20.309 right where my hand had just pulled those bees 00:10:20.309 --> 00:10:24.570 out there was the queen and that quick reached 00:10:24.570 --> 00:10:27.389 up grabbed a hold over had her in my hand and 00:10:27.389 --> 00:10:29.149 I'm like now what do I do I'm holding the camera 00:10:29.149 --> 00:10:31.350 I'm holding the bees can't put her in a cage 00:10:31.350 --> 00:10:33.889 I have the cage right there you don't have that 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:38.389 many hands no so I totally because I wasn't stopping 00:10:38.389 --> 00:10:41.179 the recording I just said you know hang out people 00:10:41.179 --> 00:10:43.500 only got one hand well got the cage put her in 00:10:43.500 --> 00:10:45.039 there and then I put it back up and I'm holding 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.799 the camera and I'm like this never happens it 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.759 actually had happened to me twice in 15 years 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:55.580 the first time it happened was similar but not 00:10:55.580 --> 00:10:58.059 completely the same but the first time that happened 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:00.559 was five days earlier than that where I had a 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.740 small swarm in a in a bush and as I was looking 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:05.759 at it the Queen just comes walking right across 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:09.019 the top I mean as soon as I saw her reach down 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:11.179 grabbed her didn't have a cage on me or nothing 00:11:11.179 --> 00:11:14.059 and Had to go take her go back to the truck get 00:11:14.059 --> 00:11:16.759 that put her in there and you know, it's like 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:22.080 here we go this was five days later and Completely 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.840 different in sizes, but it was just like it blew 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.039 my mind But that's the one that actually just 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.879 my whole channel was blessed because that's the 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:33.940 one that blew up. Just kind of went from there. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.399 So I went from four years of YouTube and 5 ,000 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:41.419 subscribers to a month later it started rolling. 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:44.659 And it rolled and rolled and when I was watching 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.440 it and it hit a million views. I was watching 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.379 the numbers and I thought man I'm gonna go to 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:51.399 bed. When I wake up in the morning I think this 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:54.029 is gonna have another million. because of how 00:11:54.029 --> 00:11:56.470 it was rolling and I got up the next morning 00:11:56.470 --> 00:11:59.029 and I'm watching because man it's ticking down 00:11:59.029 --> 00:12:01.350 you know six o 'clock in the morning and then 00:12:01.350 --> 00:12:03.269 all of a sudden boom there hit a million but 00:12:03.269 --> 00:12:06.230 it was getting 50 ,000 views an hour at one point 00:12:06.230 --> 00:12:10.149 in time I was I had over 125 ,000 views per hour 00:12:10.149 --> 00:12:12.549 five six hours in a row and then it would drop 00:12:12.549 --> 00:12:14.970 back down a little bit but then it would boost 00:12:14.970 --> 00:12:17.590 and boom again so the the video has been seen 00:12:17.590 --> 00:12:20.340 all over the world It just you know it put me 00:12:20.340 --> 00:12:24.080 on the map and from there it's just been an awesome 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:27.500 ride. That's so cool. Well let's talk about swarm 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.360 removals a little bit. Okay. You mentioned to 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:34.080 me earlier you were out doing a regular job today. 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:37.980 You're in Alabama. Yes sir. Tell me what a typical 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:40.879 day is like and maybe today is a good example. 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:43.759 If I'm not at the fire hall and it's not a Sunday 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.620 family day and I generally try not to do on Saturdays 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:49.779 either but I'll schedule Monday through Friday 00:12:49.779 --> 00:12:52.639 but the typical day is taking two or three calls 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:56.559 about bees and then from there it's you know 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.419 driving to one I could travel 10 minutes away 00:12:59.419 --> 00:13:02.000 or I can travel an hour and a half away but once 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.039 I get there it's pretty much you know assess 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.360 the situation find out where they're at pick 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:09.539 the best route to go to get them that causes 00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:12.039 the least amount of damage to a home and the 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:14.360 easiest to repair for the customer. Educating 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:16.519 the customers are probably the most important 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:19.700 thing that you can do when it comes to bee removals 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:22.960 because the general public you know doesn't understand 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.179 what we know. We are beekeepers, we understand 00:13:26.179 --> 00:13:29.019 bees, but to try to explain that to people is 00:13:29.019 --> 00:13:32.279 that You're in a good place. It's okay. They're 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:34.120 not gonna hurt your house. They're not out to 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:37.899 hurt you Don't do this don't do this But if anything 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:40.539 weird happens call me and I'll generally I spend 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:42.919 about 45 minutes on the phone with everybody 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:46.500 that calls me Assessing the situation I've done 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:48.799 this enough to where you can send me a picture 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.200 of the side of your house And I can tell you 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:52.360 where your bees are at I don't you know I already 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.600 know they get into just about everything they 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.519 can get into but you just given the customers 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.820 home respect educate them and Do the best job 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:03.720 that you can at a fair price and it will it will 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:06.019 continue to come back to you We could go off 00:14:06.019 --> 00:14:08.720 on a whole tangent when it comes to how I feel 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.179 about some people and doing their b removals 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.720 I mean not that i'm some kind of an expert at 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:16.340 it. I just feel like I do a good job There are 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:18.500 a lot of good b removers out there. I just happen 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:22.600 to be one that's known in doing that I feel like 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.769 i'm getting to a point now where I'm going to 00:14:25.769 --> 00:14:28.129 start going down a road where I start explaining 00:14:28.129 --> 00:14:30.110 to people, you know, those different things, 00:14:30.570 --> 00:14:35.090 the best practices as a remover, but also you 00:14:35.090 --> 00:14:38.649 got to be real careful in how you share your 00:14:38.649 --> 00:14:41.429 information. There's been a couple of people 00:14:41.429 --> 00:14:43.870 that, you know, they want to, they want to post 00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:46.509 their progress and, and I can't say whether they 00:14:46.509 --> 00:14:48.909 understand what they're doing. Probably not, 00:14:49.190 --> 00:14:51.549 but I'll give you an example. There's, there's 00:14:51.549 --> 00:14:54.370 a guy that, um, has been doing really well this 00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:57.429 year in his location we I see his social media 00:14:57.429 --> 00:14:59.909 posts one of the posts that he showed was the 00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:02.629 basement of a home and it was a block foundation 00:15:02.629 --> 00:15:05.809 so the whole wall you know everything's all cinder 00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:11.370 block had bees in it in that he literally went 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:13.799 in through there and starts busting concrete 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.019 blocks now if we you know to those that don't 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.720 understand the concrete block you have this square 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.179 piece of concrete but it's got a hollow here 00:15:21.179 --> 00:15:23.759 a center support a hollow here and that's what 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.139 the bees get into the way they're laid they can 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:29.039 kind of it's almost like uh what was that what's 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:30.440 that little game where you put the little red 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.740 and black little circles down into it and it 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:34.399 falls down through the little thing and you got 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:38.250 to stack them connect four Yeah, something like 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.610 that, yeah. Where you're doing four in a row 00:15:40.610 --> 00:15:43.309 vertically, horizontally, diagonally, something 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:45.950 like that. So, you know, it can kind of end up 00:15:45.950 --> 00:15:48.169 looking like that in some weird way, you know 00:15:48.169 --> 00:15:50.649 what I'm saying. We're showing pictures of this 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:53.289 job and all these holes that he had cut in that 00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:56.049 cinder block. And this is what's probably going 00:15:56.049 --> 00:15:59.090 to get me excommunicated from a B community. 00:16:00.470 --> 00:16:03.250 But I'm going to tell you, I'll stand in front 00:16:03.250 --> 00:16:05.490 of a thousand people and argue with every one 00:16:05.490 --> 00:16:08.019 of them. One of my serious mottos is this cost 00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:12.100 versus benefit. Here's the thought process. How 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:15.580 much does a normal package of bees cost in your 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:19.159 area? If you needed to start a beehive and you 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:21.000 ordered a package of bees, how much would it 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:26.799 cost? Yeah, they're gonna be around 150 to 180. 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:31.490 Okay. And a nuc is more like 200. Okay, and here 00:16:31.490 --> 00:16:33.970 in Alabama the the state association some of 00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:36.529 the clubs that's their fundraiser So they'll 00:16:36.529 --> 00:16:39.029 sell they sell nukes for her. I mean packages 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:42.970 for 130 to 150. Okay, depending on how far they 00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:45.049 got a drive to deliver them There's usually a 00:16:45.049 --> 00:16:48.110 little bit more gas price added to it and you 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:50.610 know with the five frame nuke ready to go 2 to 00:16:50.610 --> 00:16:55.230 225 250 depending on average price. So let me 00:16:55.230 --> 00:16:58.360 ask you a question if a Three pound package of 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.039 bees on average is $150. How much is it worth 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:05.539 if it's in grandma's wall? How much are those 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:10.079 bees really worth? To get out? No, just once 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.140 they're out, they're in them. You got a queen, 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.079 you got some bees. How much are those bees really 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:16.259 worth? I'm not sure where you're going with that. 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:20.700 I guess the same amount. Okay, that's... it's 00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:23.299 not a trick question. Three pound package of 00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:27.569 bees and a queen is... 150 bucks. So please help 00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:29.509 me understand why we're going to cost grandma 00:17:29.509 --> 00:17:32.109 five to seven thousand dollars to take those 00:17:32.109 --> 00:17:36.130 bees out of her cinder block foundation. What 00:17:36.130 --> 00:17:38.509 are we saving? Here's another thought process 00:17:38.509 --> 00:17:40.769 when you start busting and cutting all that concrete 00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:43.789 up or you're you got a saw so you can cut brick 00:17:43.789 --> 00:17:48.210 open. When you start spinning a blade on mortar 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:53.130 it turns to such rough it granulate powders it. 00:17:53.889 --> 00:17:57.630 And when that powder gets on bees, they have 00:17:57.630 --> 00:18:00.589 a difficult time getting it off. And you actually 00:18:00.589 --> 00:18:04.630 will kill more bees than you save. Does it happen 00:18:04.630 --> 00:18:07.309 all the time? No. We could argue that. It could 00:18:07.309 --> 00:18:09.369 be argued that, you know, depending on the size 00:18:09.369 --> 00:18:11.269 of the colony, some different things. But the 00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:15.289 question comes down to how much is the cost versus 00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:18.490 the benefit on removing bees in something that's 00:18:18.490 --> 00:18:21.230 going to cost thousands of dollars to repair? 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:25.589 I see where you're going. So in my world, it 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:29.309 is the most difficult conversation to have. I 00:18:29.309 --> 00:18:31.930 have that with each individual customer, but 00:18:31.930 --> 00:18:35.470 there are times where you have to give advice 00:18:35.470 --> 00:18:39.150 on a customer making a decision that they have 00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:41.109 to weigh it and then make it for themselves. 00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:44.089 That's just part of what I have to do with my 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:46.549 customers. I actually was having a conversation 00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:48.410 with a very good friend of mine that's up in 00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:50.750 Tennessee, and I posed that same question to 00:18:50.750 --> 00:18:53.569 him just a few days ago, and here's this beautiful, 00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:56.349 beautiful answer he gave me. When we got to it, 00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:58.690 he said, I asked him the same thing. I said, 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:00.490 you know, where's the cost versus benefit if 00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:02.890 you have to go and cut open a cinder block foundation 00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:05.650 to get some bees out? And he said, well, we're 00:19:05.650 --> 00:19:09.170 beekeepers. It's our job to save them all. Quick 00:19:09.170 --> 00:19:12.109 break to discuss what just might be on your mind. 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.319 Right now come on admit it. You're imagining 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.539 the upcoming honey harvest because no matter 00:19:18.539 --> 00:19:20.400 where you live in the world It's either here 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.839 now or it will be in the near future and Man 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.259 Lake is making it so easy to plan for Click on 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:30.599 over to Man Lake's website for an amazing selection 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:35.119 of extractors filters bottling supplies Uncapping 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.759 knives supplies for a comb honey everything and 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.029 I mean everything you'll need. But if you aren't 00:19:42.029 --> 00:19:44.769 there quite yet and the honey flows right around 00:19:44.769 --> 00:19:48.049 the corner, make sure you have extra supers on 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:51.730 hand. You never can have too many or be too prepared. 00:19:52.089 --> 00:19:55.170 And right now Man Lake is offering podcast listeners 00:19:55.170 --> 00:20:00.829 $10 off your next order. Just enter code MLBlove10 00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:04.630 at checkout. That's manlakeltd .com. Discount 00:20:04.630 --> 00:20:09.990 code MLBlove10. I said, okay. I said, well, I 00:20:09.990 --> 00:20:13.390 can save bees a hundred different ways. I said, 00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:16.430 but where the cost versus benefit, where do you 00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:19.210 draw the line? I put that out there because I 00:20:19.210 --> 00:20:21.470 want people to start thinking a little bit more 00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:24.009 in depth about it. Well, we live in the real 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:26.509 world and people have to make real decisions 00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:31.369 like that. When you're a homeowner, sure. 5 ,000 00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:34.309 bucks or whatever that is. Grandma may not be 00:20:34.309 --> 00:20:37.589 able to afford that. Right. she may not be able 00:20:37.589 --> 00:20:39.829 to afford to save the bees even if she wants 00:20:39.829 --> 00:20:42.769 to right it don't matter how good of a remover 00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:45.650 you are there's something's got to get opened 00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:48.569 up and something's got to come out there's beekeepers 00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:51.609 probably screaming at me right now through the 00:20:51.609 --> 00:20:54.069 screen or listening to the podcast saying there's 00:20:54.069 --> 00:20:56.970 always a way to get the bees out no there's always 00:20:56.970 --> 00:21:01.700 a way to reduce the footprint of the bees to 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:04.359 some degree if you have to go down a road that 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:06.220 nobody wants to really talk about. I don't even 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.180 want to talk about it but I'm getting them I 00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:10.880 want people to be thinking more about more than 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:14.559 just about how much money they can make because 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:16.740 that's something that I've noticed for the last 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:19.539 probably five to seven years. There's a lot of 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:21.319 people out there that want to remove bees and 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:22.940 they want to do it for one or two reasons because 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:25.210 they love bees and they want more. which is what 00:21:25.210 --> 00:21:27.809 got me into it. My first beehive I fell in love 00:21:27.809 --> 00:21:30.890 with bees. I still am. I just I sit out there 00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:33.650 in my yard you know and with a glass of tea on 00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:35.990 a on a nice day just leave me alone because I 00:21:35.990 --> 00:21:38.670 just love to watch bees. Then all of a sudden 00:21:38.670 --> 00:21:41.809 it is every year you get the brand new beekeeper 00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:43.730 comes along and they fall in you know oh I want 00:21:43.730 --> 00:21:46.329 more bees people even some people pay me to take 00:21:46.329 --> 00:21:48.940 their bees away from them. I would never tell 00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:50.839 anybody not to get into it. I just hoped that 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:52.819 they would educate themselves about building 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:54.740 construction and how to find them. If you want 00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:56.859 to put the investment in like, you know, a lot 00:21:56.859 --> 00:21:59.259 of other people have on doing the job right, 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.380 go for it. But it takes a lot to get into it 00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:06.579 and experience and common sense really need to 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:08.940 go along with that. Now you get to the point 00:22:08.940 --> 00:22:11.460 where you're doing it, but you have to develop 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:14.099 that thought process was where I was going on. 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:18.470 What's best for the customer and the bees. There's 00:22:18.470 --> 00:22:20.609 you got to figure that out and that's up to the 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:22.309 individual beekeeper and I'm gonna leave it at 00:22:22.309 --> 00:22:25.750 that But when I was saying that you know, there's 00:22:25.750 --> 00:22:27.930 beekeepers that are probably gonna be just dog 00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:30.869 cussing me over this thought process There's 00:22:30.869 --> 00:22:33.470 a guy that used to be up in Huntsville, Alabama 00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:36.990 His program was that if he couldn't get he wouldn't 00:22:36.990 --> 00:22:39.569 open up anything in the house. That's that was 00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:41.750 his selling point He's gonna put a trap out coming 00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:43.569 on there. He's gonna hang a box there. I'll come 00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:46.740 back in two weeks. We're all good I've met the 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:48.720 man one time I can't tell you what his name is 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.400 and bless him I hope he's still alive I wouldn't 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:53.799 wish anything less but I can't tell you how many 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:57.299 times I've been in behind him in Huntsville because 00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:01.660 of re -infestations. The common sense when I 00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:05.619 talk about removal and thought processes. If 00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:09.200 a queen lays an egg today in a cell how many 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:11.579 days does it take for that egg to hatch into 00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:14.880 a bee walking around inside that colony? 21 days. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.579 Mm -hmm. So if you go and put a trap out on the 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:21.700 side of anything and two weeks later, you're 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:25.319 not seeing any bees come out. So now I'm successful. 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:27.859 I'm done. Now I can pull my cone and I seal it 00:23:27.859 --> 00:23:29.740 up and I go on down the road. What have you done? 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:31.960 Nothing. You've killed all those bees that are 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.799 gonna hatch in there. Yeah, here's the thing. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.759 In two weeks, you've gotten all your foragers 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:40.960 out and you've gotten the two -week -old bees 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:44.839 to three -week -old bees out. because they're 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:46.940 the ones that came out to do orientation flights 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:49.500 but never weren't able to get back in so they 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:53.319 went into your box all right but there's still 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:58.039 a couple of pounds give or take of bees that 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:02.460 have not yet aged to the point of doing an orientation 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:04.480 flight that are still walking around in there 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:07.839 taking care of the queen uh working honey taking 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.420 care of the rest of the bees that are about to 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:12.430 hatch out You still got three -fourths of your 00:24:12.430 --> 00:24:15.869 colony still in the void. And the queen. And 00:24:15.869 --> 00:24:18.990 the queen. So I'll say that's a whole colony. 00:24:19.250 --> 00:24:22.029 Yeah, still in there. Still got plenty of resources. 00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:24.069 They still got plenty of pollen. They still got 00:24:24.069 --> 00:24:26.529 plenty of honey. Alright, that they can work 00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:29.809 with. And all you've done is you've locked them 00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:33.069 in there. Now whether or not, and I make no even 00:24:33.069 --> 00:24:36.069 thought that whether the person who has done 00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:38.349 this in the past or others who have done this 00:24:38.349 --> 00:24:40.450 in the past. I've always heard two weeks is your 00:24:40.450 --> 00:24:42.970 window to do a trap out and and I still beat 00:24:42.970 --> 00:24:45.210 my head up against the wall on the thought process 00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:48.049 of that because it takes three weeks just to 00:24:48.049 --> 00:24:50.710 get what she laid today the day you put the cone 00:24:50.710 --> 00:24:52.829 on. Three weeks from now they're just hatching 00:24:52.829 --> 00:24:54.769 and then there's another two weeks before they're 00:24:54.769 --> 00:24:56.730 gonna orient do orientation flights and come 00:24:56.730 --> 00:25:00.490 out. That's five weeks. So how long do you keep 00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:04.089 on doing a trap out? How many times, how many 00:25:04.089 --> 00:25:06.650 trips back and forth? Now, let me get you on 00:25:06.650 --> 00:25:10.130 this one. Most people say they can, you know, 00:25:10.349 --> 00:25:13.430 debatably can get a queen out. Most of them say 00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:15.650 no, you never will. Well, you never will because 00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:19.269 you never left it in there long enough. Where 00:25:19.269 --> 00:25:21.829 you can successfully get a queen out of a trap 00:25:21.829 --> 00:25:26.930 out is when the bees, the number of bees in that 00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:29.369 void weaken and they start getting overrun by 00:25:29.369 --> 00:25:34.579 hive beetles. anytime a colony gets weak they're 00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:37.420 going to do their last ditch effort to survive 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:39.680 but they're gonna abandon where they're at so 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:44.680 they push the queen out and the last ditch effort 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.559 of and then next thing you know they're coming 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:49.839 out there and then everybody's going hey man 00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:51.680 that smells like home over there so they end 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.900 up going to your box and there's a real high 00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:57.359 potential that you can catch your queen, which 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:59.960 would be the hope and joy of what we would do. 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.400 But how long would it take? How long do you need 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.759 to leave it there? But let's go back to another 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:09.059 thought process in regards to doing a trap out. 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.640 How long does it take? And there's a lot of different 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:14.859 ways that they're set up. And there's a hope 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:18.680 that the bees in your box will somehow smell 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:21.799 the queen and everything that's in the original 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:24.519 hive. It's like they they don't want to lose 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:26.759 that connection they just realize they're in 00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:31.579 a different box. Well if you're not careful because 00:26:31.579 --> 00:26:34.819 some people can't just set a beehive entrance 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:36.980 right next to the hole in the base of that cone. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:41.200 So they they've got their trap cone, they got 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.900 their box sitting over here. Once this becomes 00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:48.339 its own entity of the trap out catch box then 00:26:48.339 --> 00:26:51.380 that becomes a colony on its own which with no 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:55.079 queen does what? They start creating laying workers. 00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:59.319 So now what have you saved? If you don't do this 00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:03.000 part right, if you're gonna do a trap out, then 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:05.220 you need to be over here about every seven to 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:09.220 ten days putting a brand new frame of capped 00:27:09.220 --> 00:27:13.059 brood in that box. And you better make sure that 00:27:13.059 --> 00:27:14.799 you didn't give him a queen cell. I mean you 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.960 better make, I mean an egg to make a queen with. 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.559 You see this is the in -depth think about what 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:23.720 you're doing before you get into it How much 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:26.559 are you really gonna have to put into it now? 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:28.859 Grandma called you and said I want you I want 00:27:28.859 --> 00:27:30.819 these bees out of here All you're gonna do is 00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:32.960 remove bees if you do a trap out You're still 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.460 leaving the mess and what could happen in behind 00:27:35.460 --> 00:27:38.119 there because you just can't open something up. 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:41.539 So that's the process I will do that process 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.099 and it's within limitation, but you know, it's 00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:48.000 also I'm having to show up at Grandma's house 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.779 every ten days to check the bees and to add brood 00:27:52.779 --> 00:27:56.599 so that they don't create a new queen, I mean, 00:27:56.819 --> 00:27:59.859 laying workers. And what if she's an hour drive 00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:03.140 away? You're running up a big bill at this point. 00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:08.789 Exactly. So... The person who's doing the job 00:28:08.789 --> 00:28:11.069 just needs to make whatever decision that they 00:28:11.069 --> 00:28:13.309 need to I'm just putting a thought process I'm 00:28:13.309 --> 00:28:15.170 kind of I'm kind of starting to snowball going 00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:19.009 down the hill Okay, you all just need to pick 00:28:19.009 --> 00:28:21.130 it up You just pick it up and make a snowman 00:28:21.130 --> 00:28:23.609 with it. However, you feel you need to All right, 00:28:23.609 --> 00:28:25.309 and that's it. That's where I'm gonna leave that 00:28:25.309 --> 00:28:28.230 Well, there's a lot of controversial things that 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:31.710 we could talk about on this topic I have read 00:28:31.710 --> 00:28:36.160 about and actually heard of people who have seen 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:40.220 videos on YouTube and I'm not naming any specific 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:44.359 people but someone with a female with their hair 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:47.559 done perfectly and they look like they're going 00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:50.539 to you know, whatever they're done up to the 00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:55.380 nines and they're opening up the floor of a shed 00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:59.859 or something and taking all these bees out and 00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:02.960 saving the bees and people that don't know what 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:06.269 they're doing unfortunately See that without 00:29:06.269 --> 00:29:07.990 some kind of a warning and think they can do 00:29:07.990 --> 00:29:11.230 the same thing and end up in the emergency room 00:29:11.230 --> 00:29:15.009 So I can't tell you how many times that people 00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:19.589 have seen me without a bee suit on I rarely wear 00:29:19.589 --> 00:29:23.009 a bee suit and it's because by the time I put 00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:25.549 them you know the hood on and the black on that 00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:28.650 and It makes it very difficult to see anything 00:29:28.650 --> 00:29:33.130 in there. So I have learned How to treat my bees 00:29:33.130 --> 00:29:38.160 like ladies colony of bees depending on the time 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:41.799 of the year just work with me on this is 97 % 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:44.960 female in the wintertime it's probably about 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:49.839 99 .9 % female and there's always that one drone 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:52.980 that you know snuck in there and and they just 00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:55.960 they liked him so they let him stay but you understand 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:58.539 the basics of the math the point is it don't 00:29:58.539 --> 00:30:01.440 matter what the percentage is At the end of all 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:04.200 this if you treat them like ladies Then you're 00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:05.940 gonna be able to get a little farther to the 00:30:05.940 --> 00:30:09.500 sweet stuff to get them removed, but they asked 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:12.200 me well What's the deal? Well, you know, you're 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.619 not wearing a suit. How do you do that? Blah 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:17.440 blah blah. I Don't do it to impress anybody on 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.140 my end back years ago You know, I told you about 00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:22.140 my first colony came from the back of a barn 00:30:22.140 --> 00:30:25.140 wall. Okay? Well, I had a suit I had the smoker 00:30:25.140 --> 00:30:27.299 I had it sitting up there next to the house and 00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:30.960 I had been watching JP's videos and JP never 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:33.160 hardly wore a suit man sitting there on a bucket. 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:34.940 He's cutting a piece of comb He's putting it 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:37.660 in the frame bees are on it Rubber bands it in 00:30:37.660 --> 00:30:40.119 just ever so gentle takes it puts it in a box 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:43.359 And I said I told my wife I said hey babies come 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:46.569 here Said I want you to put this suit on I said 00:30:46.569 --> 00:30:48.329 come out here in the bee yard with me She looked 00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.569 at me like I was on drugs. She said oh hell no. 00:30:50.569 --> 00:30:53.430 I'm no no no no I said I need you to be out there 00:30:53.430 --> 00:30:56.509 with me. She's like why I said because if I die 00:30:56.509 --> 00:31:00.130 somebody needs to call 9 -1 -1 My point was that 00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:04.750 I was going to do what I saw him do I was putting 00:31:04.750 --> 00:31:08.289 skin in the game and when I say skin I mean Literally, 00:31:08.289 --> 00:31:11.259 yeah. Yeah. All right Mr. And Mrs. Beekeeper 00:31:11.259 --> 00:31:13.220 spend a lot of money on a really beautiful suit 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:19.000 and you should be as protected as you can but 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:22.319 Start leaving one of your gloves off. All right 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:24.539 If you're right -handed make it your left hand 00:31:24.539 --> 00:31:26.339 and make sure you take a wedding ring off because 00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.579 you're gonna swell if you don't do it Right, 00:31:28.619 --> 00:31:32.099 okay in what they did was they would get in there 00:31:32.099 --> 00:31:34.900 and I saw a guy do this He calls me. He says 00:31:34.900 --> 00:31:36.880 me and my bees are just horribly aggressive. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:39.940 I don't know why You know, the guy came out, 00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:42.579 he helped us put him here. He wasn't even wearing 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:44.519 a bee suit. Now I go in them and they're eating 00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:46.359 me up. What am I doing wrong? I said, put me 00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:49.039 on a video chat. He puts me on video chat and 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:50.680 I said, do your normal thing. Just have your 00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:52.539 wife sit there and hold the phone. So she puts 00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.920 him up on phone. He takes the lid off. Smoke, 00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:59.140 smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke. Sets the lid down, 00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:01.480 gets in there and loosens up that first frame. 00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:04.799 And he goes, he said, can you see that? And he 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:08.799 goes right back in. Smacks it right down. then 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:11.880 he goes to the next frame and pulls that one 00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:15.220 and does the same thing i said stop took two 00:32:15.220 --> 00:32:18.859 frames that's all i need stop give him a little 00:32:18.859 --> 00:32:20.539 puff of smoke put the lid on it i'll see you 00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:23.539 tomorrow so i get over there and i said let me 00:32:23.539 --> 00:32:26.619 ask you a question i said if i come we're we're 00:32:26.619 --> 00:32:28.000 standing out in the bee yard i said if i look 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.799 at you right now i said i just reach back to 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:31.680 kansas and slap you upside the face what are 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:34.630 you going to do It's a big old boy. He said I 00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:36.569 probably don't you know do things that I can't 00:32:36.569 --> 00:32:40.390 speak on the podcast and I said Exactly. I said 00:32:40.390 --> 00:32:43.170 do you treat your wife like you do that beehive 00:32:43.170 --> 00:32:44.910 and it kind of took him for a minute He said 00:32:44.910 --> 00:32:48.750 what do you mean? I? Said you pop the lid you 00:32:48.750 --> 00:32:51.970 pulled this up you did this you put it back down 00:32:51.970 --> 00:32:54.930 in there I said and you rolled these bees you 00:32:54.930 --> 00:32:57.750 have squash bees. I said you you pissed them 00:32:57.750 --> 00:33:00.529 off So my question is do you want to treat your 00:33:00.529 --> 00:33:03.200 bees like your wife? Or do you want to treat 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:06.180 your bees like you want to treat me after I slapped 00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:07.799 a dog out of you because you're treating your 00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:10.099 bees mean And it kind of looked at me. I said 00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:13.740 now watch what I do. I Popped the lid. I took 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:17.000 the first frame out Nice and slow. We looked 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:19.619 at it. I said always gonna be a feed frame blah 00:33:19.619 --> 00:33:23.039 blah blah, then I set it down 99 .9 % chance. 00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:24.880 There's not gonna be a queen on a honey frame 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.700 So I set it down then I moved the next one give 00:33:28.700 --> 00:33:31.279 it a little room pull it up look at it put it 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.140 in the spot of the first one because now i've 00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:34.960 got a gap now i can do the second all the way 00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:36.960 to the other end found the queen put it back 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.380 in there and i didn't have a suit on and i didn't 00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:42.099 get stung one time and and he was like oh my 00:33:42.099 --> 00:33:43.920 god that's the craziest thing in the world but 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:46.000 you got to treat them like ladies it's there's 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.220 so much to so many things that we learn in this 00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:51.859 hobby there's so many things that we need to 00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:55.210 learn that aren't put in the books People just 00:33:55.210 --> 00:33:57.609 go out there and they they get this, you know 00:33:57.609 --> 00:34:00.109 a box and some bees and I got people that will 00:34:00.109 --> 00:34:02.369 call me all the time You know, you see it on 00:34:02.369 --> 00:34:06.190 social media and I respect it. I Don't mean to 00:34:06.190 --> 00:34:09.130 speak ill of it But if you show a picture of 00:34:09.130 --> 00:34:10.909 a drone and you're wanting to know if it's your 00:34:10.909 --> 00:34:14.849 queen You have not taken the time to learn yet 00:34:14.849 --> 00:34:18.690 the basics of stuff and my only point earlier 00:34:18.690 --> 00:34:23.239 with this topic was Sometimes we need to just 00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:26.139 let people know that may be watching. If you 00:34:26.139 --> 00:34:29.000 don't have experience, don't try to do this. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:32.119 I agree, and I know who you're talking about. 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:34.860 Because we get people who have never been in 00:34:34.860 --> 00:34:37.440 a beehive before, never been close to bees before. 00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:40.219 They try to do this. They don't know how to be 00:34:40.219 --> 00:34:42.980 as gentle. They don't know how to read the temperament 00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:46.519 of the bees ahead of time. They may have a lot 00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:50.300 of fear going on, which bees can smell. they 00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:53.480 can get themselves in trouble so that that was 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:56.059 my only point but I totally agree with you on 00:34:56.059 --> 00:34:58.760 so much of this I think one of the best things 00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:02.119 I ever did when I was a relatively new beekeeper 00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:06.239 after a year or so was quit wearing those great 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:10.860 big leather gloves because I couldn't pull out 00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:13.539 of frame without squishing bees I couldn't put 00:35:13.539 --> 00:35:16.880 it back in without it kind of clumping down hard 00:35:17.210 --> 00:35:20.949 Mm -hmm, and if you have the dexterity even if 00:35:20.949 --> 00:35:22.949 you're using some nitrile gloves or something 00:35:22.949 --> 00:35:26.269 you have more dexterity and you can just very 00:35:26.269 --> 00:35:33.829 calmly Right do this calm slow deliberate Those 00:35:33.829 --> 00:35:36.329 are some of the words right there is is what 00:35:36.329 --> 00:35:38.429 you're talking about and I couldn't agree more 00:35:38.429 --> 00:35:42.690 Yeah, now I know who your example is and watching 00:35:42.690 --> 00:35:46.889 some of those examples It kind of gets fresh 00:35:46.889 --> 00:35:50.489 at first. I really got frustrated at it and I'm 00:35:50.489 --> 00:35:53.869 sorry, but you know 15 years ago. I was you know, 00:35:53.869 --> 00:35:56.230 I was I was okay looking I mean, I've gotten 00:35:56.230 --> 00:35:58.590 a few years on me and a few more pounds I'm and 00:35:58.590 --> 00:36:01.329 and I'm telling you I'm I'm I'm wore out but 00:36:01.329 --> 00:36:04.809 the point there is so much that actually can 00:36:04.809 --> 00:36:09.809 be good in some of the things that we Look at 00:36:09.809 --> 00:36:12.190 and we scratch our head going. This is somebody 00:36:12.190 --> 00:36:16.550 that's just using a pretty face and a nice voice 00:36:16.550 --> 00:36:20.730 to sell a video. It doesn't matter what the topic 00:36:20.730 --> 00:36:23.329 is. I've seen a few of those. There's a few of 00:36:23.329 --> 00:36:25.429 them out there that when I see them running around 00:36:25.429 --> 00:36:28.210 in a pair of shorts and an athletic top, I'm 00:36:28.210 --> 00:36:30.590 thinking just go start an OnlyFans page. I mean, 00:36:30.730 --> 00:36:35.489 you're that close to it because that's not representing 00:36:35.489 --> 00:36:39.630 beekeeping. What I would wish for, it ain't ever 00:36:39.630 --> 00:36:42.309 going to happen. But if you want to educate people, 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:45.420 Then make it about the bees. Okay. This is what 00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:48.639 we're here to love and protect and to learn and 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:53.260 grow It's about the bees Not if my hair is up 00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:55.019 in the nice and you know when I'm wearing the 00:36:55.019 --> 00:36:58.059 right outfit and I can you know But you throw 00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:00.659 a little monetization on a video Well, the more 00:37:00.659 --> 00:37:03.360 views you get the more money you make so to each 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.920 their own. There's gonna be an audience out there 00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:09.210 for it I have an audience of people that enjoy 00:37:09.210 --> 00:37:11.929 my content because I make it fun. I don't get 00:37:11.929 --> 00:37:14.909 real technical when I give in my videos. I call 00:37:14.909 --> 00:37:19.030 them my girls. Okay, I call the queen mama and 00:37:19.030 --> 00:37:22.550 I keep it simple because I want somebody that 00:37:22.550 --> 00:37:25.050 when they see my videos they don't feel like 00:37:25.050 --> 00:37:28.190 they're getting a classroom lesson from a scientist 00:37:28.190 --> 00:37:31.989 or a professor that's speaking over their head 00:37:31.989 --> 00:37:34.829 in something that they didn't teach in school. 00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:38.820 One of the other things about some of the people 00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:42.760 who make those videos that appear just way too 00:37:42.760 --> 00:37:45.860 easy. They are educating people. They are bringing 00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:48.719 to the forefront that there are people out there 00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:51.579 that can actually come and save, remove, and 00:37:51.579 --> 00:37:55.179 re -home your bees. And for that, I absolutely 00:37:55.179 --> 00:37:58.559 adore some of them. I might scratch my head and 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.880 be mad because they got more views than I did. 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.539 But what they're doing is and no correlation 00:38:04.539 --> 00:38:07.380 to anything, but Erica from Texas Bee Works. 00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:11.159 They'll record their whole video and then she 00:38:11.159 --> 00:38:13.800 goes back, she edits the video and does voiceovers 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:16.159 on it. Got a very calm demeanor about herself. 00:38:16.260 --> 00:38:21.659 She shares a story and people want to watch that. 00:38:22.139 --> 00:38:25.219 Kudos to Erica for doing that. And for letting 00:38:25.219 --> 00:38:28.059 people know that we can save the bees, not just 00:38:28.059 --> 00:38:31.099 exterminate the bees when we have some kind of 00:38:31.099 --> 00:38:34.960 an infestation. right so yes absolutely that's 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:37.360 a great message hey i don't want to keep you 00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:40.079 too much longer i want to ask you one last thing 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:43.239 i want you to think over the years of one of 00:38:43.239 --> 00:38:47.139 your most crazy bee removals that you've done 00:38:47.139 --> 00:38:49.860 can you think of one to tell us about one or 00:38:49.860 --> 00:38:53.579 two all right so we're going to circle back to 00:38:53.579 --> 00:38:56.280 where we started and we'll start to work towards 00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:59.460 our end i was invited over to mississippi to 00:38:59.460 --> 00:39:03.079 the bud gathering okay actually I think you've 00:39:03.079 --> 00:39:06.260 had one of your guests was Emily Mueller up from 00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:10.019 Ohio. She was great. She was on recently. Yes. 00:39:10.480 --> 00:39:13.619 So Emily and I met each other and met her husband 00:39:13.619 --> 00:39:16.639 and all that at the Bud gatherings. What's so 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:19.159 beautiful about her is the one thing that with 00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:23.039 Emily, we were in a yard that had a huge swarm 00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:26.000 up in the tree. Everybody was ready to go to 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:28.989 lunch man. It was like just. Time was not on 00:39:28.989 --> 00:39:32.469 our side, but this one particular swarm I caught 00:39:32.469 --> 00:39:35.630 and we shook it down to a box and the question 00:39:35.630 --> 00:39:38.469 came up about Catching a swarm with unmated Queens. 00:39:38.489 --> 00:39:41.349 I said every swarm you catch is potentially got 00:39:41.349 --> 00:39:44.070 unmated Queens in it We got to looking at this 00:39:44.070 --> 00:39:47.269 one. It was the example of that Conversation 00:39:47.269 --> 00:39:49.550 we'd had that conversation previously now we 00:39:49.550 --> 00:39:52.809 get here and shook him in there and we start 00:39:52.809 --> 00:39:55.610 going through and I caught you know what I would 00:39:55.610 --> 00:39:58.090 call an unmated queen based on her size or shape 00:39:58.090 --> 00:40:00.550 and everything else once I caught her and we 00:40:00.550 --> 00:40:02.130 put her in a cage I said there'll be another 00:40:02.130 --> 00:40:05.730 one in here but watch the bees because the bees 00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:09.409 are going to start running to where she goes 00:40:09.409 --> 00:40:12.449 but the thing is is she's gonna bounce back and 00:40:12.449 --> 00:40:14.789 forth and you watch him I mean they'll just do 00:40:14.789 --> 00:40:16.829 it everybody's going this way and all of a sudden 00:40:16.829 --> 00:40:18.829 nope that queen ran up underneath them frames 00:40:18.829 --> 00:40:21.150 and she's going over there and man it was like 00:40:21.150 --> 00:40:23.969 watching a nascar race all right but with about 00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:28.360 10 ,000 bees and I think I know we caught two 00:40:28.360 --> 00:40:31.260 for sure may have been three You know little 00:40:31.260 --> 00:40:34.300 virgin queens in there. It's just the observation 00:40:34.300 --> 00:40:37.500 of but I Can't remember if it was our first year 00:40:37.500 --> 00:40:42.219 together. I think it was the the craziest beehive 00:40:42.219 --> 00:40:45.519 That we removed there was an old farmhouse out, 00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:49.079 you know in the middle of nowhere If I remember 00:40:49.079 --> 00:40:51.179 right the house was probably about 150 years 00:40:51.179 --> 00:40:53.800 old. Been in the family generation after generation 00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:57.280 and they they were redoing this entire house. 00:40:57.340 --> 00:40:59.719 I mean it was just a it was a top -to -bottom 00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:03.019 complete redo. They had in one of the walls they 00:41:03.019 --> 00:41:06.380 had a bee colony in it that they had known to 00:41:06.380 --> 00:41:09.099 be there for over 75 years. Now this house was 00:41:09.099 --> 00:41:11.239 made out of four by fours. It wasn't just two 00:41:11.239 --> 00:41:13.340 by fours. They made them out of four by fours 00:41:13.340 --> 00:41:16.599 back then. Rough cut lumber four by fours. I 00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:19.659 want to say the the void between the studs was 00:41:19.659 --> 00:41:22.900 roughly about two feet. It wasn't the 16 inches 00:41:22.900 --> 00:41:26.099 we do because we go by two by fours and it was 00:41:26.099 --> 00:41:29.840 12 feet tall. With the help of a lot of people 00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:32.239 that was the educational thing that we did that 00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:36.699 year but that thing was monster size and by the 00:41:36.699 --> 00:41:38.820 time it was all said and done with the group 00:41:38.820 --> 00:41:41.739 we caught the queen we spent two days removing 00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:44.760 this thing. I have never in my life seen so much 00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:48.219 bees and comb until we got the one the next year 00:41:48.219 --> 00:41:50.800 upstairs that they had known to be in that wall 00:41:50.800 --> 00:41:55.400 for every bit of 45 years. There was a bedroom 00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:58.519 wall full of bees and comb. Come to find out 00:41:58.519 --> 00:42:00.980 when they put the wall up to divide the bedrooms 00:42:00.980 --> 00:42:03.860 it wasn't on a stud so the bees were coming in 00:42:03.860 --> 00:42:06.320 and then they were they were getting past that 00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:10.289 the wall actually in part of the next room and 00:42:10.289 --> 00:42:13.489 it was probably six to eight feet wide in the 00:42:13.489 --> 00:42:17.170 studs and had if that thing didn't have a hundred 00:42:17.170 --> 00:42:18.969 gallon of honey in it it didn't have the first 00:42:18.969 --> 00:42:21.210 drop and it had been there 45 years up in that 00:42:21.210 --> 00:42:23.449 bedroom. Man have I done some crazy removals 00:42:23.449 --> 00:42:25.849 oh yeah I've had a lot of fun doing it but I 00:42:25.849 --> 00:42:28.809 will always remember those two removals in that 00:42:28.809 --> 00:42:31.030 one house because of how old and insane they 00:42:31.030 --> 00:42:34.369 were. Huge. By the way bless you for what you're 00:42:34.369 --> 00:42:38.269 doing because it is hard work. How hot does it 00:42:38.269 --> 00:42:41.769 get there in Alabama in the summer? Well, plenty 00:42:41.769 --> 00:42:44.090 hot, right? Yeah, I mean the humidity is what's 00:42:44.090 --> 00:42:47.449 going to kill you. Now granted, half of my removals, 00:42:47.610 --> 00:42:49.630 three quarters of my removals are inside of a 00:42:49.630 --> 00:42:51.949 house, you know, going between the floors or 00:42:51.949 --> 00:42:54.389 something like that. So, you know, I do I do 00:42:54.389 --> 00:42:57.690 really well with that. But like today, today 00:42:57.690 --> 00:43:00.610 was not a good day. I mean, just because of the 00:43:00.610 --> 00:43:03.010 tropical storm coming up, it was raining, had 00:43:03.010 --> 00:43:05.909 some good wind and the bees. you know no one 00:43:05.909 --> 00:43:08.989 bees they don't like weather changes atmospheric 00:43:08.989 --> 00:43:12.570 changes and they let me know it so it was a rough 00:43:12.570 --> 00:43:16.010 it was a rough one today but so far my eyes ain't 00:43:16.010 --> 00:43:18.329 too bad there's a little bit of swelling there 00:43:18.329 --> 00:43:21.130 there's still a little bit there but i generally 00:43:21.130 --> 00:43:23.750 by the time i you know get home take a hot shower 00:43:23.750 --> 00:43:26.630 by the time i go to bed i i look as normally 00:43:26.630 --> 00:43:30.179 ugly as i do without bee stings All right, yeah, 00:43:30.280 --> 00:43:32.800 P, it's been a lot of fun. Thank you very much 00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:35.199 and please keep in touch. Well, I appreciate 00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:37.699 you have me on and thanks for the opportunity. 00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:43.280 Thanks again for joining us on Be Love, Be Keeping 00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:46.360 presented by Man Lake. Another big thank you 00:43:46.360 --> 00:43:49.420 goes to Vita B Health for their support. Vita's 00:43:49.420 --> 00:43:52.619 Varroa Control Ranger products includes Epistan, 00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:57.079 Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic 00:43:57.079 --> 00:44:00.019 Acids Trips. Hey thanks a lot guys. And if you 00:44:00.019 --> 00:44:02.500 haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow the 00:44:02.500 --> 00:44:04.719 show, tell your friends about it, and click on 00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:08.059 over to BeLoveBeKeeping .com to sign up for our 00:44:08.059 --> 00:44:11.059 free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion 00:44:11.059 --> 00:44:14.139 or topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot 00:44:14.139 --> 00:44:19.579 me an And remember, if you're not just in it 00:44:19.579 --> 00:44:22.260 for the honey or the money, you're in it for 00:44:22.260 --> 00:44:23.900 the love. See you next week.