Honey Bee My Teacher

So Much to Do! How Do the Bees Do It?

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 03:10:00 +0000

As I am trying to recover from a crazy month of Holiday madness I find myself facing the feeling I am oftentimes overwhelmed. Divorce, moving things in and out of the home, work, animals, financial obligations, yada yada yada; all seem like so much yet the Honeybee can successfully accomplish all these same scenarios in her own little world without blinking and eye.

I'm fascinated at their ability to be so structured and focused. It seems to be a feat that eludes us as humans so I reflect, observe, and try to resonate with the Honeybee hoping to gain some insight and wisdom on this journey of life.

What do they do differently? They implement structure and democracy.

Structure is oftentimes my nemesis. I know it is a foreign concept to many of us but without it we fail. The honeybee proves that over and over again. We do well in our work environment where structure is implemented then we go home to our chaos. We eat wrong, fail to exercise or properly or rest and we wonder why we feel so frustrated and unfulfilled. It warrants paying closer attention to the honeybee and the hive itself. They succeed without us.

So what does that structure look like? We already know there is a Queen, workers, nurses or maidens, guardians, foragers and drones. We know they all have a role to play at certain stages of their existence, but what else do we know?

They're naturally democratic. They've been shaped that way by evolution. Honeybees make decisions collectively and democratically. They stake everything on a process that uses collective fact finding, debate, and finally consensus building. For example: when the hive is overpopulated the Scout bees break off and start looking for relocation options. They are somewhat like a "Senate". They're older, more experienced bees searching for the best place for their colony preparing to split to make their new home.

Dancing is their announcement. The honeybee scouts use dancing to announce their discoveries. Using their "waggle dance", a figure that gives bee directions, the scouts will communicate how to fly to the other sites to check for themselves before deciding which location will be their new home. If the first choice is mediocre a second wave of bees will do a ho-hum dance. If the location is spectacular they bees will do a mega party dance so the other bees will know where to go. They use dancing to show their numbers in deciding on the perfect spot. They vote by dancing themselves into consensus. If a honeybee or a few honeybees don't like the location they protest but eventually reabsorb into the hive to function collectively with the group for the greater good of the hive.

Honeybees democracy has been studied for years by Tom Seeley, the author of Honeybee Democracy
and refers to the honeybees absorption into the hive without further protest as "forgetting" in bees. He doesn't necessarily care for this genetic "forgetting" but he does touch on it's obvious advantages. He compares the bee to eminent scientists who many times hang on to bad ideas till they die.

He writes:

One difference between aged scientists and aged (bee) scouts, though, is that the people tend to drop out of the debate reluctantly, sometimes not until death, whereas the bees do so automatically. I cannot help but wonder whether science would progress more rapidly if, in this regard, people behaved a bit more like bees.

I would love to see us behave a bit more like bees by working closer together but I also want to have our diversity of thought, our hero's, our pioneers in society and our freedoms to be a part of the community while standing for our individual beliefs.

So as I practice beekeeping I learn they are more complex than I ever thought and what seems to be such a simple community really isn't. They are a society, a super organism working off of group thought and that's how they get it done. They ALL concede to ensure the hive remains viable and take any action necessary to survive. I think I resonate with the "survival" aspect of them. I'm sure most of us do too. We need to focus on a healthier society of people in general. We need to discuss more, fight less and continue to work together for humanity. After all, we are supposed to be the superior species.

Fall Lessons Overwinter Hive Preparation

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 22:04:00 +0000

EP-007 Honey Bee My Teacher Podcast
Hosted by Patti Haines
Produced by Jay Fratt

Flexibility is the key as a beekeeper. It's not your plan ultimately, it's your colony's plan. A quick Fall season threw Patti's plans out the window, but quick reactions, a positive attitude, and confidence allowed a safe response. Patti goes through her overwinter hive management plan, and learned words on the flexibility required to manage and nurture bees.

Enjoy the great information and Patti's charming personality. Stick around for a question and answer session at the end of the pod: Time Management. Bee Advocacy.

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Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Winter Planning for a Healthy Bee Population in Spring

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:41:00 +0000

This is the beginning of my second year of Beekeeping. I am preparing to overwinter my bees this year, and have been forced to start early due to an unexpected cold snap. Bummer!

I feel a little shorted here. I was planning for a nice Fall season with temperatures going down in a nice sweater weather and bonfire kind of fashion. I don't know why I anticipated such a normal and predictable season, because Gaia, Mother Nature herself, dealt a different deck of cards. Just like the unpredictability of the Honeybee, so is the weather.

No nice Fall season this year. Not even a teaser. We had a few days of Fall and BOOM! Twenty seven degree mornings already. I'm not complaining, I was caught a little off guard, which interrupted my beekeeping schedule a little. I wanted more time with them before they hunkered down for Winter's chill. I will be overwintering early, and waiting impatiently. Patience is a trait I am working on. My Queen along with her new maidens are great assets to this practice in patience. In the meantime I will take the opportunity to plan for Spring, loosely of course, and explore the lessons I learned this year. In the meantime, I have taken the steps to get the hives fed, both sugar syrup and pollen.

There are so many schools of thought out there regarding overwintering practices; I was a little overwhelmed this year so to be honest. So I'm winging it! The principles are the same, and in place, but the rest I have to navigate using my knowledge of my landscape and weather.

Planning for Winter seems daunting at times. If you anticipate every weather related possibility for your demographic area, you should feel fairly at ease until temperatures rise again bringing out a brand new colony of Honeybees. A new season of pollen, nectar and honey will be your reward; not to mention the fulfillment of advocating the pollinators.

I myself am hopeful. I have studied, talked to experienced beekeepers, and organized my equipment. My feeders are ready to go. Nature is ready too. The flowers have turned brown. The trees have begun to lose their leaves. The morning is greeted with early frost. It's time so here I go.

As a novice Beekeeper all I can say is check off your list, and hope for the best. If you treated for mites, and let the bees make enough honey, you should be set for Winter. Yes, there are other actions to take, but these two are the most critical to your colony's survival. You want to have all your winter materials ready, and should be ensuring the bees have enough honey; or are being supplemented to make enough for winter.

This week I am putting on my mouse guards, insulating the top inner cover of the hive, and making moisture quilts. I will be pulling the sugar syrup from the hives once temperatures stay below 50 degrees.

Mice are famous for sneaking in to the bottom of the hive and using it for warmth. they will also feed off of the hive and destroy the wax on the frames. The bees have no resources to share with the mice. Using Mouse guards will block the entrance keeping the critters away.

Keeping the bees dry during winter is a huge challenge in the Pacific Northwest. The honeybees fan the inside of the hive to generate heat in a cluster creating condensation. Our weather is soggy. Moisture quilts and other tools are used by many to keep the moisture off of the bees. If too much condensation occurs, it will virtually rain on the bees and kill them. I will be using moisture quilts to protect my hives.

To make my moisture quilts I used a shallow super which is the same compartment you would have your honey frames in during nectar flow. I used hardware cloth and purchased wood shavings. I stapled the hardware cloth to the bottom of my shallow super and poured my shavings inside to create a nice dry environment for the bees. I will check my shavings for excess moisture every couple of weeks and keep them dry. Shavings are great as long as you don't let them get too wet and moldy.

I will also be wrapping my hives this year along with setting some straw bales below them to minimize the amount of draft below the bench where they are set. This is not necessary here in the Pacific Northwest. I live on the top of a ridge with prevailing winds coming up from the river. This necessitates extra protection from those wet cold temperatures rolling up the hillside to my colonies.
If your bees are in a location where there is a windbreak you shouldn't have to wrap you hives.

I do have one hive that I am a little worried about due to it's very late start. This hive couldn't keep a Queen for some strange reason. I had to put a frame with a queen cell in there to let her hatch and be accepted by the bees. Although successful she got a late start. That particular hive's honey production took a hit. Because they are a little behind a 3:1 ratio of sugar syrup will be fed to them, allowing them the opportunity to fill their honey frames before it gets too cold. This winter they will be getting dry sugar giving them a fighting chance.

The other two hives are fantastic and abundant with honey. I look forward to greeting them come Springtime. This years honey was different from last years. Due to purchasing my hives later in the season, the bees missed out on the Maple flow. My honey was different, but still quite delicious. I will finish overwintering them and plan for Spring. I want them to have the best opportunity for success. I will plan my gardens, wildflowers and the trees I have researched.

I am increasing my flower gardens by around 40% next Spring, and will be planting some Bee friendly trees. I really like the Linden tree. The bees love it, so a few of those will be part of my landscaping plan. I read how this particular tree can also attract swarms! This got me excited to catch a feral colony. I haven't had any success catching a colony with my swarm traps, but I am determined to get one in 2020!

Of course the honey will change in flavor based on the new flowers and trees, which I find to be adventurous and exciting. Having these hives from the beginning of Spring will provide more than one nectar flow, creating a variety of honey flavors throughout the season. What an adventure for the taste buds. I can't wait!

While my ladies are cozy and warm inside, I will be reflecting on my lessons from the honeybees this year; and will naturally share them with you. They have so much to teach us. Not to mention so much to give us. The learning never stops. We still have a lot to talk about.

I want the world to embrace their gifts to our lives and our futures. I owe them that much!

Preparing for Winter and Planning

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 06:52:00 +0000

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EP-006 Honey Bee My Teacher Podcast
Hosted by Patti Haines
Produced by Jay Fratt

Patti is back in studio to share her passion and adventures in beekeeping. From Varroa mites to cautionary tales of drift, Patti shares her do's and don'ts regarding the Fall season peparing her beehives for the coming winter.

Enjoy the great information and Patti's charming personality. Stick around for a question and answer session at the end of the pod.

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Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Beekeeping Next Steps, Preparedness

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 21:36:00 +0000

Beekeeping in an honest light is the realization that you never have the same situation with every hive. If you try a cookie cutter approach to beekeeping, you will certainly will be schooled by your honeybees.

One thing I have learned is nothing is constant other than the fact that the hive is unpredictable. Anything else is an educated guess. Attention, quality management, and care is always required to keep your colony or colonies successful.

In the Pacific northwest, we are in a dearth. Depending on where we live, we still have a few plants blooming; but sugar syrup has become a supplement to our honeybees, so we aren't harvesting honey. We are helping the bees build up their honey stores to overwinter.

I have treated for Varroa mites this year and no bears! I call that a win so I am focusing on the next stage of bee care, and will be planning now for next Spring. It's the only way to really be prepared for a more successful year.

July is when I treated for Varroa mites using Mite away Quick Strips. This is the general practice. You remove your honey supers and treat. Once treated you place your supers back on the hive, and check for hive beetles. I was fortunate and did not have any. My colonies were complete with the exception of one unhealthy queen. This resulted in combining with another hive. I am content with three strong hives, and will split them next year.

Water is huge right now. I live on a river and a slough, so my bees have unlimited access to water. However that is not always the case. It's very hot and dry right now here in the PNW. Be sure to make sure your bees have plenty of water. Never let them go without.

Don't over inspect. You can experience robbing if you over inspect your hives. Once every 14 days is sufficient. You're simply monitoring your colonies making sure you have no pests or parasites, and they are disease free. This combined with making sure they have plenty of water and food.

September is a few days away. Once the weather turns cold, make sure to feed 2:1 sugar syrup for winter stores.

Know what region you are in (see the chart below). I am in Region 7, which is the Western United States. Our focus in July was generally doing splits, Mite checks, Supers on for honey flow, spot checking mite loads, feed, medication when necessary, and putting the bees in a location where ample food is available.

I purchased my bees in late June this year so I already had a location ready. What I did not account for was drift, so I am re-configuring how my colonies will be set next year. Once wrapped for Winter, I will move them so they will get reoriented in the Spring (once the temperatures reach 50 degrees or higher).

Each region is very different so know your region so you can offer your colonies the best chance for a successful season. I am happy to email you a list for your specific region. Refer to the map in order to email me with your request at beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com and I will get the information to you. We can never be too prepared.

Take your free time and plan for winter and next spring. Ask the questions:
- What should I plant?
- How can I educate others to protect and embrace pollinators?
- Where can I go to connect with others to be informed and inform others?

I learned there are Nectar Flow gaps throughout the season by Region. Thus I found out what I need to plant for mine. Region 7, where I live has occasional gaps starting in March and ending in September. This tells me I need to invest more into trees. They offer the nectar flow needed to keep the colonies thriving while they wait for flowering plants to bloom.

There is more to learn, for me and for you! It's never ending. Although thoroughly enjoyable and a form of mental health, the education never stops. Literature, clubs, mentors, meetings, seminars and legislative issues are all a part of beekeeping. I doubt we will ever know more than the bees, but don't let that stop you from learning their secrets by any means. WE need them too much not to try!

DIY Series Part 3 - Maintain and Grow

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 02:57:00 +0000

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DIY Series - Episode #3

Patti is back in the Smokin Js podcast studio to continue her DIY series on beekeeping. Now you have the hive, what now?
There is so much more. Patti gives clear tips and tricks and dos and don't to help the young beekeeping apprentice become a thriving beekeeping steward.

This episode covers safety, sturdy and smart hive locating, responsible inspection, healthy bee nurturing, and continued educational networking.

The episode ends with great follow-up questions from producer Jay.

Press subscribe and let's get started learning, teaching, and buzzing together.

Email feedback to beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com

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Show Produced by Jay Fratt

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Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Hive Management Basics

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 23:56:00 +0000

You've prepared and waited to get your Bee Hive going. You've painted and prepped your hive boxes on the outside. Your suit is hanging and ready to wear. You have your tools in your bucket waiting to work that beautiful first hive. Your Bees have arrived ...... Now what?

You may have ordered a package of Bees, or purchased a Nucleus (Nuc). Your standing in front of your new hive ready to get started. You have already installed a sugar syrup feeder to get them started until they find their nectar flow while foraging. It's time.

If you ordered a package you are going to open the hive, lift the inner cover and shake the bees inside. If you have a Nuc you will be replacing five of your frames with the frames from the Nuc. You basically have installed a fully functioning mini hive ready to grow into a larger space. ALWAYS wear protective gear. You will get stung, guaranteed so minimize the amount of stings by wearing your suit.

Once your Bees are placed in the hive and your frames are spaced evenly, you're going to close up your hive and let the Bees settle in. Place a level on top of the hive and make sure your hive is level. If you don't, you will have a very sticky mess on your hands once the nectar flow hits, and they are rapidly producing honey. Frames stuck together are no fun. Shim your hive if you need to, but make sure it's level. The frames will need an inspection in about seven days to monitor their progress. After the initial inspection, I inspect every 14 days. Do not over inspect. Your Bees may panic and abscond, leaving all Brood behind.

The first week in your hive's life is always an antsy time because your excited to manage your Bees. This is a great time to decide what management style you will be using. Short of neglect there is no wrong style. We all have Bees for different reasons. Just be consistent and always remember to put the Bees first. The goal here is to perpetuate the species through proper management. This is a great time to connect with a local Beekeeping organization. Facebook also offers some great groups. They offer a lot of good feedback, occasional civil discourse, and great photos to use for reference. Bear in mind you're a newbie; you can customize the information to your local experience.

It is important to remember a few key points..
1. Not all Queens are created or Creating equally.
2. Inspection is the only way to keep your hive strong and healthy.
3. Be protected
4. Use the proper tools.
5. Parasite management is a must!
6. Educate your neighbors to prevent misunderstanding and false assumptions.

Awareness is critical. As a Beekeeper you are in a position to make a positive impact in your local area, both in pollination and education. Take every opportunity to properly educate your neighbors and friends. People are starting to realize how important our pollinators are. Take advantage of it and grow.

Remember, every hive itself is different. Genetics do matter and will determine the level of aggression in your hive. Respect other management styles, and ask lots of questions from seasoned Beekeepers. Enjoy your Bees!

Be a Beekeeper and not a Bee-Haver! Good Beekeepers continue to learn and grow. Expect to sweat, it's always worth it.

I will be expanding on these topics in the upcoming podcast so tune in and shoot me some questions. That's why Honey Bee My Teacher is here. For YOU!

Children to Mentor All Generations Sustain Bees

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 05:20:00 +0000

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EP-005 Honey Bee My Teacher Podcast
Hosted by Patti Haines
Produced by Jay Fratt

On this special episode Patti ventures out of the studio to create a wonderful set of interviews.

What do our children know and think about bees. This very special episode of the Honey Bee My Teacher podcast brings our future bee stewards to the microphone. Two children ages 10 and 5 are interviewed about their thoughts on bees.

Finally at the heart of beekeeping and Patti's progression is a sit down interview with her mentor Kevin Mills. He owns High 5 Bees. The interview takes place at his other business Mills Diner in Rochester Washington.

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Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Youth Lessons About Bees

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 19:57:00 +0000

Hi there!

When I talk about my Honeybees, I feel so happy. I buzz around like my Bees do.

I don't know about you, but I use to be scared of Bees. I thought they flew around and stung people. So I was really afraid. Now I own my very own Honeybee hives and I am not afraid anymore!

Nobody told me about all the good things we have thanks to Bees. Because of not knowing the truth about our Bees, I imagined them to be very different than what they really are. They are our very important friends, and we need them.

We want to talk about them to everybody we know, but we want to say the right things.

Just because you're a kid doesn't mean you can't help others know how much we need the bees. Don't be afraid to tell people how much we need them. Be a little giant and save your Bee friends.

We are going to be talking to you on the next podcast and we want to make sure you can see what we are talking about. You don't have to know everything, but when you know really cool facts and share them, people start listening.

Here are some pictures with some explanations to help you talk about your Bee friends!

This is a picture of one of my honeybees at my own home. They live in my back yard.

Those tiny little things that look like grains of rice are actually eggs. The Queen carefully lays one in each cell.

That beautiful yummy stuff is honey. The Bees will cover it to keep it safe.

The Honeybee travels to the same type of flower and puts the pollen in special baskets on their legs.

This is Bee Bread. Each cell has only one type of pollen in it. Each flower is a different color so the cells are pretty and colorful. You can guess pretty accurately what flower the Bee traveled to by learning the Bread colors.

This is Pollen. Its great for allergies and many other things. Each little clump of pollen was collected by a Honeybee who put the pollen in their special baskets on their legs.

This is one of my hives. I love my Bees so each hive has it's own painting on it.

This is a bird bath one of our listeners had in her back yard. She found rocks in the waterer and asked her son Liam who is five years old why he put the rocks there. She posted Liam's comment online. It is the comment below. Great job Liam!!!

Pollinators and Our Kids a Sustainable Future

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Wed, 08 May 2019 19:28:00 +0000

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EP-004 Honey Bee My Teacher Podcast
Hosted by Patti Haines
Produced by Jay Fratt

Kids, family, and pollinators. This episode of the Honey Bee My Teacher podcast dives into how great bees are as a learning tool for young children. So many lessons can come from active teaching of the role our pollinators play in the food chain ecosystem. It's not just about beekeeping! From habitats to education, there are so many ways to participate and promote a healthy Gaia.

Host Patti Haines brings along show producer Jay Fratt on this wonderful discussion about legacy and education. Any parent or grandparent will find wonderfully incentivizing lessons from this podcast. Active teaching is important to promote sustainability and knowledge for future generations. While you teach about our pollinators you may be spurring so many sustainable avenues of growth for the young person in your life.

Everyone Has Space for Bee Activities

Sweet Alyssum - Lobularia Maritima - Easy Small Flower

Calendula - Calendula Officinalis - Single Petal, Butterflies Love this Flower

Borage - Borago Officinalis - Easy Medium Flower

Four O Clocks - Mirabilis Jalapa - Large Flower

Hyssop - Agastache Rupestris - Lovely foliage with a Sweet Smell

Cardinal Vine - Ipomoea x Multifida - Easy Starting Climbing Plant

Kids pollinator fun:

https://kidsgrowingstrong.org/pollinator-works/

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/honeybee/#honeybee-pink-flower.jpg

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Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Our kids, Hope for Our Pollinators

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Thu, 02 May 2019 18:55:00 +0000

Photo by Taiana Martinez (Tai's Captures)

Our future without pollinators, and the negative impact it will have on all of us, is growing more obvious each day. While we are worrying about life events, our daily needs for our children will be much worse off if we don't do something to stop the decline of honey bees and other pollinators. So what do we do? Clearly our kids are our only hope. They are open to any information sparking their interest. If they find it fascinating and fun they are like sponges taking their experiences into their adult lives. That's the key to their survival.

I wonder, if you were to ask a child about the Honey Bee and other pollinators, what would they say?
Are they aware how important they all are to our future? Are they fearful? Do they even know pollinators exist? What do they know and where do they learn about them? Let's look back at how we see beekeeping ourselves.

Beekeeping is what I love most. In the past, beekeeping was considered practice for "older folks." Most images were of an older man with his bee hat on next to a beehive getting honey to eat. It didn't look at all like anything a younger person would do. I thought you grew old and decided to have bees to stay busy, sell and enjoy a little honey. WRONG!!!!

Maybe it's because of social media or the focus on climate change and our planet, or just heightened awareness thanks to the internet that has brought our pollinator's plight to light. This has created a resurgence of interest across all demographics, or merely the fact that we are paying more attention to our planet. Either way, bees and other pollinators are our responsibility now so we need to teach our kids how important they are, and get them involved early to make a positive impact for their future.

Man, woman, boy or girl, beekeeping is totally accessible to many, and for those who cannot keep bees can contribute in many other ways. We can all play a part, no excuses, we got this!

Let's ask our kids some real questions. Give them credit for knowing what they want to do to save our planet. Some will want to have bees, others will want to have the plants and flowers that keep our pollinators thriving. Once we know what role they want, we can actively assist them in making our future brighter, something to be proud of.

Safety concerns are legitimate, and should never be discounted; but with the right mentors along with being well informed, the layman should not feel like this is an impossible task for their child. In this day and age we have access to beekeeping associations along with so many mentors waiting to gladly pass their knowledge down to the next generation.

Giving our kids an opportunity to make a real contribution to our planet's survival is the greatest gift we can ever give while creating a legacy to last generations to come. The future holds so much for them. Kids are really good at knowing what they want to do to make a difference, and they deserve the benefits if we help them.

Some of the benefits for our kids are:
- Being close to nature.
- A science lesson.
- A sense of responsibility and
- Bonding time.
- Pride in assisting mother Earth.

Taking on a project, whether it's keeping bees or growing their food, doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. Let your child decide, tailor it to their learning style, respect their fears, take small steps, and have fun. After all, that's the best part, having fun with your kids.

Let's grow together!

DIY Series Part Two - Materials Setup Management

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 04:19:00 +0000

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DIY Series - Episode #2

The Materials
The Setup
Managing Your Hive

Materials, Setup, and Management

Thank you Jay Fratt and Smokin Js for making this podcast more than just a dream.
I'm Patti Haines and I welcome you to Honey Bee My Teacher, a podcast for everyday people wanting to make a positive impact on our planet through stewardship of our great pollinators.

In DIY Episode 1 we covered Bees and Hives.
Today we want to make sure you have the basic tools to manage your hive without breaking the bank. Again, I don’t want you to be intimidated by beekeeping. It's manageable and very fulfilling so let's get started.

Your tools are so important for ease of management. Keep it basic and don't overspend. There are lots of fun tools and gadgets out there; and eventually you may want them, but for now we want to keep it simple.

Management includes hive setup, bee placement, sugar syrup, pollen patties if necessary, and frame inspections. This podcast covers it all. Good luck in beginning your Do It Yourself adventure in beekeeping.

The episode ends with great questions about setting up bee hives and general bee queries.

Eyes Wide Open - Roles and Relationships for the Hive

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 02:42:00 +0000

Sometimes when it rains it pours. This is a season in my life where it seems to be pouring more than normal. Between bears, freezing temperatures, and shortened supplies of bees most people would be inclined to give up but seasons change and so do the events that occur in each new season.

I am absolutely positive my less than ideal season has come to an end. It's been a doozy for sure. Losing my Bees, one of my Spring lambs didn't make it, my dear dog Baby Girl had to be put down and now a divorce. Sucks, huh?! I have hope though. I am seeing things with my eyes wide open. The honeybee always knows her and his roles to perpetuate the growth and safety of the hive so I have had to define myself after some serious self examination and apply all I have learned from this precious creature to know my role and execute it.

When I say eyes wide open, I am saying the world is so much clearer to me now. It's like waking up from a long nap to a beautiful sunny afternoon showering you with warmth and quiet contentment. It costs nothing to feel that feeling Mother Nature gives you, and your mind is open to new thoughts and feelings. The honeybees know this. They leave the hive when its a beautiful 50 degree day to enjoy the warmth of nature. They dance, they communicate, they set their intentions and execute their roles with joy and determination to better the super-organism they truly are.

I am awake! I know what role I have for now until it is time to change just like the bees do as they age in the colony. I want to keep talking about the honeybee, and other pollinators so we can manage them better. Even learn techniques to manage ourselves better. The parallels are in plain sight for us to learn and even apply. We need to be the super-organism to effectively make the needed changes to save us all.

My role for now is advocacy both in voice and in practice. This requires a serious assessment of what is required to be authentic and effective. I hate hypocrisy so I am embarking on my own path to providing the best environment for our pollinators and to make more space for more bees, and all the flowers and food they need to populate and pollinate.

The honeybee is the master at working in their role as it progresses in the hive. They don't complain and they don't waste time. They move forward always. The honeybee never gives up. Neither will I.

Mental Health Bees and Community

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 04:23:00 +0000

Watch:

Listen:
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EP-003 Honey Bee My Teacher Podcast
Hosted by Patti Haines
Produced by Jay Fratt

Our little friends the bees create such a magical community for themselves. The super organism doesn't just happen from magic though. Hard work goes into creating a thriving hive environment. Patti takes a look at how the bees rebuild their community when disaster strikes. She draws parallels to our own human condition in regards to mental health and environmental toxicity.

Patti had a tough winter with total loss of her hives. She draws strength from the resiliency of the bee, and is currently starting from scratch. She discusses where she is at in this process, and gives some advice to beginners.

Communities are built through hard work and networking. Patti shares her steps to daily relationship building within her hive community.

This episode has it all from mental health lessons from the bees to recovering from loss. It's a fun ride. Thank you for joining us.

Great Links for Joining the local Olympia Beekeeping Community:
Washington Dept of Agriculture Apiary
Olympia Beekeepers Association
Washington Beekeepers Association
Link for information nationally:
American Beekeeping Federation

What's the buzz about?
Join our little hive Community:
Facebook Page
YouTube

Sponsors:
SmokinJs.com
StonerHoroscope.com

Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Bee Community - Our Community

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 15:20:00 +0000

It’s 1 AM and here I am thinking about my bees.

The single hive we thought was thriving has failed to thrive. So, we rebuild. Just as the honeybee would rebuild its home I will rebuild my little group of hives all over again, again, again, and again. Whatever it takes is whatever I will do.

With April comes beautiful spring flowers and beehives available for purchase so I will be buying them and setting up my hives anticipating a much better year than last year.

It’s been a crazy year! An amazing nectar flow followed by a wonderful honey yield only to end in devastation caused by bears attacking the hives three days in a row. This was not a standalone issue. Health issues, mental health, and a lack of self-confidence wormed it’s way in resulting in our own demise.

The end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 has appeared to deliver some form of loss. These losses can be perceived as setbacks or an opportunity to exercise the same resilience and just rebuild. Rebuild stronger and more efficiently. Determination and passion for something you love entirely will be driving force. I have found the honeybees to be everything behind the fire in my belly to promote their sustainability. I owe them that.

I keep reflecting on the honeybee. Aside from its tremendous resilience and ability to rebuild is its absolute dependence on community and working collectively as a group in order to thrive.

A hive without a queen dies due to lack of brood being developed as a result of the queen laying eggs all day or it splits apart and finds another hive. The queen without a hive dies due to her intense need to be fed and kept cared for while she lays her eggs.

If you think about it and really look at it, the hive is called a super organism because of its entire dependence on each and every bee doing it’s job to make sure the hive is thriving and prospering. It can rebuild over and over again, and will ultimately find a safe place to be healthy or will eventually collapse.

Did you hear that? A safe place. Environment is key. As with all other organisms, even ourselves as humans need a safe place or we die. We find ourselves scurrying around looking for new options or busyness to fill our time while we slowly die because we are isolating ourselves from others in our community or family circles. We polarize and we collapse. We need each other and we need to love the planet together to stop dying.

Our survival depends on our observation, reflection, exercise of accountability and the ability to change. We need to be adaptable and find our safe places to build community creating overlapping circles which In time will overlap and protect us all.

Stop for moment and take care of yourself, of each other. We need each other. Our lives depend on it!

Bees…..Good for Mental Health! Really!!!!!

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 05:09:00 +0000

Bees…..Good for Mental Health! Really!!!!!

It’s funny you know. It seems that things are moving along beautifully, things are falling into place, overcoming obstacles and Bam! Mental health issues come on to disrupt everything you’re trying to achieve.

This seems to be my lot in life lately. Enjoying the excitement of getting to restart my bees, connecting with all of my customers wanting honey. It all seemed to be going so smoothly; too smoothly. Aaaahhhhhh mental health – it sucks! It rears its ugly head screaming for attention demanding you give to it now or else your world will fall to pieces. So, you attend to it.

You have to be careful though. You give it the wrong attention you enable and if you give it the right attention you can experience push back. Anxiety, Stress, Fear, Elation, Anger, Insecurity, all waiting in the wings to pounce like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The chaos alone makes one weary and wanting to give up.

That’s what I marvel about the honeybees. Collectively they are working mindfully in concert to move forward in spite of every disaster that can possibly occur barring acute collapse of the entire hive. They work as a unit supporting each other to manage all the details to make a hive thrive. Mindful attention to each other’s needs is a constant action the bees perform. They seem to have a true understanding that the mental health of the hive is equally as important as the tasks performed each day. They celebrate. They produce. They protect! They dance! They rebuild over and over.

When you look at the honeycomb where bees have built, one behavior they practice is they tear down the damage completely and replace it with brand new honeycomb. They do not modify the damage or make a patch. The bees completely remove the damaged comb and rebuild a pristine structure ready to raise healthy young and produce honey. They don’t spend their lives singling out the weaknesses in the nest. They nurture and protect giving all they have until the bee expires. Honeybees are not quitters.

We are easily moved by medical illness and take swift action to attend to the suffering but we neglect those struggling with mental health.

I have no excuse for my own failure to attend to mental health issues as they arise. I see so many heartfelt attempts to get our society on track only to be saddened by the trail of damage we have left behind over the years among our fellow man. I can do better, WE can do better collectively. We don’t need a professional telling us what we need all the time. If we are mindful of each other exercising empathy and compassion I can only imagine where we could really be as a society. In the meantime I have my own head to clear and my own house to “clean” so I am in no position to judge. I do however have the power to love and to seek ways to rebuild just like my busy little friends in the hive. Self care is in order otherwise I will be rendered useless to anyone. Self care, empathy and determination to make new for healthy living.

Mental health is hateful. It does not like anybody and it takes no prisoners, it only seeks to destroy completely. Let’s deploy the mindset of the honeybee and rebuild. Let’s help each other completing, not competing all the time. We need each other or our hive collapses.

DIY Series Part One - Finding Your Why

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 04:44:00 +0000

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DIY Series - Episode #1

Why Beekeeping
Types of Bees
Intro to Hives
Hobby vs Commercial

Why Beekeeping?

Keeping bees is an amazing experience; enlightening, humbling, educational, and rewarding. Beekeeping supports community pollination, food supplies, and fosters bee populations outside of the commercial beekeeping industry.

Pollination: Bees can help make your plants healthy as they pollinate, as well as fruit trees in nearby orchards which helps the local economy! Low maintenance. Bees work hard without much effort from you.

Honeybee Decline: Some of the main causes are pesticides both agricultural and home & garden used chemicals.
Pests; Varroa mites, Hive Beetles
Diseases, Nosema and American Foulbrood (will discuss in Part three of this series.)
Predators: Wasps, Racoons and Bears
Climate changes: Rapid climate changes disrupt the timing between bees and blooming. Directly impacts the hives brood and bee rearing cycles.
Monoculture: Huge scale single crop plantings deprive the honeybees of the diversity of vegetation key to healthy bee habitats virtually creating food deserts.

Honey: Bees produce honey from the sugary secretions of plants known as nectar. Honey is used as a natural sweetener, is found in skin and health care products, and medicines. Honey’s flavor profile is determined by the nectar available in a three mile radius.

Fun: Mead! Mead is composed of honey, water and yeast. It is a fermented drink growing in popularity at a rapid rate. It’s an ancient drink that is making a great comeback.

Community Education, Entomology, Ecosystems, all help us to better understand our modern food system and the importance of it’s sustainability.

Health and Well Being: Coming from Beeswax and propolis, a hive byproduct.
Household items: candles, soaps, salves, lotions, shampoos, creams, deodorants, tonics, tinctures, wood polish and beeswax wraps to name a few.

Types of Bees:

Not all pollinators are honey bees. The honey bee is exceptional because it also provides food for human consumption. Our focus will be mainly on the honey bee but we must remember we need all of our pollinators to survive.

Apis Mellifera is the Western honey bee. Apis is Latin for “Bee” and Mellifera is “honey bearing”. It is the most commonly recognized bee when we think of pollination but we do have other species as well.

Mason Bees also known as Blue orchard Bees don’t live in big hives but live in tubular cavities. They do not produce honey but are some of the best pollinators out there and in light of the honey bees’ decline these are a great addition to pollinating your trees and gardens. Seven mason Bees pollinate at the same level as 500 Honey Bees. to you can see how we can utilize this little group as well.

Bumble Bees are similar to the Honey Bee when it comes to the structure of the colony. They have a single Queen and colonies are marginally smaller than the Honey Bees.
They also feed on nectar but do not produce honey. The Queens invade other Bumblebee nests, kill the resident Queens and lay their eggs.
This species is also in decline caused by habitat loss along with the mechanization of agriculture and the use of pesticides.

CapenterBee, Leafcutter Bee, Sweat Bees, and so on! I suggest a google search for types of bees. You will be astounded at the diversity in the Bee families.

The Beehive:

Understand various types of beehives are perfectly fine. Each is user preference when it comes to keeping their bees.

Beehive: an enclosed man made structure where honeybees live and raise their young.

Bees nest: an the location bee colonies chose to house themselves in, walls, roofs, cavities in trees, old sheds, etc. In warmer climates you can find them hanging and exposed.

So, the nest is the bees way and the hive is the man made way to house the nest.

If you were to look into the inside of the nest you would see densely packed hexagon shaped cells make of wax for food storage, honey, pollen, and most importantly to house their brood which is composed of eggs, larvae and pupae up to the day they emerge from the cell as a honeybee.

Both natural and man made bee hives or nests require bee space. Bees do this naturally, modern hives use frames with bee space integrated into their design.

Three most common types: Langstroth, Warre and Tob bar.
Diagrams and pictures available in the DIY section online at honeybeemyteacher.com

Langstroth: Bottom board with a porch for the bees entrance, boxes with frames.
Inner cover and telescoping cover for protection from weather. Standard for many of the worlds beekeepers both professional and amateur. Simple structure and fairly easy to work with.

I prefer the 8 frame hive because of weight. Honey is heavy! Good beginner hive

Warre hive very similar to the Langstroth.
Difference: Bars only, no frames. Bees build themselves. It takes a little more skill to manage but is becoming more popular among sustainable practice beekeepers. New empty box is placed on the bottom as opposed to the Langstroth where we place the new box on the top. Purpose of this replacement is warmth retention within the brood nest of the hive which is considered to be the heartbeat of the hive.

Top bar Hive: Horizontal design. Also referred to and the Kenya hive. Uses bars no frames. You have to make sure to create bee space.

Pricing ranges:
Langstroth: Unassembled $95 to as much as $299
Warre: $140 to $400
Top Bar. $45 to $350

Hobby vs Commercial Beekeeping:

Hobby Beekeepers are in a great position to make a real impact for the Honeybee.

The hobbyists can effectively create a matrix of Bee populations giving the Honeybee a fighting chance to survive and regenerate their populations while commercial Beekeepers focus on pollinating large scale crops for profit.

Making the decision to be a hobbyist or work at the commercial level boils down to your motivation and reason to keep the Honeybees.

This podcast is focused on the opportunity to work together in community to make healthy changes for our beautiful planet.

Press subscribe and let's get started learning, teaching, and buzzing together.

Email feedback to beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com

Join the Community:
Facebook Page
YouTube

Show Produced by Jay Fratt

Sponsors:
SmokinJs.com
StonerHoroscope.com

Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

EP-002 A Long Hard Winter - Dealing With Loss and Rebuilding

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 04:28:00 +0000

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Patti is back! Stronger than ever from tough life lessons in beekeeping. The Washington weather was rougher than usual this winter, but the bears didn't help either. Patti sits down with Jay to discuss loss and disappointment that visited her hive this winter. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. She marches on in her journey with our wonderful pollinators.

You can read the blog about this tragedy here.

Press subscribe and let's get started learning, teaching, and buzzing together.

Email feedback to beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com

Join the Community:
Facebook Page
YouTube

Show Produced by Jay Fratt

Sponsors:
SmokinJs.com
StonerHoroscope.com

Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

Let Me Introduce You. My Gratitude.

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 06:14:00 +0000

Hi there!

I am excited to share my gratitude for Kevin and Amanda Mills at Hive 5 Bees for their kindness and for Kevin's willingness to check on my hives and help me understand how to manage them. Kevin is the official "Bee Man" in our family. He sold me my very first Nucs (Nucleus) and was readily available to talk to me any time I had a question or concern.

Kevin Mills is approaching 18 years of Beekeeping experience. He began at the age of 13 and ended up being mentored by some of the largest commercial beekeepers in Canada. He has commented before regarding the need for bees, "the demand for bees on the west coast blew me away" so here he is, locally filling an urgent need in our community.

Kevin operates bees commercially but started out as a teenager working with bees. His knowledge is well executed. Kevin mentors and has taught new beekeepers the basics of beekeeping. Kevin is striving to meet the high demand for bees and has so much knowledge to share and share he will right here on the podcast Honey Bee My Teacher. He is going to help us understand his business and discuss more about the honeybee which will be the next step toward building your colony.

He and his wife Amanda own Mills Diner in Rochester Washington where I have made my home. Their quaint restaurant always offers great food accompanied by one or often both of them greeting and chatting with all their guests. I always have a bee question for him and he has always given me the best answer. Kevin is also quite a singer. Go to the link: Kevin Mills Music and check out more about Kevin and his music venture.

In the meantime, while we are setting a date to visit with Kevin on Episode 3 The Honeybee, Click on the links in the text and enjoy the pics of the Mills family and their family business.

A Thank You Gift to New Subscribers!

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 19:02:00 +0000

I am excited to have the opportunity to give every fifth subscriber this fun and lightweight natural necklace.

No purchase necessary, only gratitude for your time.

So.....subscribe today. I have several to give. I’m happy to give them to you.

The HIVE, Not Much Has Changed.

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 05:53:00 +0000

I am always researching the honeybee even its history dating back as far as I can go to find what the hive looked like up to today where it has evolved. I am certain more is to come regarding management of the bees but the hive itself has not evolved that much and that's okay. The bees have their way of managing themselves in the structure that has ensured their survival for centuries so we don't want to get to intrusive and reinvent the wheel. We need to understand our role is to manage them in as natural environment as possible.

I was really expecting to find some real diversity when it came to other cultures and how they manage the bees but we all seem to share some common ground. I think that is an amazing connection that we can use to unite to make the world a better place for our wonderful little life givers.

Other than the materials and shapes being different as far as the containers bees were and are kept in today, I found the basic principles of Beekeeping to be the same. The rules were simple, keep them dry and warm, (in cooler climates) and give them a place to build their nest safe from predators. Locate them near water, a nectar and pollen source and voila; they're off doing what they masterfully do, collecting pollen, nectar, propolis, making wax, royal jelly, and HONEY!!! All the while they are pollinating our crops and food sources keeping us alive.

Types of hives are: mud jars and cylinders, clay tiles, woven Skeps, and Bee Gums, (hives kept in hollow tree sections). Modern hives such as the Langstroth, Warre and Top Bar hive are most commonly found today, however in other countries you will still find variations of the same hives each country has historically used. Remember, where it's warm Bees will build their nests in trees or roof eaves. Where it's cooler they will seek shelter.

Clay Beehive in Uganda.

Natural Beehives.

A cylinder beehive from ancient Egypt.

Bee Skeps. These are the most common picture we think of when we think about a honeybee and it's hive.

Bee Gum. My father remembers this type of hive.

Top Bar Hive.

Warre Hive

Langstroth Hive. This is my personal favorite. It's and easily managed hive and is available in eight frame and ten frame models. I use the eight frame model.

These were my first hives. This was an awesome day!!!

The modern hives were designed to facilitate honey harvesting while letting the bees produce without causing them any harm. Bee space is also a big factor in the modern hive after it was discovered the bees required a certain amount of space between each layer of comb in order to move about without issue. The natural hive pictured above is a great example of the bees natural ability to make space on their own. In modern hives we use frames which are designed to create the same space so the bees have the same freedom of movement they would have in their own nest in the wild.

Bees produce a short list of products that can be converted to a barrage of different consumable goods we all enjoy everyday. They produce honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, venom, and wax. This short list is everything they also need to survive which places the burden on the Beekeeper. That's where we come in to do the right thing and manage the hive placing the honeybees interest first and foremost.

There are some controversial hives on the market as well. I have seen hives I fear exploit the honeybee and others that make managing a healthy honeybee nearly impossible. I am gathering information and feedback about those hives and plan to offer some fair, vetted information to keep you informed. I will always be assessing any hive with the bees interest first. That's how it should be.

I am so grateful for all of you. Every new set of eyes on the honeybee and it's plight is one more potential bee steward.

Getting things in order.

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 03:26:00 +0000

While preparing the outline for my next podcast episode, I found myself having a little bit of a pity party followed by anger, resolve and finally, determination.

All of my Bees died this year. I experienced my hives being raided and damaged by bears early in the Fall.

The emotion the loss generated was much more than I anticipated or imagined could occur by caring for such tiny creatures. Rather than brushing off and making a plan, I grew very sad. These honeybees and I had a relationship. Authentic care and concern, even love.

One hive in particular was an absolute delight to work with. Every time I would work on or inspect the hive BMH2, two ladies would fly in front of my face, buzzing, buzzing buzzing, giving me the lecture. I could feel her finger wagging saying "you listen here Missy........" for several yards after leaving the Apiary. Ensuring the well being of her colony back in the hive was her role so we had several "meetings" the remainder of the summer and early fall. They're all gone forever. I am truly saddened. Feeling a true heartfelt loss, no different than any other pet I have ever owned; my heart hurt!

Fed up with my little pity party I transitioned to anger. I was livid and wanted to eradicate every bear in the state of Washington. I blamed them 100% for my loss and felt they had to pay for their wrongdoing. How dare they attack my hives and destroy so much brood and steal their winter's honey. This caused the loss of so many bees. There simply weren't enough bees left behind to survive. How dare they? It wasn't the bears fault at all. It was mine. I put the bees in the bears winter habitat. I didn't believe that many bears would ever be around. The anger I directed at the bears came back to me. I had to come to terms with it and own it. I was completely distracted and non productive. I had to get myself together. I had to BREATHE.

I sat in my favorite chair, no sound, no distractions. I collected myself, looked outside the window watching the silence surrounding the hives and listened to the voices in my head repeating the "advice" of others. "That was awfully expensive to lose so many.", "You should consider abandoning the idea and find something you like that actually makes you money. " Blah! Blah! Blah! Voices. Outsiders who feel they're helping you move on to something better. Process, assess, BREATHE!

Self talk and self encouragement came so calmly. I asked myself why I got started with the Bees in the first place. The answer was LOVE! Love for my farm, family, friends and community. Love for nature's beauty and love for our planet. BEE LOVE; resilient and driven, loyal, responsible and protective, never giving up on each other. I had to focus, start again and make adjustments.. Breathe!
I had to make a plan. Learn from the bees and make it happen.

And now...I am progressing. My intentions are clearly written down and today I start again. Bees never quit. They literally stay focused on their roles and transitions into other roles as they mature. They don't abandon their colony, they thrive because they stick together They produce, pollinate, and preserve the human race with their contribution to our entire planet.

They never Quit!

Nor will I

Tomorrow is a new day for all of us. Breathe!

Breathe
Meditate
Observe/Reflect
Assess
Set intentions.
Make a plan.
Write it down.
Now DO IT!

We have so much we can do together to make positive change. We are all the pollinators have in their world to protect and preserve them and ultimately save ourselves. Their survival or demise is solely in our hands. So here I go. Onward! I hope you all join me.

Let's move forward together and watch our world explode in magnificent color. I love you all.

Namaste

Patti 🐝

The Anatomy of the Hive

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:26:00 +0000

In getting to the basics we have two things to understand first, the Bees and the Hive.
Both are required and both need to be understood. If you want to care for Bees, you must
have a clear understanding of their habitat and their environment to survive.

We're starting with a short history of the hive on the Podcast Ep 2 and will be giving some
easy to understand information to help you decide what avenue you can do to save our Bees.

The DIY section of this site has photos and diagrams for your reference during the podcast.
Feel free to print any photos or diagrams to help you on your new adventure and email me with
any questions or comments you feel may give you a good start to your Beekeeping endeavor.

We will be discussing the Langstroth Hive, the Warre hive, and the Top Bar Hive. Each is great
in it's own right and you will be using whichever hive works best for you. I personally use 8
frame Langstroth Hives because they don't get too heavy for me to work with by myself and they
are readily available.

Pics and Diagrams of Bee hives

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:23:00 +0000

My first Langstroth Hives.

Assembling a hive I ordered on Amazon.

The Langstroth Hive

The Warre Hive

The Top Bar Hive

Ep-001 Why Me Why You

beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com (Patti Haines) — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 19:05:00 +0000

What's all the buzz about! From the Smokin Js podcast studio in Olympia, Washington, Patti Haines is here to educate and participate in the stewardship of our great pollinators, the honeybee.

Why Me? Why You?
Time is precious and very little is left with our busyness in life. We are often too tired to act even after we listen, watch or read something inspiring us to make change happen. So, with all sincerity, I want to share this journey with all of you. Even if they're baby steps I want us to move forward and make an impact by virtually "joining minds" in action to truly offer our entire planet love and care thereby saving ourselves by doing simple things to at least start. The Bees do more than feed my belly. They feed my spirit and soul. I love watching their interaction and role clarity in and out of the hive.

We need our pollinators!
Our pollinators are the life blood of the food chain accounting for 70% of our crops that feed 90% of the planet one third of the food we eat. This isn't even beginning to address our textiles and if we don't understand them and protect them, we may die without them.

Enjoy the show, it is my honor to bring this information to you.
Thanks for beginning this journey together. Press subscribe and let's get started learning, teaching, and buzzing together.

Email feedback to beemyhoney.honeybees@gmail.com

Join the Community:
Facebook Page
YouTube

Show Produced by Jay Fratt

Sponsors:
SmokinJs.com
StonerHoroscope.com

Intro and Outro Music Credit: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element