Just Odds & Ends, Sept 26' transcript

Hey, Seth. Did you ever think you'd see the day when tour buses would be stopping here? >> I didn't. No, I did not. No, sir. >> Yeah, there's a bunch of people in there right now. That's good. And I gave them a little tour. They loved it. They loved the tour. They're having a good time. So, it's a win-win. Of course, it's good for the retail store, too. Yeah. Interesting. We've had several this summer. This main artery 440 US 441 gets a lot of traffic on it.

It's about doubled in the 14 years I've been here. A lot of people coming up this road. They're going to the Smoky Mountain National Park and Cherokee Reservation and distant places. So, it's all good. You know, we're in kind of a win-win situation here. We live in the country, but we have this road frontage here that's so good for business, but when you get off the road a mile or two, it's, you know, just like the old southern Appalachia stuff.

Yeah. >> Yes, sir. >> All right. What you up to today? >> I am Well, I was shaking some packages this morning. Now, I'm going to go ahead uh got to go do some bank work and then I got to head home and we're going to start >> Okay. I got to ask you. Shaking packages in September, what's that about? So, a buddy of mine, I guess, knocked a bunch of his colonies a lot farther back uh with Apart than he wanted to. So, he needed some he needed about 50 lbs of bees. >> Okay. >> To uh boost some colonies.

So, I just went out and shook some basically selling him just the bees, not the queen and the can or nothing like that. >> Okay. So, it worked out. >> Why not? Fast fast shot of money in the arm there. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> I remember this guy. >> Oh, yeah. He cares. I'm a fan. >> Got to shake your hand, man. >> Okay. Good to see you. >> Good to see you. >> Is that your truck right there? >> Yeah. >> All right. >> Got some of that good sugar. >> Oh, yeah.

We got a good deal on sugar right now. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> It's the cheapest for like 200 miles. No lie. >> Going to Walmart. We only got two bags. >> Yeah. >> All right. Cool. All right. Thanks. Warehouse is starting to get full. We've been buying a lot of honey and we have a lot to go. At this point, we start to scratch our heads and wonder where it's all going to go, but somehow we always get it in. We probably got another 4 or 500 drums to pick up before we're done purchasing honey this season.

Uh some will get shuffled over to my house. I've got a 28x 58 barn over there that we can store a lot in. Uh sometimes we end up renting a little space at a warehouse nearby. Hopefully we won't have to do that this year. I don't like doing that if I don't have to. So, we got another load coming in later today. Gosh, another one on Monday. It's just going to be endless for the next month or two. There'll be a lot of loads coming in here.

At least 4 or 500 drums. I'd like to actually have a little bit more than that. A little bit more of a cushion. I just did the math. Last year, we went through a little over 2,000 drums. Of course, we make some of it, but not all of it. I wish I could say I made 2,000 drums of honey, but I can't. We have to purchase a lot. Our little trailer is loaded heavy. We're heading off to the Georgia Beekeepers Association convention in Gainesville, Georgia.

Setting up a booth. Getting kind of involved in booths at these conventions that are close to us. Why not? Might as well. So, Joanne and Clint and Joe and Kennedy are going to run the booth. I'll catch up with them tomorrow. They're just setting up today. Should be fun. I like doing the booth thing. Okay, honey's been coming in. Two loads today. This load of honey is from Michigan. Friend Lloyd brought it down. Lloyd Sherwin.

Morning, Jesse. Morning. >> This Lotus from Montana. >> Got a little bit of honey, huh? >> Little bit of honey. This is Clover from Allas. Ray, good stuff. >> Yeah. >> Going to go right back and get another one. I think we'll get three loads of this stuff. >> That's good. >> Starting to get pretty full in that warehouse. >> Yeah. >> This is the part where I start to wonder how it's all going to fit. Lloyd, good morning.

I'll put you on camera. >> I didn't know there was going to be someone else. >> I I didn't know either. Sorry about that. So, uh, shouldn't take long. Louis getting ready in there. He'll get this off. Hope you're not in a terrible rush. >> Well, I'll get all my stuff unhookked if you don't. >> Yeah. Okay. And then you're going to take 72 drums back with you. Empty drums. >> I only have 68. For some reason, he didn't want to put 72 on. >> Okay.

Well, we'll put >> I don't know what >> we'll put 70 drums on you. Empty drums. That's okay. >> All right. Going to be a busy day. >> Who's this from? >> This is from Montana. >> Oh, >> this is clover. Real clover. Not suedo clover. We see a lot of evidence that these colonies have been battling European hornets. Um, the colonies are in good shape. They don't have quite the bee bodies in them that some of the other yards have.

So, that's probably due to horn pressure. They're gentle. The bees are nice. It's not like they're all angry at the world or something. So, I think there's several potential breeder queens in here. uh no treatment colonies that are still very gentle, robust, good shape, even though they've been hit by the hornets some. So, we're always on the lookout for stuff we want to breed from next year. We got several colonies in here that we have marked as potential breeders.

Gentle, no treatment, seem to be in real good condition. Everything with two bricks on it is no treatment. And we've put little marks on the lids for potential breeders that are extra gentle, extra robust ones we think could be the one. Mhm. John loves killing hornets. >> There's a lot of them in here. >> There's a lot of them here. >> Using it. >> Can we tell everybody our soul sister story, too? >> The soul sister. >> What do you guys think's going on right there? >> Hornets.

The hornets. >> There's a hornet coming off. >> Yeah. Maybe that's really full of bees. Who knows? >> Yeah, >> we It's a double screen board, but we put steak sticks under the corner so it kind of be held up enough to have an entrance across the whole thing. So, of course, they all got a few bees on the front, don't they? >> Yeah, that one seems, >> you know, that last yard that was so nasty. I wonder if it's because they've been fighting hornets.

I didn't even think of that. This is a good yard of bees. This is a more gentle yard. I know. I know that the genetics in this yard are much different than the last yard. >> And all of these with the two bricks standing up are the ones that are treatment free. >> Yeah. Look at all these treatment free colonies. Everywhere there's two bricks means they haven't been treated since last year and they still got low numbers.

We'll be pulling Huh. Yeah. We'll be pulling all those colonies out of here in mid- winter to put in some of our mating nuke yards. That's quite a few. One, two, three, four, five. It's like there's a dozen or so here. This is a very isolated yard, too. Way up in the hollow out of Otto, North Carolina. I I think the nearest bees are ours, which are about 4 miles away. We have another yard about 4 miles from here. It wasn't so so crowded in here.

We could use this as a mating yard, but there's just not enough space here. What are you doing? Kelling hornets. >> Yeah, there's there's quite a few in this yard. >> You know, we're catching less in the traps now. I don't know what that means. >> We're still catching a few, but it's not like it was a few weeks ago. You know, John, you know how old this yard is. Daniel, my son, helped me build this yard >> when he was still helping me.

He was about 16 or 17 and he just turned 41. So this >> bar is growing stuff. That's how old. >> Now this is an old yard. We brought in these uh railroad ties and I've been here a long time. The guy loves having the bees, too. I remember when I met this man. He's a lieutenant colonel out of the Air Force. And I met him and he said, "I'd like bees right here." And I said, "Well, is does it have to be right here?" And he said, "Yeah, that's where my grandfather kept them." And I'd just love to see bees in the same place as my grandpa did.

Okay. Yeah. >> So that's why we have them here. Of course, it actually, if you look around, it's about the only place we could put them anyway. >> Yeah. >> And if it if we weren't here keeping this place cleaned up, it just turned right back into the forest. >> This is the snake yard. This is >> This is the snake yard. We found a couple snakes in this yard. Yeah. >> Poisonous. Couple poisonous snakes in this yard. I want I wonder how many poisonous snakes are under a beehive and we never even see them.

Never even know they're there. >> The first one that I found here was when I lifted up a nuke, me and Seth, and I just happened to lift up the nuke and there it was. You know, I wouldn't have known had I not lifted it up. >> Yeah. I remember once down in Unadilla, I had a pallet of bees down in South Georgia and we used to have 64 colonies in a yard cuz that's what a truck held. And we were trying to equalize the pallets and I was taking beehive hives off of one pallet to fill holes in another spot.

You know, a couple other pallets had a hole. >> Yeah. >> I must have spent five minutes working around that pallet and, you know, checking out colonies, putting them back together and then moving them to another pallet and we were all done. I lifted up the pallet and there was a water moccasin right there. And I've been working around the pallet for five minutes. >> And they're aggressive. They're aggress. They're supposed to be aggressive, but that that one was just chill just sitting there. >> And uh that gave me that made my heart pause a moment.

Yeah. >> You ready, Cody? >> I'm ready.