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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 104: The Honey Entrepreneur - How Terri Faloney Built Hammer Hives from the Ground Up
Ever wondered what happens when a childhood fascination becomes a thriving business? Meet Terri Faloney, the passionate force behind Hammer Hives, whose journey from curious novice to "bee whisperer" offers a masterclass in following your calling.
Terri's story begins with loss and a farm that had lost its vitality. Looking to bring life back to her family property, she turned to honeybees after learning about their plight against pesticides and habitat loss. What started as an experiment to "reconnect with her inner child" quickly became an all-consuming passion. Despite losing her first colonies, Terri persevered, sought mentors, and developed expertise that now allows her to work confidently among thousands of bees without protective gear, a sight that leaves most visitors (and podcast hosts) amazed.
The conversation dives deep into the fascinating world of beekeeping, from the 16-day development cycle of queen bees to the meticulous process of queen rearing that involves precise temperature control and careful handling. Terri shares insider knowledge about running double brood chambers versus singles, the threats facing honeybee populations today, and how her sustainable approach to beekeeping supports both bee health and business prosperity. Her Italian-Carniolan genetic line of docile bees, developed over generations in Ontario, allows her to work with bare hands in shorts and a tank top while surrounded by buzzing colonies.
Beyond the technical aspects, Terri's approach reveals something profound about our relationship with nature. The "vibrational connection" she describes – being aware, gentle, and respectful when working with bees – creates harmony between keeper and hive. Whether you're a curious gardener tired of hand-pollinating cucumber plants or someone seeking a meaningful business that benefits the planet, Terri's journey shows how reconnecting with nature can become a sustainable passion that helps save our most important pollinators while building community. Ready to peek behind the veil and discover what all the buzz is about?
so then I heard about honeybees and that the honeybees were suffering and they didn't have spaces to pollinate, they didn't have places to live, they were getting slammed by pesticides and all sorts of other issues. And I'm, like you know what, going to get a couple of beehives and I'm just going to reconnect with my inner child and see what this is all about. Well, lo and behold, I found an obsession.
Speaker 2:This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio podcast Networks Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North Folks. Today we leave the lodge and jump into the buzzing world of beekeeping with a guest who's turning honey into money and a way of life. This awesome girl's story is sweet, sustainable and deeply rooted in community, and it might just leave you feeling differently about the tiny creatures working tirelessly behind the scenes. And it is now my pleasure to introduce to the Diaries family the passionate force behind Hammer Hives, Terry Filoni. On this show.
Speaker 3:Terry and I talk about her grassroots beekeeping business, how she got started, what it takes to run a hive, and for her, beekeeping has become a mission, one that supports local ecosystems, educates communities and, all the while, she's building a business with meaning. Whether you're curious about honey production, pollination or business resilience, terry's got insights that stick.
Speaker 2:So if you love starting from the ground up stories or want to peek from behind the veil and smoker, stick around, because this girl is buzzing with inspiration, baby buzzing with inspiration, baby.
Speaker 3:Here's my conversation with Terry Filoni. Welcome folks, to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And I am really, really excited to have a friend of mine and I just met her only once. I've talked a few times, but Terry is the Bee Whisperer. And Terry Filoni, you totally impressed me when I came with Gary, our mutual friend, and bought some nukes, and I wanted to have you on today because when I saw you doing what you were doing, it reminded me a lot of me in my business. I used to own a fishing lodge on the upper French River and being a small business owner is something that's very cool, in my opinion, and when you can actually find that passion for what you're doing in life which, like I mean, I totally saw it that is something very, very special. So I'd like to just start off with hearing a little bit about your story and how you got into bees.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, thank you so much for having me. First of all, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you and share my beautiful little passion with you, my beautiful little passion with you. It all started well, really, when I was a kid. I have been obsessed with bugs my entire life. I just found them to be the most fascinating creatures. So that aside, as I grew into my adulthood, I feel like I started to lose the ability to interact with bugs. I was busy focusing on school and trying to go to university and I just kind of lost touch with nature on that sort of level.
Speaker 1:So fast forward ahead, I discovered bees when I was about 24 years old. Discovered bees when I was about 24 years old, and it was actually kind of an unfortunate thing as my dad had just passed and I was struggling to find my path Right, so that happened. And then on the farm, we used to raise horses, so they all passed away. And I'm like we used to raise horses, so they all passed away, and I'm like there's just no life here at the farm anymore. What are we doing?
Speaker 1:So then I heard about honeybees and that the honeybees were suffering and they didn't have spaces to pollinate, they didn't have places to live. They were getting slammed by pesticides and all sorts of other issues. And I'm like you know what? I'm going to get a couple of beehives and I'm just going to reconnect with my inner child and see what this is all about. Well, lo and behold, I found an obsession. My first two beehives didn't survive, of course, because I had no idea what I was doing, but it made me seek out mentors and network with the community and I just learned as much as I could. And as time went on, they started surviving and then I started growing my numbers and now I'm, pretty happy and pretty confidently, what I would call an expert in beekeeping. Of course, I still have so much to learn and the bees always keep us on our toes. But yeah, that's just a little bit of how it started.
Speaker 3:That is very cool. And so, like I mean, I'm looking at you now and listening to your story and you're kind of like the Ocean Ramsey of bees, like have you seen that girl with the sharks? Yes, well, you're the Ocean Ramsey of bees and I got to tell you folks, I went with Gary Tebow you all know him, he's a friend of the show and we went to Hamilton and right downtown, kind of by the university Gary's driving into Hamilton, and we found your beautiful spot like a farm right in the middle of of Hamilton. You wouldn't even know you were in Hamilton, you would. You would think you were in farm country in. You know out where I'm at.
Speaker 3:And, um, we pull in and and the, the, the, we drive down and Gary had kind of warned me. He said you know, you know, this girl is very nice looking but she knows her shit, like she knows her shit. And I'm like, oh, okay, that's cool. So we come into your farm, pull down around and there you are with one of the girls that you work with or a girl that works for you, and I was surprised at how young you were because I looked over at you. Guys, you're out helping another customer. I said is that the girls? He said yeah, I said wow and we got out and Gary was very nervous about like he was nervous about getting stung, like he had grabbed some plantain or something from the ground because it's like it'll help if he has an allergic reaction.
Speaker 1:He was ready with that.
Speaker 3:I know, I know he was ready to chew on it and the whole way down, gary suggested that I bring my bee suit and like I'm new, but I see people like there's this one guy from the University of Guelph, I think his name is Ken, he's like one of the leading guys and I watch him on YouTube and I see him sitting amongst all these bees and you know he doesn't have any protection on and I know protection is probably a good idea, but I know people do it At that point I never seen anybody do it without protection.
Speaker 3:But I know it's done because I see this guy and Gary's like oh, I don't know, better bring your beast suit, geez. And I said okay, and then I see you and you're in your shorts and like a uh, um, a short top and it's and you're right in the heart of these bees and they're going all over the place and we made a video and you're sitting on top of one hive with your legs crossed and this, and that you're just totally natural right in the middle of the bees and I'm like fuck, yeah, see, you can do it, gary, that's that, that's what I'm, that's that's what I'm gonna do, and I know I'm gonna get stung here and there, and you know what that is, what it is like, I mean. Sometimes friends argue yeah, and, and, and, if, if, if I get in a bit of a an argument hey, listen, I'll just back off, right? I?
Speaker 1:always say if you're gonna touch a butt without consent, you're gonna get stung. And that's most of the time. What happens is you accidentally touch a butt when you're working on a frame and, yeah, they're going to sting you because you squished them a bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, but it was very cool and the nukes that you make and I'd love to talk about that because I took a B course and that's another great business avenue within your business. There's a guy in Collingwood, ontario I forget his name, but he's got like Collingwood apiaries and he's got I don't know five I forget how many hives a lot. He's a young guy. He's a young guy and his main revenue source is more well, he does bee products, honey, wax, all that stuff but it's a pollination thing with all of the apple orchards and stuff in Collingwood. So he's shipping a lot of his hives around Ontario for pollination, which is another revenue source.
Speaker 3:But I took a course with him and um, um, the course was was awesome and but I tried to buy nukes from the guy. The course was like, I mean, I think it was in April, in April sometime, and he had already taken all of his orders for his nukes and folks out there, what a nuke is is it's just a colony of bees that are on anywhere from three to five frames. And, um, after the course I was like, okay, I'm going to need to buy some nukes. And he's like, well, you know, I'm, I'm already, um, I've already sold all my nukes, but I can't rightfully take your money in a B course and then tell you you can't have any Bs. So he said I'll help you out.
Speaker 3:And now this is in all fairness he sent me an invoice for these nukes and I forgot to pay it. And then I'm looking like two weeks before I'm supposed to pick up these nukes and I thought I better reach out to this guy. And he never answered his phone. And he never answered his phone. And he never answered his phone and I had already been talking to Gary and Gary's like hey, I got this girl, she makes the best nukes. Like I mean it's amazing. And I'm like Gary, tell her I need six. And that's where you come into the picture.
Speaker 1:Oh, no way.
Speaker 3:That's cool. Yeah, and those five frame nukes, man, there's a shit ton of bees in there and they're working hard. Like Gary texted me yesterday saying hey, I got to check the hives here. We may have to put supers on them soon. And I said I'm not going to be home. I'm going and I'm heading on a shoot up to Buck Lake out of Hornpain, ontario, and I'm not going to be home for a week, so Gary's going over and checking my hives.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great, yeah, so, but yeah, and checking my uh, yeah.
Speaker 3:So, but yeah, the the the work that you did on those, and I don't know, um, my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to beekeeping, but, um, I know those hives are really, really strong.
Speaker 1:And I did. Gary had a lot of success last year with his hives too.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, Well, the hive that you, the hive that he or one of them, that he got from you last year, this year he told me he's already taken a hundred pounds off.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's been a really good honey year too, which is interesting because we had such a late spring, right yeah, but I'm I'm in the same boat. I've got full supers on a lot of my hives already, so yeah, let's just talk about so you start with your new hive.
Speaker 3:I buy a nuke from my friend Terry from hammerhivescom, by the way, folks check it out. And I also noticed you were on another podcast with another friend of the show, nicole Vachel. I had her. Yeah, I had Nicole on about a year ago. No way.
Speaker 1:What a small world. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3:It was because I was doing a little bit of research and well, actually I was just looking for your email, but I got onto your Instagram and noticed that you were on with Nicole. So shout out to Nicole and head on over to listen to that one as well. Oh my God, so great, yeah. So we take the nuc, we put it in a brand new hive, we set that hive up and I guess it would have been maybe June 15th, middle of June when I got them, june 15th, middle of June when I got them. How do you know when to put a honey super on that hive? And, folks, if you don't, if you miss your opportunity to put that honey super on, you're running the risk of that hive swarming, because when they run out of room, you're kind of screwed right.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely. You definitely want to keep an eye on your bees and you notice so when you put a five-frame nuc in, you're also going to be filling up the rest of the space with foundation frames. If you already have bees and you're lucky enough to have built out comb on those foundation frames, then you're adding a super even sooner. So it takes about six pounds of honey consumption to make one pound of beeswax, which is going to be what's laid out on that frame. So if you're dealing with foundation, you're looking at when have they built out most of that foundation. If you have one frame of foundation left or no frames, you want to add a super on right away. The key to bringing them up into that next box, if it's all foundation again, is to bring a frame up from the bottom box. This time of year it's super, super warm. So if you bring a frame of brood up, that's going to bring all the bees up really, really quickly and it's going to make them want to start building out on the rest of the frames.
Speaker 3:So you would bring a foundation of brood up into that box.
Speaker 1:Yes, like a frame of capped brood up into the box of your foundation.
Speaker 3:And that's the honey super the bees up.
Speaker 1:So this also depends on how you want to run your hives. If you want to run them as singles and then have honey supers on top of them, then you would just put that. It depends on the size of your honey super too. There's so many avenues here. But if you're running a deep honey super, like I do, and you want to run a single with the queen excluder and then the deep, I do find that if I put that a single with the queen excluder and then the deep I do find that if I put that honey super on without the excluder, if it's full of foundation, and bring up a couple frames of honey, it's going to bring the bees up a lot easier than if you just put the excluder on with a box of just foundation. You do risk them swarming still if you do that, because it's foreign ground to them, it doesn't smell like anything, they don't have any reason to want to go up. Plus, they're kind of blocked by that queen excluder.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the queen excluder folks is. Just imagine a grill and it's a wire grill and it's a wire grill and the spacing of that grill keeps the queen out of that box because she's much bigger than the workers. And the drones, by the way, because they're bigger Drones will get stuck up there, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So it just keeps the queen out of that box, and the key to that is she's laying eggs constantly and making bees. So when you keep the queen out of that box, all you get is honey storage. So now, this is my thought, and I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but do people do this? So I've got my box on the bottom like my hive. Rather than add a half honey super on top with an excluder, would it be a better idea to throw another super large super on top and then move the brood, stock up like a frame or two of brood and let them have that whole 10 frames and build the colony, rather than put a honey super on top and then not give them any space to do anything underneath? Yes, gotcha, and then once I think that's super right.
Speaker 1:That's how I run. My hives is double brood chambers, and then I start building the honey. One of the main benefits for that is you're going to have a stronger colony to go into the winter with and you're also going to prevent that swarming because the queen has more space to lay and a little more freedom. If you run a single with honey supers, you have to have to feed them in the fall. There is no other way that that colony is going to make it, because they just simply don't have enough space to store their honey at the end of the season.
Speaker 3:Yeah, gotcha. So I should be watching now for my frames to be filling up the five frames that were, and I didn't have built a comb for them. They're going to have to do it themselves, so I'll be watching for that and then, once they have not a whole lot of room, I'll throw another brood chamber on top of it. Yes, gotcha.
Speaker 5:That's very cool.
Speaker 1:That's what I suggest if you want your colony to thrive, more so than your honey harvest right, which our focus is always, always on the colony.
Speaker 3:Well, it's like any good business. It's like going back to the lodge. There's guys in your business. You can focus on money, right? Or I always chose to focus on the experience that my guests were going to get my family and built out.
Speaker 3:I never, even when I used to own a sheet metal shop, and even in the sheet metal shop, I never thought about money ever In the shop. You know you make a quote for a job and you send the quote out and I never like, unless the guy come and said I need this extra. If I made a quote and I didn't make any money, I didn't charge any extra. That's me Like I mean, hey, I said I could do it for this and yeah, you know what. I didn't think of this, this and this which cost me X dollars. But that's not your fault. It's the same with what I think with anything. And if you focus on the health of the bees which you should really then they're going to pay you back tenfold. You know what I mean. So that's the way that I want to do it.
Speaker 1:So, for instance, this spring since I do run doubles this spring was really really harsh and a lot of people lost bees to starvation. Now, a lot of those people that lost bees to starvation are commercial honey producers because they run singles so they can maximize their honey yield. So they're running around like crazy trying to feed their bees and barrel feed and they've got 80 yards. And I'm listening to this panic all around me and I'm like, oh, should I be scared? And I keep popping out to my hives and sure, I had maybe five hives that were a little light on food and I could give them a little top feeder full of food or put out a little bucket of honey or, sorry, sugar syrup. And yeah, I, just I didn't have that problem. Like they, their weight was always really good all spring. And a lot of these boys are like, well, you should, you should be like focusing on getting that honey money. And I'm like no man, like my focus is queens and nukes and like, remember who was frantic this spring? I wasn't. My bees are happy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no doubt. Well, it's. It's a different business model and I gotta, I've gotta, think that, um, when you're losing, and like they, they've got to lose more hives than you with a single brew chamber and that's got to cost, right yeah?
Speaker 1:So honey is more expensive than sugar syrup in the end of it. These guys are so huge, they're spending like $30,000 on sugar syrup a year and they do have big crews so they are able to run around and do this work. Um, that's just something that's not like viable for me. You know what I mean. So their hives, honestly, they do they do well, as long as they can make it to them in time, and they do work crazy long hours to ensure that their hives do survive as best as possible. And over winter their hives do fine. It's just, you know, you get hit with a rough spring and things can get a little sketchy, but the singles do overwinter as long as you are on it, right? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. Now if you've got a double, is it just that first season that you're under the gun, with less production? Is what I'm trying to say build that second brood chamber and then you let them winter with that second brood chamber and then in the springtime, when they start to build that colony up again, your, your um, um, your production must go up like a second season double brood chamber hive. How many pounds of honey would you make off of that Um, versus a single brood chamber? Or do you make more honey if you split the two and let them go on their own and make honey in both of them?
Speaker 3:You know what I mean. So.
Speaker 1:I think more than anything like a single and a double can produce the same amount of honey. They still make the same amount. The only difference is in a double you're going to be leaving a lot of honey for them, so you're going to lose probably one box of honey in order to drop down those frames so that that double has sufficient honey the entire year and then going into winter, so single will probably make you one extra box of honey, but technically they would do that anyways. It's just you would leave it for them and they'd have space to store that honey.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:A nuc is obviously going to take a lot more time to be established. But I would say in terms of their actual honey production, a single and a double makes the same. It's just what we can yield from. It is maybe one box less on your double because they have so much other focus and other storage in that double.
Speaker 3:Gotcha, gotcha. So that's why the big guys are going with singles.
Speaker 5:Yes.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but that's not the way I'm going to go. I don't think. Because, we love these here, I know, I know I'm going to put a couple up here on the island, because we love bees here.
Speaker 1:I know, I know I'm going to put a couple up here on the island too, up north here, so that's really cool. So Guelph University has an island isolated for their queen rearing and their genetic research on honeybees, which is fascinating honeybees. Which is fascinating because, as much as I can isolate my queens and my workers, what I can't control is the fact that there are drones within the five kilometers from other people's beehives that are inevitably potentially going to mate with my queens. So I can run a pretty specific genetic, but there is always that little factor that something might come in from somewhere else.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I know, up here when I had the lodge, we always used to put lots of flowers in and everything else and I would always see a weird looking strain of honeybees and I know there's nobody up here running hives and there they were. Um, they had a really really deep orange color on their, on their, on their back, and, um, I, I, I, I and they were honeybees. I knew that. Um, so there was a local wild hive somewhere around here with this really deep orange kind of coloring on them and I always thought that that was very cool. It was actually a beekeeper that pointed them out to me. One of the guests had looked at them and said, wow, that thing, that's very cool. I'm not sure where the hive is, but it's around here somewhere, that's so neat.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I thought and up here, like I mean we have a shit ton of wild blueberries, so I think there's lots of, I think there's lots of food for them. So you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, they do get good nectar off of blueberries.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And the honey is so cool. It's also a very deep orange color, so maybe those bees are just blueberry bees.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that sounds interesting. Yeah, right on.
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Speaker 5:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 5:After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. And help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3:So this queen rearing, how do you well tell us a little bit about the life cycle of the queen and what she does within the hive? Because when I was there and we did that YouTube video for Gary, that was one of the coolest things that we talked about because I had no idea.
Speaker 1:So a queen bee. Her incubation is 16 days, as opposed to a worker bee, which is 21, and a drone bee, which is 24. And it's super fascinating because she's the biggest bee but her incubation cycle is much shorter than everybody else's. What makes her a queen is that she's fed exclusively this huge store of royal jelly. All the other bees they get royal jelly in their larval stage, but only for a couple of days. She gets it her entire incubation. After that, when she comes out, she is still fed royal jelly. She still gets some honey in between there she gets fed by her nurse bees. But that seems to be the whole. Magic of the longevity of her life is that she is always, always fed royal jelly and she'll live for up to five years. Her laying might be a little spotty after then, depending on how good her mating flight was. She will live up to five years, whereas her worker beef comrades they only live for four to six weeks in the summer and in the winter they'll live. You know, they'll overwinter, which is fascinating in itself that they can slow down their metabolism enough to live longer than they would in the summer.
Speaker 1:The whole, like breeding queens, is really fun for me because it's a little more scientific. You get to go in there and get a two day old larva and you scoop it out. You put it's a little more scientific. You get to go in there and get a two-day-old larva and you scoop it out, you put it in a queen cup that I make with a device that I dip in beeswax and then I press onto a wooden piece that goes into a frame and you insert that in a nurse colony, which is a colony that doesn't have a queen.
Speaker 1:I've taken away their queen. They're making cells. They want a queen. You insert that in and they just go straight to work and they rapidly produce multiple cells and then I incubate them. Then they're virgins. Then they have to go into a hive without a queen and they have to go on a mating flight. The whole process. It does take quite a bit of time and it's definitely risky in the spring because, the weather being shoddy, drones only really fly at over 15 degrees Celsius. So even if she tries to leave and it's too cold, she's not going to have a good mating flight. So the springtime queen rearing is definitely very difficult. But I love a good challenge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no doubt. And you say a virgin queen when she leaves on her mating flight. That's the only time she mates, is once right.
Speaker 1:Correct. Well, she could potentially go for a couple of mating flights, but it depends on how successful the previous one was. So she might go on a couple. But if she gets all filled up and all good to go on the first one and she finds a few mates, then she'll just come back and it'll grow and she'll start laying eggs.
Speaker 3:Very cool, and she goes straight up in the air and the strongest man to chase her down wins.
Speaker 1:Correct Strongest, fastest, highest flying Yep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's something ridiculously high that they can go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can't remember the exact number, but it's pretty impressive. Bees can fly very, very high.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no doubt Gary had that stat and I was amazed by the whole situation. So you said you incubate the larva, the cells. Do you have to have bees with them, like when you put them in a rearing colony? Do they just make the queen cup fill it with royal jelly and then you take that one frame out and then you put it in an incubator, or does the whole nurse colony go with her?
Speaker 1:Oh no. So at that point I take the cells out. When they're fully capped, which takes about five days, I cut the cells off of that piece of wood and then I actually put them in like a test tube with a little bit of wood shavings and a little tiny ball of queen candy at the bottom. Then I put the cells in like a pan and I put it in to the incubator at about 34 degrees Celsius. So the incubation of a queen cell is very temperature specific. It's got to be between 31.5 and 35.5 degrees Celsius and I found 34 is the perfect sweet spot. I do have friends that incubate on a cooler temperature and sometimes that actually, um, it slows down the hatching process of the queen. And this is like for really, really big queen producers. This is kind of a trick that they use just so that things aren't hatching in the incubator and they just have a little more control and it seems to be just fine at 31.5,.
Speaker 1:But I'm I'm always kind of like okay, I want my queens, like 34 is good, it's, it's, it's the exact temperature that the nurse colony will incubate their queen at because they're sure as heck, not trying to slow it down Right, they're like, let's go, we're efficient, so um, yeah, sorry.
Speaker 3:No, go ahead, she comes out.
Speaker 1:So when she comes out. The whole point of the, the sawdust or the shavings is because they will go to the bathroom and sometimes they get a little soaked, so that absorbs that. And then the queen candy is so that she has food source, because if she came out in a hive she's being fed immediately. And it's also very crucial that I'm watching my incubator, so when the first one hatches it could be four in the morning I'm setting an alarm and I'm going down there to make sure that none of them are left in the incubator, Because for some reason they overheat once they come out. They don't have anybody taking care of them, so you got to take them out, get them in a cage and, within 12 hours, put attendants or bees from the nurse colony in with her.
Speaker 3:I saw you doing that when we were there. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, you had like nine, nine queen cages with queens and you were just picking worker bees off of the, off of the um, the, the, the racks, just, uh, just you know, talking to them and picking them up, putting them in no stings.
Speaker 1:It's very cool no, yeah, they're very. I I do have a very docile genetic of bees. Um, I think I was telling you it's an italian and carniolan like splice, but at the same time it's like a whole bunch of generations of just ontario bread queens yeah, that's very cool.
Speaker 3:Very cool reminds of well, when you're talking about, um, uh, incubating. It reminds me of chickens, because you know if you're a little bit hot, because chickens it's between like 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit and a hundred, and you know 102. And the warmer you incubate at, the faster they'll hatch. Yes, that's another one of my little secrets or obsessions. I love chickens, but I really should have a farm.
Speaker 1:It sounds like it yeah.
Speaker 3:I know Well, they got expensive, awful quick, so I'm just going to hang out on the island for a while, don't?
Speaker 1:blame you. They're a lot of work.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, farms are a lot of work, yeah, and I did see that you had chickens and everything else. So now tell me a little bit about your business, because the beekeeping and everything is is a passion and and um, but you're running a successful business too. Um, tell me a little bit about that experience and how did you figure it out? Because it took me a lot of years in owning a sheet metal shop and then owning a fishing lodge to really figure out business.
Speaker 1:So I mean, it definitely took me some time and, honestly, if I pulled out a piece of a document that I made when I first started this business, like the whole business model proposal, whatever you want to call it is completely different, because I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't understand bees enough to really make a successful business model, and I had done that so that I could apply for grants within the city. And now it's it's funny like I should frame this because it's just completely not what I do. I'm like I'm going to rent beehives to people and teach them about bees and it's just like no, no, that's not how it works. And then, honestly, the success came from networking and just finding people in the community and seeing their practices, seeing what they do, and then kind of just blending everything together to make my own version of what I wanted my business to be in order to be successful.
Speaker 1:I do find that my main source of income is from nukes and queens, because that's just what I'm the best at, and I do find that it's really, really good for my bees to be able to go through and get new equipment every single year. Keep them fresh, sell last year's equipment in my nucs, replenish it and then give them brood breaks so I can protect them against varroa mite too. So that seems to work the best for me. And then, on top of that, the markets have been absolutely amazing. I mean I I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I didn't go to the sportsman show and meet Gary at the sportsman show. So I found that those markets really helped.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm taking a bit of a step back from them now, just because they've served their purpose. I've established my business to um my limits of how much I can work it until I hire another hand. I need to chill out on how many people I'm like. Yeah, I do tours, but I also manage 120 hives, but I'm also managing 50 client hives. And oh, by the way, I'm just going to run down and make some beeswax candles now. Oh, by the way, I'm just going to run down and make some beeswax candles now. It's a little all over the place, but I've got a good handle on it right now and I'm getting pretty good at mediating, where I'm exerting all of my energy and what works best for my company.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, that is really awesome. And it sounds like there's lots of space to grow in this business. And it's like when I bought the lodge, there was all kinds of space that I needed to fill and there were other lodges kicking around and back then, you know, everybody was scared of each other, like it seemed like people didn't want to help each other because they were worried that you were going to take clientele. And you know, I remember thinking to myself you know, all ships rise with the tide and you know, I think my dad said that to me at one point when I was a kid.
Speaker 3:I love that and I didn't really get it until, you know, when I needed some help or whatever, and I found one kind of mentor guy up here who, um, who helped me out and um, um, he had a lodge across uh, across uh from me and I used to rent boats from. His name was Brian Parker, from um, casablanca Lodge and um, and it sounds like in the beekeeping community, people get it, you know, and when you can find those mentors and work with them and build businesses together, the sky seems to be the limit, which is very cool, you know, the sky seems to be the limit, which is very cool, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, it's actually. It's so beautiful. We're all in this just trying to keep the bees alive and thriving, right? So it's like any information anybody has, just share it so that all of our bees can be healthy, so that your bees don't hurt my bees and that all of our bees can survive, you know.
Speaker 3:So let's just talk quickly about that. Like I mentioned the shark girl Ocean and I'm wondering and I've heard lots about the bees and they're dying and I know the varroa mite. For a long time they didn't really know what it was and hives were just dying. But what are the factors out there that are affecting the bees and are they really in danger? Like are we? Like you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so definitely, like you mentioned, the varroa mite is a really big factor. It's it's like draining on a colony and they grow exponentially fast. So if you have two mites like, they're going to turn into thousands of mites very, very quickly. And the the problem we're facing is that a lot of our treatments are they're like a pesticide treatment, so it doesn't hurt the bees, it kills the varroa mite, but now they're getting a resilience like a resistance to these treatments. So I found the best treatment to be oxalic acid dribbles and strips, because it's not a pesticide, it's natural, it doesn't hurt the bees, it doesn't affect your queen, you can use it in various temperatures and what it does is it suffocates the mite as opposed to being a poison for the mite. So that's a huge factor, the varroa absolutely. And then they carry viruses which are spread, and if one varroa is on a bee and it swarms and goes somewhere and another bee is next to it, it can crawl over to that bee and then it affects another colony. So, that aside, we also have other little mites, but they aren't as devastating. You have a tracheal mite and then there's a new mite that they're doing research on. I can't remember the name, but I think it comes from Russia and they're a little scared about this one coming over and it's tiny, it's like a speck of dust. So a varroa mite you can see ought to be, but this other new mite you can't. So fingers crossed they just get it contained and figured out and researched quick enough.
Speaker 1:On top of that we also have systemic insecticides. That is a really big issue. It stays within our system. It stays in the earth. When it rains it goes into our water systems. If the bees drink from that, if they pollinate a plant that grows from that, they're going to feel the effects and what it does is it affects their neurotransmitters, so it renders them kind of incapable of just performing regular tasks. So too much of it can make them unable to even fly or get home and you'll just realize, oh my God, all my bees are gone because they all got brain damage and they couldn't find their way home. It's actually just so crazy and the fact we still use these in our environment and that, like golf courses, golf courses are allowed to use it Like come on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and one of the major ones is glyphosates. Is it not Like Roundup Ready and the glyphosates they use?
Speaker 1:So those are actually more detrimental to us than they are the bees. Like, roundup isn't necessarily killing the bees. It's like imidacloprid and clothianidin. These are systemic insecticides, and then glyphosate is more of like an herbicide. That being said, it will still synergize with those insecticides. It'll amplify the effects of the insecticides, as will fungicides, right, so they use those mostly on like fruit farms and, of course, a lot of beekeepers pollinate fruit farms so as long as you have a really good working relationship with the farmer that you're bringing your bees in to pollinate.
Speaker 1:trust me, they don't want to hurt your bees but they have a job to do too. Yeah, as long as they're spraying at hours where they're not spraying that bee in the face, likely you're gonna come out of it okay. Your bees aren't gonna take too much of a hit. You're going to get lots of really good nectar from that fruit farmer and it all works out. But you just have to make sure that you really communicate with your farmer and you know when they're going to spray. So for me I was told like, oh, get your bees out. I got to spray tomorrow and I'm like I don't care what time it is at night, I'm going and I'm getting my bees out. I got to spray tomorrow and I'm like I don't care what time it is at night, I'm going and I'm getting my bees out of there because he's got a job to do and you know he's being good to me by warning me, and it's just that.
Speaker 3:That working relationship yeah, yeah, gotcha, that's, uh, that's very cool and and um. So I guess, as somebody from the outside looking, we should all look at these bees as something that is not something to be scared of. You know, they're doing a job that's necessary for life on this planet. Like, if you boil it down, they're probably the most important organism on the planet because they're responsible for pollinating, and I got tired of pollinating all of my cucumber plants in my garden because it's a pain in the nuts. Like to take a Q-tip out there and stick it in every cucumber flower to make sure I get cucumbers is a pain.
Speaker 1:It's just not natural.
Speaker 3:It's not natural. And ensuring that we've got these healthy, thriving colonies of pollinators out there is so important to the planet and us as human beings it's awesome, and us as human beings, it's awesome. And what would you say to people out there that want to get themselves a hive but they're scared, they're not sure when would you start if you had that passion or that idea that you wanted a hive?
Speaker 1:So I run into this a lot actually and I'm like, first of all, you need to go just be near a beehive. You should have a lesson, you should have an experience around them. There's lots of people that are gung-ho, like I was. I just went straight out and got beehives. I'm like researching?
Speaker 2:where do I?
Speaker 1:get these, but I've always, always been comfortable around bugs and things that could bite me or sting me because, frankly, like they don't usually do it intentionally right you sit on a spider. You're going to get bit by a spider, yeah. So I definitely suggest you, just before you just jump in, just go visit an apiary that offers that ability to go interact with the bees and you know, go hold a drone and go look at a frame and hold a frame and see how comfortable you are with it. Get an understanding too, because it's a lot more work than people think it is. It's a lot more of an interaction than people think it is.
Speaker 1:Um, and I, I swear just like, don't even try to wear gloves because you can't. You can't handle anything with those gloves. You are going to squish so many bees and the more bees you squish every time you go in that hive, the more pissy your hive is going to be every time you go in that hive. So it's very important. Like I said, I have certain genetics for my bees and make them very docile, but it's also how I work my bees. That's why I don't wear a suit, because it makes you slower, more gentle, more aware and more in tune with what's going on in the hive.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, they talk about hive, mind. I think you mentioned it a few times and basically, from what I gather, what that means is the bees have a way of communicating with each other, like when you've got a hive, and in the height of the summer they can get to be as many as 50 or 60,000 bees in a hive, yes, and they've all got individual jobs. They all know what they're doing. They deal with things as a one mind.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:And it has to be vibrational. And it has to be vibrational and I mentioned it to you before and, folks, you all know that I'm a person who felt my way through my business. I would be lying to you if I told you it was all calculated and extrapolated.
Speaker 1:Everything went 100% according to plan.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, like I mean, I had the plan. Yeah, no, I felt my way through it right and I really believe that the feelings and vibrations that you give off are key, because as soon as we got out of the truck, I felt your positivity, your positive vibrations, like I mean, it was just flowing right and you can tell when people are smiling and the interaction that you get when you make eye contact and how enthusiastic you are about what you're doing and and and just how happy you are, right. So I think those bees feel those vibrations. They're very vibrational creatures and when you put yourself out there and and um, uh, you're very aware and that was the key that that you said when you're aware of of um, of aware of your movements and how you're dealing with them, it is very cool and I think that is I would like to say that it's something that people learn, but I think there's a lot of really lucky people out there that are just born with that and, whether it be in beekeeping or whether it be feeling the emotions and vibrations of your guests in the dining room, to know whether they're having an outstanding experience or whether that experience is not what they thought you need to be able to feel that and when you can, I don't know yet.
Speaker 3:To be honest with you, I haven't even opened up my hives because I, you know. It was one of those things where I thought I think that you should leave them alone for the first two, three weeks and then deal with it. I did move three. I did move three of them. That's good, which was a very cool experience, but it's something that I think folks out there if you want to do this or feel like you can, you're looking for something. This is a very cool way of spending your time and helping the environment and maybe making a little bit of money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, win, win, win.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so listen, I know you're very busy. Tell all those folks out there where they can get your products and what. In particular, I know that you're very good at queen rearing and um nukes, especially like they're freaking awesome Um and five frame.
Speaker 1:I don't know whether you do five frame for everybody or if they're a special order yeah, three, four, five, whatever you need Sometimes, sometimes, people just need one frame of brood.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll tell you what five frames are awesome. So tell people yeah, tell people your product where they can find you and we'll go from there All right.
Speaker 1:So, as you know, my company is called Hammer Hives. You can find all of my products on our online store, hammerhivescom. Find all of my products on our online store hammerhivescom. And you can check out all of our updates on our Instagram. Again, just simple. It's our name, hammer Hives. My name is Terry Filoni and I am a beekeeper in Dundas. I deal with selling nukes, queens and I do beekeeping lessons, tours, as well as all the fun products We've got soaps, chapsticks, raw organic not organic, sorry raw unpasteurized honey and beeswax candles.
Speaker 3:That's very cool, very cool. Well, listen, thank you so much for doing this with us all. I know the Diaries family loves it and they'll be checking out your stuff and the Instagram and everything else. It's very cool, like I mean, you got to see this girl work, guys and ladies out there. Thank you, check out the Instagram. It's very cool Even if you're not into bees to see you, terry, in the middle of all that cloud of bees and throwing me frames and you're setting them on your lap. It's very impressive. So, thank you very much.
Speaker 3:Thank you for doing this and, folks, if you've got to this point, thank you very much for listening and get out there and leave a comment somewhere and tell somebody to come and listen to Diaries. We're a tight-knit family and we're always looking to bring more people into what we do here and I really, really appreciate you. I appreciate all of our support out there Lakeside Marina up in the far north, where Will is in north of Kenora. Thank you very much, really appreciate you guys. Look them up. The customer service is second to none and it is a wonderful, wonderful business that they've got going up there.
Speaker 3:And you know what? I'm pretty sure the countess over at fishincanadacom has turned on the free giveaways again. So listen, folks, head on over to fishincanadacom, get your names in the hat for all those giveaways. You know, you never know what's going to be there, right, and it's free. All you got to do is go and put your name in as many times as you can and again, thank you all. Thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner. Stories of the North.
Speaker 2:I'll be all you ever saw, been railing in the hog Since the day I was born, bending my rock, stretching my line. Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how, working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Well, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and lived my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah, and now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems.
Speaker 4:Yeah, back in 2016, frank and I had a vision To amass the single largest database of muskie angling education material anywhere in the world.
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Speaker 2:Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's Favorite Fishing Show.
Speaker 6:but now we're hosting a podcast that's right. Every Thursday, Ange and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio.
Speaker 2:Hmm, Now what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?
Speaker 6:Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 4:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing Me and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go fishing.
Speaker 6:To scientists.
Speaker 4:But now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe, it's the perfect transmission environment for life To chefs.
Speaker 6:If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it and whoever else will pick up the phone, wherever you are.
Speaker 2:Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 6:Find us on.
Speaker 4:Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.