Christy Payne - Urban Beekeeping for Hire (S6, E45)

S6, E45 - Christy Payne - Urban Beekeeping for Hire

Joshua: How's it going, guys? This is Joshua from County Down Northern Ireland. It was a little warmer today if I decided to go and check on the bees and they're bringing in pollen in droves. It was wonderful to see, but now you are listening to the  Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Jeff Ott: Welcome to  Beekeeping Today Podcast, presented by Betterbee, your source for beekeeping news, information, and entertainment. I'm Jeff Ott.

Becky Masterman: I'm Becky Masterman.

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Jeff: Hey, a quick shout out to all of our sponsors who support allows us to bring you this podcast each week without resorting to a fee-based subscription. We don't want that and we know you don't either. Be sure to check out all of our content on the website there. You can read up on all of our guests, read our blog on the various aspects and observations about beekeeping. Search for download and listen to over 250 past episodes, read episode transcripts, leave comments and feedback on each episode, and check on podcast specials from our sponsors. You can find it all at www.beekeepingtodaypodcast.com.

Hey, thank you, Joshua Martin there in Northern Ireland. Wow, what do you think about that, Becky, for our listener opener? Thanks, Joshua.

Becky: I think it was fantastic. I'm just wondering, can we just do a whole episode of listener opens? I just love listening to what these people are telling us.

Jeff: I think it's really fun. Actually, and not to sound weird or scare Joshua, but man, I love his voice. I'd listen to an audiobook from him. It's great.

Becky: Right, it's very calming. The picture that he painted, we just want to be right there in his apiary with him.

Jeff: Invite us over, Joshua. We'll be right there. [laughs]

Becky: Oh, I think we could just go on a whole  Beekeeping Today Podcast tour and just visit all these listener opener locations.

Jeff: Well, that would be fun.

Becky: We don't have anything else to do. Our bees are fine. [chuckles] .

Jeff: That's right. Well, speaking of bees being just right, April, it's a good time for bees. It's exciting time here in the Pacific Northwest, it's either hit or miss, it's either raining or sunny and the bees are coming in. While I should be getting packages in the next couple weeks if all goes well.

Becky: We get a snowstorm in April, so I'm just waiting for that to happen and then we have to navigate installing packages around that snowstorm, it melts quickly though, so it's one more factor we have to put in there to do that perfect bee installation. We have to shovel to get to that hive stand and set up the equipment.

Jeff: You walk back and forth a few times to get a good trail in the snow, right?

Becky: Exactly, but it'll melt soon if it happens.

Jeff: Yes, the springtime is always a challenge. This is also for me in a very exciting time package pickup day or whether you're picking up packages or nucs, it's almost like a celebration. This year I'm planning on taking the recorder to one of our suppliers here in Rochester and on package pickup day and talk to people as they're getting ready to pick up their packages like I did a couple years ago. Everyone's just really friendly and excited and there's bees in the air and there's literally a buzz in the air. People are grabbing their packages and just walking away and they all have big smiles on their faces.

Becky: It doesn't matter if it's your first time or you've been doing it for 30 years, it is still a big day. I can't wait to hear from some of the new beekeepers that you capture because it's a little overwhelming. You're picking up 7,000 or 9,000 bees in a box and it's your job to get them from one box to another successfully and keep the queen alive. They're going to be some interesting interviews you capture.

Jeff: That's always a good time. What's your biggest challenge, the springtime at this time of year?

Becky: At this time, it's just navigating the weather. If we have to feed the bees, we use a feeder, the gravity pail that goes on top of the cluster, but when you are starting bees on foundation and you've got temperatures that are well below 50, it's always a little nerve-wracking. We've had a very warm winter, so hopefully we're not going to experience too much pressure from the weather, but it's something that beekeepers of Minnesota always have to navigate, and other states of course too, but it's a little cold when you're just putting those bees on foundation with the feeder and telling them, "Get to work really fast and stay warm." [chuckles]

Jeff: What's your recommended sugar ratio for feeding in the springtime? This is always a perennial question.

Becky: Yes. We always do one-to-one. 1 pound of sugar to 1 pound of water or whatever equivalent you want to use, but pretty simple, it works just fine. It'll work just fine for them.

Jeff: Yes, and that raises the question. One-to-one, all right, I can understand one-to-one. Is it 1 pound to 1 pound, 1 gallon to 1 gallon, 1 gallon to 1 pound? I get a 5-pound bag of sugar from the grocery store, put it in a pail.

Becky: Yes, and so use one of those handy dandy online converters, but you want to use the equivalent, so you want to make sure that even if it's a small amount, one cup of sugar to one cup of water. Keep your units the same, and make sure that you are figuring out the numbers. It's pretty easy to do, especially since we don't have to do the math anymore. Those beekeepers decades ago before the Google was invented had to actually work.

The one-to-one is a pretty simple thing to do, and if it's one plus a little bit to one, that's okay too. It's one of those measurements that, it's not like when you're doing an oxalic acid dribble, you don't just say, "It's about 35 grams to a liter." You measure that out and you make sure you don't put too much or too little in. For the sugar, the bees are pretty-- they're okay. They can handle a little more or a little less.

Jeff: I've taken a bucket that I use solely for feed and I mark it on the outside. If I put in a 5-pound bag of sugar, if I put this much water into it on top of it, that's the right ratio for one-to-one. I use that bucket only for the feed because I don't want to be washing the car with that bucket later in the season.

Becky: Yes, those are very special buckets. They get very sticky.

Jeff: Do you put anything else in your sugar water that you feed?

Becky: I don't, the Honey Bee Health Coalition just came out with some comments on additives as far as putting-- have you heard putting a little bleach in there?

Jeff: Ooh, no.

Becky: Okay. Well, it turns out you don't need to do that. Not a good idea. I don't know that it's harmful, but it doesn't help prevent any mold from growing, but no, I just do sugar and I think the tricky part is making sure you're not giving them so much that you're going to have anything ferment. That just comes with experience knowing how much your bees are going to be able to take down and getting there before they run out. Do you put anything in?

Jeff: Not intentionally.

[laughter]

Becky: Some sticks, a little sand?

Jeff: Well, yes, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but nothing that I've put in on a regular basis, no. Every once in a while you hear someone talking about putting in some lemongrass oil or other additives just to help the bees or if they'll take it, if they'll find it, but I've always figured it's sugar, it's water, it's above them, they'll find it.

Becky: The only recommendation I have for beekeepers out there, especially there are beekeepers out there who are willing to spend a little bit more money to take care of their bees, but I warn them against using any kind of organic sugar because that is going to make your bees a little bit sick. It's going to give them some stomach issues because it's got some components that they can't break down. Even if you love organic for your family, your bees need that refined sugar, so go ahead, save some money. If you put enough organic sugar in a bucket and try to even make one-to-one with it, you'll see that it's very dark and looks like molasses. Keep your bees healthy, refined sugar, no organic sugar.

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Jeff: Hey. Thanks a lot, Strong Microbials. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to this show. Sitting around this big virtual  Beekeeping Today Podcast table. Joining Becky and me is Christy Payne, all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Christy, welcome to  Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Christy Payne: Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's not Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's Collinsville, Oklahoma though.

Jeff: Where is that in relation to Tulsa?

Christy: North and a little east. It's in Rogers County. Tulsa's about 30 minutes away.

Jeff: I'm very familiar with a little bit west of Tulsa. My mother-in-law grew up and lived in Bristow. I'm familiar with that part of the state. Very good. Well, welcome again to the show.

Becky: We're happy to have you here, Christy, thanks for joining us.

Jeff: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your bee-ginning story, how you got interested in bees, and why you are doing today what you're doing. Then we'll talk about all the neat stuff you're doing.

Christy: The reason why I started is because you have to have them for your garden. My father and I have always had a garden. One year, I didn't have a garden because I moved to a different place. The next year I have like, "I'm really going to do this up. I'm going to have this whole big thing of the yard and everything's going to be great. I'm going to have tomatoes and cucumbers and okra and all this stuff." I planted my garden, and guess what? Do you know that your cucumbers taste funny when they're not properly pollinated?

Jeff: [laughs]

Christy: If you get any fruit at all. There were no bees. My father was living in Collinsville, I was still living in Tulsa at the time. He was experiencing the same problem, and I was, "What are you going to do about this? What are we going to do about this?" He was like, "I'm going to think about it and I'm going to get back with you." A couple of days later, he gets back with me and he's like, "I solved with a bee problem." I said, "Really? How?" He's like, "We're going to be beekeepers." I looked at him and I said, "You're crazy."

[laughter]

Christy: I started doing some research and reading, and I found a place to take some classes in Inola. My good friend, Ken Davis, he's a wonderful, wonderful person. That's how we got started.

Becky: How long ago was that?

Christy: This was about five or six years ago.

Becky: It sounds like you found a mentor right away when you started, somebody to help you out?

Christy: I have a mentor and my father has a mentor. My father's mentor, he's amazing. He's like an encyclopedia. He has a shop in Tulsa. If there's any questions, if anybody needs to know, this guy always has the answer. He's done so much for us. It's just amazing. Then Ken Davis, very rarely if I need something, I can always go to him. They're both amazing guys. Rick and Ken.

Jeff: How many colonies are you keeping today?

Christy: I have 13, 2 downtown in Tulsa that I keep, and then 11 out here. I'm going to expand on that this year. I'm going to add at least four, and I'm going to start breeding the queens this year too.

Becky: Do you divide your colonies in Oklahoma?

Christy: Yes. It's almost time. Not quite yet. That's the big problem with Oklahoma. This time of year, the weather is like a yo-yo. We have beautiful 84° days, and then it's 30° again. February and March it's like that. These two months you just can't hardly tell. By April, it's always warm all the time, but February and March, it's just kind of like a crap shoot.

Becky: There's probably a point where it gets really, really warm, and you also have a little bit of a nectar dearth.

Christy: Yes.

Becky: You have to be a really good beekeeper to be able to manage your bees when you have limited or short availability of resources.

Christy: Yes. They're easy. I keep water right next to them. I do not want them to have to forage for water. They have water on both sides and the bees in town, downtown Tulsa. I have a big water tub in between the two hives. Then I give them the regular sugar water and pollen substitute to make up for that because July and August are super, super hot here.

Jeff: The work on your website, you do work with and you maintain bees for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tulsa?

Christy: Yes.

Jeff: That's where the Tulsa came in. I knew I was right for something there-

[laughter]

Jeff: -because Tulsa came in there. Then with another company, Al--? What's the other company name? Alvéole?

Christy: Alvéole. It's French. Yes, it's hard to pronounce. They're a global company. They have hives in Europe, all across Canada, all across the United States. They're based in Canada. They cannot find better folks to deal with. They have also an enormous database of resources for their beekeepers. We have a lot of educational training workshops in the spring. I've been to at least two, and I know I have one more. Alvéole is the sponsor-- or it's their company and they provide the equipment and the hives, the actual hives themselves. I provide the bees, and I maintain the bees for Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Every Blue Cross and Blue Shield regional office across the United States has beehives on the roof.

Jeff: They're actually on the roof itself, not in a property somewhere?

Christy: Mine are on the roof of the parking garage. I don't know exactly about the other ones because that's not part of my project. I'm just concerned with Tulsa.

Jeff: You're essentially an urban beekeeper for Blue Cross Blue Shield. That has to present a lot of exciting opportunities.

Christy: Oh, it's amazing. In the springtime, we conduct a workshop. It's educational. There's different types of workshops. The workshop last year was just introducing people to the basics of bees, their biology, what's good for them, what's bad for them. Most of the people in the workshop didn't know the first thing about a honeybee. It was really nice just lightening up these people. I had a PowerPoint presentation and showing them pictures of what the bee larvae looks like, and this is what a queen looks like, and this is what a drone looks like. They just had no knowledge of it. The way they just lit up when they were exposed to all this new information was amazing.

Jeff: The people you're talking to are employees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield there in Tulsa?

Christy: Yes, they are employees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield in Tulsa. This year, they were trying to figure out how to make the workshop accessible to more employees. Because last year, the room only held about 30 people. They were trying to figure out-- They're having it at a different place. I was like, "Well, put Damon, the videographer, to work. Let's livestream this through the network. Let's have everybody watch it. Let's do it during lunch." I think they're trying to figure that out. I'd like to see them do that with all of their workshops all across the country.

Becky: Is there a specific group of team members that you work with? Do they go to the hive visits with you then?

Christy: Almost all of the hive visits, Damon, the videographer is there, recording. Jason, he's the facilities operational manager. He's the one that coordinates everything, but I go every three weeks on a Wednesday. This upcoming Wednesday is three weeks. Then the way that it's situated is really neat. They can go to the windows and look out and watch me.

Becky: Oh, nice.

Christy: Yes. I didn't know that was going on until the fall workshop, when a bunch of people came up to me, and was like, "We've been watching you through the window all summer long."

Jeff: [laughs]

Christy: I was like, "What? Oh my gosh. Really?" [laughs]

Becky: That could sound creepy, but in this instance, it's very cool.

Christy: I know.

Becky: I bet you were the highlight of their day.

Christy: Yes.

Becky: They all planned their breaks right around your visit I bet.

Christy: They did. Because I know that now, I go out of my way to take the bees and hold them up where they can see them and have a good look. That's one thing that I do every time. Well, I've only done it once because this is the first time that I could take them out since the fall workshop.

Jeff: Are you taking any of the employees down to the open hive and showing them the open hive and actually letting them help you work the bees?

Christy: That is an upcoming workshop that we were going to plan and I told them at Alvéole that the sooner that we do this the better off because the spring bees are so gentle because when it hits 100 degrees, they change, they just become very aggressive, but the spring bees are nice and gentle and so let's go ahead and do that.

They want to have a workshop where 30 people come out slap on some veils and I'll take a frame of bees and pass them around and let them look and we'll see if we can find the queen. Queen spotting is not a big talent of mine, so I'm going to start marking the queen this year.

Becky: Just mark a few drones and they won't know the difference.

[laughter]

Jeff: Oh, is that your secret, Becky?

Becky: You didn't hear it from me?

[laughter]

Jeff: I've had six queens. Well that would definitely bring a lot of excitement to the workshops when you get to that point where you can start cycling the employees having them see the open hive, smell it, hear it, experience it as opposed to through a window or through a YouTube video or anything else. That's exciting work.

Christy: Well, the next workshop that's indoors, I'm going to bring some bees with me too so I didn't do that last year and I don't know why. I just didn't think of it. I'm going to do that this year too.

Jeff: All right, let's take this quick break and hear from our friends at Betterbee.

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Christy: Actually, they do. In the fall, they get 200 little jars with a Blue Cross Blue Shield label on there and yes, that's part of I got to do the extraction for them. Depending upon which workshop they have in the fall, there's one fall it's called hive to honey jar. That's what we did last year and you know it was so much fun with these people. They gave me a hand crank, two frame extractor, and trays and they did the whole thing. They took the capping scratcher and they scratched them off and everybody took turns. All right, let me back up a little bit.

First off, I had the two frames and I showed everybody what they look like because most of these people did not even know what honeycomb looks like and I was like, "Here, this is the honeycomb." Then we had two separate lines, two trays, and the capping scratchers and they scratched them off. We put the cappings in a little pile and we had a little sticks. Everybody got to taste and eat because they didn't even know that beeswax was edible. I was like, "Absolutely, beeswax is edible, it's good for your inside, it's good for your outsides."

They would taste it and once again that light goes, "Oh man, what have I been missing out on this real honey and this real beeswax." It's the best thing that they've ever tasted in their life. After that, we put them in the extractor and everybody took turns spinning it and holding it there. It was like a two-person job. One person held the extractor, one person spun the extractor and then we opened it up and filtered it out and put it in the jars and they walked away and yes, that was amazing showing them about that.

Jeff: It's like a family gather making ice cream. It's always sweeter when you put a little sweat into it. Right?

Christy: Exactly. Yes, it was a lot of fun.

Becky: I love that. Just five or six years ago, you started beekeeping and now you are not only managing your own operation, but you are kind of spreading the word on behalf of all beekeepers out there as far as how amazing honey is, how hard beekeepers work, they're able to see you work so I'm guessing it's time for you to be somebody's mentor. Is that right? [laughs]

Christy: Yes, it is. I am going to be starting a program here at my house where you can come and do that. I have a short tour and then I have the longer tour. The longer tour will be in a few more weeks after I start the Queen Bee program, but you'll be able to come out to my house and holding a honeybee is one thing, but you'll be able to hold a queen bee, queen cell and that'll be really amazing. If they want to stick around, I could always use the help. [laughs]

There's always something to do. It's the bee yard right now is a real mess because I just got through taking the tops off and the inner covers and there's stuff thrown all over the place. I got to go out there. That's probably tomorrow's chore is to go out there and get that cleaned up.

Jeff: I do have a question before we leave the Blue Cross Blue Shield parking lot, did they assign the location for your hives on their parking garage, were you able to select the best spot so it's not bright, hot afternoon sun or what was that like?

Christy: Mostly the site selection had to do with security because if it were up to me, I would've put them in that nice little garden down there on the first floor and they could have built around that. I really wish that I would've been brought in on the site selection, but it is what it is. They had did start that this year because there have been some issues like some of the more hotter cities in the Southwest where they've had some problems because it gets a lot hotter there than it does here. Yes, it's on the top and it's very secure.

Jason takes security very seriously. Nobody can park on the top and then there's big huge steel bars running across there and I think that it would've been better off down there in that beautiful garden, but it's down there on, it's up there on the rooftop and that's where they are. With the addition of the water being always there and evaporating, they do, they take very good care that I have never gone up there once and the water was empty, so their water's always there, evaporating cooling it off.

I put a bunch of mulch up there then to cool it off. The hives I put there's a big thick insulation underneath them and then there's a thick insulation on top of them with the mulch in the water and it was quite successful that way.

Jeff: You're very conscientious and aware of the setting there and took care of your bees. That's fantastic.

Christy: To go up there and find a bunch of dead bees in front of Blue Cross and Blue Shield all in front of everybody. Oh my gosh, that would be so embarrassing. I was not going to suffer that.

Jeff: No [laughs] that would be, and I didn't have healthcare for them. Oh my God.

[laughter]

Christy: Oh no, Jeff.

Jeff: Sorry. Apologies to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tulsa for [crosstalk] a joke their expense.

Christy: That was funny.

Jeff: Yes. The other work that you were doing is your work with the bumblebees and other pollinators there in Oklahoma. Do I have that correct?

Christy: We have bumblebees here. We have always had bumblebees here at this location. Every other year, we plant more fruit trees because three new baby fruit trees is all I can handle because they require a lot of care, of course. What we're doing differently this year and it's not just for the bumblebees, I expanded it to all the pollinators, bumblebees and butterflies and even the bats too. I got an account at iNaturalist, what you do is you go and when you see a siding you take a picture of it and you upload it.

I'm going to introduce it to the people at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. We're going to start it here at the next workshop. It's basically, we can't do any conservation of the bees unless we know what bees we have where, so we're just finding out what are there mason bees in Sperry or just finding and locating what we have. Then after that, we can make a plan next year to see what we can do to help them out.

Becky: What I love about iNaturalist than some of the other like Bumblebee Watch is that they have citizen scientists take these pictures and they ask you to do your best to identify them and then they forward on your identification to another expert and they will do a verification. It's collecting real data that can help populate that map so everybody has a better understanding of what's going on with the native bees. It's a pretty exciting thing that you're taking on and bringing it to Blue Cross Blue Shield is even better.

Christy: Well, it's not just for Blue Cross Blue Shield. It's for everybody. Blue Cross Blue Shield is my biggest captive audience. Anybody who wants to join in is more than welcome. I involved every county, I took Tulsa County as the center, and I put every county all the way around.

Becky: You've actually just invited all of the listeners to this podcast.

Christy: Thank you.

Becky: Go ahead and sign up at iNaturalist.

Jeff: I'm unfamiliar with that. Is that a phone app?

Christy: You can log in. I don't know if they have an app or not. You can do it on your desktop or on your phone, iNaturalist. Anybody can get an account. It's free. You just log in, sign up, and start taking pictures. It's not just for bees. It's for all kinds of wildlife. They've got projects of all different types. There's snakes and everything is on there.

Becky: It's been around for a long time. It's that nice connection between scientists and citizen scientists. If you're good at taking a picture which I'm not, but if you're good at taking a picture, you can actually really give a lot of information to the system. It's group sourcing data.

Jeff: That is really cool.

Becky: Christy, you became a beekeeper, your dad became a beekeeper because you needed bees in your garden, how does your garden look now these years?

Christy: Oh, there's no comparison. It's not even at all the same. We had so many tomatoes last year, we couldn't even keep up with picking them. It was just amazing. The peaches and the pears, I don't know. We're going to have to come up with a system. Maybe start selling it or giving it away because we couldn't keep up with the stuff.

Becky: Excellent.

Christy: We had fruit falling and rotting on the ground because we just couldn't keep up with it. Maybe soon, the local high school kids come out here and start coming up and tighten this stuff. We need to do something with it because it just went out of control. It just exploded. I couldn't believe it. I was like, "What happened here?" Yes.

Jeff: [laughs] The magic of pollination.

Christy: It is. It was amazing. Besides that, it's not just that. You just go out into the backyard. Every sunny day, they're all over the place. They're all around. They buzz and everything and you just get to watch them. They're just so cute. They're just fuzzy and they're cute. That's all I got to say about that.

Jeff: [laughs] Well, they definitely are. I wanted to circle back real quick because this might be of interest to our listeners or some of our listeners. You said that you're working with a company, Alvéole. Now that's a company that sources the equipment. Do they provide locations too so you're just basically the beekeeper providing the service for Blue Cross or whatever company and Alvéole?

Christy: Yes, Alvéole, they're the one in charge of the project. There's only one project here. If they told me that such and such Smith company wants some hives, I would go over there and do the same thing for that company. That's part of their questionnaire and how far are you willing to travel to go take care of the bees? Do you mind climbing up on the ladder? Do you mind this? Do you mind that? They're very thorough and they pretty much have thought of everything.

Jeff: Yes. They provide the hives and you provide the bees. Is there any compensation?

Christy: Oh, absolutely. I get paid very well for the workshops and taking care of the bees.

Jeff: You would recommend this as a possible sideline for a beekeeper to look into in their local area?

Christy: Oh, yes. If you're approached by Alvéole, I would definitely recommend it. These people, they're right on top of the support. Though, if you have any type of issues at all, they're all on top of it. The data collecting that they do, I'm happy to be part of that project. Every time you do a hive visit, there's a series of questions that you're asked. I guess this year, we're going to start honey sampling. Now, you're talking about a company that's got thousands of hives all over the world and they're collecting data all about from the honey from all over the world. It's just amazing to be involved in such a big project like this.

Jeff: I will do the disclaimer that we're not recommending nor are we representatives of this company, Alvéole, but it is definitely something you can look into and see if it fits your business model.

Becky: Christy, I have one last question for you. You have your own company, can you share the name of your company so that people can learn about it?

Christy: Absolutely. Thank you so much for asking, Becky. It's called Big V Honeybee LLC in Collinsville, Oklahoma.

Becky: Fantastic.

Jeff: Been wonderful having you on the show learning about Big V Honeybee company, about your work with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and all the joy and fun you're spreading. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future. Thank you.

[music]

Christy: Thank you. I'd love to be back next year and talk to you some more about how this year went.

Jeff: That'd be great.

Becky: Thanks, Christy.

Christy: Thank you. Bye-bye.

Becky: Jeff, are you on that website trying to sign up to see if you can be a beekeeper for some colonies in your area?

Jeff: That's not a bad idea. If I was trying to get a start in beekeeping and I wanted to have a little bit of funding and I wanted to get some experience, that would definitely be something I would look into to see if it was viable for me in this location.

Becky: I will warn you though. It's not a start in beekeeping. It's something that you do after you have been keeping bees for a while because if you're in charge of both getting inside of a colony and managing a group of employees, you want to make sure you have the best experience possible. That means nobody gets stung. Being able to read those bees, make sure you don't have any robbing issues, things like that. It's a good idea for people who've been doing it for a little while.

Jeff: Generally speaking, someone with three to five years experience might want to look into something like that.

Becky: My guess is that the company also makes sure that they've got some good beekeeping experience under their belt before they're putting them out there with corporate America and spreading the word.

Jeff: I really enjoyed talking to Christy today. She brings a great perspective on how beekeepers can spread the word and become ambassadors for beekeeping in their area.

Becky: The journey from starting to keep bees and then just a few years later, keeping bees for a company. That's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

Jeff: Thank you, Christy, for sharing your journey with us today. We do look forward to having her back. That about wraps it up for this episode. Before we go, I want to encourage our listeners to follow us and rate us five stars on Apple Podcast wherever you download and stream the show. Even better, write a review and let other beekeepers looking for a new podcast know what you like. You can get there directly from our website by clicking on the reviews along the top of any web page. We want to thank our regular episode sponsors Betterbee, Global Patties Strong Microbial, and Northern Bee Books for their generous support.

Finally and most importantly, we want to thank you the  Beekeeping Today Podcast listener for joining us on this show. Feel free to leave us questions and comments at the "leave a comment" section under each episode on the website. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks a lot, everybody.

[00:38:24] [END OF AUDIO]