Beekeeper Confidential | Bees & Beekeeping

Today’s guest is an author, a journalist, a teacher, and a 5th generation beekeeper. Her most recent work, The Honey Bus, tells the story of a girl growing up in a dysfunctional family who finds solace in learning about bees and beekeeping from her grandfather. For someone who works with bees, the rich details knitted into this memoir are both comforting and familiar. The smells and sounds of the hive, and the emotional restoration that we find when we are working with our beloved insects. 

I read The Honey Bus over the summer, after winning a copy of it and 2 jars of Honey Bus Honey from an instagram giveaway from one of my favorite beekeepers, Roda Shope of Indigo Acres Apiary. It was only after I finished the book that I decided to invite our guest on for an interview. I was head to toe thrilled when she said yes! She was delightful to talk with and I think you will love her as much as I do - meet Meredith May, author of The Honey Bus!  

Check out our new website at www.beekeeperconfidential.com and join our community forum!

You can also find Beekeeper Confidential on Facebook and Instagram.

To become a patron visit Mandy's Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mandyshaw 

Cover art by Meggyn Pomerleau

On today’s show we visit with a biologist who is an applied researcher of honey bee husbandry at the University of Florida Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab. His work is dedicated to solving problems that large commercial beekeeping operations are faced with. He spends time in the field and in the lab trying to make things better for the beekeepers and their bees.

But his passion for biology and photography coupled with his desire to teach and share his knowledge with others has led him to create a very high quality video series that features honey bee biology, diagnostics, the science behind the discoveries, and issues that are relevant to keeping bees in today’s environment. He has a true worker bee mentality, working selflessly for the greater good of the beekeeping industry.

Meet Dr. Humberto Boncristiani of Insidethehive.TV!

Check out our new website at www.beekeeperconfidential.com and join our community forum!

You can also find Beekeeper Confidential on Facebook and Instagram.

To become a patron visit Mandy's Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mandyshaw 

Cover art by Meggyn Pomerleau

Beekeeper Confidential is a year old! How exciting to reflect on an entire year of connecting with and interviewing amazing people. It has been a treat producing this show, and the anniversary episode is all about behind the scenes stories, listener questions and answers, and tips for getting into podcasting.

Check out our new website at www.beekeeperconfidential.com and join our community forum!

You can also find Beekeeper Confidential on Facebook and Instagram.

To become a patron visit Mandy's Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mandyshaw 

Cover art by Meggyn Pomerleau

Mandy met today’s guest last October at the Oregon State Beekeepers Association conference. They had recently connected on social media so they weren't complete strangers, but they had never met her in person. Fonta greeted Mandy with the most generous hug and genuine enthusiasm for this show (even though it was still in its infancy). Their paths crossed again in person when they both presented at the Feminine Legacy in Beekeeping conference last May and they happened to be staying at the same B&B. It was a totally bonding experience for them and they have been very close ever since. Though they are separated by a 4 hour drive and don’t get to hang out very often, when they do it is a total bee girl party. This summer Mandy got to go visit Fonta at her biodynamic farm in Cottage Grove, which is lovingly named Wild Everlasting. It is a place that is dedicated to the health of pollinators, and has been recognized as an Oregon Bee Project Flagship Farm. Mandy is so excited to introduce you to her friend and bee goddess, Fonta Molyneaux!

For notes from today's show visit Mandy's blog at waggleworkspdx.com

This week's guest is a creative powerhouse who has harnessed her talents to build a successful beekeeping business and has established herself as a leader in the industry. Mandy got to spend time with her while she was in Portland promoting her new book, Queenspotting. She attended her book reading and signing at Powell’s bookstore and afterwards they visited over cocktails and delicious popcorn. Mandy was really happy to spend time getting to know the person behind the fame prior to recording this episode, which was planned for the following day. They had originally planned to have the interview at the international rose test garden, but traffic that afternoon was really gnarly and when Mandy went to pick her up she saw how close she was staying to an even better interview spot. So Mandy made a quick phone call to a friend to see if they could use his space for the afternoon, and the rest was history… Meet Hilary Kearney of Girl Next Door Honey!

For notes from today's show visit Mandy's blog at waggleworkspdx.com

Today’s guest has dedicated his life to rewilding the honeybee population. He touches on aspects of our lives with bees that are too frequently overlooked by the industry: heart & soul, birth-rights, ethical and moral standards that place the needs of bees above the commodity of honey. Because of his efforts, there is now a movement to reintroduce honeybees into wild nest cavities, a rehabilitation to bring bees back to nature. Through this gesture in honoring the identity of apis mellifera, he hopes to refocus how the global community looks at our lives with honey bees. In this episode, we are taken on a journey that Mandy hopes will bring you as much joy as it has brought her, and a new lens to look through. Meet Michael Thiele!

For More on Michael's work and notes from today’s show, visit Mandy's blog at waggleworkspdx.com

Today’s guest is a beekeeper who caught Mandy's eye on social media because of her delight in swarm catching, queen rearing, and sharing educational bee info with a sense of humor. She is just as funny and smart on the phone as she is online! They talk about Mandy's favorite obsession - drumming bees - swarms and bait hives, skep hives, the 24/7 hustle of the life of a queen breeder, natural beekeeping, bloopers, and how amphibians can mess you up.

For More on Tucka's work and notes from today’s show, visit Mandy's blog at waggleworkspdx.com

Today’s guest is a passionate educator, bee removal expert, and bee priestess. Since 2012, Beelieve Hawaii’s founder Jasmine Joy has been sharing her love and compassion for bees and pollinators through saving bee colonies from extermination, developing habitat restoration, and creating a sacred space for children to come and learn and explore the world of bees. Her contributions to the bee community are profoundly beautiful and significant and it was such a delight for Mandy to spend an evening cozied up in her studio with a glass of prosecco listening to Jasmine's wisdom and enjoying the surprise thunderstorm that moved over during their conversation. 

For More on Jasmine's work and notes from today’s show, visit Mandy's blog at waggleworkspdx.com

Mandy has been sitting on this recording since September 2018. She was worried about the quality of the audio, so she locked it away in the vault… Until now. This was the 3rd interview that she ever recorded for the show and needless to say it was (and still is) a very very big deal. Mandy had the opportunity to spend some time with our guest in her backyard apiary so you’ll hear cars and crows and airplanes in the background. But more importantly, you’ll get to hear a candid conversation with the author of Honeybee Ecology, Wisdom of the Hive, Following the Wild Bees, Honeybee Democracy, and his latest book The Lives of Bees. It is an absolute privilege to share highlights of her conversation with Dr. Thomas Seeley!

For More on Dr. Seeley’s and notes from today’s show, visit Mandy's blog at waggleworkspdx.com

Mandy met today’s guest last September at a seminar taught by Tom Seeley. He had built a bee catching box, much like the one described in Dr. Seeley’s book, Following the Wild Bees. They got to talking and she ended up inviting him to come and speak to Portland Urban Beekeepers about his experience using Seeley’s methods for finding wild (and kept colonies), and while he was in town they got together in a pancake house parking lot to talk about bee hunting, topo maps, turn tables, and rebellious bees. Meet the president of the North Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers Association, Rex Roberton!

To learn more about Rex and the art of bee hunting subscribe to his YouTube channel called WildProject. It is loaded with videos that demonstrate the processes that we talked about today.