Unlock the secrets of beekeeping with our guest, Mateo Kaiser, as we explore the art and science behind this rewarding hobby. Discover how Mateo transformed his backyard in Mountain View, California, into a thriving small-scale apiary during the pandemic, and learn why beekeeping is the perfect low-maintenance alternative to traditional pets. With insights into hive management, local regulations, and the peaceful nature of bee care, Mateo's journey offers a unique perspective for both novice and seasoned beekeepers alike.
Our conversation touches on the innovative tools and techniques Mateo has encountered, from Flow Hives to Croatian queen isolators. Listen as Mateo shares his successes in community education through live honey harvesting demonstrations and explains his passion for connecting with fellow enthusiasts around the world. Whether it's managing hives in a suburban setting or experimenting with new beekeeping gadgets, Mateo's experiences highlight the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of beekeeping.
Finally, dive into the world of swarm management with Mateo's groundbreaking platform, Bee Swarmed. This unique initiative connects beekeepers with reported swarms, fostering a community-driven approach to swarm prediction and management. By leveraging citizen science and open-source collaboration, Bee Swarmed not only aids in swarm capture but also strengthens the beekeeping community. Tune in for practical tips, favorite resources, and Mateo's vision for the future of beekeeping, empowering listeners to embrace this enchanting practice.
Links Mentioned in the Episode
Swarmed
Apiary Chronicles Links
website
Check out the Grazing Grass Podcast
NOTE This file was generated by Descript
00:00:01 --> 00:00:04 On today's episode, we talk about getting started.
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 The high flow hive.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:12 And Swarmed, the website for reporting swarms and Catchings forms.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:17 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: So for the fast five, first question, what's your name?
00:00:18 --> 00:00:18 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:19 My name is Matteo Kaiser.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 I'm a beekeeper from Mountain View, California.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:22 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: All right.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 Do you, do you have a name for your apiary?
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Not really.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:30 I guess we, we name our honey mostly after the street we live on.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:31 And so we call it our view street
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 honey.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:33 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, very good.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:34 Very good.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 And you said you're located in Northern California.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:37 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:38 So nice mild climate for the
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 bees.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:40 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yes.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:46 Cal: Welcome to Apiary Chronicles, where we dive deep into the world of beekeeping
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 and the people who make it all happen.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 I'm Cal Hardage your host and fellow bee enthusiast.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: And what year did you start with bees?
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: At this point it's been four or five years.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 I got started basically right at the beginning of the pandemic.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 Oh okay, yeah, and it's amazing that.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:07 Um, The pandemic feels like just yesterday, but when we start counting
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 how it was, it's been a little
00:01:09 --> 00:01:10 Now I realize.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:10 Yeah.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:10 Yeah.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: And how many colonies do you manage?
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Right now in my small suburban
00:01:16 --> 00:01:17 backyard, two and a half.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 But the most I've ever had, I think was 10, 12.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 When I put that together with the bees I had in my college had a bee garden at
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 home and and an apiary up at my college.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 And so we had more space and more bees there.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 But I've got a couple of neighbors who have bees as well.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 And in our small backyard.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 We have two, two hives and then a little custom nucleus colony that I, that I built
00:01:36 --> 00:01:41 myself that, that I try to run as just a, just a five frame nuke which is doable in
00:01:41 --> 00:01:41 California.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: oh very good, very good.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:47 So Mateo, why bees?
00:01:48 --> 00:01:49 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 I got into the hobby pretty spontaneously.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 It was not something that I'd ever planned.
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 I, I grew up in suburbia, did not think that this was something
00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 that, that I could get into.
00:01:57 --> 00:02:01 I, I think I, as far as beekeeping was on my, on my radar, that was
00:02:01 --> 00:02:02 sort of something that farmers did.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 And, not, not something that, that I would do in the suburbs.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 And, and really got into it coincidentally, and we, we
00:02:08 --> 00:02:09 can talk about that as well.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 I, what kept me with beekeeping is, I think, the same thing
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 that a lot of people talk about, right, is amazingly meditative.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:19 I can't think of a pet that is as low maintenance, as interesting
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 to talk about smells as good.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:26 Produces as, as delicious and wonderful byproducts as, as honeybees do.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 And so I think I, I recommend it to, to most people I talk to
00:02:30 --> 00:02:31 I think is a really nice hobby.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 And, and I'm a, I'm someone who's all over the place working on
00:02:34 --> 00:02:35 five different things at once.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:39 And so the time when I'm most focused and, and most relaxed
00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 is, is when I'm beekeeping.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 And I always enjoyed doing something hands on, and I think beekeeping
00:02:43 --> 00:02:44 is wonderfully tactile, right?
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 You can feel it, you can taste it, you can smell it.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 And, and so it is really nice to, to.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 be doing that and it was nice to get into during the pandemic and has
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 remained something that I really enjoy.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:01 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: You know, I I never think about bees as, as pets.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 I use, I come from a farm background.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:04 I think livestock.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 But that's one great thing you bring up about them.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 They're not, they don't require your attention.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 You don't have to feed them every day.
00:03:11 --> 00:03:12 You don't have to go water them.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:17 And that's, beekeeping really fits my personality for that because
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 I get distracted and then I go do this, then, then I'm off task.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 But then when I can get to the bee, or the apiary, I can
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 focus and really be in there.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:30 And It's so, when you've got bees flying around you, it feels
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 like it's just you and the bees.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:33 No one else is out
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, I will say I don't think it's the same thing
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 as having a pet, but when I talk to people
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 who might, they usually have dogs and cats and that's what they compare it
00:03:39 --> 00:03:44 to, and, and they're, it compares very favorably I think to, to how I can
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 travel, I can do all these things and, and of course it's a little bit more
00:03:47 --> 00:03:51 like shepherding the bees but I think is, is, is of course take some work and take
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 some learning to do but it's saying that.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 That I didn't realize that was something that you could totally get into, right?
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 That wasn't as hard as you might think or as obscure as you might think to get
00:03:59 --> 00:03:59 into.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:02 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: I do, I do agree.
00:04:02 --> 00:04:06 I like the analogy of a pet, because that's something a lot of people can
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 associate with, they know immediately what you're talking about then.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:10 Yeah.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:12 They're just not quite as warm and fuzzy.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:14 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Debatable, right?
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 I think some people like to get, like to get up close and personal.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 Yeah, I'd to really get in there.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 But the, when I started out, I was definitely full suit, pretty nervous.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:24 Right.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 Try not to get stung at all.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:26 And, and I think pretty tense as well.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 And then now It took a long time for me to graduate to no
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 gloves and just to just avail.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 Took a while, and the more I do it, the more I enjoy getting
00:04:34 --> 00:04:35 closer to the bees that way.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 It gets more tactile, right, you can feel the bees run over your hands,
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 right, I think is very special.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:42 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Right.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 I completely agree.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 When you got started with bees, did you have a mentor?
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 Did you have a bee club you went to?
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, so I'm a, I'm, well, now I'm a graduate
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 of a master beekeeper program, but originally was, was a graduate of YouTube
00:04:55 --> 00:04:56 University.
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 had, right, got started during the pandemic and so there was
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 not really anyone to talk to in person or work with in person.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:04 But I had a lot of time on my hands.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 Caught a swarm sort of spontaneously.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 Just happened that a neighbor who had bees without, was sheltering out of town.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 I was just right at the beginning of the pandemic when sort of
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 everything ground to a halt.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 And so I grabbed, grabbed that swarm, brought him home in a cardboard
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 box, and started learning on YouTube what to, what to do with him.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 I had done some kind of preliminary research, but really got, kind
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 of got thrown into the deep end once this swarm appeared.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:31 And so that's what got me started and then had the time to watch hundreds
00:05:31 --> 00:05:36 of hours of YouTube videos and, and get, right, and kind of learn, follow
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 the questions into, into, into what, what what I needed to know, right?
00:05:39 --> 00:05:44 And so got started with that and now have kind of moved towards more science
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 based beekeeping and, and getting kind of more solid footing in, in some of the,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 the theory here and some of the biology here doing a master beekeeper course.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:56 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: With your YouTube learning or YouTube university, were
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 there some channels that really stuck out that you found really beneficial?
00:05:59 --> 00:05:59 Yeah.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:00 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 Initially, I enjoyed the Flow Hive videos.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:08 They make some really nice, pleasing to watch videos, and really relaxing, and I
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 think they're very good at explaining how this is something that you can get into.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 But I think, when Flow Hive launched, I think there was some criticism
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 that they made it seem too easy.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 But I think I do think they've, they've made up for a lot of that
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 with the really, really rigorous educational content they put out.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 Right, I don't know how many hundreds of videos they've produced at this point.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:30 To me it was more than just the attitude, like the idea that this was something
00:06:30 --> 00:06:31 that I as a beginner could learn, right?
00:06:31 --> 00:06:36 That there's no wrong, that you're not, that there's no barrier to entry that
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 can't be, that can't be surmounted.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 And so I started there and then got into some of the more niche
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 beekeeping YouTubers, Cayman Reynolds a lot of Fred Dunn.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 And so, yeah, there's a couple other channels.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 Got more and more into it, right, and getting towards some of the
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 more niche questions, right?
00:06:51 --> 00:06:52 First, you're just trying to learn.
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 How do you do an inspection?
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 And then after you're looking at niche, different might treatments.
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 And that's one of the things that I really enjoy, right.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:03 Is I think for me, any good hobby, there have to be gadgets and there
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 have to be sort of infinite amount of information to learn, right.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:07 You have to be able to keep going deeper.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:08 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Right.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:09 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I think beekeeping satisfies
00:07:09 --> 00:07:10 both those things really well.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Right, I agree because you can really go
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 really deep with beekeeping, like, like you're going probably with
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 your master's beekeeping course.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:21 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: There's a rabbit hole, and you can keep going
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 down it, and I think that's really nice.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:23 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:24 Yeah.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 When you brought that first set of bees home, did you have any equipment?
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 Did you borrow some equipment?
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, actually, lo and behold we had
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 a beehive sitting in the basement, and I think this is something that
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 happens to a lot of people, or at least happened to a lot of people when
00:07:39 --> 00:07:40 the Flow Hive Kickstarter came out.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:42 My dad saw that and thought, wow, that's
00:07:42 --> 00:07:47 cool, And bought the Flow The original Flow Hive from the Kickstarter, and
00:07:47 --> 00:07:48 then it sat in our basement for a year
00:07:48 --> 00:07:53 or two, right, then we kind of realized, well, you actually, it's not just honey
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 on tap, or you have to, you actually do have to, to get into this, and life
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 happens, right, you don't have the time to get into it, and then when life slowed
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 down in the pandemic, it, it, There was the time to, to really get into it.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 And so had been, actually been working at my university with,
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 with a group of students who wanted to, wanted to get BS on campus.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 And so we, we were doing some of the re the research there and, and trying
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 to figure out how are we gonna do this?
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 And then right as we were gonna pull the trigger in spring, we all
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 got sent home for the pandemic and.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:24 I was sitting at home with some preliminary knowledge, a beehive in
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 the basement that was not being used and then all of a sudden the swarm came
00:08:27 --> 00:08:31 along, right, and then did have the basic equipment to, to get started, yeah.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 So I was very lucky that some of the building blocks were already in place
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 there even though the start was very
00:08:34 --> 00:08:35 spontaneous.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:36 Right.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 So, what, what'd you do to get started?
00:08:39 --> 00:08:43 that, um, swarmed and you got them hived in that flow hive.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:46 What was your next step?
00:08:47 --> 00:08:52 Yeah, I had done my research and, on what, on watching these videos about
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 what you do when you catch a swarm and so I dove right in with, with my first
00:08:55 --> 00:08:59 mite treatment, doing an oxalic acid dribble, Right over the swarm where
00:08:59 --> 00:09:03 they have done a brood and so it was a good time to do the oxalic acid dribble.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:07 And then honestly I had my first sort of beekeeper wake up lesson, when the next
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 morning there were what to me at least seemed like a lot of dead bees up front.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 Right, and I a lot of beekeepers report that, right, like oxalic
00:09:13 --> 00:09:14 acid can be pretty tough.
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 And so, What I thought was a ton of dead bees out front and I actually think
00:09:18 --> 00:09:22 the bees actually did end up replacing their queen, and so something didn't go
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 quite well with the Oxalic Acid Dribble, and so my fur immediately right off
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 the get go, sort of a bit of a stumble.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 But then of course the, a week later, seeing the beautiful starts of the
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 comb being drawn out there were, it was working and then the bees
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 rallied and, and it, it worked out.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:41 I think the, queen did lay some eggs before, before dying or before
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 managing or being superseded.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 I, I think at the time was not in a place to know what was exactly going
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 on there.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 But so it got off to a bumpy start.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:48 But.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:53 Bees do well in California and we had a nice spring and of course I had the time
00:09:53 --> 00:09:58 to, to sit there, watch the bees for hours on end, and think up questions,
00:09:58 --> 00:10:02 right, look up answers to my questions, and, and probably over, be, be overly
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 attentive to what was going on in my hive.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 When did you expand beyond that one hive?
00:10:10 --> 00:10:14 Yeah, probably a combination of when my family got used to
00:10:14 --> 00:10:15 having the bees in the backyard.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:19 I think at first was a little bit, there was a little bit of reluctance to have 60,
00:10:19 --> 00:10:20 000 honeybees in our, in our
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yeah.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: But then now they're a right now they're
00:10:24 --> 00:10:29 a much beloved part of our house or our garden, but I think at the time
00:10:29 --> 00:10:33 getting two colonies seemed unthinkable, but pretty quickly realized that
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 actually two colonies is the way to go.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 At least two colonies, right, is the best way to start.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 Because otherwise you have no, you have no comparison, right?
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 You have no reference.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:45 And so now we always try to have at least a small backyard.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 And so, and like I said, there's a couple of other beekeepers in the neighborhood.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 And so I don't want to have too many bees and kind of overload our,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 our local, our local ecosystem.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 But I think two colonies is nice.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 And, and now that I'm not home so often and my parents are taking care of the
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 bees there, I think, yeah, works, works nice to have two colonies, and, and right,
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 you're able to move resources from one colony to the next, and, and use them to
00:11:04 --> 00:11:08 support one another, and also to compare, right, where, where each colony should be.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yes.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:09 Yeah.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:14 With having, uh, bees in your in, uh, Suburbia.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:16 Did you run into some issues?
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 Was there any regulations you had to be aware of?
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 Did you have any concerns from neighbors?
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, to be honest, there were
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Well, I guess we didn't really tell the neighbors when we got started.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 It was sort of a ask for forgiveness, not permission, right?
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 I think, I, I, I see this a lot from beekeepers when this gets
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 talked about in forums, right?
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 Like, should I tell my neighbors?
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 And, and, it seems to be a lot of times the consensus is if they're, if you
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 don't think they're going to notice on their own, no need to tell them.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 Or, tell them when you bring them a glass of honey a couple months
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 later.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 Right, and break the news, break the news to them that way.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:51 My city had some local ordinances around placing the hive away
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 from the property line, but other than that, there were no rules.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:59 And so, place the hive in kind of a corner, we even faced it, I think this is
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 a little trick that sometimes is useful.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 We originally faced the bees towards the
00:12:04 --> 00:12:08 fence, and so the, the, the, the entrance was facing the fence, right, which of
00:12:08 --> 00:12:12 course pushes the bees to fly up much faster and so we have the kind of a
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 narrow backyard, and so we didn't want to have this sort of swath of bees flying,
00:12:15 --> 00:12:19 right, that kind of, the bee highway going in and out of the hive, having
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 that go across our whole garden but after the first year, we actually turned the
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 hive around because it's, it's so much more fun to watch the bees come in and
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 out, right, And, and now that we're Now that we're used to them and
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 now that we like having them in the garden and, and, and know that
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 they're a nice cherished part of the garden we haven't turned around.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 But originally we tried to kind of push them into a smaller space by having them
00:12:37 --> 00:12:38 facing the fence.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh,
00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: so far no problems from neighbors
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 I think one neighbor's noticed, the other neighbor hasn't noticed
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 and so everyone seems happy.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Well, yeah.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 And that's the important part right there.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:49 Everyone's happy.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 It's going
00:12:50 --> 00:12:50 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, exactly.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Now with your, your first hive, you had that flow hive.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:58 When you expanded, did you go ahead and get another flow hive?
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, I think we opted for like
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 the super basic Kickstarter
00:13:02 --> 00:13:02 version,
00:13:03 --> 00:13:03 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh,
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: That's not, that's not what
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 they have on their website now.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 It was like the really stripped down version, so it
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 was actually just three flow
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 frames, and so it was, it was the bottom, right?
00:13:11 --> 00:13:15 Every, all the hardware down below, I think maybe was even from them, I think
00:13:15 --> 00:13:19 we may have even bought that from someone else was a totally normal eight frame brew
00:13:19 --> 00:13:23 box and, and, and screen bottom board, and we just dropped this flow hybrid.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 I think they still sell a hybrid model with just three frames.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 And then on each side, two regular frames for
00:13:28 --> 00:13:28 honeycomb,
00:13:29 --> 00:13:29 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh,
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: for comb honey, or I think in the first
00:13:31 --> 00:13:37 year, we harvested those frames and just did the sort of, the scratch, scratch
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 method, right, of just scrape it all out and then, and then run it through
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 a sieve, but now we harvest comb honey, right, so now we still have, we still
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 have the flow hive and so we do three frames of the flow hive honey, right,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:52 and that goes in, in bottles or in jars, and then the, the, I Yeah, four frames of
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 regular comb honey that I really enjoy at least, and I think makes a nice gift too.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 Right, doesn't get any purer than comb honey.
00:13:59 --> 00:13:59 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah,
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, so I think it's a nice way to
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 balance, but I think we the rest of the boxes were actually regular, yeah,
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 regular A frame boxes from our local
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 beekeeping store.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 And so it was no problem, no problem to expand there.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 Although now in California, more and more I'm realizing that single
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 brewed boxes is the way to go.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:17 The bees do quite well with the single brewed box rather than double deep.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: And is that why you have double deep 8 frames?
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, now I have an 8 frame and a 10 frame
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 but each run each running with a single deep brood box with a super on top,
00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 right?
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 And of course the flow super the flow super is a deep super and the 10 frame
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 hive just has a regular medium super on
00:14:32 --> 00:14:32 it, yeah.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yeah.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 I remember the Flow Hive coming out on Kickstarter and the
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 controversy that that caused.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 They did look very fascinating to me, but I've never had the
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 opportunity to mess with one.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:46 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: yeah.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:51 You hear all sorts of things, I I can say it's worked for me right?
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 I you hear stories about it not working for people.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 It's, it's worked great for me.
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 I, I had, I had one at, at, at my home, right?
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 And a couple at the college apiary, where there it was actually really
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 cool to be able to share this with, with more people, right?
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 Because you make honey harvesting so much more exciting, right?
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 We'd have a hundred people come out to watch us harvest honey.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:11 And there it actually is the sort of fun novelty to pass pieces of, right,
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 crackers under the stream of honey and pass them on to people to try the honey
00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 literally straight from the hive, right?
00:15:16 --> 00:15:16 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yes.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Of course, some of the criticism about
00:15:18 --> 00:15:23 kind of honey on tap I, I think probably merited, but I think they've definitely
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 made up for that with the amount of educational work they've done now.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 And I can, right, I say this as someone who is, you know, Sort of
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 drawn into the hobby by the glitzy Kickstarter video as well, right?
00:15:32 --> 00:15:32 Like
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 I watched this video and thought, holy crap, this is something
00:15:35 --> 00:15:35 that I could do.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:36 Right.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:40 And so some people I'm sure watch the video by the Flow Hive and leave it
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 in their basement and never use it.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 But ours came out of the basement and is now, now turn into a whole thing.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:45 Right.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 And so I'm very grateful to, to.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 Some of those are trailblazing that they've done
00:15:49 --> 00:15:49 there.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:54 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yes, sometimes those, those new ideas
00:15:54 --> 00:15:59 or new Um, I can't even think of the one with the idea Hive, maybe.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 I'm, I may have that wrong.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 I know Fred Dunn was talking about it, that he's getting one.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:10 Sometimes those things are, the old established beekeepers
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 are like, this is another fad.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 But, it draws people in, because hey,
00:16:16 --> 00:16:21 and um, and then if you, that sparks your interest and you follow it,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 and then you're able to build your knowledge, that's not a bad deal.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I mean, Flowhive, I think is
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 celebrating their 10th anniversary this
00:16:28 --> 00:16:28 year.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 And so they've been around for a while now, too, right?
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 I think we all remember the Kickstarter, but they've been around for quite a
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 while now and have sold a lot of these.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 I don't remember the exact same number, but they've sold quite a few
00:16:39 --> 00:16:43 of these hives and built a, I think, a pretty cool community of beekeepers,
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 a lot of new beekeepers, right?
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 After now, after 10 years, Some of these are pretty seasoned beekeepers,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 right, but were brought into the hobby.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 So they sort of spawned this new community, which I think is very exciting.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 But of course I see a lot of the criticism out there as well.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:58 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:58 Yeah.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 Well, what's that?
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 You know, you talk to 10 beekeepers, you get 12 opinions.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:04 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:10 Now, you said, I think you said you've got two and a half hives or colonies in your
00:17:10 --> 00:17:10 backyard.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 You've got also a nuc you manage.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:13 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 Yeah, I like to tinker.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 And I've been reading a little bit about managing nucleus
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 colonies in a nucleus year round.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 I was curious to try that out and wasn't trying to get a whole new
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 hive, was catching some swarms.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 I usually give away the swarms that I catch to other beekeepers,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 right, since I'm not trying to grow my, my apiary too much.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:36 But had a small swarm that was sort of raising back to health in the,
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 in the little hive, and wanted to try out some interesting stuff.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:42 And so I, I Drew inspiration from a couple of different tools out there.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:46 I read some interesting stuff about Hardwood right using using
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 rough edge planks that have a
00:17:48 --> 00:17:48 rough texture.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 So the honeybees put way more propolis in there.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:55 Exactly Yeah, so they're putting in way more propolis the hive So I
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 took some old fence boards and kind of roughed them up and put them in
00:17:57 --> 00:18:01 there as the inside wall What else?
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 Yeah, I wanted to try building a built in feeder And so it's got sort of a, the
00:18:04 --> 00:18:08 nuke is kind of extra long and has a, a little feeder tank built in the back.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 It's got a nice little copper slanted roof, which I wasn't saying that I, I
00:18:12 --> 00:18:16 saw on the market to buy and so kind of made it, right, it's all, it's sitting
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 in my, it's sitting in my backyard and so I wanted it to look nice.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:22 The, the entrance is actually a copper I want to say it's like a irrigation
00:18:22 --> 00:18:26 gasket, like it's a little It's a, it's an attachment for a hose that I bought
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 at the hardware store that makes, it's nice and hexagonal shape, so it's a
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 nice little hexagon, round opening
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 for the bees to come in and out of so it's, a lot of it's aesthetic, it's
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 got a little, actually, it's got some succulents growing on the wall on the
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 side now too, so it's a whole thing the last thing I think I built in too
00:18:39 --> 00:18:43 was, Oh, actually, I'll mention two more things, because I really went
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 down the rabbit hole with this one.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:48 There's a copper wire stretched across, it's a very fine copper wire,
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 where I was drawing from the Bee Gym.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 I don't know if you've seen that product, that it's been out there for a while now.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: I am not familiar with that.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, when I first saw it, I almost
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 laughed to myself, a Bee Gym?
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 What, like, what is that supposed to be?
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 And I have no idea if it honestly really works but it
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 seemed cool, and I bought one.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:12 It's a little plastic thing that goes on top of a It goes on top of a screened
00:19:12 --> 00:19:17 bottom board and it has some, it has some wires and it has some little plastic
00:19:17 --> 00:19:22 flippers and the idea is that the bees can, it encourages hygienic behavior in
00:19:22 --> 00:19:26 the bees, that they're able to scrape mites off of themselves and they show a
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 video actually where, they have a video where a bee actually scrapes a mite off
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 of itself using one of these flippers, right, so the bees are able to kind of
00:19:32 --> 00:19:32 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yes.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:36 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: and so, I was curious if that actually worked, and
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 well, I thought, well, I can, I can build this in, no problem, and so there's some
00:19:38 --> 00:19:42 little wires and little things, basically, for the bees to scratch themselves on to
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 basically pop mites off, and then they fall through this green bottom board out
00:19:44 --> 00:19:49 of the hive, onto a sticky board and so that's one thing, and then the last really
00:19:49 --> 00:19:54 obscure thing that I built into this, is I read a article that pseudoscorpions,
00:19:54 --> 00:19:58 These tiny little insects are actually predi they prey on varroa mites.
00:19:58 --> 00:20:02 There was one, one academic article on this, that, that they could
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 serve as bio as like a biological
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 control method.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 And so I did some, did a little bit of research dove into some communities
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 of people who actually raise these.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 These look, they look like scorpions, but they're tiny.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 And occur basically everywhere and try to build a way for them
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 to sort of also live in the hive.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 And, saw some interesting resources around, so I actually did a little
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 cardboard stack, a little of basically pieces of cardboard.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 And they go and they live in the grooves there right where the bees can't
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 access them, and the, the, scorpions are technically able to live in there.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:31 Who knows if any do in my hive, but In the research, they were talking about
00:20:31 --> 00:20:36 how old fashioned straw skep hives that had way more crevices provided habitat
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 space for these, these chelophers, those, I think the Latin name but these
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 pseudoscorpions to live in these grooves and kind of coexist with the honeybees
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 and actually prey on varroa mites.
00:20:44 --> 00:20:44 And so.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 I did a little bit of reading about that, wanted to try it out, and so I
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 have this little, little nucleus colony.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 So you probably got more than you bargained for asking about
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 that, but it was a little test, a little press, test project for me
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 there.
00:20:56 --> 00:20:56 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: those are great.
00:20:56 --> 00:21:00 Now, did you purchase some pseudoscorpions to put in there?
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 Or is the thought that they'll
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 find it on their own?
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: you know, I wanted to couldn't find
00:21:04 --> 00:21:08 any and, like, I, I don't know, I, there may be laws here about
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 not shipping them, I don't know.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 I think there's also not a huge market for them, but there's an enthusiastic
00:21:13 --> 00:21:17 online community of people who, who catch these, and so, um, actually I've
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 seen them, since this project, I've seen them more and more often when I garden.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 I've started
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 noticing them right now that I know what to look for.
00:21:23 --> 00:21:27 But at the time, I just took my cardboard, got a bunch of leaf litter,
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 and kind of let the leaf litter and the cardboard sit together for a couple days.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 With the idea that there are maybe pseudoscorpions in the leaf
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 litter, and they may be moving to my cardboard, and when I move
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 the cardboard back into the hive,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:38 they'll be there.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 I'm not vouching that this is proven or tested, but this is a
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 little, little project for me.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: That's very interesting.
00:21:47 --> 00:21:51 Um, And you mentioned two things there, the pseudoscorpions and the
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 BGM that I'm not familiar with.
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 You know, I mentioned earlier, I think before we were talking about it,
00:21:56 --> 00:22:01 how beekeeping sometimes it's on the background, sometimes on the forefront.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:07 To be honest, I have not really focused on my apiaries since the pandemic started.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:12 Really, some other focuses there and the bees have And, um, with mimmel.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 Interaction with me.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:19 But also when I return I'm looking at catalogs and stuff.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:23 I'm just shocked by how much things have changed in the last five years.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:27 Just new products out there that I'd never seen before and this bee
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 gym is one of those I'd never seen.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: That's one of the things that I enjoy
00:22:30 --> 00:22:33 writing in, and I'm sure there's plenty of gimmicks out there but I
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 think for a good hobby, there have to be fun gadgets to try out too.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 And so I enjoy trying out all sorts of different things, and, and testing new
00:22:39 --> 00:22:43 tools, right, so I've, I've Whenever I travel, I always try to look for
00:22:43 --> 00:22:45 the beekeeping store wherever I am.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:51 And so I visited beekeeping stores in Croatia, in Bosnia, in Bulgaria, talked
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 to beekeepers there, found really interesting different tools that they,
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 right, like different tools that they use and brought those home with me.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:59 And so I, I like the, I like to collect different beekeeping
00:22:59 --> 00:23:01 tools little gadgets there.
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 And there's, like you mentioned, there's all kinds
00:23:02 --> 00:23:02 of different stuff.
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yes.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:04 Yeah.
00:23:05 --> 00:23:09 Being able to talk to some beekeepers from other countries, what's been
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 something you've brought back home that you thought I've got to do
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 or or it's improved your practice?
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, you know, to be honest, I
00:23:15 --> 00:23:19 haven't used it yet, but it is sitting on the shelf waiting to be used.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 It is a queen isolator.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:25 And actually, I, I, I learned about this in Croatia.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 Brought it back to the U.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:26 S.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:29 and wrote up, and they gave me this whole instruction sheet in Croatian.
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 And so went about translating it.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 Of course, a lot of the kind of technical language didn't translate
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 well, and so did a lot of the kind of hand translation there.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 And posted that and shared it with some beekeepers and I actually heard
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 back from beekeepers that this is something that some people in the U.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:41 S.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 are familiar with, but that I had never seen in the U.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:43 S.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:48 it's usually metal, but this is a plastic box basically a bit of queen excluder
00:23:48 --> 00:23:52 mesh that fits around two frames and so you can, what you do is you constrain the
00:23:52 --> 00:23:57 queen to just two frames, right, so she's laying all of her brood in just two frames
00:23:57 --> 00:24:01 of the hive and then the idea is, and you could also maybe, and they talked about
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03 also maybe doing this with drone frames.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 The idea being that the queen would then lay all of her eggs there, all the mites
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 move into the brood on those two frames.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:11 And then you, you then release the queen again, and then you throw out the two
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 frames that are now mite bombs, right?
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16 That you, you give them to your chickens or whatever and get rid of those two
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 frames and do some rotations like that.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 Variations of this technique, it turns out, are used in the U.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 S., but I came across this for the first time meeting these, these Croatian
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 beekeepers who were super excited to show me this technique that I guess
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 is very, very popular in Croatia.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 And is an interesting one for a treatment free approach, right?
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 You're sort of doing a brood break while still allowing the queen to lay.
00:24:33 --> 00:24:33 Yeah.
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 Haven't tried it yet, but it's on my to do list to give it a try.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 Maybe this spring.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:40 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Actually, as you're describing it, I'm thinking,
00:24:40 --> 00:24:46 Oh, I've got a metal one in my box of beekeeping stuff I haven't I,
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 um, heard someone talk about it, I'm assuming at the big bee buzz
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: You see them at the conferences sometimes.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:51 Yeah.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:51 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:55 and I bought at least one, I just saw it the other day and thought,
00:24:55 --> 00:24:57 Oh yeah, what was I doing with that?
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, I've been seeing Since I
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 learned about it, I've been seeing them more and more often, yeah.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 But to me, at the time, it was totally new.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:09 Now you mentioned earlier, you got your start because of a swarm, and
00:25:09 --> 00:25:12 then I think you mentioned a little bit later, you catch some swarms and
00:25:12 --> 00:25:16 you give them away because your apiary is the size you want for right now.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:18 Do you do a lot of swarm catching?
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: You know, not as much as I'd like to.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 I really enjoy catching swarms.
00:25:25 --> 00:25:30 It's how I got into the hobby, but it's also super fun to meet people, right?
00:25:30 --> 00:25:34 I think for people who report a swarm, they've usually never had
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 this happen to them before, right?
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 So this is a really exciting moment Talk to people about bees, right?
00:25:38 --> 00:25:42 I think most beekeepers like to talk to people about bees and so I'm always
00:25:42 --> 00:25:46 very excited to, to go out and help someone pick up the bees, get them myself
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 and talk to them about the bees, right?
00:25:48 --> 00:25:51 And, and what's going on here since usually they have no clue and I like
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 that it's always different, right?
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 Like the, you don't catch the same swarm twice, it's always a different
00:25:55 --> 00:25:59 challenge in some way, and, and always pretty magical and very interesting
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 to, to tackle each challenge.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: It is, and catching swarms will sometimes
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 draw a crowd, like you said.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:06 People are
00:26:06 --> 00:26:11 interested in it, and um, fascinated by it, and a lot of times it's
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 their first experience with it.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:17 Do you have like a swarm kit you have in your car so you're ready to go?
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: yeah, yeah, so I've got one
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: what's in it?
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: yeah, so I've got one of those five
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 gallon buckets, right, that sits in the, sits in the trunk all spring.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:24 What's in it?
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 Yeah, bee suit, gloves, pre loaded smoker.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 One thing that I just started this year is, is making sort
00:26:30 --> 00:26:33 of pre prepared smoker loads.
00:26:34 --> 00:26:34 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah,
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: right, so I use pine needles in my smoker dry
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 pine needles, but of course, there's a major breakthrough for me to realize that
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 I could just, you know, Pre wrapped, I could wrap them in some twine, right,
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44 and make this sort of perfect bundle.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:47 They just pop into the smoker and go and I don't know why I haven't
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 seen that before more often Or I don't why I didn't come across that
00:26:49 --> 00:26:53 earlier So I pre loaded smoker.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 Yeah, bee brush.
00:26:54 --> 00:27:00 My number one tool is New thing I got from China Ordered it on Aliexpress
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 or something because I don't see any vendors in the US that sell this
00:27:05 --> 00:27:09 But it is a pretty great tool is my extension pole swarm catching net.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:15 And so it's a Yeah, so it's a it's a canvas bag right on a on a little little
00:27:15 --> 00:27:18 metal arm And so when I pull on the string the bag shuts and catches the bees
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 And put that to good use this spring.
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: oh yeah.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 Sounds interesting.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:27 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah worked I bought it to see if it was if
00:27:27 --> 00:27:32 it worked or if it was bad quality and wouldn't work And the canvas is a little
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 flimsy, but overall works really well,
00:27:35 --> 00:27:37 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah, that's
00:27:37 --> 00:27:39 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: So now yeah, so now I'm able to reach
00:27:39 --> 00:27:42 swarms right 20 30 feet up without without a ladder, which is pretty
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 sweet
00:27:44 --> 00:27:44 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, that would be.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 Yeah.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 Yeah.
00:27:46 --> 00:27:50 Cause getting that ladder and carrying equipment up a ladder is never any fun.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:53 Or maybe going up's not as bad as going down.
00:27:53 --> 00:27:55 I don't know which it is yet.
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, yeah.
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 And, and, yeah.
00:27:58 --> 00:28:03 So it's nice to use I think in precarious situations it has saved my butt and so
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 it's a nice tool to have in the arsenal.
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 I've thought of some ways to improve it too.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 The one thing is that bees stick to canvas, like the bees really hold on.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 And so honestly something like a garbage bag would probably
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 work even better, right, that
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 the bees can't grip
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yes.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 Yeah.
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I could just strap a garbage bag in there rather
00:28:18 --> 00:28:21 than this, this sort of nice looking canvas bag might work even better.
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 But it's a nice tool and, and I wish there were better versions of
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 it available, available in the us.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:27 Right.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 So I, I kind of risked it and waited a month for it to derive from, from,
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 from China and turned out fine, but, but would've liked to have a better
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 version out there.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh Yeah.
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 Yeah.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:43 Mateo, before we move to our beyond the buzz section, let's just talk a little
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 bit about the future for your apiary.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 Where do you see it going?
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 Are you thinking it stays just that little backyard?
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 Would you like to grow it some?
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 What's your plans for the future?
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 I'm at a, I'm at a point in my life where I'm moving around a lot.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:59 I, I, I travel a lot for work.
00:28:59 --> 00:29:01 And so more and more of the bees are a little bit in the care of my parents
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 who have been dragooned into the hobby now, so they are also now beekeepers.
00:29:07 --> 00:29:10 But right, and we spend so many hours talking about bees over
00:29:10 --> 00:29:13 dinner that they've long since become beekeepers anyways.
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 But are now taking care of the bees quite often.
00:29:17 --> 00:29:19 Once I settle down more permanently somewhere else,
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 there'll definitely be bees again.
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 Now, basically, wherever I am, I work with beekeepers as I go, right?
00:29:25 --> 00:29:29 So I volunteer at a local botanical garden with their bees so do all kinds of
00:29:29 --> 00:29:33 different things to, to stay close to the hobby, even though I travel around quite a
00:29:33 --> 00:29:33 lot.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah, yeah, travel does make that a little
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 bit tougher, but that's a great
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: It's not super portable,
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: in touch
00:29:40 --> 00:29:40 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: the big
00:29:40 --> 00:29:43 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: to beekeepers there or volunteer where you can.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Mm hmm.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Mateo, let's
00:29:45 --> 00:29:48 switch gears just a little bit and go to our Beyond the Buzz, and we're going
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 to talk about your Beeswarmed website.
00:29:51 --> 00:29:55 And first off, tell us just a little bit about it, and then
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 we'll dive into why you created it.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 So what is Beeswarmed?
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: yeah, so Swarmed is a tool for beekeepers
00:30:01 --> 00:30:03 to hear about swarms faster, right?
00:30:03 --> 00:30:07 So I spend my spring collecting swarms and spend a lot of time refreshing
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 Facebook, refreshing Nextdoor.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 Waiting for someone to post about a
00:30:10 --> 00:30:15 swarm, And trying to see, trying to make sure I catch them fast enough, right,
00:30:15 --> 00:30:18 before they call the exterminator, before the bees move on, whatever
00:30:18 --> 00:30:21 trying to make sure that I'm quick enough and is, is, is quite a drag.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:24 And I think there's so much to be improved here, especially in how
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 associations manage swarm lists, right?
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 I think this is one of the few places that you still see phone book
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 directories.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:34 And so as I was testing this out, I actually, I, I called my local associate,
00:30:34 --> 00:30:37 I went to my local association swarm list and just called my way through the list.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40 As if I was going to report a swarm right to see who answered
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 and I'd say half the numbers.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44 Nobody picked up of those.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 Another half was were disconnected.
00:30:45 --> 00:30:48 Anyways of the beekeepers actually did reach right where
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 they're busy too far away.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 No interest.
00:30:50 --> 00:30:53 And when you do reach a beekeeper, they always they always ask
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 the same questions, right?
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 And so.
00:30:55 --> 00:30:59 What I built Swarm to do is that the public can go to a website that
00:30:59 --> 00:31:02 is, that they're finding in the right places on the internet, right,
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05 because I think most people, when they see a swarm, they're Googling, be
00:31:05 --> 00:31:07 swarm, what do I do, right, be swarm
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: swarm removal, that sort of thing.
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 And so making sure that they're finding the website.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 in that kind of critical moment where they're scrambling for a
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 solution to this, at least what seems to them as like a crisis,
00:31:17 --> 00:31:17 Right.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:20 When people see a bee swarm, I think a lot of times they, they, this, this
00:31:20 --> 00:31:22 sort of panicky element and I can't tell you how many odd times I've
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 gone to a pick up a swarm and the first person who was there was the
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 police, right?
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 They called the police first and the policeman says, what
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 am I supposed to do about this?
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 And leaves, right?
00:31:29 --> 00:31:31 And it's wasting public resources.
00:31:31 --> 00:31:33 And of course, if you call the exterminator, they're paying money
00:31:33 --> 00:31:35 for that and we're losing the bees.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:38 And so you want to be reaching a beekeeper, but reaching a
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 beekeeper is not that easy.
00:31:39 --> 00:31:43 And, and it is, So there's no place to go to find a beekeeper reliably.
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 And so the way the system works is they report a swarm, they
00:31:46 --> 00:31:49 answer the kind of questions that you want to know as a beekeeper.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:51 How high, how high up are the bees?
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 How long have they been there?
00:31:52 --> 00:31:59 Submit a photo, and then that notification gets sent out via text or email to all
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 the nearby beekeepers who are signed up.
00:32:01 --> 00:32:05 And the first beekeeper to respond then is able to claim the swarm, get the
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 phone number, and get the exact address.
00:32:06 --> 00:32:09 Right, so you see, like, there's a swarm two miles away, but then you
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 get the exact address, you're able to go, right, that way too, that you're
00:32:11 --> 00:32:15 not wasting your time going to a swarm that another beekeeper's already to.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:16 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah.
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: more densely populated areas
00:32:18 --> 00:32:20 that happens quite often.
00:32:20 --> 00:32:23 And so you're going there and you're able to respond really quickly.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:25 And so in a lot of areas now, at this point, I can't get
00:32:25 --> 00:32:28 swarms to my own website because other beekeepers beat me to it.
00:32:28 --> 00:32:31 And so this is working really, really quickly, which I think is what the
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33 public wants in this situation, right?
00:32:33 --> 00:32:35 They want to hear from a beekeeper quickly, be able to help guide them
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 through that situation, and of course the beekeeper wants to be there quickly
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 so they can get the bees before they
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 move on.
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Right,
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: there's sort of a win win here.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 And so, yeah.
00:32:44 --> 00:32:48 Had this idea for how this could work and put it together into a website
00:32:48 --> 00:32:51 to see if there was any traction, if anyone would want to use this.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:53 And that's gotten a surprising amount of traction.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:57 And so now we're entering our second spring of, of running this and it's
00:32:57 --> 00:33:01 grown and grown into what is now probably the largest database of
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 beekeepers, catching swarms in the
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 us
00:33:04 --> 00:33:04 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yeah.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:07 So, how many swarms were caught on it last year?
00:33:08 --> 00:33:12 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, I'd say close to thousand 500.
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 Around, yeah, I'd say about 1.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 And so.
00:33:16 --> 00:33:18 We're seeing swarms all across the US and one of the things that I was
00:33:18 --> 00:33:21 really happy with is the number of swarms that found a beekeeper, right?
00:33:21 --> 00:33:24 Of course, there's there's still sometimes as someone will report a
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 swarm and the system won't find anyone
00:33:27 --> 00:33:27 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yeah.
00:33:28 --> 00:33:31 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: And so I was very happy that pretty
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 quickly We were usually able to find a beekeeper for someone even
00:33:33 --> 00:33:36 in yeah all across the US, right?
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38 It's not that easy to quickly put together a network of beekeepers large
00:33:38 --> 00:33:43 enough Right now we've thousands of beekeepers signed up who are able
00:33:43 --> 00:33:45 to respond wherever you are, right?
00:33:45 --> 00:33:51 And so they're they're help nearby or at least within 20 miles of
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 you, Able to respond.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 Yeah.
00:33:53 --> 00:33:57 So I keep close eye on basically where are swarms being reported and not
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 being claimed by beekeeper, right?
00:33:58 --> 00:34:01 So that means that we need to find more beekeepers in that area and then I go and
00:34:01 --> 00:34:06 I reach out to the beekeepers associations in that area, try to see if I can get
00:34:06 --> 00:34:08 some more people, right, spread the word there and get some more people on and
00:34:08 --> 00:34:11 that way we're able to ensure pretty good coverage pretty quickly, right?
00:34:11 --> 00:34:13 Since otherwise it would have taken a long time to build up the
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 kind of coverage to make this a
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 workable system.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yes.
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 Yeah.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:25 So, when a person goes on there, I just pulled it up on the screen here.
00:34:25 --> 00:34:31 They enter their address, size of it, where's the swarm located, how high
00:34:31 --> 00:34:36 it is from the ground, duration, how long it's been there, and additional
00:34:36 --> 00:34:41 information, and then, you know, include a photo, which I love the photo aspect
00:34:41 --> 00:34:41 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah,
00:34:42 --> 00:34:45 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: so often you Not so often, but occasionally
00:34:45 --> 00:34:49 you go out and it's living inside the trunk of the tree, and that's
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50 different than a swarm out on a limb.
00:34:50 --> 00:34:53 Those are big changes.
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: And of course there it's a
00:34:55 --> 00:34:57 lot of times the beekeeper is the best person to judge that.
00:34:57 --> 00:35:00 It's hard to expect from the public that they're able to differentiate between a
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Right.
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 Right.
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:35:03 --> 00:35:07 There are some ways, for example, if you type in, if you select that the swarm has
00:35:07 --> 00:35:10 been there for a week or more, a little notification pops up saying, hey, look,
00:35:10 --> 00:35:13 this is probably a removal, not a swarm.
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 We'll try to find your beekeeper.
00:35:14 --> 00:35:16 This may cost you, right?
00:35:16 --> 00:35:18 This is a service that beekeepers tend to charge for, right?
00:35:18 --> 00:35:22 Basically just saying this is not the same thing as a swarm, since especially in the
00:35:22 --> 00:35:24 fall we do get a fair amount of removals.
00:35:24 --> 00:35:27 And so has turned into right for beekeepers who do removals
00:35:27 --> 00:35:29 as part of their business has turned into a useful resource for
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 them as well.
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah, I could see that.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:37 Now, I think you mentioned this a little bit, you know, someone finds a swarm, or
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39 sees a swarm, they're a little panicked.
00:35:39 --> 00:35:42 That's typically the way they react.
00:35:42 --> 00:35:46 Then if they um, is that the way most of your traffic's coming?
00:35:46 --> 00:35:51 They do a search, swarm in tree, or bees in trees, and they're able to find
00:35:51 --> 00:35:53 your website from those search results.
00:35:54 --> 00:35:56 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I'd say about half the traffic comes from that.
00:35:56 --> 00:35:58 The other half comes through partners.
00:35:58 --> 00:36:03 And so for example, the pollinator partnership, I think the, the largest
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 pollinator protection nonprofit in North America use this on their
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 website, in their B Resources page.
00:36:09 --> 00:36:11 And so of course they own, they own the domain pollinator.org, right?
00:36:11 --> 00:36:13 And so that domain is, is way up there and the Google
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 results.
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh,
00:36:15 --> 00:36:15 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: And so a lot of people are
00:36:15 --> 00:36:17 finding it that way, right?
00:36:17 --> 00:36:20 And so, do partners, and a lot of places do associations.
00:36:20 --> 00:36:26 Because of course, if you type in bee removal in Oklahoma or near me, right,
00:36:26 --> 00:36:31 Google is giving you the, the really, the, the geographically proximate results.
00:36:32 --> 00:36:35 And so by working with regional associations we're
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 able to get that information.
00:36:36 --> 00:36:39 Be there where the person's actually responding and, and basically be there
00:36:39 --> 00:36:42 in those, when they're, when they're looking up when they're looking for help
00:36:42 --> 00:36:46 online, making sure that they find it, that, that way that they're, that they're
00:36:46 --> 00:36:50 either coming to us through the website itself or through a partner organization.
00:36:50 --> 00:36:54 Some people just link the URL or other associations who we work more closely with
00:36:54 --> 00:36:57 actually embed the form directly in their website, and so it has their logo on it.
00:36:57 --> 00:37:02 It looks like it's built perfectly into their website, but it's actually our
00:37:02 --> 00:37:07 system running the back end and sending notifications out to their members.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:11 Some associations will choose to limit that to just their members, right?
00:37:11 --> 00:37:14 If it's reported through that association's website, it's staying
00:37:14 --> 00:37:17 with just their members, and the swarm is staying with them.
00:37:18 --> 00:37:20 But other people like the Pollinator Partnership, they're sending that out
00:37:20 --> 00:37:22 to beekeepers across the US, right?
00:37:22 --> 00:37:24 So they don't have beekeeper members per se, right?
00:37:24 --> 00:37:27 But they're they're doing they're working to protect honeybees And so
00:37:27 --> 00:37:31 they send out those swarm reports to anyone across the US who's able to
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 pick those up.
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yeah.
00:37:33 --> 00:37:39 And, just to clarify, I think you explained well, but, uh, Association, if
00:37:39 --> 00:37:44 they only, if they want the SORM reports that's gone through them to only be sent
00:37:44 --> 00:37:46 to their members, they're able to do
00:37:46 --> 00:37:49 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, exactly And a lot of the
00:37:49 --> 00:37:53 growth of the project came from feedback from beekeepers, right?
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 These are things that I wasn't thinking about when I built this,
00:37:55 --> 00:37:56 but then I had associations reach out.
00:37:57 --> 00:38:00 I think that feature came from the Sacramento beekeepers, who at least they
00:38:00 --> 00:38:01 claim to be the swarm capital of the U.
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 S.
00:38:02 --> 00:38:06 with over a thousand swarms and so they are using the system this spring and
00:38:06 --> 00:38:10 One of the key things there is that they were, they were like, they were saying,
00:38:10 --> 00:38:13 well, if we're putting this on our website there's a reputational risk for us, right?
00:38:13 --> 00:38:15 We're vouching for the beekeepers who are responding here.
00:38:16 --> 00:38:18 And so we want to be, Sure, that we're providing a really
00:38:18 --> 00:38:20 good service to our community.
00:38:20 --> 00:38:21 And so we wanted to be just our beekeepers.
00:38:22 --> 00:38:25 And so they, I asked for a suggested donation for that sort of thing.
00:38:25 --> 00:38:28 Since at that point, you're right, that association is really benefiting
00:38:29 --> 00:38:29 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yeah.
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: from this.
00:38:30 --> 00:38:32 And of course, I need to be able to pay for this in some way.
00:38:33 --> 00:38:33 And so, Sure.
00:38:34 --> 00:38:36 They're able to restrict that to just their members.
00:38:36 --> 00:38:38 And the interesting thing there too, and this is now something that I'm working
00:38:38 --> 00:38:42 on for next spring, is we're pulling in all this interesting data too, right,
00:38:42 --> 00:38:46 about, about where are storms being reported the weather conditions, who's
00:38:46 --> 00:38:49 catching them, how fast, that sort of thing, and so putting together some
00:38:49 --> 00:38:51 interesting dashboard for associations has been one of the things that I've
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 been working on now over the winter.
00:38:53 --> 00:38:54 When things are calmer.
00:38:54 --> 00:38:56 So now we're looking at, well, can we actually predict when a swarm is
00:38:56 --> 00:38:59 going to happen or can we predict where a swarm is going to happen, right?
00:38:59 --> 00:39:04 So I've had beekeepers who are interested in placing swarm traps based on where
00:39:04 --> 00:39:06 swarms are reported historically, right?
00:39:06 --> 00:39:08 So if you can say, well, this is sort of a hotspot in my area in
00:39:08 --> 00:39:10 this kind of neighborhood, right?
00:39:10 --> 00:39:13 Then maybe you want to put up a swarm trap there and catch the swarms before
00:39:13 --> 00:39:16 they settle in someone's chimney or before they settle in someone's attic, right?
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 And so some interesting things to do here.
00:39:19 --> 00:39:21 There's some interesting research implications here too that I'm only just
00:39:21 --> 00:39:25 scratching the surface on but really trying to think too about like, there's
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28 all this interesting data we're pulling in about, about, about swarms and how
00:39:28 --> 00:39:33 can we make that useful for beekeepers to, to beekeep more efficiently or,
00:39:33 --> 00:39:37 or more insightfully but also use that potentially to, to support some honeybee
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37 research.
00:39:38 --> 00:39:39 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yes.
00:39:39 --> 00:39:42 It's a lot of interesting data being pulled in there, like you said.
00:39:43 --> 00:39:48 Now, this is free for the end user, the consumer who's spotted a swarm.
00:39:48 --> 00:39:53 Is it free for the beekeeper who's saying, hey, yeah, I want to go get that swarm?
00:39:54 --> 00:39:56 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: So this is all powered by donations
00:39:56 --> 00:40:00 in a small online store and so one of the goals for this was to Have
00:40:00 --> 00:40:02 it be a free community service.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:04 And so this runs, yeah.
00:40:04 --> 00:40:06 So I asked for a donation when people report swarms.
00:40:06 --> 00:40:11 And if it, if the swarm capture is successful, I asked for a donation,
00:40:11 --> 00:40:13 that sort of thing, but there's no actual cost to using this.
00:40:14 --> 00:40:18 And so far I've been able to cover the cost of maintaining and improving the
00:40:18 --> 00:40:18 service.
00:40:19 --> 00:40:20 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, yes.
00:40:20 --> 00:40:20 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:40:20 --> 00:40:23 So there's been, I think for me, it was a prerequisite for their.
00:40:23 --> 00:40:27 to be enough community interest and enough engagement and for people to actually
00:40:27 --> 00:40:30 want this enough that it could sustain itself through, through donations.
00:40:30 --> 00:40:35 And also I sell a, on the online store there's a I guess a check, like a hive
00:40:35 --> 00:40:38 inspection checklist that the beekeepers can buy a printed copy of and that also
00:40:38 --> 00:40:40 helps to support the, the project exactly.
00:40:43 --> 00:40:45 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Now, this is a little bit off the topic
00:40:45 --> 00:40:50 of bees, but are you writing and maintaining the code for the website?
00:40:50 --> 00:40:51 Are you doing all that?
00:40:51 --> 00:40:53 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, actually at this point I have a,
00:40:53 --> 00:40:54 I have a developer who's helped out.
00:40:54 --> 00:40:57 I've had some beekeepers actually who've also reached out and so I think the,
00:40:57 --> 00:41:01 the sort of open source citizen science approach is really interesting here.
00:41:02 --> 00:41:05 And so some of the first data that we got to, to, to sort of train some
00:41:05 --> 00:41:07 of the, like, to, as we were trying to see, well, can we actually predict
00:41:08 --> 00:41:11 where peak, when peak swarm season will be, for example, in a specific area?
00:41:11 --> 00:41:13 Using some data from, from iNaturalist, right?
00:41:13 --> 00:41:17 Using citizen science data to make those predictions.
00:41:17 --> 00:41:18 And so that's something that we're working on now.
00:41:19 --> 00:41:21 But basically this is all done by volunteers, right?
00:41:21 --> 00:41:25 So when I first published this, or when I first got this out there had
00:41:25 --> 00:41:28 a lot of beekeepers reach out saying, hey, look, I have some coding skills.
00:41:29 --> 00:41:30 I think it's an interesting idea.
00:41:30 --> 00:41:31 I want to be a part of this.
00:41:31 --> 00:41:32 How can I help?
00:41:32 --> 00:41:37 And so it's built by myself and a couple of other beekeepers who pitched in to help
00:41:37 --> 00:41:40 with their own expertise, since I do not come from a computer science background.
00:41:40 --> 00:41:44 And so I had to teach myself a lot of the basics here, but I've had some
00:41:44 --> 00:41:45 development help along the way as
00:41:45 --> 00:41:45 well.
00:41:46 --> 00:41:47 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, very good.
00:41:48 --> 00:41:52 Yeah, so, so for beekeepers out there, they ought to go sign up for
00:41:52 --> 00:41:54 it if they're interested in getting
00:41:56 --> 00:41:57 Catching swarms.
00:41:57 --> 00:42:03 If you want to just help support the swarmed mission there, you can
00:42:03 --> 00:42:06 go donate, or you can shop at your store, which I've got it pulled up.
00:42:06 --> 00:42:10 You've got a few things here, like you said, your beekeeping
00:42:10 --> 00:42:13 logbook, and colony tracker.
00:42:14 --> 00:42:14 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:42:14 --> 00:42:14 Yeah.
00:42:14 --> 00:42:17 And there's some affiliate links to, to the beekeeping products
00:42:17 --> 00:42:20 that I think work the best and the sort of swarm specific beekeeping
00:42:20 --> 00:42:22 products that I think work well.
00:42:22 --> 00:42:24 And yeah, those are some of the ways that we keep this as sort of a free
00:42:24 --> 00:42:26 community service for people, yeah.
00:42:28 --> 00:42:31 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: What kind of growth have you seen?
00:42:31 --> 00:42:33 And I know we're really early in the year.
00:42:33 --> 00:42:37 I mean, the calendar just flipped, so you don't really have good data on this yet.
00:42:37 --> 00:42:43 But are you seeing a lot of interest ramp up as we get closer to spring?
00:42:44 --> 00:42:46 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, I think the closer, right, and especially
00:42:46 --> 00:42:50 once fall, kind of winterizing wrapped up, right, beekeepers start to have a
00:42:50 --> 00:42:54 lot of time on their hands and start thinking about next season and so now has
00:42:54 --> 00:42:57 been the time to, I've been working with a lot of associations, right, pitching
00:42:57 --> 00:43:00 them on, on how this can improve on, on how they have their swarm set up right
00:43:00 --> 00:43:04 now, how can this work better than a traditional swarm list how can this.
00:43:04 --> 00:43:06 Be a new incentive for members to join.
00:43:07 --> 00:43:09 How can you be doing exciting things with this?
00:43:09 --> 00:43:11 And so I've been pitching this to associations, getting this set
00:43:11 --> 00:43:13 up, building the new dashboard.
00:43:13 --> 00:43:15 This all takes, all takes a lot of time.
00:43:16 --> 00:43:19 And so there's been plenty for me to do over the winter, but now I've been
00:43:19 --> 00:43:21 seeing too is, is more and more interest of people as they start to think about
00:43:21 --> 00:43:27 swarm season and to now in the next couple months, I'll be shifting too towards less
00:43:27 --> 00:43:31 development work and less kind of So,
00:43:31 --> 00:43:35 I
00:43:35 --> 00:43:35 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:43:36 --> 00:43:39 And we kind of talked about that supporting it, the coding, and
00:43:39 --> 00:43:44 an important question I didn't ask was, you know, it's free
00:43:44 --> 00:43:45 for a beekeeper to sign up.
00:43:45 --> 00:43:50 Then, are they just working from the website and they get a push notification?
00:43:50 --> 00:43:52 Is it an email notification?
00:43:52 --> 00:43:53 Is it an app?
00:43:53 --> 00:43:58 How are they notified there's a bee swarm that's been reported in their area?
00:43:59 --> 00:44:00 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: wanted to be super fast.
00:44:01 --> 00:44:04 And so, I'd say about 95 percent of beekeepers opt to receive a
00:44:04 --> 00:44:05 text.
00:44:05 --> 00:44:07 And so you get a, when a swarm is reported, you get a text
00:44:07 --> 00:44:09 message with a link in it.
00:44:09 --> 00:44:11 And when you click on that link, it opens the swarm report, and then
00:44:11 --> 00:44:13 you can actually claim that swarm.
00:44:13 --> 00:44:15 Right, so it's two clicks, and then you're able to claim it.
00:44:15 --> 00:44:18 Building mobile apps is pretty time consuming and a little
00:44:18 --> 00:44:19 bit outside of my expertise.
00:44:19 --> 00:44:21 And so, it would take a lot more money, right?
00:44:21 --> 00:44:24 I'd have to monetize this in some way or crowdfund it in some way
00:44:24 --> 00:44:25 to really be able to do that.
00:44:26 --> 00:44:30 And so, this was the most efficient and most affordable way to make a
00:44:30 --> 00:44:32 really fast swarm reporting system.
00:44:33 --> 00:44:37 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah, I really like the, the text delivery of the
00:44:37 --> 00:44:42 notification as opposed to getting wrapped up in all the other notifications I get.
00:44:42 --> 00:44:46 And like you said, amp, amp, amp, sorry, app development
00:44:46 --> 00:44:48 is a whole different beast.
00:44:48 --> 00:44:48 And
00:44:49 --> 00:44:49 Yeah,
00:44:50 --> 00:44:50 so I
00:44:50 --> 00:44:53 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I will say I try to encourage email as well
00:44:53 --> 00:44:55 since text messages cost me money, right?
00:44:55 --> 00:44:56 Every time I send
00:44:56 --> 00:44:56 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh,
00:44:56 --> 00:44:59 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: message that cost money email is cheaper.
00:44:59 --> 00:45:02 And so I try to do a little incentive for beekeepers to get emails is that
00:45:02 --> 00:45:05 if you, if you opt for an email, you actually see the whole swarm report in the
00:45:05 --> 00:45:05 email, right?
00:45:05 --> 00:45:09 You see the photo, you see all the information about it in the email.
00:45:10 --> 00:45:12 With a text message, you actually have to click on that link, right, since
00:45:12 --> 00:45:13 I'm limited for how much I can put in a
00:45:13 --> 00:45:14 text message.
00:45:15 --> 00:45:15 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh
00:45:15 --> 00:45:17 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: But of course, text is the fastest way to
00:45:17 --> 00:45:20 notify people, and I'd say about 95 percent of people will choose that.
00:45:21 --> 00:45:22 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: yeah, it is.
00:45:22 --> 00:45:25 Of course, with email, you could set up some alerts and stuff so that
00:45:25 --> 00:45:27 when you get an email from this,
00:45:27 --> 00:45:29 it shows right up on your screen.
00:45:29 --> 00:45:33 Yeah, because like you said, the texts are going to cost more money than your email.
00:45:35 --> 00:45:36 Yeah, well, very good.
00:45:37 --> 00:45:41 Mateo, I'm interested to see how it goes this year.
00:45:41 --> 00:45:46 I'm going to have to sign up for and um, great job this year.
00:45:46 --> 00:45:46 I'm
00:45:46 --> 00:45:47 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: yeah, I hope I can get you some swarms.
00:45:48 --> 00:45:51 Yeah, like I said, working hard now too to make more of those
00:45:51 --> 00:45:54 connections, get more, get to more associations, get the word out there.
00:45:54 --> 00:45:58 I think more and more as I gather steam, right, this sort of thing takes some time
00:45:58 --> 00:46:02 to get going, but I was, I was already happy in the first year to get a couple
00:46:02 --> 00:46:06 thousand beekeepers join, get a good network going to be able to find swarms a
00:46:06 --> 00:46:08 home quickly and as quickly as possible.
00:46:08 --> 00:46:12 And I think now I'm looking to be able to grow that as much as possible and spread
00:46:12 --> 00:46:16 the word and, and have about a lot of beekeepers really advocate for it, right?
00:46:16 --> 00:46:18 And have beekeepers step in and, and
00:46:18 --> 00:46:18 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah,
00:46:19 --> 00:46:21 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: A lot of times the best recommendation you can
00:46:21 --> 00:46:24 get or you can get from someone is when they recommend it to a friend, right?
00:46:24 --> 00:46:28 And so I'm very happy how many beekeepers have brought in their friends or have
00:46:28 --> 00:46:29 brought in their association, right?
00:46:29 --> 00:46:32 And said, look, I've been using this and I think we can, we can use this as well.
00:46:33 --> 00:46:34 So I think that's been, that's been very
00:46:34 --> 00:46:34 helpful.
00:46:35 --> 00:46:37 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah, and it's just going to improve the
00:46:37 --> 00:46:40 overall experience for everyone involved the more people you have
00:46:40 --> 00:46:44 because it's a critical mass thing you've got to get a certain number of
00:46:44 --> 00:46:45 people in there.
00:46:46 --> 00:46:46 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:46:46 --> 00:46:50 So I'm working hard to grow what we already have and make sure
00:46:50 --> 00:46:52 to be able to make this really successful for the spring.
00:46:54 --> 00:46:56 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Matea, before we wrap up this and move
00:46:56 --> 00:46:59 to Famous Four, is there anything else you want to add about Swarmed?
00:46:59 --> 00:47:01 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, I think the number one thing
00:47:01 --> 00:47:03 I would say is that, of course, I encourage anyone to join.
00:47:03 --> 00:47:03 Right.
00:47:03 --> 00:47:05 Like we talked about it's, it's free and I think.
00:47:05 --> 00:47:07 It's something that most beekeepers want, right?
00:47:07 --> 00:47:09 I think most beekeepers are interested in getting more bees.
00:47:09 --> 00:47:13 I think, especially, right, I was just reading this year's loss survey where the
00:47:13 --> 00:47:17 University of Auburn is, is projecting something like a 50 percent loss rate, and
00:47:17 --> 00:47:20 so there are a lot of beekeepers out there looking to add some more bees to their
00:47:20 --> 00:47:24 colony, right, and, and, or their apiaries and so this is one way to do that.
00:47:25 --> 00:47:27 And of course I encourage any associations too, right?
00:47:27 --> 00:47:32 If they've been sitting on a kind of a traditional phone directory style swarm
00:47:32 --> 00:47:37 list, that there's, I think, a really compelling way to do this and this does
00:47:37 --> 00:47:38 not have to be super complicated, right?
00:47:38 --> 00:47:41 I think a lot of times in building this I was thinking about what's the
00:47:41 --> 00:47:45 simplest, easiest way to do this that makes this less of a headache, right?
00:47:45 --> 00:47:46 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Right.
00:47:46 --> 00:47:48 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: for associations to manage, less of a
00:47:48 --> 00:47:51 headache for the public, for beekeepers and so I think we've landed on a
00:47:51 --> 00:47:53 pretty, pretty nifty solution here.
00:47:54 --> 00:47:57 So I encourage associations to reach out and we can talk
00:47:57 --> 00:47:57 about how that works for them.
00:47:57 --> 00:48:01 And a lot of times too, I'm happy to do some sort of tailored solution.
00:48:01 --> 00:48:03 I think a lot of associations have different ideas for
00:48:03 --> 00:48:04 how they want it to work.
00:48:04 --> 00:48:07 And so I've been able to accommodate some of those, some of the suggestions.
00:48:07 --> 00:48:11 And a lot of the ideas from associations too have now gone into the service, right,
00:48:11 --> 00:48:13 have been sucked in and made it a better
00:48:13 --> 00:48:13 tool.
00:48:14 --> 00:48:14 Yeah.
00:48:15 --> 00:48:16 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yeah.
00:48:16 --> 00:48:17 Wonderful, Matea.
00:48:18 --> 00:48:22 It's time for us to shift gears and do our famous four questions, same four
00:48:22 --> 00:48:24 questions we ask of all of our guests.
00:48:24 --> 00:48:29 Our first question, what is your favorite beekeeping related book or resource?
00:48:30 --> 00:48:32 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I pretty recently, or actually now
00:48:32 --> 00:48:33 a couple of months ago, read Dr.
00:48:33 --> 00:48:34 Sealy's Honeybee
00:48:34 --> 00:48:34 Democracy.
00:48:34 --> 00:48:34 See?
00:48:35 --> 00:48:35 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh,
00:48:35 --> 00:48:38 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Super interesting book and other than Dr.
00:48:38 --> 00:48:42 Celia, I've not seen a ton of really concrete research and at least not
00:48:42 --> 00:48:47 presented in as compelling as a way that he does about swarms and, One of
00:48:47 --> 00:48:50 the things that I really enjoy reading about, about honeybee research is that so
00:48:50 --> 00:48:54 many, so many, so many of the experiments are so intensely practical right, like
00:48:54 --> 00:48:57 they, they put together these really ingenious experiments that you or I could
00:48:57 --> 00:49:02 recreate in our backyards if we were, if we were inspired to do so, and so
00:49:02 --> 00:49:07 really interesting to see how he's gone about testing and his, his hypotheses
00:49:07 --> 00:49:11 about, about how swarms behave, building on research from, I guess, now 80 years
00:49:11 --> 00:49:15 ago I learned a lot about the history of, of how we even figured out how
00:49:15 --> 00:49:18 swarms coordinate what they do and, and, and how they move through the world.
00:49:19 --> 00:49:22 And it was really, really interesting and, and added a lot of background
00:49:22 --> 00:49:23 to my knowledge of swarms.
00:49:23 --> 00:49:26 And I think had the sort of superficial knowledge that every beekeeper has
00:49:26 --> 00:49:30 about catching swarms, but now came away from that book with some really,
00:49:30 --> 00:49:37 really interesting, well, interesting honeybee swarms are, are working.
00:49:39 --> 00:49:43 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Yes, his book's a tremendous resource, books, um, and if
00:49:43 --> 00:49:48 you're interested in swarms or catching swarms, I think it's a required reading.
00:49:48 --> 00:49:49 It is a great book.
00:49:50 --> 00:49:53 Our second question, what's your favorite tool for the apiary?
00:49:54 --> 00:49:54 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah.
00:49:54 --> 00:49:58 Well, I mentioned my, my swarm catching Extension pool is a, is a, is a
00:49:58 --> 00:50:00 consistent, or I guess a new favorite.
00:50:00 --> 00:50:05 My five gallon swarm catching bucket, also an, an, what is it, an
00:50:05 --> 00:50:07 underdog in my beekeeping toolkit.
00:50:08 --> 00:50:09 Let's see,
00:50:10 --> 00:50:12 yeah, let's see, what else do I have?
00:50:13 --> 00:50:17 Well, actually a big, I'm a big fan, and this won't be super helpful to
00:50:17 --> 00:50:20 people, because there's another tool that I picked up overseas somewhere.
00:50:21 --> 00:50:24 Is a plastic mite testing jar.
00:50:25 --> 00:50:29 And it just sort of, it looks like a, it looks like a protein shake maker.
00:50:29 --> 00:50:32 Like, it's like a, two plastic halves that you screw together.
00:50:32 --> 00:50:36 And I've seen similar things but this one's just made of really robust plastic.
00:50:36 --> 00:50:39 And, right, so it's for doing an alcohol wash or a sugar shake of your bees.
00:50:40 --> 00:50:43 And testing, it's made of clear plastic, and so you can see the mites really well.
00:50:43 --> 00:50:45 It's actually, it's even got spikes on one end.
00:50:45 --> 00:50:48 And this is an interesting thing that I hadn't come across.
00:50:48 --> 00:50:51 It's got spikes on one end, so that you can test the health of your bees.
00:50:52 --> 00:50:56 By actually looking at the brood comb and poking it with the spikes, so basically
00:50:56 --> 00:51:00 damaging the cells in a specific area, and then watching how the bees deal
00:51:00 --> 00:51:01 with that, and how they clean that up.
00:51:01 --> 00:51:05 And so using that as a tool, but I mostly use it just for the mite checks.
00:51:06 --> 00:51:09 Yeah, it's really high quality and works, I think, really solidly.
00:51:10 --> 00:51:11 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh, very good.
00:51:11 --> 00:51:13 A few wonderful tools there.
00:51:14 --> 00:51:17 Our third question, mateo, our third question is what would you
00:51:17 --> 00:51:19 tell someone just getting started?
00:51:19 --> 00:51:21 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: I mean, other than that, this is
00:51:21 --> 00:51:23 totally something you can get into.
00:51:23 --> 00:51:27 If you, if you take the time and are able to take the time to learn
00:51:27 --> 00:51:28 it, this can be done on a budget.
00:51:28 --> 00:51:31 This is, this is something that you can get into with very little space.
00:51:31 --> 00:51:32 I've seen beehives on people's balconies.
00:51:33 --> 00:51:34 And that is totally doable.
00:51:34 --> 00:51:38 I think the number one kind of concrete piece of feedback I tell people is
00:51:38 --> 00:51:39 get two hives right to start with.
00:51:39 --> 00:51:39 Right.
00:51:39 --> 00:51:40 I think that seems daunting.
00:51:41 --> 00:51:45 But that's my biggest regret is not starting with two hives Because there's
00:51:45 --> 00:51:47 so much more to be learned when you're able to compare between two different
00:51:47 --> 00:51:52 colonies use resources from one to support the other To me now that is a no brainer
00:51:52 --> 00:51:56 But it wasn't something that I heard often enough in the beekeeping videos
00:51:56 --> 00:52:01 that I was watching when I got started And I think is a very useful concrete
00:52:01 --> 00:52:03 tip that I think I recommend everyone to
00:52:03 --> 00:52:03 get
00:52:03 --> 00:52:04 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Oh yeah.
00:52:04 --> 00:52:05 Excellent advice there.
00:52:06 --> 00:52:09 And Mateo, where can others find out more about you?
00:52:09 --> 00:52:11 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, probably the best place to go
00:52:11 --> 00:52:12 is straight to the Swarmed website.
00:52:13 --> 00:52:14 The guy who owns Swarmed.
00:52:15 --> 00:52:15 org or Swarmed.
00:52:15 --> 00:52:18 com wanted 10, 000 for it, so the website can be found under Beswarmed.
00:52:19 --> 00:52:19 org.
00:52:20 --> 00:52:22 And so I would encourage people to check that out.
00:52:23 --> 00:52:24 There's a little bit of information about me.
00:52:24 --> 00:52:27 Mostly the important stuff is about the website and the kind of
00:52:27 --> 00:52:30 useful service that it offers to beekeepers, and a little less about me.
00:52:32 --> 00:52:32 cal_1_01-03-2025_150912: Well, very good.
00:52:33 --> 00:52:35 Mateo, we appreciate you coming on and sharing with us
00:52:36 --> 00:52:37 mateo-kaiser_1_01-03-2025_220913: Yeah, thanks for having me.
00:52:37 --> 00:52:37 It was a pleasure.
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