Join us for a exploration into the multifaceted world of Fred Dunn, a dedicated beekeeper, photographer, and animal enthusiast. Fred shares his inspiring journey into beekeeping, driven by his fascination with animal behavior and the phenomenon of colony collapse disorder. Discover the intricacies of his apiary, "The Way to Bee," nestled in the snow-laden Erie County, Pennsylvania, where he manages 43 hives. Listen as Fred recounts his experiences with a variety of animals, including chickens and emus, reflecting on his role as a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Poultry Technician and his lifelong passion for understanding the natural world.
In a fascinating discussion on modern beekeeping practices, we touch on the challenges of returning to beekeeping after a hiatus and the importance of collaboration with researchers to stay informed. Fred emphasizes the complexities of managing bee genetics and the significance of supporting breeders focused on resilient bee genetics. Gain insights into innovative beehive designs and Fred's passion for photography, highlighting his journey from film to digital and his preference for documenting healthy bee colonies. Learn about his approach to photography, shaped by his family's rich history in the field and his background in the Navy, where he first encountered digital and underwater imaging technology.
Our conversation also ventures into Fred's online presence, including his popular YouTube channel, where he shares content on chickens, bees, and more. Fred discusses the evolution of his channel and the surprising connections and community engagement that have arisen from both his podcast and YouTube endeavors. Aspiring beekeepers will find valuable advice and resources, including the timeless "The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture" and the importance of finding a mentor. Explore Fred's digital footprint and uncover the quirky history behind his website, Fred's Fine Fowl, offering a delightful glimpse into his world. Don't miss this episode filled with Fred's infectious enthusiasm and commitment to understanding the intricate tapestry of nature.
Links Mentioned in the Episode
Fred's Fine Fowl
Fred's channel on Youtube
Apiary Chronicles Links
website
Check out the Grazing Grass Podcast
NOTE This file was generated by Descript
00:00:00 --> 00:00:01 On today's show we have Fred Dunn.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:06 We talk about his beekeeping journey, dive a little bit into photography.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 And talked about his YouTube channel.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 So let's jump into it with the fast five.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:15 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: What's your name?
00:00:16 --> 00:00:17 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: My name is Frederick Dunn.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:18 I go by Fred.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: And what's your apiaries name?
00:00:22 --> 00:00:23 Do you have an apiary name?
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Yeah, the apiary area is called The Way to Be.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:30 And of course it ties in with my name, but that just seems like a good title for it.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:30 So.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:34 Where are you located?
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I am not going to be too specific
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 because I don't like people and I don't want them to show up on my property,
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 but I'm in the northwest corner of the state of Pennsylvania, so
00:00:44 --> 00:00:45 in what's called the snow belt.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:51 We just got in the running there for the deepest snow in the country for the
00:00:51 --> 00:00:52 last big snow storm that came through.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:57 We have 51 inches of snow already, so we're in an ag zone 4.
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 And it's part of Erie County, Pennsylvania.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:04 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh Okay, and you get so you're getting lake effect snow as
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: That's correct.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 And the fact that the lake is warmer than normal, this is
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 what the climatologists tell us.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:15 that normally it would be frozen over by now and it's not so it's carrying a lot
00:01:15 --> 00:01:21 of moisture and if Erie is right at 500 feet above sea level I'm at 1300 feet so
00:01:21 --> 00:01:26 we get that as it rises over that little range there just that 700 foot rise caused
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 it to dump a lot of precipitation so.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:33 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, very good What when did you start with bees?
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well I started, I got my own bees so
00:01:37 --> 00:01:41 studying bees is one thing and actually having bees and keeping them here
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 started in 2006 so that was kind of when.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 Hackenberg is a member of our state beekeepers association and David
00:01:49 --> 00:01:53 Hackenberg, and he did a documentary actually was participating in
00:01:53 --> 00:01:54 it about the disappearing bees.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:55 You may know,
00:01:56 --> 00:02:00 he's the guy that came up with the term colony collapse because he lost his
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 bees from his wintering station there.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:04 So he's a big commercial guy.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:06 And that's pretty much it.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:10 When that happened, I started keeping bees because I wanted to learn more about them.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:15 It wasn't really so that I could get honey or, or do pollination
00:02:15 --> 00:02:16 services and things like that.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:22 I study animals, like all kinds, reptiles, you name it, spiders.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 I'll go all over the place to video and just.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:26 Get my hands on them.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 And so honeybees, the idea of being able to keep them yourself,
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 that was pretty interesting to me.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:37 I didn't even realize how easy it was to have bees and in a designated area.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 So that then you would have them close to make a continuing
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 observations through all the seasons.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 So that was kind of my start right there.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: And how many hives do you manage?
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I think there's 43 right now.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:58 I'm pretty sure five of those are dead already.
00:02:58 --> 00:02:58 So, so
00:02:59 --> 00:02:59 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: yes.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:01 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: if we're counting, I don't,
00:03:01 --> 00:03:02 I don't know for sure.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 My grandson, if he were here, he would tell you because he's the one I send out
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 in all weather to attend to the bees.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: And I'm sure he does not get near
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 as cold out there as you do.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I don't mind the cold.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:17 Part of the reason for that is I suit up like I'm going to the Arctic
00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:23 Cal: Welcome to Apiary Chronicles, where we dive deep into the world of beekeeping
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 and the people who make it all happen.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 I'm Cal Hardage your host and fellow bee enthusiast.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Earlier you mentioned that
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 why you kind of got into bees.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 It wasn't so much for the honey, etc.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 But you were the study of animals.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:40 Do you have other animals as well?
00:03:42 --> 00:03:43 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well we have chickens.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 I'm also a Pennsylvania Department of Ag poultry technician.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 So we've had chickens here on this property for 24 years
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 going into the 25th year.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:53 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So, made a pretty decent study of chickens
00:03:55 --> 00:04:01 and published a video called Regarding Chickens back when they still had DVDs.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:02 And yeah.
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 It was in all the special interest areas in your local library.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 And so that was a lot of fun.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 It took us seven months to make that.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 So that was fun, but we've had animals cycled through here.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 You know, we've had the Australian emus here.
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 We've had Tennessee fainting goats.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 So we're apt to have almost anything that I need to know about because
00:04:23 --> 00:04:27 if it's something that we can put up fencing for and keep so that I can
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 observe, critical stages of growth and development, things like that.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:36 I thought about, thought about ostrich, but I mentioned earlier
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 to you about the buffalo.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 There's a guy here that has buffalo.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:44 He also has ostrich, and he sells ostrich jerky, and
00:04:44 --> 00:04:50 one of his big male ostriches broke his femur, and had him up against a fence.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 Emergency medical people couldn't get there, so I thought,
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 huh, I'm gonna go with emu.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:56 They're,
00:04:56 --> 00:04:57 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: that sounds like a good
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: they're friendlier.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:00 They're only 6 feet tall.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:05 They max out at about 120 pounds, so that's a much more manageable bird
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 than a 7 foot, 300 pound ostrich.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:10 So, yeah,
00:05:10 --> 00:05:11 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: I, I have to agree.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:17 I, I think ostriches and emus sound interesting, but I, I read
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 they can kick pretty powerfully.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 So it kind of makes me nervous.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:27 Of course, I get in a pen with, you know, 1200 bigger animals,
00:05:27 --> 00:05:28 cattle and other things.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:32 So I don't know why a bird worries me as more than the cattle
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well, you're, you're looking at a reptile.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:38 You're looking at a dinosaur and just look at those feet.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:39 They are impressive.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 And that middle toe on these big,
00:05:41 --> 00:05:42 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: they are, yeah, it's, you
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 really have to know what you're doing and the idea of grabbing.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 And so we could see, that's why as a poultry technician, you would have to
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 go and draw blood from these things.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:53 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So you're supposed to go up with your
00:05:55 --> 00:06:00 knee sock on your hand and you grab its head, you invert the knee sock over its
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 head, and now you've got total control.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 So
00:06:03 --> 00:06:03 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:06:04 --> 00:06:04 yeah.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: now you can lead them around
00:06:05 --> 00:06:06 because they're covered up.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 But man, I tell you, it's impressive.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 If you've ever been kicked by one, it's not hard to figure out that
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 they can do incredible damage.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:13 Yeah.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:14 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yes.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 On that tangent just a little bit more, I just discovered a
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 podcast called The Science of Birds
00:06:22 --> 00:06:26 with Ivan, I can't think of his last name, but very interesting podcast.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 I've been going through his back catalog.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:29 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Okay.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:30 Yeah.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 Most of my bird knowledge just comes from the Cornell University
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 Department of Ornithology.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:35 So
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: yeah.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 And that's where I became a master beekeeper is also through the
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 Dice Lab at Cornell University.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Let's just go ahead and continue on that
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 because I had that down on my notes.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 What was the process to become a master beekeeper through them?
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: the process to become a master beekeeper
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 is pretty, actually it's pretty easy.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:59 You have to first of all find to come, you know, a college or university
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 or University of Florida has one.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 They have their bee lab down there.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 Find one that's close enough to you because that was one of the things was I
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 wanted to make sure I could get to like the Dice Lab for me, Cornell University.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:16 Is that's only a four hour drive so I can get there and it's not that you're
00:07:16 --> 00:07:17 going there for all your classes.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 It's that you're ultimately going to go there for exams for practical
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 observations and things like that.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:26 So part of that is you know, what's the history of the group, you
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 know, who's doing research there?
00:07:29 --> 00:07:33 Well, at the time Dr Samuel Ramsey was part of Cornell.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 Of course, Dr Thomas Sealy, Cornell.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 And then Dr.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 David Peck from Betterbee, Cornell.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:45 So it all starts to stack up and I thought, Huh, if I take that class, I'm
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 going to get to meet all these guys.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:48 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: to want to talk to me and we're going
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 to sit around in the Bee Lab and drink coffee and we're going to talk about
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 entomological research and Tom Seeley is going to bounce his ideas off of me.
00:07:58 --> 00:07:59 And none of that is true.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:04 So you, in fact, the closest you get to me, although, you
00:08:04 --> 00:08:05 know, I've spoken with Dr.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 Sam Ramsey, he's fantastic.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:07 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yes.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And David Peck, he's a friend.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:14 But like getting to Tom Seeley now we met him through video, you know?
00:08:14 --> 00:08:18 So, and he doesn't even come around anymore to give live presentations
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 unless it's really local to him.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 So you're only going to meet him today through zoom.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:27 But so I looked at research that was done by the institution
00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 and the background of it.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 They were also billed as the oldest and first master
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 beekeeping program in the United
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: yes.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:35 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So that was another one.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 And people talk about EAS.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 EAS was another possibility, but I didn't like the fact that they weren't going to
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 offer a bunch of academic courses, right?
00:08:44 --> 00:08:48 So EAS was more testing exams, but EAS was passing a board.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:49 All are great.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:54 They're modeled after the curriculum from the Cornell University Department
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 of Entomology for the Dice Lab.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:01 And there was a time there where Cornell had shut down, so they
00:09:01 --> 00:09:05 weren't even offering it, and EAS basically picked that up.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 So, the other thing was a lot of people fail it.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 So I like that idea.
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 I don't want to get in a program where everybody passes.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 Just take the course, right?
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 And so, for example, just in our group, we had 150.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:24 In my class it began and we finished 29.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:25 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So it can be hard on you.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:32 I think a lot of, I didn't even think about becoming a master beekeeper until
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 I had more than 15 years experience.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:39 I know that there are people that can become a master beekeeper
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 in five years, six years.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:41 So
00:09:42 --> 00:09:42 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: again, depending on the institution,
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 how much prior experience do you need?
00:09:46 --> 00:09:51 And then there are misunderstandings about what a master beekeeper is.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:55 Some people think, oh, well, they don't just know everything about bees.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 It's really not.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:02 And if you get into these groups, you'll realize fairly quickly that a lot of
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 them are still on the learn pretty heavy.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:08 And they've, they've met the requirements to get that credential.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:14 But the point is you identify people that will be good educators, good stewards
00:10:14 --> 00:10:18 of beekeeping, and will of course, reach out, do things like I'm doing right now.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 We're going to talk about bees,
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 helping educate the public.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:26 That should be at the core of what a master beekeeper is.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 And I think that's what blew a lot of people kind of off the track.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 They didn't realize they'd have to get up in front of a whole room of people.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 They didn't realize there would be entomologists on the board that would
00:10:36 --> 00:10:42 be very critical of, I don't know what your experience is with academics,
00:10:42 --> 00:10:46 but if you've ever had a professor or somebody just flatly say, yeah, well,
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 you know what, come back next semester.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:53 You'll probably do better just instead of, Oh, you've spent so much time, you
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 studied so much, you did everything, but you know, you really needed to score a
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 90 on this exam and you scored an 85.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 So we'll see you next year.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 That, that is frustrating and stressful.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:09 And so programs like that, but if you can get through, then it feels like a
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 much better achievement, so to speak.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:12 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So that's why, that's why I picked that one.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:19 Proximity, the reputation of the school, who hasn't heard of Cornell?
00:11:19 --> 00:11:19 So,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:20 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: right exactly.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And it can run into a lot of money.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 Some of these programs are not very expensive.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 Others can run into quite a lot.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:31 And so I'm a veteran, so I definitely took advantage of the veterans discount.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:32 They offered that.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:37 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So I was, and, and that's, you know, we could
00:11:37 --> 00:11:41 talk for a long time about that, but that's why I chose the program that I did.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 So many research papers, so many publications have come from the Dice Lab.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 So that's it.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:48 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 I, I look at those programs and I think it's really interesting
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 or, and something to achieve.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 Like I said I'm very much an amateur and don't know enough.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 And then, then the more I know, the less I know.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well, let me just, well, the more you
00:12:02 --> 00:12:06 learn, the less, you know, and that's because only the idiot knows everything.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:08 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:09 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: so, anybody that, you
00:12:09 --> 00:12:10 know, you meet those people.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:15 I learned when I was a teenager, never raise your hand and say, you know, this
00:12:15 --> 00:12:16 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, right.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 Yes.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And so beekeeping in particular,
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 and that's the appeal of it.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 Let me just say that I felt like I had a handle on chickens.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:28 from beak to toes in the first year, right?
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 And I did take college curriculum.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 I studied poultry science.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 I did all that stuff.
00:12:32 --> 00:12:37 Hugely disappointing, not very exciting, mostly geared towards the industry
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 and biosecurity and all that stuff.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 Super snooze as far as the curriculum goes.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:47 And but honey bees, if you meet somebody that says that they know
00:12:47 --> 00:12:52 it all about bees, you need to just move on because Even Dr.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Sealy, some of the great minds in animal behavior.
00:12:56 --> 00:13:00 He doesn't pretend to know what he is, is continues to be on the learn.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 And those are the people I want to be around.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 I want, you know, I like people that, that have a good grasp of
00:13:06 --> 00:13:11 it, but they're also, as my uncle would say, easily impressed, right?
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 In other words, I didn't know that.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 Look what's going on over here.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 So bees are, you know, just.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 an endless resource of finding out new things.
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 There's always something going on.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 And we're dealing with an insect that people have observed in detail,
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 you know, thousands of years.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 So, I mean, bees have fascinated people, just aside from the
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 utility aspect of having bees.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 Just me as a person interested in animal life.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 They are extraordinary, just, and that's the appeal forever,
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 and you'll never know it all, and that's also why they're fantastic.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: I feel like I took a step back from my beekeeping
00:13:53 --> 00:14:01 the last six, seven years because my job took a lot of time and last five
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 years, I'm just lost on some things.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 I'm like, Whoa, what?
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 What's going on there?
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 I didn't know that.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: well, well, you know, part of that,
00:14:09 --> 00:14:13 Cal, is look at the entomologists that are doing research.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 If you want to get a Ph.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 D., you have to cut new ground.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:16 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: find something out that's new.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:25 And I have given away audio recordings, video of behaviors, right, to these
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 PhD candidates, and in some cases those working on their master's programs.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 I support them free.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 Like, I will help.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 But there's an ulterior motive to that, so it's not completely generous.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 I want in on what they're studying.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 I want updates while they're doing it.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 And so this creates a network.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 It is disappointing to me though, sometimes there'll be a
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 really brilliant entomologist.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 That you feel like you're going to develop this research relationship
00:14:53 --> 00:14:58 with, but then they get snagged by some pesticide company and they're gone.
00:14:58 --> 00:14:58 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And that's, I guess, that's
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 where the big money is.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 Most of them are picked up by pesticide big company.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 Monsanto is no longer owned by the, you know, it's not a U.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:08 S.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 entity anymore, but they used to harvest.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:15 They paid attention to some of the genius entomologists out there because they
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 needed them to help develop pesticides.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:20 Yeah.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:24 Coming back to your bees, what type of bees do you raise?
00:15:25 --> 00:15:26 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well, they're just local.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 You hear this a lot these days.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:32 Local, survivor, stock, you know, just bees.
00:15:32 --> 00:15:37 More and more, I just cycle back my own bees, but there again, I don't know.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:41 We mentioned earlier that, you know, we don't know who else has stock
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 in the area and bees are unlike.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 You mentioned cattle earlier.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 If you've got a fence, your cattle are under control.
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 You know which bull is going to be mating with your stock.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:54 If only bees were that easy, they're not, because we've got queens, maximum
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 flight distances up to nine miles.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:02 You've got drones that leapfrog from hive to hive to hive, which
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 extends their range exponentially.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:13 So trying to control genetics these days is next to impossible.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 Of course, if I'm buying in stock, and this is what I tell people, because,
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 you know, it's a very common question people are starting out with bees.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 What should I get?
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 What kind of stock should I have?
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 In other words, what they really want is which bee is going to make
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 beekeeping the easiest for them
00:16:28 --> 00:16:28 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: and which bee is gonna heal itself,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:36 deflect all disease and chew up mites and hand them to you in a tray, right?
00:16:36 --> 00:16:40 So, I did, you know, a lot of research on that.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:44 In fact, one of our, in our course material part of it was to list those,
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 like Purdue ankle biters and things like that, these genetics that are
00:16:47 --> 00:16:53 demonstrating that they have viability in the face of diseases that are
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 vectored by varroa destructor mites.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:59 We also got a little bit into tracheal mites because you had to count those,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:04 so we need a hemoglycometer, you know, you had to have a slide and you had
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 to do all that under a microscope and smash bee guts and all that.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:07 Look at that.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 But so I buy bee weaver bees.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:16 They, they didn't make the Cornell list, which I found interesting.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 And I thought, why not?
00:17:17 --> 00:17:17 These guys.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 They're doing survivor stock.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 They've got some butt fast genetics in there.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:26 So that became one of the things that I tell people if you're going to
00:17:26 --> 00:17:31 buy a queen, at least support those that are doing the genetic research
00:17:31 --> 00:17:36 and that are really working toward a treatment free kind of future.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:39 And that's, those people strike home with me.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 And so, if I can give them a boost by sending them Customers
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 to buy their bees is what I do.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:48 I don't have a large enough operation here to do any genetics, really.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:52 And so, when I see colonies that aren't doing very well, I'm at my,
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 I'm at a number of colonies now where it doesn't hurt my feelings.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 This is, this will seem callous, maybe to a listener.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 But if a colony dies in winter, you know, as I mentioned, I think
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 I'm down five colonies already.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 Those are genetics that are not making it.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 So I have my answer for that.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I'm also, I have a core group of
00:18:12 --> 00:18:17 stock that now I can, I'm self sustaining as far as an API goes.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:17 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So I'm going to, I can produce as
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 many colonies as I want in a year.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 Which I don't want that many, so then the stress is off.
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 People are stressing and wringing their hands this time of year in the
00:18:27 --> 00:18:31 United States because if you're in the South, you're probably facing a dearth.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:36 If you're here in the North, we're facing weird weather, dramatic weather.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 And then that's the proving ground.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 Can your bees sustain themselves?
00:18:41 --> 00:18:46 with minimal care in the environment that you are keeping bees in, right?
00:18:47 --> 00:18:51 So the more that they do that, the more you observe a vibrant, vital
00:18:51 --> 00:18:55 colony that's really successful, then it becomes much easier.
00:18:55 --> 00:19:01 Now I can just focus on, pun intended, with my cameras, the the bees that are in
00:19:01 --> 00:19:05 different styles of hives and things like that, that give me better, better facility
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 when I want to get access to them.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:11 And I'm finding healthy hives instead of now I can take pictures of some disease.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 I can take a picture of a sack bird.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 Anybody need that?
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 Cause I can get you macro pictures of disgusting bees.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:21 So I'd much rather photograph healthy bees doing interesting things.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 So it kind of goes like, like that.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:30 I know I'm probably giving you way more than you're asking for, but
00:19:30 --> 00:19:35 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: You know if I was a Really good question interviewer.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 I'd have a ton of questions.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 We run out of time, but I'm not that good.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:39 So no
00:19:39 --> 00:19:45 worries But I do have a couple questions on what you said there
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 First you mentioned your equipment.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 What type of equipment are you using
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: When we say equipment, we're
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 talking about the hive designs.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:57 Okay, so, well, there again, companies that have new hive equipment, new hive
00:19:57 --> 00:20:03 designs, new insulation or entrances or bottom boards or feeding systems.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 I'm one of the people that they reach out to
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 first of all, to get ideas during research and development, which
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 is very flattering for my end.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:15 I do have a background in material analytics, so I'm a
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 non destructive testing testing.
00:20:17 --> 00:20:23 ASNT level three, which means I'm an examiner as far as first of all, finding
00:20:23 --> 00:20:27 out what the properties of materials are, how to find out if they fail.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 And then, of course, in service, their degradation.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 So I have a full background in that.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 And now applying that material knowledge.
00:20:35 --> 00:20:41 To what we're doing with bees works out because I know how to evaluate something.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 I guess this is the bottom line.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh Yes
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So, of course the Langstroth, we could
00:20:45 --> 00:20:50 just say the Langstroth frame is at the core of all the most popular hives.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 So once you have the Langstroth frame, and that's just because
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 it's the most available thing.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 The feeders are designed for that.
00:20:56 --> 00:21:00 You have your mark, the most options with the foundation and everything else.
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 Anyone who's trying to make money.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:07 In beekeeping today is going to focus on the Langstroth design.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:11 So now it is a matter of what's the hive going to be made out of.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:16 So now we've got purists that really want only wood products.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 They want everything to have some cellulose base and organic material.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 So that's one group.
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 And so we have those hives here.
00:21:23 --> 00:21:27 So we do cedar, hoop pine, regular pine.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 So we have all these different woods as well.
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 And the reason we talk about things like.
00:21:32 --> 00:21:37 Hoop pine is because those trees grow really fast and it's a renewable resource.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 So it's like slow growing grass, basically.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 So there you look at that too, because as soon as you say cedar,
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 well, where's that harvested from?
00:21:44 --> 00:21:49 Well, the Western United States and it's all properly harvested and responsibly
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 harvested and things like that.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 So then we get to the other extreme, which are the plastics,
00:21:54 --> 00:21:58 the insulated, the poly hives, which people overseas call it the poly.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:03 polystyrene, and those are clad with more durable plastics.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 So that's another group.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: yeah.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So, and again, we mentioned that
00:22:07 --> 00:22:13 beekeeping is evolving and for some people they think it's devolving because
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 we're using manmade products in a hive
00:22:15 --> 00:22:15 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: and that bees won't be able to use it.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 That's another thing we commonly hear is that bees won't be able to use it.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 You can put bees in a fish tank.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:27 It's not allowed because you have to have removable frames where I live
00:22:27 --> 00:22:32 and you have to be inspected because to be honest, if I didn't have to be
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 inspected, I would have bees in the wall.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 This is really interesting.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:40 I have friends here that have bees in their house, and these are
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 farmhouses that are over 100 years old.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 They like having them there.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:48 They just want them checked up on every now and again, and it's incredible.
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 They allow them to live in their wall.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 And then you think, well, what's the actual detriment
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 to having bees in your wall?
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 How about none?
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 That wall is warmer than the rest of the walls in the house.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:04 So, so anyway the Langstroth hives, long Langstroth is kind of the future
00:23:04 --> 00:23:09 for me because I plan on being old one day and I don't want to lift boxes.
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 So Langstroth we have Lance hives here.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:16 I have the ivory beehive, which comes from Israel.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 It was developed in a kibbutz there.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:22 Those guys were at the North American Honeybee Expo two years ago.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:27 So we've had that through the second winter and it's a fantastic hive for
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 bees, terrible hive for the keeper.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:35 So what I'm doing is evaluating hives that we find that middle ground, great
00:23:35 --> 00:23:40 for the bees and offers facility for the beekeeper so that we can access them.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:43 So now we go to another kind of newer hive that they just
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 finished their Indiegogo campaign.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:49 Which is for the Keeper's Hive, and that's out of, I hope I don't get
00:23:49 --> 00:23:54 it wrong, but I think they're out of the Philadelphia area, or New Jersey,
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 you know who I'm talking about?
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: I do because I heard it when you were
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 talking about it so I had to look it
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Okay,
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: and see about it.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: so George, a lot of people don't
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 know, George and the guys that got together that came up with the
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 Keeper's Hive, he's a physician.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 He never says that.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 You just think it's some guy that had a great idea.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:17 He's not just a physician, he's one of the, the guys that teach us physicians.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 So he understands again how to put together a plan
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 and how to work things out.
00:24:22 --> 00:24:24 And so he's come up with the keeper's hive, which is
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 keeping bees from your seat.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 I just ran into them randomly at the Pennsylvania state conference.
00:24:30 --> 00:24:30 Oh yeah.
00:24:30 --> 00:24:35 So he's gotta be outside Philadelphia cause he was at the PA state conference.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:39 And the idea of being able to pull frames from the brood area to the side and
00:24:39 --> 00:24:45 then having all your honeysupers offset above that seems really appealing to me.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:48 And they're doing some material experimentation and things like that,
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 and they're upgrading all the time.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 So that's one of the ones that's new that I'm paying attention to.
00:24:53 --> 00:24:57 Apimaye it's a Turkish company, but they're, they're producing
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 them here in the United States.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:03 And so you see them at other big bee conferences.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:08 And but as far as tools, like my wife was out yesterday trying to
00:25:08 --> 00:25:12 clean entrances on hives, and she thought I was just being negligent,
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 and she was pretty upset with me.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:20 And she said, those, those apame hives are the worst.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:25 Beehives I've ever seen and she goes the bees are just dead like
00:25:25 --> 00:25:29 they're all stuck in the front And you can't even get them out.
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 I says, okay.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 There's one thing you never say to your wife.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 You don't say Don't say calm down,
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: No you don't.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 Yeah.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I'm like, why are you even in the beard?
00:25:40 --> 00:25:44 She thinks it's an emergency So I said, okay, let's go and take
00:25:44 --> 00:25:49 a look at the apame hive Have you noticed there are plastic dials,
00:25:49 --> 00:25:51 two on the front, two on the back?
00:25:51 --> 00:25:53 Do you know what those are?
00:25:53 --> 00:25:57 Watch this because we had a warmup and so I just turned the dial.
00:25:57 --> 00:26:00 It has an entrance now that's three and a half inches off the bottom.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 And Oh, look, they're coming out.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 You didn't even have to clean it.
00:26:05 --> 00:26:08 And you know, what's cool about this hive that you hate right now?
00:26:08 --> 00:26:11 They thought ahead and that's part of it.
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 Let me show you something else.
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 We go behind it.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 It has a removable tray.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 We pull this out.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 We dump the dead bees out.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 We put it right back.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 The entrances are clear.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:27 Now, if you use that tone of voice, you need to run away right after you say it.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 So,
00:26:29 --> 00:26:32 but the point is they've put a lot of thought into these things and made
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 them very versatile for the beekeeper.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:37 As well as for the bees, but it's plastic.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 So you're going to have people that are never going to take a look at it.
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 As soon as they find out it has plastic components.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:47 So I test the full spectrum types of
00:26:47 --> 00:26:52 insulation from Lambswool all the way to polystyrene to no insulation.
00:26:52 --> 00:26:56 And so we see how they're going to work out in this weather dynamic where I live.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:56 So
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, very good.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:07 Now, one thing you mentioned earlier was you got into it to kind of study
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 bees, to learn more about them.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11 And you've also talked about photography.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 So, do you have a background in photography?
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Yes, I have certificates in
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 cinematography and photography.
00:27:19 --> 00:27:23 My dad graduated from the New York Institute of Photography in 1960, and
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 I graduated from the same institute.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:28 It's the largest and oldest school of photography in the United States, so
00:27:28 --> 00:27:30 there again good professional curriculum.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:34 I know that today, people just grab a camera, somebody says the
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37 pictures are awesome, next thing you know they're doing weddings.
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 So
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:27:39 --> 00:27:42 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: that is entertaining to me forever.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:45 So because I know I'm going to hear from them again and they're going to be in
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48 a desperate situation and I'm going to hear about how terrible their day was.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:51 And I get those messages where I'm never doing another wedding.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:56 I hated those people, you know, well, you kind of launched yourself too early.
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 So, yeah.
00:27:57 --> 00:28:01 So I, again, why be a master beekeeper?
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 It's if you want to take all the boxes, right.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 We're not processing film anymore.
00:28:06 --> 00:28:10 So I wanted to be a photographer because digital came along.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:14 I knew because my dad was a photographer, never wanted to be one.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 He lived in the dark room.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 There's a color film dark room over here.
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 There's a black and white dark room over there.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:27 He's retouching by hand in front of retouching machines.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 And that's just not a life I wanted.
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 He was incredibly successful.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33 He was, everybody knew who he was.
00:28:33 --> 00:28:38 He was a fantastic photographer, but until digital made it immediate,
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 that's when I became a photographer.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:44 And that's when I went to school, even after I've shot, you know,
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46 I've taken pictures my whole life.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:50 I used even, you know, super eight video cameras.
00:28:51 --> 00:28:57 And then I was there at the expo in Tokyo when VHS cameras came out and I
00:28:57 --> 00:29:01 bought a Panasonic VHS unit that hung over my shoulder and big thing that was
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 up here on top and they were separate.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:07 And so the idea of the immediacy of digital imaging cinema or
00:29:07 --> 00:29:13 still photography just made that perfect because so often you
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 go places where it's just you.
00:29:16 --> 00:29:19 You're gonna come home and tell a tall tale about something that you saw
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 and people are gonna not believe it.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 Oh, yeah?
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 What if I have a picture?
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 What if I have a video?
00:29:26 --> 00:29:30 I mean, I can think of a lot of stories I heard as a kid that came from old
00:29:30 --> 00:29:35 timers that I really wish I could hear the sound they're describing
00:29:35 --> 00:29:40 or see this giant fish or the snake that was as long as their canoe.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So today, you know, the cameras,
00:29:44 --> 00:29:48 the digital equipment, there are witnesses to what goes on.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:53 It says, in the moment, They're also teaching tools because now
00:29:53 --> 00:29:56 we can share with everybody.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 conference you go to, you're going to see PowerPoints.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:02 You're going to fall out of your chair and pass out and spill your coffee.
00:30:03 --> 00:30:07 Unless it's a cinematic presentation
00:30:07 --> 00:30:12 that does not include charts and graphs, that is not heavy with scientific
00:30:12 --> 00:30:15 analysis, those things have their place.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:20 But for me personally, if, if I come to a conference and I'm talking to someone,
00:30:21 --> 00:30:24 There's going to be a lot of pictures because that takes the pressure off
00:30:24 --> 00:30:27 of me to provide a lot of dialogue.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 And as you can tell from this interview, I don't like to talk.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 Exactly.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:39 What is your equipment of choice for your photography?
00:30:40 --> 00:30:43 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: That depends on what I'm doing.
00:30:43 --> 00:30:49 So part of it is primacies, which is first you're going to stick with.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:53 I was in the Navy, so I retired from the Navy and we had experimental research
00:30:53 --> 00:30:56 and development with underwater imaging.
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 So that exposed me to early computer groups like Hewlett Packard.
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 They did all of our computer stuff.
00:31:02 --> 00:31:06 So they, we met engineers that develop stuff just for us.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 So
00:31:07 --> 00:31:10 Hewlett Packard became an early thing.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:13 And then Nikon was the imaging system.
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 So we had, and Nikon has a long history for underwater equipment.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:22 So there are even sport divers that use the Nikon is line of 35 millimeter.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 You know, underwater cameras.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:29 And so they have a history and the transition into digital was really good.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:33 A digital, you might imagine from a military aspect becomes incredibly handy
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: if you, back in the day I don't
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39 know if you know anything about photographer's mates in the Navy.
00:31:39 --> 00:31:41 We have photographer's mates.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 They all have top secret clearances.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 So you would give your film to them.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:47 They would process everything and then it had to be mailed,
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 but it had to be courier.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:55 So if there's any kind of, you know, Sensitive information or images when it
00:31:55 --> 00:32:03 went digital, now encryption was possible and immediate transmission was possible.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05 So that was all exciting to me.
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 I was just.
00:32:07 --> 00:32:11 killing people to get close to any program like that.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:16 And so that was my history with Nikon.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:20 So then when I came out and digital, you know, as a civilian, just there's
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 the Nikon and the Canon people.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 The Canon people are the meanest people you'll ever meet.
00:32:25 --> 00:32:25 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I don't care who's watching.
00:32:27 --> 00:32:30 And because anytime somebody comes up and goes, what kind of
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 photographic equipment are you using?
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33 It's going to be somebody with a Canon.
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yes.
00:32:34 --> 00:32:36 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: It's never the Nikon guy.
00:32:37 --> 00:32:37 And so,
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah.
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: and I have a friend from high
00:32:39 --> 00:32:44 school, Chris and he shoots for NASA and he shoots all Nikon.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:47 So I just thought, huh, good enough for NASA.
00:32:48 --> 00:32:51 I've had people actually say, well, you're not a professional if you use a Nikon.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:55 Okay, we're not having this discussion, which is exactly why Cal, I don't
00:32:55 --> 00:32:57 have a photography channel on YouTube
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: oh,
00:32:59 --> 00:33:01 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: because the infighting and the
00:33:01 --> 00:33:07 fan base for each brand, I'll use anything that gets me what I need in
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 the environment that I'm working in.
00:33:10 --> 00:33:15 So there are hybrids of lenses now because Nikon doesn't make every lens I need.
00:33:16 --> 00:33:19 So there are other companies that make unique lenses.
00:33:20 --> 00:33:23 And so I used to study when studying cinematography.
00:33:23 --> 00:33:27 I realized there were directors that had lenses made just so they could
00:33:27 --> 00:33:32 get the scenes that they needed to get in concert with their, of course,
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 person who is in charge of photography.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:35 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:33:35 --> 00:33:38 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So these creative types were also
00:33:39 --> 00:33:41 using equipment astronomically.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 expensive.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:45 Just you and I could not get it.
00:33:46 --> 00:33:50 So, the capability of what's in your hand or what's on your phone
00:33:50 --> 00:33:55 right now is way ahead of what Spielberg used to shoot Star Wars.
00:33:55 --> 00:33:55 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So we need to think in those terms, you
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00 know, and it's, and it's inexpensive.
00:34:00 --> 00:34:02 You can't shoot 70 millimeter film.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:06 Could you imagine shooting a movie with 70 millimeter film
00:34:07 --> 00:34:09 of a bee emerging from a cell?
00:34:10 --> 00:34:10 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:34:11 --> 00:34:14 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: just blew 500 in processing,
00:34:14 --> 00:34:17 especially anything in slow motion, because the reel just goes.
00:34:18 --> 00:34:25 So, digital imaging, cinema, stills, and now your cameras that do one can do both.
00:34:26 --> 00:34:29 What I'm looking at you through right now is actually a cinematic
00:34:29 --> 00:34:34 camera that's a Sony, and it's video only, and I know that people have
00:34:34 --> 00:34:36 vlogging cameras and everything else,
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: It's a matter of what do I use?
00:34:39 --> 00:34:42 Whatever gets me the best possible image.
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44 So, and that includes lenses.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:47 Leiawa, if people are, you know, if there's people that want to get
00:34:47 --> 00:34:51 really close your camera, first of all, your phone, pick your phone
00:34:51 --> 00:34:54 by the camera capability, they have incredible macro capability.
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 It's no secret.
00:34:56 --> 00:35:01 Apple, Samsung, Galaxy Ultras are, if you're picking by cameras, those are.
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 you know, the companies that make them.
00:35:03 --> 00:35:06 And but Layowa makes fantastic lenses.
00:35:06 --> 00:35:08 The people are fantastic.
00:35:08 --> 00:35:11 You can reach out to them, talk about custom lensing.
00:35:11 --> 00:35:15 If there's some unique situation, if you need your lens to go under water,
00:35:15 --> 00:35:20 if you need your lens to handle all environments so, we're at an age, this
00:35:20 --> 00:35:24 is the age of image making, and it's embarrassing how little people are
00:35:24 --> 00:35:28 using what's out there because they're using what they know, and they want
00:35:28 --> 00:35:32 it all user friendly, they want a GUI, which is the Graphic User Interface,
00:35:32 --> 00:35:35 and they want it to tell them how to use the piece of gear in their hand.
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 And it should be intuitive.
00:35:37 --> 00:35:42 And if it isn't, they're never digging into all of the menus and everything
00:35:42 --> 00:35:45 that that's why people just don't know what their phones can even do until they
00:35:45 --> 00:35:49 really get into the menu, but it does what they need and that's good enough.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:49 So,
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: everybody's so busy.
00:35:51 --> 00:35:53 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: to answer your question, yes, I have
00:35:53 --> 00:35:56 formal training, both in cinematography, cause I was going to make movies.
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:35:58 --> 00:36:01 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And I wanted to make a, I like scary movies, so
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 I was going to make a scary movie about a
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 beekeeper that went, I'm saying this because I'm not going to make the movie.
00:36:07 --> 00:36:10 But I wanted it to be a beekeeper that was studying genetics, that developed
00:36:10 --> 00:36:14 this line that could be weaponized, and you could send your bees, and you
00:36:14 --> 00:36:19 could, pheromone, attach your targets, and, and that would go after them.
00:36:19 --> 00:36:23 And then, but the thing is, I think about Jaws, and I think about Spielberg, and
00:36:23 --> 00:36:28 the reaction from the public to sharks all over the world, when that movie came out,
00:36:29 --> 00:36:31 was to kill every shark they came across.
00:36:32 --> 00:36:38 And I don't need people killing bees and being terrified that that bee is somehow
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 genetically modified to go after you.
00:36:40 --> 00:36:43 I know it's unbelievable today that there could be any kind of
00:36:43 --> 00:36:47 narrative that people would buy into that isn't founded in science.
00:36:48 --> 00:36:52 But let's just take that leap and say, let's not feed that fire.
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 So,
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: right.
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 Yes.
00:36:54 --> 00:36:57 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: so I will not make my movie about the bee
00:36:57 --> 00:36:59 geneticist, which would have started me.
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 Of course, I'd have to be in it.
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: right, right,
00:37:02 --> 00:37:05 which I, I think that's interesting.
00:37:05 --> 00:37:07 I use my phone to take pictures.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:10 So, I'm not even an amateur on that.
00:37:10 --> 00:37:14 I probably ought to dive into some of those menus and see what I can do
00:37:14 --> 00:37:18 because I, I look at those different photos and I'm amazed by what people
00:37:18 --> 00:37:20 can do even with just their phone.
00:37:21 --> 00:37:21 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: yep.
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 Until you get them big.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:24 If you're trying to print something, you'll see the,
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26 it degrades pretty fast, but
00:37:27 --> 00:37:30 most of the images today, you know, live in the digital realm.
00:37:30 --> 00:37:34 So people just want them for their Pinterest and their Instagram.
00:37:34 --> 00:37:36 You know, Facebook or whatever they're using.
00:37:37 --> 00:37:43 And so we're not in the age anymore of large scale print, silver halide, you
00:37:43 --> 00:37:49 know, on the walls, which is, you know, I guess problem is the best picture is the
00:37:49 --> 00:37:52 next one that's, they're always looking at the next shot, the next shot, the next
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 shot, well, what else are you going to do?
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 You know, that looks good, but what else are you going to do?
00:37:56 --> 00:38:00 So can we not be in the moment for a second?
00:38:01 --> 00:38:03 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Continuing on social media, you mentioned that
00:38:03 --> 00:38:07 a little bit ago, and we'll go beyond the buzz and talk about your YouTube
00:38:08 --> 00:38:10 channel and how it got started.
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 What, what brought you to YouTube?
00:38:12 --> 00:38:16 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well, YouTube, I, I did, I
00:38:16 --> 00:38:18 think I joined YouTube in 2007.
00:38:19 --> 00:38:23 So a year after I started beekeeping, but it wasn't for bees.
00:38:23 --> 00:38:28 So I joined, I joined YouTube for somebody else because they needed to have
00:38:28 --> 00:38:30 me vote on something they were doing.
00:38:30 --> 00:38:31 And it was tied in with Home Depot.
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 And so I had to have a YouTube channel.
00:38:33 --> 00:38:35 But then I thought, huh, people are going to want to see my
00:38:35 --> 00:38:37 artwork cause I'm also a painter.
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:38:38 --> 00:38:41 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So I posted videos of my artwork
00:38:41 --> 00:38:44 and I don't know what you know about the beginnings of YouTube, but they,
00:38:44 --> 00:38:47 they confined you to 720 by 480.
00:38:48 --> 00:38:49 That was the resolution.
00:38:50 --> 00:38:55 You were limited to 10 minutes, which can force you to do something
00:38:55 --> 00:39:00 in 10 minutes, you know, so much today we can do a The longest
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 video you can do is 12 hours today.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:06 So, but back then, so that's how I started out was I thought it
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09 would be cool to do lessons because I was teaching art and design.
00:39:10 --> 00:39:13 I thought, yeah, we'll do some demos and I'll just set all the kids down in
00:39:13 --> 00:39:14 class and we'll make them all log in.
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 They all had computers
00:39:16 --> 00:39:17 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: we'll all log in and I'll do a lesson
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 that way I can do it from home.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:24 And then I thought, huh, I can make all these students log in and
00:39:24 --> 00:39:30 increase my, they can't, they can't subscribe, but it's view counts.
00:39:31 --> 00:39:32 So it was basically viral.
00:39:33 --> 00:39:37 I would get like 30 or 40 counts on a video.
00:39:37 --> 00:39:39 So I knew it was a big deal.
00:39:40 --> 00:39:44 And it was just, it went from there and then it was the same old thing.
00:39:44 --> 00:39:48 Oh, so the emus that I spoke to you about, I have videos of those hatching the eggs.
00:39:49 --> 00:39:52 I have videos about chickens, all the different breeds, like 13
00:39:52 --> 00:39:54 different nations, breeds, things.
00:39:55 --> 00:39:58 So it just became a way to not answer everyone's cause
00:39:58 --> 00:39:59 at the time it was chicken.
00:39:59 --> 00:40:02 So I don't have to answer everyone's questions a hundred times over.
00:40:03 --> 00:40:05 We make a video, refer them to the video.
00:40:05 --> 00:40:08 And that's why even today, if you go to the way to be.
00:40:09 --> 00:40:09 org.
00:40:10 --> 00:40:12 which is my YouTube.
00:40:12 --> 00:40:15 It's where I do all my stuff for bees.
00:40:15 --> 00:40:19 But as people get surprised because, Oh, this thing says fredsfeinfowl.
00:40:19 --> 00:40:19 com.
00:40:19 --> 00:40:20 I don't trust that.
00:40:21 --> 00:40:23 Well, that's because I started as a chicken guy.
00:40:23 --> 00:40:23 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:40:23 --> 00:40:26 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And so it still is free range chickens.
00:40:26 --> 00:40:26 org.
00:40:26 --> 00:40:27 That's mine.
00:40:27 --> 00:40:28 Fred's fine foul.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29 That's mine.
00:40:29 --> 00:40:32 And they all lead you to the same place because it's
00:40:32 --> 00:40:33 expensive to maintain a website.
00:40:34 --> 00:40:36 And so that's how YouTube started.
00:40:36 --> 00:40:40 And then the bees, of course, just eventually picked up.
00:40:40 --> 00:40:45 But early on I got significant views just with the free ranging chickens.
00:40:46 --> 00:40:47 So, yeah.
00:40:48 --> 00:40:53 And today there's a million chicken channels and today there's, I don't even
00:40:53 --> 00:40:58 know how many beekeeping YouTube channels out there, so I think about this a lot.
00:40:58 --> 00:41:01 If you are starting right now.
00:41:01 --> 00:41:03 and you're going to make a YouTube channel.
00:41:03 --> 00:41:05 And who doesn't get excited about beekeeping?
00:41:05 --> 00:41:07 Who doesn't get excited about their,
00:41:07 --> 00:41:08 their flow hive?
00:41:08 --> 00:41:11 And here's the honey coming right out of the flow hive.
00:41:11 --> 00:41:13 This is the first time anybody will have seen this on YouTube.
00:41:14 --> 00:41:15 That's what they're thinking.
00:41:16 --> 00:41:20 So they put it out there and they're very upset that they get 300 views or
00:41:20 --> 00:41:24 200 views because the market is full.
00:41:25 --> 00:41:28 Everybody, everybody knows if you want to make it in YouTube today,
00:41:28 --> 00:41:30 you need to be producing cat videos.
00:41:30 --> 00:41:31 So
00:41:32 --> 00:41:32 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right,
00:41:32 --> 00:41:33 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: it's not any of these.
00:41:34 --> 00:41:34 Yeah,
00:41:35 --> 00:41:36 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: I heard numbers.
00:41:36 --> 00:41:40 The numbers on YouTube channels is just staggering.
00:41:40 --> 00:41:41 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: it's and it's worldwide.
00:41:41 --> 00:41:42 So
00:41:42 --> 00:41:42 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Yeah.
00:41:43 --> 00:41:45 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: the exciting part of that is
00:41:45 --> 00:41:47 you are connecting with people.
00:41:47 --> 00:41:49 Think of communication.
00:41:49 --> 00:41:53 I have to give an upcoming lecture to a communications department at
00:41:53 --> 00:41:56 a local university, and mine is going to be about B communications.
00:41:56 --> 00:42:01 There was a time when you only communicated with people that were
00:42:01 --> 00:42:05 within the sound of your voice and then later that was enhanced by a telephone
00:42:05 --> 00:42:10 and then later you could communicate by mail you'd write a letter and send it
00:42:10 --> 00:42:15 out And so when I lived in Italy, that was a 14 day turnaround seven days one
00:42:15 --> 00:42:21 way seven days back And so the idea of immediate communication didn't exist.
00:42:21 --> 00:42:28 Today we can see people anywhere in the world, just about, unless it's a
00:42:28 --> 00:42:31 YouTube blackout, you're not going to be talking to your, what would be a pen
00:42:31 --> 00:42:35 pal, but a YouTube, YouTube pal in North Korea, you're not going to get that.
00:42:35 --> 00:42:39 So, but today we're immediately communicating with people and
00:42:39 --> 00:42:40 they feel like they know you.
00:42:41 --> 00:42:41 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: oh
00:42:41 --> 00:42:43 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: can, to some degree, get to know them, but
00:42:43 --> 00:42:46 this is kind of one way communication.
00:42:46 --> 00:42:49 I'm producing a video, other people are consuming the video.
00:42:50 --> 00:42:53 So, and then you get to see where you're popular.
00:42:53 --> 00:42:56 So you get analytics that say, wow, they're watching me in Belgium.
00:42:56 --> 00:42:56 What's going on?
00:42:57 --> 00:43:02 Oh, I need to start putting CC in Hindi because there are a bunch of people
00:43:02 --> 00:43:04 in India that are watching my videos.
00:43:05 --> 00:43:07 And so that's the other thing is translated.
00:43:08 --> 00:43:08 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: oh
00:43:08 --> 00:43:11 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: an auto translate function, so
00:43:11 --> 00:43:12 you just have to pick it out.
00:43:12 --> 00:43:14 So let's translate it to French.
00:43:14 --> 00:43:15 Oh, is it France?
00:43:15 --> 00:43:16 French?
00:43:16 --> 00:43:16 Or is it Canadian?
00:43:16 --> 00:43:17 French?
00:43:17 --> 00:43:17 Or is it?
00:43:17 --> 00:43:20 They have all these sub dialects of French even.
00:43:21 --> 00:43:26 So we're in an age of immediate communication that's more versatile and
00:43:26 --> 00:43:28 more agile than it ever has been before.
00:43:29 --> 00:43:33 And I don't even know what's going on in the future, but
00:43:33 --> 00:43:36 nothing beats in person meetings.
00:43:36 --> 00:43:37 And that's why I like conferences.
00:43:37 --> 00:43:38 I like going to those.
00:43:39 --> 00:43:43 But if you've been doing this for a long time, as I have, people meet you that
00:43:43 --> 00:43:45 think they just know everything about you.
00:43:46 --> 00:43:46 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: oh
00:43:46 --> 00:43:48 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And you've never seen them before.
00:43:48 --> 00:43:52 And it's a weird moment, which you can under, I mean, it's friendly and
00:43:52 --> 00:43:58 everything, but to them, you're familiar to, to you, they are a complete surprise.
00:43:59 --> 00:44:01 So, which is funny.
00:44:01 --> 00:44:02 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: right.
00:44:02 --> 00:44:05 I had someone text me just the other day and they said they had to hunt
00:44:05 --> 00:44:08 all over and they finally found a number that they thought might be
00:44:08 --> 00:44:13 mine to tell me something that I had I had brought up on the podcast.
00:44:14 --> 00:44:17 And And I in fact talked to this person on the phone.
00:44:17 --> 00:44:19 He's like, I just feel like I know you well,
00:44:19 --> 00:44:20 yeah
00:44:20 --> 00:44:22 I I don't know you but
00:44:23 --> 00:44:30 he's super nice, but That's a interesting phenomenon that Relationship
00:44:30 --> 00:44:38 building that's really one way Yeah now with your your YouTube channel
00:44:38 --> 00:44:43 you start out with your photography, painting, got some chickens on there.
00:44:43 --> 00:44:47 When did you incorporate or bring the bees onto it?
00:44:47 --> 00:44:49 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I think the bees right around 2008.
00:44:50 --> 00:44:52 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah, so just shortly after
00:44:52 --> 00:44:52 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Yeah.
00:44:52 --> 00:44:53 So here's what's funny.
00:44:53 --> 00:44:57 If you go to, and I recommend people do this, not to my channel,
00:44:57 --> 00:44:58 but on other people's channels.
00:44:59 --> 00:45:03 Go and when you do your search on their YouTube channel, go to
00:45:03 --> 00:45:06 the oldest video they have first.
00:45:07 --> 00:45:12 of all, it's a time capsule so you can see how young you used to be
00:45:13 --> 00:45:19 and you can also See that it's it is you're seeing them through the years.
00:45:19 --> 00:45:24 There are children growing up on YouTube
00:45:25 --> 00:45:25 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:45:25 --> 00:45:27 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: so when you go back one of them is a
00:45:28 --> 00:45:33 beekeeper named Natalie Summers and it's called beekeeping with Natalie and I don't
00:45:33 --> 00:45:34 know if you have a plan to interview her
00:45:35 --> 00:45:35 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: I
00:45:35 --> 00:45:36 actually emailed her just the other
00:45:37 --> 00:45:37 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: You did.
00:45:37 --> 00:45:38 Okay.
00:45:38 --> 00:45:43 Because it's really funny to see her at 12, I think she's like
00:45:43 --> 00:45:47 starting out at 12 and her parents of course facilitated everything.
00:45:47 --> 00:45:49 And today she's got her driver's license.
00:45:49 --> 00:45:50 She's 16.
00:45:51 --> 00:45:55 So just think of that, you know, if somebody spanned five or six years, but
00:45:55 --> 00:45:59 you're in your late fifties and early sixties, the changes aren't that great.
00:45:59 --> 00:46:05 But when you have this young teenager growing into her role as a honeybee
00:46:05 --> 00:46:11 educator it's very interesting to see how she's changed both in what
00:46:11 --> 00:46:15 she even used to call her channel, but how she keeps bees, how she
00:46:15 --> 00:46:17 communicates, and how she's evolved.
00:46:17 --> 00:46:19 in the public eye.
00:46:19 --> 00:46:23 So there's, that's the other thing you can over communicate.
00:46:23 --> 00:46:27 You can make people too familiar and that's not good either.
00:46:28 --> 00:46:31 So I think this is where parents are critical.
00:46:31 --> 00:46:34 If you've got a kid that's a young teen that you need to,
00:46:35 --> 00:46:36 Limit what they're sharing.
00:46:37 --> 00:46:39 Like it should be topic, topic specific.
00:46:40 --> 00:46:42 Don't talk about your day in school and what your school
00:46:42 --> 00:46:43 is and what activities you do.
00:46:43 --> 00:46:48 And you know, so there are some safety issues with YouTube.
00:46:49 --> 00:46:54 So, but for older people who cares, just don't never video
00:46:54 --> 00:46:55 the interior of your home.
00:46:56 --> 00:46:57 Don't show all your doors.
00:46:57 --> 00:47:01 Don't do videos about your latest security updates.
00:47:01 --> 00:47:02 Don't
00:47:02 --> 00:47:03 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: yes.
00:47:03 --> 00:47:05 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: where your cameras are placed
00:47:05 --> 00:47:08 and what camera system you use.
00:47:08 --> 00:47:11 Don't make it easy for the perpetrators.
00:47:11 --> 00:47:15 And I could teach a whole class, like, you have a background in teaching.
00:47:15 --> 00:47:20 I would, I love to teach, and one of my favorite things that I used to
00:47:20 --> 00:47:22 teach in the Navy was anti terrorism.
00:47:22 --> 00:47:22 Thank you.
00:47:23 --> 00:47:26 Most of it was it's for force protection.
00:47:26 --> 00:47:29 So most of it was lowering your profile and making sure
00:47:29 --> 00:47:30 that you're never the target.
00:47:31 --> 00:47:36 So, and all of that was changing up your, your schedule, changing up.
00:47:36 --> 00:47:39 Where you go, where you park, where you walk, what door you go through.
00:47:39 --> 00:47:40 If there's multiple doors, change it up.
00:47:41 --> 00:47:42 Don't eat at the same time every day.
00:47:42 --> 00:47:43 Don't shop at the same store.
00:47:44 --> 00:47:48 Don't, you know, so all these things think, and maybe I'm overreacting, but if
00:47:48 --> 00:47:55 you do this on YouTube, don't divulge too much about other members of your family.
00:47:56 --> 00:47:58 And the in, and it always bothers it.
00:47:58 --> 00:48:00 'cause I'll see a video and I'll think, oh, that's a mistake.
00:48:01 --> 00:48:04 You know, don't show everything inside your house, you know, and
00:48:04 --> 00:48:08 don't tell everybody, Hey, by the way, next week, we're going to be
00:48:08 --> 00:48:11 gone for two weeks because we're going to go, you know what I mean?
00:48:12 --> 00:48:12 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: I do.
00:48:12 --> 00:48:14 You see it on social media.
00:48:14 --> 00:48:16 People announcing,
00:48:16 --> 00:48:17 Hey, I'm going to be gone.
00:48:18 --> 00:48:18 Well, thank you.
00:48:19 --> 00:48:19 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Right.
00:48:20 --> 00:48:21 And so that's okay.
00:48:21 --> 00:48:23 If you're going to be gone, if somebody is going to be
00:48:23 --> 00:48:25 around to watch your stuff, but
00:48:25 --> 00:48:25 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:48:26 --> 00:48:27 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: It's happening with
00:48:27 --> 00:48:29 professional sports right now.
00:48:29 --> 00:48:32 You know, you just hear about these athletes and people don't feel
00:48:32 --> 00:48:34 bad for them because they're multi millionaires and they're being robbed,
00:48:34 --> 00:48:35 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah.
00:48:35 --> 00:48:36 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: but they're losing memorabilia and
00:48:36 --> 00:48:39 things, but they really have, you know, they're going to be at the game.
00:48:39 --> 00:48:40 They're
00:48:40 --> 00:48:40 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right,
00:48:41 --> 00:48:41 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So
00:48:41 --> 00:48:43 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Yeah, there's schedules out
00:48:43 --> 00:48:44 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: yeah, be security minded.
00:48:44 --> 00:48:47 So kind of a message to people that are starting YouTube
00:48:47 --> 00:48:48 channels and things like that.
00:48:49 --> 00:48:51 Don't give too much personal information.
00:48:51 --> 00:48:54 Try to be, you know, on topic with what you're doing.
00:48:55 --> 00:48:55 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Right.
00:48:57 --> 00:49:00 During your journal journey with YouTube, you also made the leap to
00:49:00 --> 00:49:03 podcasting and releasing podcasts.
00:49:03 --> 00:49:08 Are you, what caused you to jump into the podcast realm
00:49:08 --> 00:49:10 and how has that worked for you?
00:49:10 --> 00:49:12 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: the whole reason, and I, I went to pod
00:49:12 --> 00:49:14 B and by the way, that costs me money.
00:49:15 --> 00:49:19 I want people to know I don't charge anybody anything for like
00:49:19 --> 00:49:21 my podcast or my YouTube channel.
00:49:21 --> 00:49:24 I don't have a membership, you know, schedule for that.
00:49:24 --> 00:49:24 Yeah.
00:49:26 --> 00:49:29 And the thing is, people wanted to hear what I had to say, like,
00:49:29 --> 00:49:30 especially the Friday Q and A's.
00:49:31 --> 00:49:35 But they had data restrictions on their phones and things like that.
00:49:35 --> 00:49:39 So they did not want to listen to a full YouTube because they're just listening.
00:49:39 --> 00:49:41 So they don't want all the data being used.
00:49:41 --> 00:49:45 And so they asked if I would consider doing a podcast.
00:49:45 --> 00:49:47 So I looked into that.
00:49:47 --> 00:49:52 Podbean, I think it costs me 150 a year or something like that to have
00:49:52 --> 00:49:52 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: oh Yeah,
00:49:53 --> 00:49:55 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: podbean, which is not terrible, but
00:49:55 --> 00:49:58 there again you get an opportunity to monetize it, just like you
00:49:58 --> 00:50:00 do YouTube, which I did not do.
00:50:01 --> 00:50:05 And it was so that people, there were truck drivers that reached out to me
00:50:05 --> 00:50:07 and said, Hey, I listen to every Friday.
00:50:07 --> 00:50:11 That also, it's interesting you ask, because it also figures into when I
00:50:11 --> 00:50:17 release a video, I try on Fridays to get it out before five o'clock, Eastern
00:50:17 --> 00:50:21 Standard Time, because that's when these truckers are doing their commutes.
00:50:22 --> 00:50:25 And the ones that were the most vocal were out in California.
00:50:25 --> 00:50:28 And one guy was like, you can get me all the way from Anaheim
00:50:28 --> 00:50:32 to San Diego and like, cause that's 90 minutes or something.
00:50:33 --> 00:50:33 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:50:33 --> 00:50:36 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So that also explains the timeframe.
00:50:36 --> 00:50:39 So my target zone is right around 90 minutes.
00:50:39 --> 00:50:43 And so what I'm doing is I'm satisfying what probably just a
00:50:43 --> 00:50:45 handful of people have asked for.
00:50:45 --> 00:50:49 And then cause it's not, my podcast is not like viral.
00:50:49 --> 00:50:50 Like there's only,
00:50:50 --> 00:50:51 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah.
00:50:51 --> 00:50:55 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: there's only been like 150, 000 downloads.
00:50:56 --> 00:50:56 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:50:56 --> 00:50:56 yeah.
00:50:57 --> 00:50:59 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: but that's throughout the whole thing.
00:50:59 --> 00:51:04 If you compare that to YouTube, we get 300 views every 28 days.
00:51:05 --> 00:51:11 So all I'm doing is satisfying someone else who just wants to
00:51:11 --> 00:51:12 listen while they work, so to speak.
00:51:13 --> 00:51:16 And then if there was something that was visual, they can come back
00:51:16 --> 00:51:18 to it and, and go look at that.
00:51:18 --> 00:51:21 But that's why we do the podcast.
00:51:21 --> 00:51:24 But if we're looking at, you know, comparing it to other
00:51:24 --> 00:51:25 beekeeping or be related.
00:51:26 --> 00:51:28 Mine is not like way up there
00:51:29 --> 00:51:29 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:51:29 --> 00:51:31 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: just a Friday Q& A that I'm just
00:51:31 --> 00:51:33 answering people's email questions.
00:51:33 --> 00:51:34 Usually
00:51:35 --> 00:51:40 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: yeah But on podcast you mentioned something
00:51:40 --> 00:51:48 there that's that really appeals to me on podcast you get I know there's
00:51:48 --> 00:51:51 a certain podcast I listen every Monday morning because it's released,
00:51:52 --> 00:51:56 and when I drive to town on Monday, that's my that's what I listen to.
00:51:57 --> 00:52:00 And And each day has its own schedule of what I'm listening
00:52:00 --> 00:52:02 to because of the release.
00:52:02 --> 00:52:06 So, so it falls into that and I can listen to it in the car.
00:52:06 --> 00:52:10 Of course, Spotify is going all in on video, wanting you to upload
00:52:10 --> 00:52:14 video on their platform, which just means another step for, for a
00:52:14 --> 00:52:16 podcaster if they want to do that.
00:52:17 --> 00:52:18 Yeah.
00:52:18 --> 00:52:18 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Oh yeah.
00:52:18 --> 00:52:24 And the other, and the Friday Q& A is there's a high school biology, one biology
00:52:24 --> 00:52:28 teacher in particular, if the kids have been good, they play it in the background,
00:52:28 --> 00:52:30 but it's the previous Friday's.
00:52:31 --> 00:52:33 Podcast because it doesn't come out early enough
00:52:33 --> 00:52:33 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:52:34 --> 00:52:36 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: and so and then they've reached out Sometimes
00:52:36 --> 00:52:39 for a personal zoom to the classroom.
00:52:39 --> 00:52:42 So the ultimate so I really like stuff like that Those are
00:52:42 --> 00:52:44 surprises that kind of work out.
00:52:44 --> 00:52:48 I'm like you can get high school kids to listen to that I think I
00:52:48 --> 00:52:50 don't know if that's the teacher.
00:52:50 --> 00:52:53 I don't know what's going on But i'm trying to put myself in that
00:52:53 --> 00:52:55 seat as a high school student.
00:52:55 --> 00:52:56 Do I want to listen to this guy?
00:52:57 --> 00:52:58 I don't know
00:52:59 --> 00:52:59 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Well,
00:53:00 --> 00:53:00 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I don't know.
00:53:00 --> 00:53:05 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: to be honest, so, so my wife teaches kindergarten and
00:53:05 --> 00:53:13 she purchased a, Oh, it's a dog training tool, tool, button that you press and
00:53:13 --> 00:53:15 you record something, you press it.
00:53:15 --> 00:53:19 And she had me record her sentence for this week that
00:53:19 --> 00:53:20 the kids were having to use.
00:53:20 --> 00:53:26 And she's like, They got it in no time this week because it's a different voice.
00:53:26 --> 00:53:27 They hear yours all the time.
00:53:27 --> 00:53:29 Now this is a different voice.
00:53:29 --> 00:53:30 Makes a big difference.
00:53:30 --> 00:53:33 I'm sure those high school kids, part of it was like, I don't
00:53:33 --> 00:53:35 have to listen to my teacher now.
00:53:36 --> 00:53:39 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Or, yeah, I, I don't know if they, and some
00:53:39 --> 00:53:45 people think I'm funny and so I have a dry humor and if that translates and you're,
00:53:45 --> 00:53:50 you have some smart alecky kid that thinks that's funny and they use that to launch
00:53:50 --> 00:53:55 some other humor off of, I'm, I'm good with that too, because I, I have kind
00:53:55 --> 00:54:02 of just made fun of people throughout my life, just in a dry, non aggressive way.
00:54:03 --> 00:54:04 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yes.
00:54:04 --> 00:54:06 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: But I'm always surprised when
00:54:06 --> 00:54:10 teenagers can relate to the way I'm responding to something.
00:54:10 --> 00:54:11 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
00:54:11 --> 00:54:11 Yeah.
00:54:11 --> 00:54:13 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Yeah, it's, it's fun.
00:54:13 --> 00:54:14 I'm not gonna lie.
00:54:15 --> 00:54:17 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: You list there something that surprised
00:54:17 --> 00:54:19 you about having the podcast.
00:54:19 --> 00:54:23 What else has surprised you about the podcast and YouTube with your bees?
00:54:25 --> 00:54:26 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Oh, well, I can, I can
00:54:26 --> 00:54:28 definitely list benefits.
00:54:28 --> 00:54:32 When it comes to the YouTube channel, every YouTuber kind of
00:54:32 --> 00:54:36 draws their own group, right?
00:54:37 --> 00:54:38 Especially if they're repeaters, right?
00:54:39 --> 00:54:40 So
00:54:41 --> 00:54:43 you can use your viewers
00:54:43 --> 00:54:47 to get you deeper into a topic.
00:54:48 --> 00:54:50 I'm often absolutely amazed.
00:54:50 --> 00:54:54 There are people watching that or listening, but mostly it's the
00:54:54 --> 00:54:58 YouTube channel that will reach out and they already, they know
00:54:58 --> 00:55:00 something that will benefit you.
00:55:01 --> 00:55:08 So what you get from your viewing audience can be really a resolution
00:55:08 --> 00:55:10 to something that you've been pondering for a long time.
00:55:10 --> 00:55:11 So it's a, it's a feedback.
00:55:11 --> 00:55:16 And then you wonder, man, with that knowledge and, and with that
00:55:16 --> 00:55:20 background and with these resources, why aren't you doing like a YouTube?
00:55:21 --> 00:55:25 But you'll find out that these people do not want to engage.
00:55:25 --> 00:55:28 They'll even say, don't mention my name.
00:55:29 --> 00:55:31 Don't refer to where I live.
00:55:32 --> 00:55:34 And so I'm very respectful of that.
00:55:34 --> 00:55:39 And that's another way, like how I set up, how people can ask a question.
00:55:39 --> 00:55:41 They can go to the website and they fill out a form.
00:55:42 --> 00:55:45 It doesn't require you to use your email and it doesn't require you.
00:55:45 --> 00:55:47 You can make a fictitious name.
00:55:47 --> 00:55:50 And I've actually made the mistake, Cal, where I thought it was a fictitious
00:55:50 --> 00:55:52 name, but it's really their name.
00:55:53 --> 00:55:57 So I said, Oh, well, I know this is a, this is a made up name and I'll,
00:55:57 --> 00:56:01 and I'll say it, and then the guy will write me and go, that's my actual name.
00:56:02 --> 00:56:08 So, but the thing of it is the surprising aspect is again, these connections.
00:56:08 --> 00:56:10 You connect with people in Ireland.
00:56:11 --> 00:56:14 I have an Irish last name, but I've never been there.
00:56:14 --> 00:56:19 And then you get some really funny communications also that, that are
00:56:19 --> 00:56:22 just kind of, we'll keep those tight to the vest, but they're hilarious.
00:56:22 --> 00:56:27 Like somebody decides they like you, like they really like you and
00:56:27 --> 00:56:28 the way they say it is hilarious.
00:56:28 --> 00:56:35 But so yeah, the feedback from your viewers can be incredibly beneficial.
00:56:36 --> 00:56:37 So that's another thing.
00:56:37 --> 00:56:40 We're collaborating with people that we never would have met.
00:56:41 --> 00:56:41 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh,
00:56:41 --> 00:56:44 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And and that, and that again, they just,
00:56:44 --> 00:56:49 they want to, they want to support, they don't want to be the face of something.
00:56:50 --> 00:56:56 So that's, that's a huge, huge, and these, these friendships have spanned years now.
00:56:57 --> 00:57:01 So it's, that's probably just a huge, huge benefit is you
00:57:01 --> 00:57:03 do actually make connections.
00:57:03 --> 00:57:08 You do actually build friendships and you do collaborate in very meaningful ways.
00:57:08 --> 00:57:11 when it comes to research and development and things like that.
00:57:11 --> 00:57:12 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah.
00:57:13 --> 00:57:14 Very good, Fred.
00:57:14 --> 00:57:18 It's time that we move on to our famous four questions.
00:57:18 --> 00:57:21 I say they're famous maybe just in my mind.
00:57:22 --> 00:57:29 But our, our first question, What is your favorite beekeeping book or resource?
00:57:31 --> 00:57:33 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: have a library of beekeeping books,
00:57:33 --> 00:57:40 but I'm gonna say, if I had to say one book, well, right behind me is A to Z.
00:57:40 --> 00:57:45 ABC and XYZ of bee culture from 1929.
00:57:45 --> 00:57:46 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:57:46 --> 00:57:49 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: I'm gonna, this way I'm not picking a
00:57:49 --> 00:57:51 living author, so I'm not having fights.
00:57:51 --> 00:57:57 I'm taking the coward's way out, Cal, and I'm gonna say, hey, I root that book.
00:57:57 --> 00:58:00 And you'll find out, if you can get one of these old books, that one
00:58:00 --> 00:58:02 was published, as I said, in 1929.
00:58:02 --> 00:58:06 It's amazing how many new things aren't.
00:58:07 --> 00:58:08 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
00:58:08 --> 00:58:09 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: think we're doing something cool.
00:58:09 --> 00:58:11 We've modified this hive.
00:58:11 --> 00:58:13 We've made something really interesting.
00:58:13 --> 00:58:18 And then you look in this book and, you know, in 1929, the exact same thing
00:58:18 --> 00:58:22 existed, but it got tossed aside because commercial beekeeping wasn't having it.
00:58:23 --> 00:58:25 So, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna save that book right there.
00:58:26 --> 00:58:28 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, and I love that book.
00:58:28 --> 00:58:30 Now, I do not have a copy as old as that.
00:58:30 --> 00:58:33 I don't have an edition that's from 1929.
00:58:34 --> 00:58:39 But that was one of the first books I was introduced to because my dad had it.
00:58:39 --> 00:58:41 So, very interesting.
00:58:41 --> 00:58:42 I love the cover on that.
00:58:42 --> 00:58:44 I think I saw some newer versions of it that
00:58:45 --> 00:58:45 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Oh, there are.
00:58:45 --> 00:58:46 Yeah.
00:58:46 --> 00:58:47 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: So, some updated
00:58:48 --> 00:58:50 covers and stuff and I'm like, I don't like that at all.
00:58:50 --> 00:58:50 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Oh, yeah.
00:58:50 --> 00:58:51 There's another.
00:58:51 --> 00:58:56 There's a massive volume which is after Langstroth's book, you
00:58:56 --> 00:58:57 know, The Hive and the Honeybee.
00:58:58 --> 00:59:01 Trying to get a really old version of Honeybee, not easy.
00:59:01 --> 00:59:06 The new one is like an encyclopedia and it's been updated and it's
00:59:06 --> 00:59:07 not from Langstroth anymore.
00:59:07 --> 00:59:08 So to me,
00:59:08 --> 00:59:13 it doesn't, you know, they try to make it an everything in one volume book.
00:59:13 --> 00:59:13 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
00:59:13 --> 00:59:15 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And that does not appeal to me.
00:59:16 --> 00:59:20 So, I like old, you know, my grandfather instilled in me
00:59:20 --> 00:59:22 an appreciation for old books.
00:59:23 --> 00:59:26 And so, that's why I like that one.
00:59:26 --> 00:59:27 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Yeah.
00:59:27 --> 00:59:28 Well, very good.
00:59:28 --> 00:59:32 Our second question, what is your favorite tool for the apiary?
00:59:34 --> 00:59:35 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Well, I want to say in my eyes,
00:59:36 --> 00:59:39 but what's my favorite tool?
00:59:42 --> 00:59:44 I don't have a single favorite tool.
00:59:44 --> 00:59:49 I'm, you know, It's going to be the hive tool, I guess, because you
00:59:49 --> 00:59:50 couldn't do anything without it.
00:59:51 --> 00:59:54 And when it comes to hive tools, I like the everything hive tool.
00:59:55 --> 00:59:58 I've got all kinds of hive tools around here, like this one, right?
00:59:58 --> 01:00:02 Oh, by the way, talking about hive tools, this is, people
01:00:02 --> 01:00:04 see this design everywhere.
01:00:04 --> 01:00:07 This is the Kent Williams hive tool.
01:00:08 --> 01:00:11 Kent Williams is a master beekeeper, and I was talking with him at a
01:00:11 --> 01:00:15 conference, and he invented this.
01:00:16 --> 01:00:16 But it's just
01:00:17 --> 01:00:20 sold everywhere and people don't realize he's the one that put the thumb on
01:00:20 --> 01:00:23 this thing and the little nail puller.
01:00:23 --> 01:00:24 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh yeah.
01:00:24 --> 01:00:28 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: he's very modest about it, but I guess
01:00:28 --> 01:00:34 it's too simple to be patented, but people better be honoring Kent Williams.
01:00:34 --> 01:00:39 This is my favorite, this hive tool with the narrow lifting side and.
01:00:39 --> 01:00:41 This has everything you need in a hive
01:00:41 --> 01:00:42 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Yeah.
01:00:42 --> 01:00:44 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: This particular one just comes from Hive Life.
01:00:45 --> 01:00:46 Yeah, Hive Life put this out.
01:00:47 --> 01:00:49 They didn't mention Kent Williams.
01:00:49 --> 01:00:52 This is supposed to be so when you drop it in the grass, you can see it.
01:00:53 --> 01:00:53 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh
01:00:53 --> 01:00:53 yes.
01:00:54 --> 01:00:56 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So finding a hive tool with
01:00:56 --> 01:00:57 your lawnmower, not good.
01:00:58 --> 01:00:58 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Not good.
01:00:58 --> 01:00:59 No.
01:01:00 --> 01:01:01 Our third question.
01:01:01 --> 01:01:05 What advice would you give to someone just getting started beekeeping?
01:01:06 --> 01:01:08 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: Just getting started beekeeping.
01:01:08 --> 01:01:09 That comes up a lot.
01:01:09 --> 01:01:11 Beekeepers that are just starting out.
01:01:11 --> 01:01:15 I highly recommend you find somebody willing to talk with you about bees.
01:01:16 --> 01:01:21 I highly recommend you find someone local to go and visit their apiary
01:01:22 --> 01:01:25 and find out if it's really for you.
01:01:25 --> 01:01:29 Make sure members in your family are not allergic to bees.
01:01:29 --> 01:01:33 If you are in rural America, you don't want to set up a bunch of
01:01:33 --> 01:01:35 beehives right next to a horse corral.
01:01:36 --> 01:01:38 And so realizing where you're going to be.
01:01:38 --> 01:01:42 So one of the things, aside from that, find a mentor, slow down.
01:01:42 --> 01:01:45 People get excited, especially this time of year.
01:01:45 --> 01:01:46 I'm going to keep these.
01:01:47 --> 01:01:47 They're online.
01:01:48 --> 01:01:49 I just ordered a package of bees.
01:01:49 --> 01:01:52 They're going to be delivered May 1st, whatever it is.
01:01:52 --> 01:01:53 Please don't do that.
01:01:53 --> 01:01:57 If you've never kept these book, I know there's people that have the
01:01:57 --> 01:01:59 t shirts, bees don't read books.
01:02:00 --> 01:02:00 I get it.
01:02:01 --> 01:02:02 I'm a bookie.
01:02:02 --> 01:02:04 I'm into research.
01:02:04 --> 01:02:09 I'm into science and it does not replace that interpersonal experience that
01:02:09 --> 01:02:10 you're going to have with a real book.
01:02:11 --> 01:02:14 beekeeper, finding a beekeeper that will talk to you.
01:02:14 --> 01:02:15 That's important.
01:02:15 --> 01:02:17 That has people skills.
01:02:17 --> 01:02:20 So that would be a very good thing.
01:02:20 --> 01:02:26 The other thing is don't jump on a hive design based on just what that beekeeper
01:02:26 --> 01:02:32 keeps unless it really appeals to you because you'll find that there are groups
01:02:32 --> 01:02:37 and associations that close the door on every style of beehive except theirs.
01:02:38 --> 01:02:43 I would recommend that you find a group that's inclusive, that allows you to
01:02:43 --> 01:02:47 ask questions, that talks about, they're an eclectic group of beekeepers, got
01:02:47 --> 01:02:51 a top bar person over here, we got a person over here that's laying strong
01:02:51 --> 01:02:55 commercial, we got one over here, Langstroth, the backyard beekeeper, really
01:02:55 --> 01:02:59 savvy, because that's the other thing, somehow a commercial beekeeper knows more
01:02:59 --> 01:03:02 and a backyard beekeeper not so much.
01:03:02 --> 01:03:06 Well, there are genius backyard beekeepers out there.
01:03:06 --> 01:03:09 So that's not always synonymous with a beginner.
01:03:09 --> 01:03:13 So just find out what kind of experience, how many years they've kept bees, where
01:03:13 --> 01:03:19 they are, and just be as on the go, on the learn, and probably do that for
01:03:19 --> 01:03:22 a year before you get your own bees.
01:03:23 --> 01:03:24 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yes.
01:03:24 --> 01:03:27 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: So yeah, I'm going to say that pretty much.
01:03:27 --> 01:03:33 Look for inclusive people, open minded people that are on the learn, and try not
01:03:33 --> 01:03:37 to join a club that's owned by somebody who sells packaged bees and queens.
01:03:38 --> 01:03:38 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Oh, yeah
01:03:39 --> 01:03:39 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: It's,
01:03:40 --> 01:03:42 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Excellent advice there.
01:03:42 --> 01:03:45 And lastly Fred, where can others find out more about you?
01:03:46 --> 01:03:47 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: You can just Google Frederick
01:03:47 --> 01:03:53 Dunn, F R E D E R I C K D U N N, and it leads you to everything.
01:03:53 --> 01:03:57 Sometimes I seem like multiple people, so don't be surprised if it
01:03:57 --> 01:04:01 ties in with Getty Images and things like that, because that's me also.
01:04:02 --> 01:04:05 But that's the best way, and the YouTube channel, of course, is Frederick Dunn.
01:04:05 --> 01:04:09 And also, if you just Google the way to be, you'll find out, again, So, yeah.
01:04:09 --> 01:04:11 I'm very easy to find.
01:04:11 --> 01:04:14 That's the good news about the years that I've been doing this.
01:04:14 --> 01:04:14 So
01:04:16 --> 01:04:20 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: the way to be, you'll end up at Fred's Fine Fowls.
01:04:20 --> 01:04:21 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: the way to be.
01:04:21 --> 01:04:23 org is fredsfindfile.
01:04:23 --> 01:04:24 com.
01:04:24 --> 01:04:24 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Yeah.
01:04:25 --> 01:04:25 Yeah.
01:04:26 --> 01:04:29 I know the first time I visited your website, I was like a little confused.
01:04:29 --> 01:04:30 Then I figured it out.
01:04:30 --> 01:04:31 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: yeah, yeah.
01:04:31 --> 01:04:36 Well, I've had people say, please change the name on it.
01:04:36 --> 01:04:36 Yeah, but I can't.
01:04:36 --> 01:04:39 Cause that's the primary and that's blah, blah.
01:04:39 --> 01:04:39 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: yeah.
01:04:40 --> 01:04:43 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: And obviously it's a really old website too.
01:04:43 --> 01:04:43 So
01:04:44 --> 01:04:45 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Yeah, it works.
01:04:46 --> 01:04:49 Well, Fred, I appreciate you coming on and sharing with us today.
01:04:49 --> 01:04:49 frederick-dunn_1_12-11-2024_125642: thanks Cal.
01:04:49 --> 01:04:50 Appreciate you having me.
01:04:50 --> 01:04:52 It's been a lot of fun.
01:04:53 --> 01:04:53 cal_1_12-11-2024_115642: Thank you.
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