May I have your attention, please? The following is not the real Jeff Fox review. If you have ever uttered the words, I can't wait for the first sting of the year. You might be a beekeeper or a masochist. If you flunked high school algebra, but you can do bee math in your sleep. You might be a beekeeper. If you have sting -proof gloves, but for some reason you never were, you might be a beekeeper. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping presented by our great friends over at Man Lake.
Now that we also have a video version of this podcast, we will regularly have a new product corner where we show and demonstrate great new beekeeping products, gadgets, inventions, maybe even techniques sometimes. So if you have something that you would like to see featured, shoot me an email eric at beelovebeekeeping .com Today we're headed to Florida to speak with beekeeper Joshua Diggins. Among other things he will explain how bee hives and submarines have a lot of similarities.
Bet you never thought of that one before. But first a brief look into the mental health aspects of working with honeybees. To me it's always been a calming time of my day. When I'm in a hive I'm completely present. There's no work stress, no politics or world conflict, just peace in a place that could otherwise be seen as frenetic energy. I'm going to quote from a few studies here and they have shown some of the following benefits of beekeeping. First, stress reduction.
The rhythmic hum of bees and the focused activity of beekeeping can induce a state of mindfulness helping individuals disconnect from daily stressors and promote relaxation, increase self -esteem. Successfully managing a hive, harvesting honey and contributing to the well -being of the colony can boost self -confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Enhanced connection to nature. Beekeeping provides a direct link to the natural world, fostering an appreciation for the environment and a sense
of interconnectedness with ecosystems. Social connection. Beekeeping can be a social activity, bringing people together through clubs, workshops, and shared experiences. Therapeutic application. Studies have shown beekeeping to be beneficial in treating conditions like PTSD and improving the quality of life for individuals with mental illness. Now here's some examples of how these things are put into practice. Veterans mental
health. Beekeeping programs have been implemented to help veterans with PTSD and anxiety transition to civilian life, providing a sense of purpose and community. Prison rehabilitation. Beekeeping has been used as a therapeutic intervention in prisons, reducing recidivism and promoting positive behavioral changes. Youth programs. So there have been many initiatives that utilize beekeeping to provide therapeutic support and community building for young people, particularly those
from challenging backgrounds. Green prescribing. healthcare providers are increasingly prescribing time in nature, including beekeeping, to improve mental well -being and potentially reduce the need for traditional healthcare services. So in conclusion, beekeeping offers a unique and multifaceted approach to mental health, providing opportunities for stress reduction, self -improvement and social connection with growing evidence supporting
its therapeutic potential. Other beneficial effects on mental health include reductions in feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as increases in positive feelings regarding overall health. Bees are a perfect example of what a community should look like, one researcher said. A bunch of people getting together to make something better and bigger than themselves that other
people can keep building on. These benefits stem from the calming nature of working with bees, the opportunities for mindfulness, and the social connections fostered through beekeeping activities. So if you haven't tried beekeeping yet, I would recommend give it a shot. If you're a seasoned beekeeper, you probably already enjoy these mental and physical health benefits. But if you've lost some of that connectedness, some of that passion for time with the bees, I would encourage you
to look for it again. Slow down, enjoy the moment, the sounds, the aromas, the overall feeling of peace and connection. It's what the love of bees is all about. Alright, enough of my metaphysical, philosophical soapbox. Let's meet today's guest. Hey I'd like to welcome to the show today Joshua Diggins coming to us from Florida. How are you Josh? I'm doing great Eric thanks for asking. Hey I appreciate you being on the show and you're one of those wonderful people that works for
Man Lake. I want to hear all about your beekeeping. I want to hear about Florida. First I want you to tell me what do you do for Man Lake? So for Man Lake, I am currently the branch manager and commercial sales at the Florida location. So everything in our Florida location, from our shipping and receiving to our sales and our commercial customers, all falls on me. Sounds like a big job. Yeah, it definitely is important. You know, people need their products anywhere from hobbyists
to commercial guys. So never a dull day for sure. For those of us who haven't been there, what part of Florida are you in? So the Man Lake location is located in Winter Haven, Florida. If you're not familiar with Florida at all, that's going to fall right in between Orlando and Tampa. And if you are familiar with theme parks or have small kids, then Lego Land is about 10 or 15 minutes away from our building. All right. How long have you been keeping bees yourself? So
I started keeping bees in late 2022. Going on four years now. Oh, okay. So you're sort of a newbie, but you've got experience enough that you can help people that come out to the store. Do you have hives at the store too? We do, yep. So not only do we have a fully functioning nuke yard for our customers that come in and purchase bees from us, we also have a training yard that we use for new employees to learn bees and then also for our YouTube videos to be able to train
the YouTube audience. And you're on those. You're the big star. Hey the thing I wanted to talk about first that I thought was so interesting when we were talking about before was now you were in the Navy on a submarine right? Correct, yeah. Okay you were making a comparison to how a submarine works and how a beehive works. Now most people would say what they have nothing to do with each other. Go ahead and explain that.
I thought this was interesting. So really, it's really kind about the industry and then just beekeeping as a whole. On a submarine, less than 1 % of active duty military members are on a submarine. So it's a very small niche segment of the military and they call us the silent service one because that's our job. We go down, we stay
quiet and you only see us when we need us. So a lot of people think about submarines or maybe not even think about submarines and they don't really get the whole picture the whole concept and I relate that a lot to beekeeping whereas we call beekeepers the forgotten farmers because you know people see the honey they buy the honey but not too many people actually sit down to think about where does that money actually come from? So it's a very small niche part of the
agricultural business. So much so that, you know, oftentimes beekeepers are forgotten about. And I relate that a lot to submarines as, you know, we were that 1 % silent service that people didn't really think about or didn't really know about too often. So that definitely has helped me and kind of put it all together and relate a little bit of beekeeping to my prior service. What about
the community aspect of it? Because we think of a bee hive or a bee colony sort of as one mass but we know there's thousands and thousands of bees all making it happen and we think of a submarine as one submarine but there's a bunch of guys in there making that happen too. Can you explain is there some kind of a correlation
there as well? Yeah, so as far as like the community aspect goes on it, you have those 200, 300 guys on a submarine all working together to complete that mission or even just to operate the submarine successfully. So that way everyone can kind of get back alive, if you will. And then the bees are the same way. A submarine was an all -male force and beekeeping is kind of an all -female
force with all those female bees in there. But all of them working together to accomplish that one goal, whether it be a pollination contract or even just a honey yield for the season. So all right, let's talk beekeeping in Florida. What kinds of challenges do you have there compared to other places in the world? So I would say number one, small high beetles, especially during the rainy season, which is right now June into probably August timeframe is kind of our hurricane
season. But before the hurricanes come, we get tons of rain, which just amplifies that small beetle, that small high beetle population. So it's definitely a constant struggle to maintain that equilibrium between the small high beetles and the actual colony itself, because there's no real eradicating them all. together. It's definitely something you just monitor and just try to keep it kind of at acceptable levels so that way they're not in there taking over the
hive. So I would say number one first and foremost would definitely be that small hive beetle situation. What are some of the things that you have found work best? So far, the things that I've seen work best is constant monitoring. That would be the number one. You can put the beetle traps in there. You can put your Swiffer pads or your beetle towels in there. You can use your CheckMite
Plus in there. But at the end of the day, if you are not in that hive, I would say every week and a half to two weeks, just checking on them, making sure that those beetles haven't kind of take hold. So to me, the number one combat against small high beetles on top of, you know, your traps, your towels, your, uh, check my plus is definitely going to be just monitor. Just keep an eye on it, especially during the rainy seasons. And especially if you already have a situation
in your VR, just monitor like crazy. Are there different things that you can do with where you actually place the hives that help? Some people have told me that they have gravel or concrete around the hive stands. Have you found things
like that help? So, I would definitely say prepping your yard if possible, especially for hobbyists, any kind of real thick tarp, maybe some gravel, concrete, anything to kind of keep them from burrowing down into that sandy soil that we have next to your hive and kind of completing that metamorphosis that goes on down there. And then also Permethrin, diatomaceous earth, just prep that ground before you get your bees in there.
Or if you are having an issue, you know, it might be beneficial to kind of move those hives out so that way you can treat that ground and put them back. Also direct sunlight. Trees are nice. They're great for a beekeeper. You get the shade. You're not in there in a hundred degree heat, but small high beetles love shady areas. So as awesome as that hive is going to look tucked into some, some trees on your property, you're
really just going to kind of. create the perfect environment for those small hot beetles to kind of come in and do what they do. Well, I appreciate that. I have to admit I'm no expert on them at all because we don't have them where I am. Thank goodness we have plenty of other problems, but that's not one of them. And so I don't have a ton of experience with it. So anything that you can share would be helpful because I know most people do have to deal with it. Yeah, for sure.
So you're really lucky. Yeah. Not having that issue to deal with. Last fall, we had Andrew on the show from down there at your same location. And this was right after the hurricanes had blown through. And we were talking about some of the relief effort that Man Lake and a bunch of other groups had done. And again, we appreciate all of that and the beekeepers do. What kind of a bounce back have you seen? Has most of the beekeeping
community come back pretty well from that? It really kind of messed up the pepper crop last year, the Brazilian pepper. It kind of came in right as that was getting ready to bloom. I think it was Hurricane Milton, the second one that year, kind of came in right as that was getting ready to bloom. So it knocked out a lot of that forage for those bees and a lot of the commercial guys kind of rely on that last crop of the season
to hold that feed over. So that way they're not spending the money on the syrup and unnecessary things. So the hurricane definitely affects immediately, but then, you know, you have the months after that, that the plants and the trees are still trying to repair. So as of right now, just kind of scattered throughout Florida in general, I've heard not so good things about orange blossom.
And now whether that was just due to the hurricane itself damaging some crops, or is it just because the development that's going on in Florida ripping out those crops? Goldberry was great this year. So I'm going to say that now that we're I would say about eight months after the hurricane. I think that it is definitely starting to rebound, but we'll definitely really be able to tell come pepper season in September to kind of see where
that lands. And then we'll definitely see hopefully a big boost or at least back to normal levels of the Brazilian coming in. If I were moving to a place that was hurricane prone, whether it's Florida or Texas, New Orleans or someplace in the South Pacific for that matter and I was just setting up my apiary Do you have any advice as far as? You know, hopefully the hurricanes don't roll through but if they're going to what
can I do to prepare for it? That's a great question Eric So I would definitely say a lot of people can't pick their property just based on their bees alone So it's gonna be beneficial to prep those bees for success when when those hurricanes inevitably do come through so You want to keep them up off the ground. Cinder blocks, four by fours, just your general hive stand usually will give you enough clearance pending any kind of catastrophic flooding or anything like that.
But I would say anywhere between 16 to 24 inches off the ground, you would definitely be in a safe zone. Again, really dependent on where exactly you're at and how big that hurricane is, but just your general inland areas, keeping it up off the ground to prevent that flooding inside the hive. Ratchet straps to keep it down. Quick break here to thank our presenting sponsor, Man Lake. Whether you're a beekeeper or not, you know that nutrition is key for healthy honey
bees, native bees, and other pollinators. The Man Lake app is a great resource for determining pollinator -friendly plants that thrive in your area, and its plant identification feature is super helpful and fun. When I see a plant covered in bees, I fire up the app, find out what it is, then plant them in my yard. If you haven't already downloaded the Man Lake app, give it a try today. Oh, and did I mention it's free? And if you're shopping for beekeeping supplies,
don't forget your discount code MLBlove10. It's in the show notes for $10 off your first $100
purchase. Last season when we had that hurricane roll through we had nukes sitting on four by fours So we just ended up throwing an extra four by four across the long way and then just kind of ratchet strapping them down just enough so that way that wind isn't gonna push them over and then after the hurricane kind of you you definitely want to assess resources in the hive and you definitely want to assess kind of the Forage around your area how bad did the plants
and the trees get damaged to kind of really depend on? do we need to go ahead and supplement feeding to kind of get them through this area and more times than not if you are in that path of that hurricane you would definitely need to supplement feeding for sure. So it sounds like really a two -part thing. One, keeping them safe from the elements and then two, being prepared to feed them afterwards. You know, maybe stocking up on some of that ahead of time. Yeah, that's
a great way to put it for sure. And I'd get those ratchet straps ahead of time too because when a hurricane is announced that it's coming through in three days You may be too late to find that
kind of equipment. That's right. Yeah, and hurricanes are very tricky You know one one day they're they're headed straight for you and the next day they're they're headed 50 miles north of you So just definitely want to be on your toes And then if if you get an indication that a hurricane is coming close to your area You might as well just go ahead and prep for it just to be safe. Tell me about your work with hives for heroes Okay, yeah, great. So, Hives for Heroes, I ended
up kind of finding by accident. I was at a bee expo in Alabama and I saw their booth set up and I reached out to them and just let them know that I was a veteran and just really curious about the program. And their rep told me all about it, which is if you don't know about it, it's a great program and all they do is just a matching service, essentially. It's free to sign up for veterans, first responders, I believe
even teachers as well. And then what they do is they kind of locate a mentor or an experienced beekeeper within your area to match them up with you. So that way, if you want to learn beekeeping. They have someone that's experienced that will be able to kind of guide you and help you out. That was the gist of the program. And I got kind of really excited about it, especially after about two or three years of being in my role here and kind of really getting a deep dive into
beekeeping. So I took on a mentee, her and her granddaughter, and we spent, they ended up moving away about eight months into it, but we spent about eight months every weekend doing hive inspections, going from the basics, teaching them how to light a starter. to teach them how to read frames and then key things to look for as the season kind
of progressed. So it's a really great program, one for just community, being able to kind of link up with fellow veterans and first responders and just kind of have that, that mentor mentee relationship. And then also you kind of get away from the YouTube beekeeping, which I'm not against.
Um, everyone got to learn their own way, but to have actually someone there where you can put hands on with them and they can kind of walk you through, um, and maybe identify things that, you know, are not covered in beekeeping videos, you know, where the swarm cells are located and hive beetles and what it looks like when hive beetles take over a hive and wax moths. And then the, just the treatments and things like that. So it's, it's a great program. I encourage anyone
that wants to get into beekeeping that has. any kind of background in military or police or teaching to sign up for that program. And then I do know that they really need mentors as well. So you don't have to be a first responder or a veteran to sign up to be a mentor. Maybe you just kind of want to pass on that knowledge to fellow people. So if you've got beekeeping experience, I definitely recommend reaching out and signing up to be a
mentor as well. We had one of the head people of Hives for Heroes on the show back last December, so that was December 2024. And by the way, all of those past episodes can be found, well, wherever you're getting this podcast, but also on BeLoveBeKeeping .com. You can even go in and put in a search term like Hives for Heroes or something like that, and it'll pull up that episode if you want to. If you want to know more, one of the things that he mentioned to me was the benefits of people
with PTSD. and how this can be a really therapeutic thing for them. It's not just, hey, let's teach beekeeping to people. It can really change people's lives in very, very positive ways. For example, the suicide rate among veterans is super high. And this is just one of so many things that we can do to get involved and help with some of
that kind of stuff. And you don't have to be a 50 year beekeeper or something like that if you're if you're experienced you can be a mentor if you need the help and are interested Yeah, reach out to them. Okay enough plugs for them But but hey, I think they're a great organization and I appreciate that you're someone that is willing to step up and help them All right. I want to hear With your beekeeping and it's only been four years but I know you've been deep into
it all day every day pretty much. Can you give me an idea of a wild and crazy story that you've had beekeeping? Yeah, so wild and crazy, maybe not, but wild and painful for sure. Every beekeeper eventually is going to get stung. We always cross our fingers and hope it's at least through the suit so it takes kind of that away, but every now and again your bees just have a different idea for you. So I spent all day long. I was in a bee suit. It was probably middle of July
in Florida. So it's pushing like a hundred something degrees all day long, prepping the bee yard, getting the permethrin laid out, getting your tarp down, getting the hive stands laid out and moving the bees. And I didn't have any issues all day long. So I finish up the bee yard. I get all the bees in place and everyone's doing well. So I go back inside. I change out of my beekeeping suit. And I think to myself, Man,
I didn't get a picture. I would really like to get a picture of this, so that way I can show how beautiful my bee yard looks. So I walk back there, get a picture, nothing fancy, and then as I'm walking away, one of those bees comes and stings me right in the wrist. No suit, no gloves, and my hand was probably as big as a catcher's mitt for I would say every bit of three
or four days. And then trying to get to the office and do work on the computer and type and things like that was definitely hard one handed for sure. So that's just one instance. Another great story that I have is, I mean, I remember we talked about getting a bee in your veil and how that is pretty common for the most time, especially if you've been doing it, you know, longer than a couple of weeks, you're eventually going to
get one of those bees in your veil somehow. We had a swarm in the back of our building, coming out of one of our nukes. And I did not know, as I'm walking through the bee yard, I just noticed kind of a funny shaped leaf, if you will, is what I thought it was as I was walking by. But closer look, it was probably about... a football
size cluster of bees just on the ground. So I have my suit on and I get down on my hands and knees and I'm looking for this queen just wanting to catch her so that way I can get all these bees back into a box. In the meantime, the bees are just crawling all over my suit. I mean, I have probably this big of a cluster just right here on my pocket. They're all over my head. And then as I'm looking for this queen, I just
feel the slightest tickle on my ear. and that just all too familiar buzzing sound right past your ear. I pause for a second and I'm like, okay, is one of these really in my veil or maybe just my mind's playing tricks on me? And then sure enough, right across my nose, it flies and I'm just, okay, don't panic. That's when you start causing crazy reactions is when you start slapping and knocking everything around. So I get up and I just start walking away from the
bees. and just ever so gently brushing all the bees off of me just so I can get this one bee out of my suit. And I think it took me probably all of 50 yards to walk to be able to get all these bees off long enough to where I could get my veil off and get this one bee out. So I made it out without no issues. The bee didn't get me in my face. I didn't want that distinctive raccoon look that you get when you get stuck in the face. Definitely an experience for sure.
Well, sounds like you still swell up quite a bit you probably haven't been stung enough yet No, yeah, I definitely I try not to get stung just because I do swell up quite a bit when uh when I do When I do get stung outside of the suit inside the suit, you know stung multiple times But at that point it's just kind of annoying little itch Definitely try try to avoid that direct skin contact for sure the full -on sting most of us find that The more you get stung,
the less it affects you, the less you're going to blow up. Although I would love to see a picture of your hand looking like a pitcher. What'd you call it? A catcher's mitt? A catcher's mitt. Yeah, I think I might have a pitcher somewhere. I'll have to get that over to you for sure. Send that over to me. People are going to like that. Anyway, yeah, that'd be in the veil the first time. That's an experience of self -control.
Very true. Yes, very true. So working in a store and for a company like Man Lake who has gazillions of products for beekeepers Are there some that stand out or maybe some brand new things that you've seen that you think are pretty cool? So yeah, a couple of things that I love personally, and I try pretty much every new product, if it's applicable to my beekeeping setup, just to kind of experience it all and just to see what I like and what I do not like. And to me, a hive tool
is just one of those things. A hive tool you're gonna need, whether it's an actual hive tool
or a variation of that hive tool. At first I started with just your regular hive tool standard and then your j -hook but what I found and I actually brought one here so that way I could show you this is the easy pry and it has kind of a weird end on it with just your typical beveled end on the other side but what this allows you to do is get that frame and then as you kind of tilt it this is just long enough to sit on
that other frame. So it's definitely very beneficial getting like that very first frame out Just because once it's propolized and it's kind of real snug inside there It kind of gets a little difficult to kind of dig in there and try it out whereas this just one end of it and you can kind of Pry it out one side and then pry it out the other side and just makes life a little bit easier So I really enjoy this hive tool I recommend it pretty much to everyone who asked me my opinion
on it But your standard hive tool works just as great, but in my preference. This is the one right here I've never used one like that. That's cool. Hold that up again. There was also a little hole in there Turn it. Yeah, what's the purpose of that? So the hole really has no significant purpose other than like storage. You got a hook on your truck or maybe next to your bee yard. My recommendation to new beekeepers as well is
always keep a spare one out by your hive. Countless of times I have definitely walked out to my bee yard and was like, I forgot my hive tool. And as anyone knows, if they're propylized and you have to sit there and try to use your fingers to kind of crack these open, it's not impossible, but it definitely makes your job a little bit harder. So, just for storage purposes, that little hole right there. Just so you can hang it up on a nail or something. Just so you can hang
it up. Now, if you find it useful, great. But for the main part, it's just this little end that just makes it great to me. Just that ingenuity where they just bent it a little bit more so that way you can get it to rest on that one additional frame to prop it up. So, I love it. I'm going to order one of those. I love gadgets. I can't
wait to give it a try. Awesome then I would say probably my second my second thing protective clothing is always a big issue for me because I do swell up So I just try to kind of be as safe as possible But I used to do the goatskin gloves, which I really liked because they were very thin Dexterity and the fingers were there You didn't kind of have that big bulky finger like you do and like your cowhide gloves and things like that So I use goatskin for a while
but what I noticed with the goatskin is after you kind of sweating them a little bit that that that goat skin gets a little bit thinner and a little bit easier for those stingers to get through. So Man Lake came out with tactical gloves is what we call them and they offer them in this size and then I believe just kind of right up to your wrist as well. So you have different styles of them which I just use the ones that go up to my wrist but it's vented which makes
it a lot cooler. Which I love there's a lot of space with some padding and some netting in between your actual skin So I would say probably about an eighth of an inch which makes it great So the bees don't get through it and then it also has that dexterity in the fingers that I like as well So I'm not I'm not stuck with that big bulky cowhide and so I have a little bit more Dexterity in my fingers to kind of manipulate the frames and and do just other things like
my smoker things like that So you find the dexterity is good enough for all of that and you're not squishing a lot of bees and stuff. Right yeah it's kind of the best of all the world's adequate protection and then mobility for sure. Well Josh hey I appreciate you being with me today I've learned some things. I want to leave our listeners with this and that is Josh what do you love about bees so much? I just, I love how the colonies work really. I love the learning of the seasons.
I definitely just looking out across just my landscape at home or just on my drive to work, learning the different plants and the different seasons to which they bloom and what's beneficial and what's not beneficial for honey making and
pollen for the bees. So I really love that you take something like beekeeping where you're just learning how these bees operate and how you can kind of influence that operation to maybe increase a honey yield or pollination of your garden, but also just zoning out, zooming out away from that colony and just all the other things that kind of make you open your eyes and say, oh, look, my orange blossom is starting to bloom down the street. That happens in late February,
early March. So it's really awesome that you start with beekeeping and then it just kind of expands out to where now you're keeping track of weather. Now you're looking at seasonal flowers and plants, and then you're keeping track on what's kind of around you and the forage that you're able to kind of get these bees to go and draw nectar from. So I just love the aspect that it starts with beekeeping and then zoom out.
all of a sudden you're just in depth and a whole lot of other things that you never really would have thought of. That is so true. I think the bees are so fascinating and it's also made me so much more aware of everything else around. We have a lot of, you know, wild flowers in the hills by me and things like that that I didn't pay as much attention to before, but now I do and I appreciate all of those kinds of things. Anyway, Josh, appreciate your time. Any closing
thoughts? My closing thoughts to anyone who is listening to this that maybe is not into beekeeping, highly recommend it. It's a community like no other. Just relating that back to some rainforests. You talk to someone about you being a beekeeper and it's definitely a conversation starter. It's something that not a lot of people hear about.
And then also you talk to people about beekeeping and they are a beekeeper and all of a sudden you have so many things to talk about So it really kind of really brings people together So if you are in beekeeping and just starting out, I would definitely recommend joining your local bee club Just to kind of have that camaraderie and that that source of information there for you And if you haven't gotten to beekeeping and you're just kind of listening this as a passing through
podcast I would definitely recommend just doing some doing some looking up and some education on it. So that way you can kind of, even if you don't get into beekeeping, at least learn where your local honey is coming from and just the amount of work that goes into producing that honey. So that way, hopefully it will encourage you to buy local, support those small mom and pop businesses that go out every day and work
in this heat to make that happen for you. Thanks again for joining us here on Bee Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake. Remember right now to follow or subscribe and share this podcast. Also a shout out to Vita Bee Health for their support of the show. Vita's Varroa Control range of products includes Apistan, Apigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic Acids Trips. Hey thanks guys, we really appreciate it. Enjoy this beautiful
summer, enjoy your bees, and remember... If you're not just in it for the honey or the money, you're in it for the love. See you next week.