Worker Bee to Queen Bee w/ Jessy O'Keefe (Seaside Honeybees)

Jessy O'Keefe, is the owner and founder of Seaside Honey Bees. Jessy's story of loss is also the beginning of her story of love and passion. In this episode we learn about honey bees of course, but also how Jessy decided to start her own business, and how her never give up attitude got her to where she is today!

This week we're sippin' on Virginia Black Whiskey

Where to find Jessy
Instagram: @seasidehoneybees
Facebook: Seaside Honey Bees
Website: seasidehoneybees.com

Transcript

0:32

Welcome back everybody. This is the Whiskey and Wisdom podcast. This is your co-host, Tyler, y'all. I'm actually starting the intros today, and we also have my other co-host on the other side, Chris Kellum, and our special guest today is Jesse O'Keefe. And Jesse O'Keefe is the owner and founder of Seaside Honeybees, a local beekeeping company that installs and maintains hives for residents and workplaces. But before we dive into that story too much, Chris, what are we sipping on today? So we are sipping on something that Tyler just randomly walked past in the liquor store. It's called Virginia Black. And it did what it was supposed to do. It had a fancy looking bottle, looked very cool. And come to find out it is Drake's like, I guess it's considered Drake's whiskey. Okay. Yeah. Similar to like Tamana and all this, every, he has his own. This came out right after he dropped the view's. Okay. But it's a collaboration. Very interesting. We looked it up. Virginia Black does not mean it was from Virginia. Okay. Yeah. I guess it's distilled in Indiana. Indiana and based out of Hollywood, California. So absolutely nothing to do with Virginia. No. Just cool name. But it looks nice. We're gonna take a sip of it. Smells kind of cool. Nice and sweet. Cheers. Cheers. Cheerio cheer. Cheers. Ooh. Hmm. Interesting. I think it's good. It just tastes like, whisky to me tastes weird. Like not weird, bad, but like weird different. Hmm. Water. I, yeah, I wasn't gonna say it, but yeah. Tastes watered down. Taste. It's a very affordable bottle, guys, so I mean, enjoy. Love it. Before we get in there, if you've noticed that our social media presence has been upgraded here, as of late, we have been working with Sway Creative, and they just came out with a new subscription model that anyone can go on their website and look at, and if you decide to. Make sure you use our promo code Whiskey and check out Sway Creative. Most of the reels that you see that are put up there from all the video that you see from us today have been created by Sway. So if you see the upgrade from what was prior to 2023 and what we have been putting out, you know, it wasn't from me and Tyler. It was Sway that put all the work in. Awesome. Yeah, it's brought a lot more, more cohesion to, to what we were doing before. So to our listeners, go ahead and check them out. But without further ado, Jesse, tell us a little bit about yourself. So I am not from Wilmington, I'm from Maryland. Okay. I, I moved down here in 2021. Okay. And started the business the day I moved down here. Oh wow. It wasn't the pl so I didn't come up with the idea until a couple months before moving to Wilmington. Mm-hmm. But it's kind of a longer story like backstory as to like how like I just created this beekeeping company. I did have experience with it before and I can't claim. I can't take credit for the idea. It's not an original idea. There's companies that do this in most major cities Okay. In the United States now at this point. So like there's a company in Raleigh that does it. Most people have heard of Bee Downtown. I heard of that one, but they, so they focus more, they do the same type of thing, but they focus more on like commercial rooftop hives and like building Okay. Yeah. And like building company. Yeah, they do like workshops with the employees. Oh, that's neat. Yeah. It is cool. And so I got started actually in Boston with a company called Best Bees up there, and that's where I got all most of my beekeeping experience. Okay. Yeah. What made you decide to start with the Boston beekeeping company over there? So, I guess I'll start more from the beginning. Yeah. Otherwise I'll probably keep having to go back. So I worked on an island off the coast of New Hampshire. Okay. When I was in college and then after college as well. Mm-hmm. And so I would work there in the summer. And then I went to the College of Charleston, actually. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Pretty close. Yep. Oh, okay. Below us. Yeah. My brain wasn't working cuz I was like, wait, how do we, okay. It's kind of all over the East Coast is my story. Gotcha. Right. Yeah, I'm from Maryland, like I said, but I worked on this island and. For like eight summers, I, I worked there and I, and that's the beginning of my story, I say, because the type of work that I did there was like really character building. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like manual labor stuff that just out of the ordinary, like not normal. Work like stuff where people would be like, you do what? Right. And I, and I liked that and I feel like, I felt like I had a skill for like that type of thing. And I, I always wanted to just not do the normal thing and like regular nine to five, I, I wanted to kind of pave my own path. Be different. Yeah. I think most people do, but I like really always since I was a kid, like if the, if the group was going in one direction, I would like sit back and watch and try to analyze why they're doing that instead of just like, like jumping along. Or I would just try to do the opposite, you know? So I've always, I've, I've always had that kind of a mindset. And I think working on the island just encouraged that. Yeah. You know. Okay. So after I was done, well, it was like eight summers that I did this, and it was clear that I was getting too old to continue to do that. Like by the time I graduated college, I would work there in the summer and then travel in the winter. So it was a really cool, like, fun. Yeah. But then it was time to be done. So I moved back home to Maryland and I actually got a job at a pre-K. Oh, okay. Cuz I love working with kids. I always have, and I thought maybe that's what I wanted to do. Mm-hmm. And then a year or so went by and I started to get an itch to like get outta my parents' house. So I, it's like, where am I gonna. I decided to go to Boston because I just felt like I had community up in New England from working on the islands. Okay. I always gravitate towards the ocean and the ocean's close up there. So I chose Boston, but I didn't really have a plan for what I would do once I got there. Yeah. I kind of just packed up whatever I needed in my little car. Mm-hmm. And then drove. The plan was to just figure it out when I got there. And I had recently done a yoga teacher training, so I guess part of my plan was to teach yoga and figure something else out. Okay. Yeah, and I actually had applied, so when I got there, I applied to a bunch of jobs and wasn't nothing was I, I kept getting turned down and I was starting to like get really discouraged. Mm. Like, well, what am I gonna do? Maybe I'll have to move back home. But then a, a girl from the island actually posted on Facebook that this company was hiring called Besties. Okay. And I was like, yes, that's what I'm looking for. That's like something different, you know? So I started, I mean, apparently they had been growing so fast. They, they were just hiring cuz Panic hiring. Oh yeah. So I obviously got the job cuz I think they would've maybe taken anyone. And I started making frames. So frames are like a part of a beehive. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I was really just a shop worker at first. Okay. And I would always see the beekeepers coming back from the field, like in their suits and they'd be sweaty and I thought they were so cool. Yeah. I really wanted to be a beekeeper, and then eventually I was, I moved up to beekeeper and then I, like towards the end, I was there for six years total. Towards the end I started to do more. Well, I like, I was like the head beekeeper. Okay. And then I started to do more of the operations, like logistics. Oh, okay. And I mean, the whole time, I, I think they, that company started with around 60 beehives that they managed, and it's the same model that I do here mm-hmm. Where it's the install and maintain hives for other people. Okay. So they started with like 60 hives and then by the time I left, six years later, they're at like 800. Oh wow. Across the country, not even just in Boston. So they like expanded into New England, like up to Maine, down to Connecticut, everywhere, and then into other cities as well. Wow. So that job was a lot of figuring things out. Mm-hmm. And like growing a business. Yeah. I really like. Solving problems, trying to figure out how to creatively solve problems. I really like that kind of a thing, so that there was a lot of that. And then the bees, I I love that too. I, you know, that, that in itself is a lot of times a puzzle to figure out. Right. You know? And so this is, I'm getting towards the Wilmington part. Oh, no, you're fine. Take your time. Okay. So, after six years in Boston, I started to, well, I started to feel like I was at a point I started to get an itch to like, do something else. Yeah. Cause it's the same year after year kind of. Mm-hmm. You know, it's, it's seasonal in the same way. My work was before. Oh, okay. Were you gonna, because I, I was gonna be like, were you just tired of the snow and the cold? I didn't realize I was until I left. Makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is, it gets really cold and the hardest part is like March and April. Because it stays cold. It's fine. Like until December. I mean, it's like after Christmas, that's when the real hard part starts. I'm from Pennsylvania, so not, not as bad as like the Boston area, but but still, like, it just stays gloomy and cold, which yeah, what feels like forever. Mm-hmm. Whereas this year, like February, I was like, It's springtime. Exactly. But they fooled me cuz March was rough. Yeah. March was, that's what happens down here. It's like fake spring. Yeah. Yeah. The hives were fine though. They had, they acclimated, they adjusted. Oh, okay. Oh yeah. So do you notice that they start getting, this is probably going ahead and we'll go back again, but, okay. Yeah. Do they, do they start getting like active when it got that like warm spurt? Yes. And then they like, This is probably the bad term, but like hibernate again, I guess. Yes. So bees don't technically hibernate. They just kind of slow down and stay inside. Oh, okay. Like they don't sleep between. Maybe down here the queen could still lay at least a little bit year round. Okay. But like in B up north, she stops usually around the winter solstice. Oh, okay. But when the temperature outside is below around 50 or 55 degrees, they'll stay inside the hive. Oh, okay. But when it's warm out like we had in February, they like the queen starts picking up her, laying like it's gonna be spring. And what can happen is they'll consume more. And then when the cold snap happens, they'll be stuck by their brood cuz they have to keep their babies warm. Oh, okay. And if they've eaten too much of the food that's close by, they can starve. Hmm. That's usually what happens with a cold snap like that. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. So how'd you get started here in Wilmington then? Kind of get you back on track from where I took you. Okay. So where was I? Where was I? My story? You were getting an itch cause you had been in Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And then it also, Sided with just a really hard time in my life. My mom was, she fought cancer for 20 plus years. Wow. She and it was getting towards the end of that fight. And, and I, yeah, eventually moved home. Back to Maryland and a few months later she passed away. Mm-hmm. So that was in 2019. And I lost a lot during that period of my life. It was, it was really hard. You know, I, you know, six years is a long time to be doing the same thing. And that was true my world, that was my life, that was my community. So, Losing that and then my mom, and then a, a lot, I lost a lot of things. Yeah. At, during that time. And I just had to rebuild. Mm-hmm. So. I like moved home. I was home in Maryland and I had to figure things out again. It's like, now what am I gonna do? Yeah. I have experience with bees, like who's gonna hire me? But I, I started working with kids again cause that's just what I do. I love that. And, and then I started teaching yoga again cause that's kind of also just what I do. And eventually I started working at a title boxing studio. Okay. Or a gym. I call it a studio. It's a gym. I consider it a studio, so I wish they had one here. They need to have, say, whoever's listening, there needs to be a title boxing in Wilmington. It'll be, it would be so successful. We have a boxing gym, but it's nine round. Yeah, yeah. But that's not the same. This is small tangent. What, what's, what makes title boxing different? Oh, are we gonna argue here? No, I was just wondering. We, cause we don't have one here, so we dunno the difference. I've never even been to nine rounds, so actually I haven't either, I shouldn't say anything. But I've, I've heard cuz we used to have people come to us from nine round, I think it's 30 minute classes. I'm not trying to say it's bad or anything. I'm just saying like, I, I mean, I. Title boxing, it's 45 minutes or an hour, and it's just a heavy bag workout. Oh, okay. So, and it's the bags that hang from the ceiling. Yeah. It just feels so good to hit a heavy bag. Mm-hmm. And I haven't been able to find any here so far, so, yeah. Is it more cardio oriented? Yeah, it's cardio. Okay. And it, and it's. Gets your aggression out, you might like shout out for Derek Brunson. So, Brunson has his own gym and it's a, it's an m m a gym, but they do have cardio kickboxing type of workouts there, and it's all, almost all heavy bag. Okay. Workouts. So what's it called? Brunson's MMA in fitness. Okay. Mm-hmm. I used to go there for years. I was actually student number one. Really? Yeah. Yeah. I need to, I need that in my life again. But, so that was really helpful cause I was going through a hard time, so started gonna the boxing gym a lot. Yeah. And I think that was really helpful. More so than yoga, I think. But eventually I started working there and teaching classes. Oh, that's great. And I was sort of starting to think that, Wanna do fitness as, as what I did. And, and I was like taking personal training certification course. Mm-hmm. I like started with that. And then 2020 happened. Yeah. And like, yeah, March and that was only a year after I had been home. So I had like been starting to build and build like things and then all the gyms everywhere I was working shut. Yeah. So I was like, the floor dropped out from under me again. Mm-hmm. And I had to, I was like, now what am I gonna do? I actually, Realized I should probably start reaching out to a apiaries and beekeepers, cuz, cuz the shutdown coincided with the beginning of the B season, like March, april, you know, so I like sent a bunch of messages out and eventually found a guy in Maryland that needed help with his hives. So I started working with him and it was actually a fun summer cuz. I would just go work in the, be work in the B yard. And it was this weird time where, you know, the be yard, was it? Yeah. So you say be Yard, was it just literally just a field with like a ton of different beehives or they all Yeah, so he had, he had little a apiaries at different locations. Okay. But it was between maybe 20 and 50 hives at each location. So it was different to work a hive in that way when the goal is, is different than when you're servicing a hive individually for a client. Mm-hmm. Oh, okay. Just like a different mindset. Were you okay to go about it? So what did you do when you were working like the The big hives? The apiaries. Apiaries? Yeah. You've learned a new word today, Chris. I, I didn't even know there was I've, I've heard apiary before because I think beekeeping is super cool. But in my head I was like, aviary, it's not a, it's apiary. Apiary, yep. Yeah, I'd never even heard of that before. Oh. So I'm learning a lot today. Yeah. It's just like a, a group of hives. Oh, okay. So what did I do for him? Just whatever he needed. Sometimes it was looking for queens or I would cage queens even. Okay. Because he did some queen breeding You know, feeding the bees if they need to be fed. And you know, his, his goal, what was his goal? I mean, he sold to honey a little bit. He sold bees in the spring too. Mm-hmm. And then he also did pollination for like local small farms. Oh, okay. So I think those three and selling queens, I think those are like his sources of. Yeah. Interesting. Well, he had another full-time job. Oh, okay. That makes sense. The bees, I don't think was any, yeah, I More so just for the love of like a hobby. Yeah. Yeah. How'd you determine that Wilmington needed something like this? Here we go. Yeah, so Marilyn, I was working in the Be Yard and now, and I started to get the itch, like, now what am I gonna do? I didn't really wanna go back to the fitness stuff, I decided mm-hmm. It was too hard. And stuff hadn't really even opened up fully. Right. Yeah. So I was like, I, I had my eyes set on Wilmington, just kind of randomly, but I, we also had family friends down here. Okay. So that was like one connection. And then, like I said, I'm always drawn to the ocean and didn't wanna go back to Charleston, so just kind of picked Wilmington. And I had a, I had met a guy in Maryland, so, we decided to move down here. Well we came down in April to visit and tried to find an apartment and I, mm-hmm. I found, I did, I found one. Oh, wow. A good one. Good for you. Yeah. Yeah. It was, Not easy, but mm-hmm. Like it wasn't a vacation for me. Right. I'm sure I was driving around the whole time, but yeah, I found an apartment and then so that was in April right? Of 2021. Okay. And then I was driving back home. We had driven separately for some reason. I don't know, but I remember being alone in the car, driving back from that. And it kind of dawned on me during that drive and I came up with my whole business plan of, oh wow, I should do what I did in Boston. Yeah. I should make my own company. Because I knew that a lot of cities had it, and then I knew that Wilmington didn't have it. Mm-hmm. And I was like, it probably would work. So yeah, man, the wheels were turning on that drive the whole six hours back to Maryland. And then I, I kind of got home and just like hit the ground running with trying, getting a website, figuring out a name, a logo. Yeah. All that initial stuff. Mm-hmm. Fascinating. And yeah. And then it was my lease on the apartment I found started June 1st. Okay. So you had some time to like get everything in the works? Yeah, everything was in the works. I talked to the guy that I worked at the Apiary for. About getting some nukes. It's called like a nucleus colony. It's like a starter. Oh, okay. Hive. And it comes in a box that's smaller than like what you would envision your typical B box. It's like a smaller Oh, okay. A smaller one. And I put all my stuff in a U-haul. I rented a U-Haul put all my stuff and I had ordered five hives, five like equipment setups for the hives. I assembled all. And arranged with the, the guy I worked for to get the bees. And I drove down from Maryland with all my stuff in a U-haul. And the five nukes were in the passenger seat of the U-Haul. And there was actually, I have a video in Instagram, but there's actually like a leak in one of the nukes. So bees were getting out, so I had to drive with the windows open. But it was like when, when bees get out in the car, they're not like concerned with stinging you. They're just confused and Yes. Wanna get out. So I had done it so many times before. I wasn't, I wasn't scared or anything. But yeah, I drove in a U-haul with my five first colonies and by the ti so it was like I left in the morning. Mm-hmm. And then, To Wilmington. I had found a guy that was gonna let me keep my bees in his backyard for free. Like a friend of a friend. Of a friend. Yeah. And I got down to Wilmington and my first thing I had to do, I was like, I have to get these bees out and into the hives. Yeah. So it was, I remember like it was my birthday, it was my 35th birthday that I drove down May 31st. We started June 1st. Oh yeah. And I got all the bees into their hives and all of this stuff set up right as the sun was going down. Oh, wow. It was just like crazy. Yeah. That's a, that's a birthday. I can just imagine my wife having just one bee next to her and a car and freaking out. Yeah. So I can't even imagine. Most people do. I know. I know. So you don't need. I agree. So the things that I think about mm-hmm. If you're driving with the windows open Yeah. And the bee gets out, what does he do or what do they do? Like if they're in the middle of nowhere, 14 hours from bee hours, from like where they started eight hours. So he, she, it's, it's a she. Oh, okay. Will. Probably find a, a hive close by. They really are good with directions with the sun. Okay. Okay. And they're, I don't know. Either that or just she would die. But the colony, I mean, people get upset about individual bees, but I really think like the organism itself is the colony. I think of sometimes like the analogy of like, it's a, it's a hair on your head. Kind of like a cell. Yeah. Like the individual will be, is like a cell, but the colony is the organism. Oh, that makes sense. So it's, it's sad. It's a life, it's sad if, if it dies, but it's like, you know, the high, the, yeah. Is the, is the thing that's like gonna be able to reproduce, you know? Yeah. And the bees don't live that long and the individual bee in the summer only lives for four to six weeks. Oh, okay. So she, so the queen's constantly laying to replenish the population. Oh, that's interesting. Learn something new. Yeah. Yeah. So you said, cuz we always go backwards and go forwards. Yes. And then go backwards. You started making. Yes. What's a frame for people who have no idea what you're talking about? A frame are the things that you pull out of the hive and you see all the bees on them. Mm-hmm. Okay. It's called a frame. You like a honey frame if you, you've seen a honey frame, I'm sure. Yeah. I, I've seen them, I just didn't know what they were called. Yeah. Just like Tyler seen somebody walking around in a white suit and didn't know to call them an a p. I don't, I'm just making up words. No, pist I think is a word. I don't really, I don't really use that word. I would just say beekeeper. Oh, you're right. So how does the, the marketing plan look like when you're walking around just kind of saying, Hey, I have these, these bees. Can I put'em in your backyard? Yeah, kind. That's it. Yeah. I mean, well, I had applied to do a farmer's market Oh, okay. And got accepted. She had to talk to the people because I'm not, so it's the Wilmington Farmer's Market. Which is at Tidal Creek. Mm-hmm. On Saturdays. Is that every Saturday? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Year round every Saturday. And they just mostly sell food, so you're not gonna see like, other things other than food there typically. So, but I, I guess my thing was relevant enough to food, right? Mm-hmm. So, thankfully she let me in and that was like my main marketing. In the beginning. I would do that on Saturdays. I was gonna say something else though. Five hives. Oh. Just that my goal was to sell those five hives by the end of the year. Okay. Oh, okay. Yeah, like nothing too crazy. I was like, if I can sell these five hives, I'll be good. Like, I'll be, you know, I'll know that there's at least a little bit of an appetite for this thing in Wilmington, and we'll see from there. Mm-hmm. You know, so. The way that looks is, do you sell it kind of upfront? There's like an upfront charge. You get it all set up, ready to go. Exactly. And then there's a subscription model to maintain it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's it. So that's really neat. I looked into this cuz just so he goes, no, I don't ever do research on anything. Which is why all of my questions are so random. But I looked into this cuz I saw it and I was like, Ooh, bees. I've always had a fascination with them. I even have a bee tattoo. Cool. A honey bee. Nice. My tattoo artist just like drew a picture and posted and I was like, I need that, that I was like, all right, let's go. I just think bees are really cool. Yeah. So I looked into it. It's exactly that. Like you guys, I'm assuming show up. Mm-hmm. You set up and then you just maintain'em. Make sure they stay alive. Yeah. Yeah. So when it comes to that, what is the hardest part of your job? Like once you get'em all? At different times of the year. I, I think different things like during harvesting time, I'm like, this is the worst part. Harvesting the honey. It's a lot. Okay. I mean, it's cool in the beginning for your first couple frames. Yeah. Right. But then it gets old quick and it's, and it's hot and it's just a lot of, a lot of. To harvest. But is that the har That's not the hardest part of the job though. I mean, it's, it's tricky because honeybees are nice like 99% of the time, you know, but that's not 101% right. So you're like the beekeeper on TikTok that like goes out with Absolutely no, like protective coding and you like pick'em up in your hands and stuff? I'm not like that. No. No. Okay. I don't know how she is able to do that. I did tried to do a removal, well I did, I did a removal early on. Oh yeah. Because somehow I did something right with the website where if you Google beekeeping, I come up That's great. In Wilmington. So somebody like looked it up and called me and I was like, okay, I'll do that. And I got stung a bunch of times, like doing one of those removals that she does. Yeah. I had a full suit on and gloves and they stung me through the gloves. Oh, wow. She has to get them super smoked up, like there's no way. Yeah. I really don't un I don't understand it. I'm, no, I'm good. That's what I, we'll let you take care of that. So now are you breeding your own these to kind of keep up with it? Are you still kind of buying the, you said the nukes from someone else and doing it that way? Yes. Okay. Yes, we buy our nukes. So when I have new sales over the winter, usually it happens over the winter, people sign up. So I try to estimate cuz we lose colonies every year. It's just, it's just a part of it. Right? So you have to estimate how many hives you're gonna lose and how many new clients you're gonna have. And then that's the number that I'll buy or order from. Mm-hmm. Let me get them right now from Garden Supply and Carry. Oh, okay. But. Yeah. So when a client signs up with you, is there, does the client usually have a goal that they're trying to accomplish? Is it just because they want honey, like their own honey outta their backyard? Or why are they doing it? Yeah, good question. If the client is only interested, hun interested in honey, it's not probably gonna be a good fit, you know? Yes. Because I, I. So all the honey that the hive produces, that's excess. Like I leave enough for the bees, but anything that we're able to take in addition to that, it belongs to the client. It's part of the service fee. But you can, it depends on the colony, how much they produce. Mm-hmm. And, and I always make sure it's, it's the honey that's from your hive in your backyard. Mm-hmm. I don't throw it all together. So, cuz I think that's like a really unique cool part of it. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Even though it's all from Wilmington and it's all probably pretty similar. Mm. Yeah, so if you hive, I say anywhere from like three jars to. 12 ish mason jars. Oh, wow. But it, like, the cost doesn't make, like, if you're like trying to do it and do the math in your head and say, maybe I won't have to buy honey. I could just get the, it doesn't, it doesn't add up. Probably not. So the people get it for, it's, You know, it's a really cool energy to have the honeybee energy Yeah. In your, in your property. You can watch them fly in and out of the entrance and they often have pollen on their legs and they're just doing different things. Like, I've been getting pictures from clients recently saying like, Hey, what's going on here? And yeah, yeah. I send, so I send an. I send a notification to them before I come so they know I'm coming. Well, it's not just me anymore either. It's I've got four people that work for me now. Okay, that's great. Yeah, so I send a notification email before and then after we come, I send them a follow up, like telling them everything we did and how their bees are doing and then like an interesting fact about honeybees for this time of year. Oh, okay. So that's kind of keeps them connected with the hive. Yeah. And. Yeah. So that they can learn as well, just from a distance. Yeah. but she's, she's like never there during the checks. Mm-hmm. We just, I just tell her what happened and her bees didn't make it last winter, and she was like, I almost cried. I, yeah, because you like, so that's the point is like, so that they're invested and connected with the colony, even without really seeing, Right the inside. Yeah. That's neat. But if someone does wanna be there for the check, I'm also like happy to work with them for that too. Yeah. Yeah. I keep, I saw it and I was so excited and my wife was like, we have to get our yard in shape first before we can start putting bees out there. And I'm like, that is my, Because like I live in a decent, we live in a nice neighborhood not the like super hoy toy, but it's a good neighborhood and I know that there's like a lot of trees and f and floral all around us. I'm like, this would be perfect because I, I think more people in Wilmington should invest in that. Cuz if we can't plant more trees, we definitely need to help with the bees. Yeah. I mean, both are, both are good. I, I like that when people get a hive, they're more inclined to, to plant more things. Their neighbors are more inclined to be like, be friendly in their garden. Mm-hmm. So use less chemicals and by doing that, it helps all of the pollinators, not just honeybees. Yeah. Right. You know? Yeah. There are other pollinators. Oh yeah. I knew that. I just didn't know if Tyler did. He didn't know about Athe before now. Fair. There's actually like hundreds of thousands of pollinators in Oh wow. Washington tiny bees. Yeah. That's impressive. Is there an amount of space that you need in order to have a hive? Not necessarily. So I need enough space. The beekeeper needs enough space next to the hive to get into. But I like to use the example in, in Boston there was a client with a second story balcony. Mm-hmm. And we kept the hive on her balcony. Oh, no way. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Yeah, cuz the bees fly, they can fly like three miles if they need to, to get the food that they need. So. Yeah. And they know to come back to that same hive. So yeah. In terms of space, you don't need a lot of space. But you just wanna have it in an area where there's not a lot of traffic around the hive. Like people walking in front of it all the time Right. And stuff like that. So yeah, I, I do free site consultations where I go out and talk to whoever it is who's interested and look at their yard and, and see if there's a good. I liked it, but usually it's not a space thing, you know, it's not like the amount of space which is, which is a misconception, I think. Yeah, I definitely would've thought you needed like a decent amount of space in order to put a hive or something out there. What's one of the biggest objections then to putting a hive out there? Or I guess one of the biggest hurdles rather one of the biggest hurdles. I don't know. So usually if someone calls you and says like, Hey, I want to hyphen like my house, you can pretty much get it done. Not in the house. No, no, no, no. Not in it. Yeah. No, not in the house, but like around their house usually. Yeah. There's, okay. Usually nothing. I mean, unless, I mean, we don't wanna put it next to. A playground where kids are playing all the time. Sure. Yeah. So like I look at stuff like that, but there's usually a space on the property. Yeah. It's, I, I don't know that I've even ever said, no, this is not a good house for bees. Okay. You know, I easy to know. Yeah. And you said you have some clients that are businesses. Yeah. So, What do you usually do with them? Is it just they want something to help the environment and stuff too, so they're coming out and just kind of doing their part, or how's that usually work? Exactly, yeah. I mean, it's a good way to showcase their commitment to mm-hmm. The environment. It's a good look for a company to, to do something like that, family. And then it's also a cool thing to be able to offer your employee. The local honey from the Oh, true. Yeah. From the hive. So typically I, I give the honey back to the client in Mason jars, but with the commercial clients, they'll often wanna do like a little jar and they'll wanna make a logo mm-hmm. With their own, their own logo for it. Yeah. To give it out at events or, or whatever. They could use that. So if we have anyone listening, who's the big client that you would like to land in Wilmington? The big client I would like to land is Encino. Yeah. Tell'em your idea. Maybe we can get a, So I live very close to their new, their newest building and I watch the whole construction happen. Oh yeah. And they now have this amazing space behind it. And. That's like perfect for, for beehives. And their logo is four columns. Yeah. Yeah. And my dream, like, how could they say no? My dream is to cr is to paint the beehives the same color as their four columns in their, in their logo. And they would have four beehives. And it would be amazing. That would be pretty awesome. I am down for that too. My office, like I watched all the construction too. My office is right there. Oh yeah. Yeah. So I, I would love to see that in their backyard there, right? Yeah. There's that pond behind. Mm-hmm. So I'm thinking like somewhere. Off, you know, not close to the parking lot, right? Yeah. But yeah. At my other client, they're close by too. Yep. And they have two hives, right. By their, what do you call those ponds? Like retention? Retention ponds, typically. Yeah. Yes. So they're, yeah, they're two hives are close by. That's neat. Yeah. I didn't know that. That's cool to know. Yeah. Yeah. Does it affect the bees? If you have two hives that are like within three miles of each? No, the only thing that it would affect, I mean, there is more than enough food to go around. Yeah. For the pollinators. So, no, I don't think, I mean, I was telling you about the, a apiaries I worked in where there were 20 to 50 hives in one location. So two, two hives in, in one spot, I think is typical. Okay. For honeybees. Yeah. Good. And because I am the science questionnaire here, is there a specific kind of honeybee that you guys use? Yeah, good question. I try to work with just the Italian honeybees. Okay. Which are they're said to be the nicest. The nicest. It's what beekeepers typically work with cuz they're gentle. All right. Yeah, good question. I didn't know there was multiple types of honey bees. So wait, wait, what? I just thought a honey bee was a honey. I knew there was different types of bees, but I thought like a honey bee was a honey bee. So to me, I see bees as like humans. Like there's different ones from different parts of the world and all of them do different things. Like there's some that live in cities human wise, and some that live in like a farm or live underground. Yeah. I did actually go to the thing in South Carolina. I think it's a Merle's Inlet. There's a big Bee Museum Arboretum Oh. Kind of thing. And me and my wife went and they had a B exhibit and it literally was like someone had gone and like photographed all these different bees and it showed like obviously the bee was on like a 16 by 16 picture. And they're like, yeah, but in reality it's this big. Mm-hmm. So it showed you like the true comparison, but you could see how they all look different. Like obviously most of'em are gonna be white and black. But they were like, well this one's a honey bee and this one's a carpenter bee and this one's a so-and-so carpenter bee and they all have like their side. Well I knew that, but like carpenter bees aren't making honey. Right, right. Okay. Honey bees are the only, I think that other bees will make just enough for like themselves, cuz they use the Nectar two I think, although. I don't know much about other pollen. I know, I know honeybees, right? Yeah, right. So I can't really speak to the other ones, but I do know that I think honeybees are the only insect that makes a food for human consumption. Oh yeah, that makes sense. You know, like, think about it one, it is interesting. Yeah. Yeah. No, can't think of anything else. Yeah. And that's why people love honeybees. Honestly. It's because we can f we they can be farmed and they make delicious honey that we can take. Yeah. I mean, we don't, it's not good to take all their honey and we don't do that. No. Yeah. You want them to survive too. Yeah. But often they'll. Start. They're not gonna say, the HoneyBee's not going to send out the troops to collect the nectar and then be like, all right, stop. We got enough. You know? Right. They'll just keep collecting and collecting and if it's a really strong colony with a lot of honeybees, they're gonna make more than they need. Okay. To survive. So that's why there's often a little, a little bit of access that you can take. Right. Huh. Interesting. Learning new stuff. Absolutely. So we did prep you with a question. Because we've talked about business and expanding what would success look like for you besides getting a hi at Encino? So success in life is what I took the question. Yeah. To mean. Absolutely. So I thought about it and I just came up with a couple things. So I think that purpose is really important. Purpose. Mm-hmm. Cause during those two times in my life that I told you about, I struggled with a lack of purpose and it really messed with me. So purpose means is essential for success. Also community, and I think an outlet for creative expression, and then the money to support all of that. That makes plenty of sense. I was gonna say, yeah, that pretty much brings it all together. I love it. Yeah, thanks. Yeah. Now I had to throw it in there. And I'm gonna steal Tyler's question. There is something, what could we as a community do to help you guys like the business? Yeah. Like I said, planting more food for the pollinators is always gonna be a good thing. And then, Chemical pesticide use. Mm-hmm. Like looking for alternative options if, if possible. I mean, I know that you need to do what you need to do for mosquitoes or whatever it is. But you know, the less the better for, for pollinators on a whole. I like that. I have a random question that I just like hear from time to time. So are. Like cell towers and wind turbines. Are those actually really bad for bees to be around? I don't think so. Okay. I think that the cell tower thing has been debunked. Okay. And then the wind towers, I'm not really sure about, but I know that in Boston we had a hive literally at the base of a wind tower. Oh wow. So probably not too. Yeah. Yeah. I you, yeah, I'm not sure about that. So, I have a friend that got married up in like the mountains of PA and they had a bunch of like wind turbines and stuff up there. And then there was like these signs I kept saying they were like, save the bees, get rid of the wind turbines. And I was like, oh, oh, interesting. I didn't know there was any correlation there, but, or maybe they just didn't wanna see the winter turbines and they were just coming up with something. Cause I've seen that happen soon. Yep. Well, we are starting to come up on our time today, so I do wanna ask one last question, which is, if you were to tell yourself your younger self one thing, what would it be? Ah, you should have prepped me. I don't, I don't do well with these on the spot questions. Ugh. I were to talk to my younger self. I would like to hit you with a hard one after. Don't worry. He, he hit me with that too, and I was like and he even knew it was coming. So, yeah, get your ego out of the way. Welcome. I like that one. Which is easier said than done. I still Exactly. You know? Yeah. I wouldn't know what it meant if I told my younger self that, I mean my younger self probably was being told that, but Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. We've had another guest that kind of said similar thing too. It's like, I don't know if I would've told my younger self anything, would've listen to it anyway, so Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's hard, it's hard. But everything that's happened led me to where I am today, and I am happy with where I am today. So that's good. I've got a little one year old at home. Oh, that's awesome. She's my world. I love her so much. Oh, that's great. Did she come out with you? She has come out with me. I try not to do it anymore, but yeah, I would put her little car seat in a net. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. To protect her. Yeah. So people, she, she does protect your kid. My son, he's two and a half, and I think he learned this from my wife because my wife is petrified with anything that has a stinger. And I keep telling her to just leave it alone. And they'll leave you alone. Yeah. But so anytime my son sees even a fly, since it just makes the same sound as a bee, he goes, be, and then he hides. So I'm like, no, it's okay. You'll be fine. I love it. So, question, where can people. Find you guys to solicit your services or just in general to keep up with what you guys are doing? Yeah. Instagram, seaside honeybees. I have a website. Seaside honeybees.com and that's really the best way to reach out to me. If you're interested in getting a hive, there's a contact form on there. Mm-hmm. That goes straight to my email. I'm also happy to take a call. The number on my website's, just my cell phone. So yeah, if you wanna talk more, I'm happy to take a call or just follow me on Instagram, Facebook too. It's the same handle on Facebook. Just seaside honeybees. Perfect. I always forget about, Me too. Our Instagram just goes straight to the Facebook and we're like, all right, me too. Good enough. Right, right, right. Love it. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you guys. Thank you for having me. It's been a, it's been fun. Yeah. Yeah. Thank, thank you so much for your time. I don't get excited about things very often, but I was like, Ooh, she does some bees. Like I said, it gives me a goal to shoot for is once I fix my yard and can clean it up. Yeah. I already told her, I was like, we're getting bees. Yeah, let me know. That'll be awesome. Don't, I'm totally being serious. I know you are. I'm, I'm excited about it. I was totally, I'm gonna come over, get a garden cuz I've already, I have figured out where I'm putting a garden and I already have a space to put the bees. Nice. Yeah. Good. Yeah. Once you have in a place in mind, I feel like it's hard. It's hard to not do it cuz you just envisioned the hive being there. Right. And that's my thing. I'm like, my vision, if I can see it, I can get to it. Yeah, totally. But yeah, thank you for coming on. It was a pleasure. Thank you guys. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Was it, did it just taste like regular whiskey to you? The Virginia Black? Yes. I don't have, I can't tell the difference, so it just tastes like whisky to me, but I think it's good. Yeah, I think you're right. It does taste a little water watered down to me, but, so it is, do you have a drink of choice or a cocktail that you enjoy? I try to stay away from whiskey these days, but anything that's carbonated, I like lately like Prosecco or beer mm-hmm. Is good. Have you ever had the gin drink? The bees? Wait, where's that from? Sounds familiar. Oh, that's literally, it's the nickname for it. That's the, it's the cocktail name. It, it started up north, so you probably heard of it more up north when you were like in the Boston area. Okay. You probably heard it more, but it's starting to make its way down here. Cool. Yeah, it's a cocktail. Most people know it. Shout out to Sarah Old who told me that. Flying machine at Riceville Beach makes a really good bees news. Do you know that? My newest beekeeper works at Flying Machine. Oh really? Yeah. Are you gonna get a highlight? She's a bartender and she does sales. Oh, okay. Yeah. Cara from Flying Machine? Yeah. Yeah, she's great. She caught her first swarm the other day. Oh, way. Yeah. And I was on the phone with her. I was like, okay, this is what you need to. This is what to expect. And she was like, okay. And she did it. And she had a whole audience of people watching it. Oh wow. That's crazy. Yeah. That's so cool. Yeah, and it was a huge swarm too. If you check out my Instagram, it's like one of the more recent pictures. Yeah. Well, but yeah, so it's a swarm. This is kind of going off tangent before it. Yeah, let's do it. But I just curious. It's a swarm basically. Basically a bunch of bees without. No, it's very intentional. Oh, okay. So the swarm colony of bees, like in a hive, when they run outta space, they'll start to create queen self. Mm. Because they wanna keep growing. It's a way of, of like. Multiplying themselves without like, it's like asexual reproduction of the Okay. Of the colony. Yeah. Okay. Kind of cuz the queen still has to mate, but Right. But like, so they make a bunch of queen cells and then the original queen, usually it happens this way where the original queen leaves with a portion, maybe like half of the bees. Mm-hmm. And they'll go like, hang on a branch and send scouts out to find a new home. Wow. And so they have a queen, they're just looking for a new home. And then the bees they left behind are left with these queen cells that will hatch and create a new queen that'll take over the colony that remains. So they're not lost, they're just looking for a home and will like establish themselves from there. Oh, interest. Yeah. And when a swarm happens, because this is swarm season right now. Mm-hmm. So anyone who's listening who, who sees a swarm, it's nothing to be scared of. When bees are swarming, they're actually the most gentle that they're ever gonna be cuz they don't have anything to protect. Huh. Like, you don't often even need, like to do a bee removal, like what the girl does on Instagram. I would definitely need a suit cause they have a lot to protect. But with a swarm, often you don't even need a suit. People think of swarms as like this, like group of bees that's gonna chase you down the road. Yeah. But it's not that at all. It's just a clump of bees hanging out on a branch. So it just looks scarier than it is. Yeah, I guess it can look scary. I don't think it looks scary though. It's just cool. Yeah. But if you see one, you can call a beekeeper. New Hanover County Beekeepers Association has people, but also sea said honeybees, I need more bees, so call me. Well, that's a good thing tot throw out this time of your year then. So I'm glad, I'm glad we brought your own. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. Thank you. So, well, like I said, thanks for coming on educating us Tyler. Learning new words. Yep. Learned a lot. But yeah, everybody check us out. Leave us a nice review. Few comment, five stars, always. And we might eventually have a visual version of the podcast. We're. So also check that out too. Yeah, have a good one. All right. Look out for the thank you guys. Yeah, thank you so much. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.