The QUEEN Bee Buzzes in 11/25/2023

We hear what Barbee Bloetscher has been up too.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Here's the place for Brian Thomas inthe morning, fifty five krc the talk
station. Here is your ninth firstyardening forecast on this Thanksgiving weekend, mostly
Sunday today, I have around fortyseven on Sunday, chance of rain and
snow, early hip, turning toall rain forty seven on Monday, sunny
thirty eight. Tuesday sunny thirty ninedegrees seven four nine fifty five hundred Here

(00:24):
at fifty five KRCD Talk station.Welcome back. You're in the garden with
Ron Wilson again that toll free numbereight hundred eight two three eight two five
five talking well, it's our starstudded weekend this weekend, talking with the
folks that have been somewhat regulars onour shows throughout the years, and we
appreciating them, thankful for all oftheir expertise. Our next special guests.

(00:45):
Haven't heard from her for a littlewhile. She don't explain to you why
she has informed us about bees,both honey bees and navy bees for many
years now. Really brought it tofocus. I have learned more every time
I talk to this lady, andever when it comes to bees, the
one, the only our own QueenBee. Barbie Blecher, Oh, thank

(01:10):
you, thank you. Wow,all your bee fans are here today.
So Barbie Bletcher, they were buzzing. It's been but it's been a buzz
all morning waiting for Barbie Bletcher.So we haven't heard from you for a
little while, and uh, cometo find out you've made some changes.
I did I I have retired fromo DA. You're not old enough to

(01:36):
retire. Well, I did itanyway, time I did it. Yeah,
I did it. Yes, Idid it. Good. So so
you and they go ahead. Oh, retirement is highly underrated. Oh yeah,
yeah, sounds good right. Yeah, for a working girl, a

(02:00):
workaholic, it's very nice change.So you are enjoying the retirement. But
I know that you know you're notgoing to just sit there and be retired.
Because you and I have of coursebeen talking over the last couple of
weeks. You actually are going tobecome a consultant for the bee and insect
and disease issues out there. Yes, I want to do what I've always

(02:23):
liked to do. I want tohelp people solve problems in their yard,
yard and garden. I want tohelp bee keepers solve problems with their hives,
do some mentoring and try to makeat least a couple of pennies along
the way. Well sure, butyou know, sharing that expertise. Of
course, you've got so many yearsof it, and of course everybody loves

(02:46):
working with Barbie Bletcher when they gettogether with you. So you know,
what a great thing to be aconsultant and be available for folks to hire
you to come out and help consultwith getting i'm assuming even getting started in
the funny bee business or whatever,to help absolutely guide you through and of
course you over the years, alot of folks don't realize this. You

(03:07):
are were not only the Ohio StateApers but also state entomologist, so you're
also working with all the insect issuesout there and kind of keeping Buggy Joe
in check. Yeah, that washard Shutler for a year. That was
Yeah, he's a challenge, yeahreally, And of course working at the
the clinic the labs there making diagnosis. And also you've been doing this for

(03:30):
a long long time, lots ofexperience, lots of knowledge, so now
you get to go out and sharewith everybody you know as a as a
private consultant, and I think it'spretty darnk, pretty darn cool. It's
gonna be a lot of fun.Yeah, So we we uh yeah,
so we we congratulate you for yourretirement and everything you've done up to this
point, and now we look forwardand you know, wish you the best

(03:53):
with with being the consultant as well. So let's kind of take a quick
look first of all, before Iask you about Thanksgiving this, take a
look at the bees, because obviouslyyou're still in touch with what's going on
out there. As you know,we get into this fall season. It
has for the most part in Ohioand a lot of other areas as well,
been fairly dry. It's been stillvery warm, just kind of almost

(04:15):
like it was last year. Howthe bee's doing in a situation like this,
Well, you know, it's toughrun because of all the flowers have
stopped, you know, months ago, so there's no new food out there.
So what the bees are doing isthey're robbing from each other. They're
stealing honey and pollen from other coloniesthat are weaker. So we really have

(04:41):
to watch our hives. A colonythat could have been as heavy as could
be, you know, back inthe beginning of September, it may not
be empty. So a lot ofbeekeepers are feeding their bees. Obviously,
if you have, you know,thirty thousand colonies, that's hard to do.
But somehow or other, we needto keep those colonies fed so that

(05:02):
that's the one thing, because otherwisethey're gonna end up with no honey in
the middle of the wintertime, youcan't really feed them as well. Then
you can give them like solid blocksof sugar, but you can't give them
any kind of liquid supplement like anectar or something for them to consume or
at the store. Also, ofauramtes ro mites are actually building up faster

(05:28):
now than they do during the summertime. And I've had some both hobby and
sideline or beekeepers as well as somecommercial beekeepers telling me that they've already had
a huge loss from aura mites.Really, so why do they build up
this time of the year. There'sfewer there's more mites per be, so
the mites have slowly been building upall summer long. People will beekeepers will

(05:53):
treat their bees to knock the mitesdown, but for whatever reason, the
mites really start to build up inSeptember. So there's usually they triple their
population every two weeks. There's threetimes more mites every two weeks because each
female mite is going to have atleast two or three children that will you

(06:14):
know, come out of each cell, so they reproduce quickly. But also
because the bees are robbing each other, these mites hitchhike on the bees from
one hive to another. And thefact of University of Maryland did a study
one time where they kept these coloniesfree of mites and they put brushes on

(06:34):
the entrance. They are actually ableto capture all the mites that were coming
off the bees as they were comingin and out of the hives. Really,
so that was the time that themight population increased. The highest was
in October. Wow. So they'recontinuing to I mean, you know,
you kind of keep me updated thereand send me some things. They are

(06:55):
continuing to work on new controls forthis role, right, and of course
that's that is kind of the majorissue out there as far as affecting our
honeybee colonies. Where do we standon that at this stage? Well,
there are some new products down thepike, but they're not here yet.
They're trying to get away from theseheavy chemicals, the synthetic chemicals that have

(07:19):
you know, some kind of lastingeffect on the bees as well, because
all that you know, bees wax, you know, absorbs all kinds of
chemical compounds, carbon compounds. Soyou're trying to use a product that's not
hard on the bees, but yeah, it's hard on the mites. It's
pretty hard, difficult. So they'retrying to get away from synthetic chemicals and

(07:40):
use more organic products, but it'shard. It takes I think it takes
ten years of testing with EPA justto be able to get one product on
the market. Wow. So butI know that a lot of a lot
of time, Yeah, a lotof research going on with that. I
still think back, you know,Barb, when you and I first started
really started having you on the showon a regular basis. I mean that

(08:01):
was I'm gonna guess seven eighty six, when was it. So it's been
a long time that we've had youon here, you know. And of
course we first started getting together becauseof the colony collapse disorder, and that
was the that was the buzz backthen as the colony collapse disorder of what
was causing the issue, and ofcourse since then, so much great research

(08:22):
has been done. We've discovered weI say we, but you know,
it's been discovered so many great thingsabout the bees and the not only the
honey bees, but the native beesas well, and it continues on.
It's just amazing what you have learned. I have learned, things have been
found over the last ten or fifteenyears. It's amazing how much research is

(08:43):
being done every day. It's justincredible, which is a great thing.
Yeah. Absolutely, talking with BarbieBletcher, she is our queen Bee.
She's retired, she's no longer ourstate apist, but she's going to come
back in the in the late winterin the early spring as a prior the
consultant, which I think is absolutelyoutstanding, which I think is great.
So, you know, overall forthe bees this year, what do you

(09:07):
think do we do? Okay,I think your area down in southern Ohio
was drier than the rest of Ohio. Yes, where we had good moisture,
we had a longer fall flow offlowers. But you know, one
set, one set, once theaster and the golden rod is gone,

(09:28):
they're done. So if you don'thave a good fall flow, and even
the far east edge of Ohio hada fairly dry fall. That's it for
fresh food for them. So Ithink overall, I think our losses will
be better than some other years.But it really worries me to have commercial

(09:50):
beekeepers tell me they have a fortyfive percent loss that that could that bothers
me because they know what they're doing. Yeah, and that's that's that's expended
event it's not. Yeah, it'sand it's hard to recover from that,
Yes it is. Yeah. Talkingwith Barbier, go ahead. Barbie Blecher
our queen Bee and haven't had heron for a while, but kind of

(10:11):
going through a retiring now trying toher new avenue, her new path being
a consultant, which I think isgoing to be outstanding. Do me a
favor. We're gonna have to go. I got a couple of things for
you. One is got a questionfor you about Thanksgiving. But after we
get past the holidays, get intoJanuary, there's a lot of classes that
will be coming up and all let'sget back in touch and you can kind
of help it. Share with usclasses and start giving a direction of what

(10:33):
folks can do as far as possiblyif they're interested in getting things set up
direct us that way as well,So we'll talk to you after we get
through the holiday season. But BarbieButcher and I know you enjoy eating and
you love food. As you lookat that Thanksgiving table, besides the ham
and the turkey, what is BarbBletcher focus on? You know, I

(10:54):
love homegrown butternut squash. I've hada pretty decent this year. We've had
a decent garden this year. Ilove pumpkin pie. You can't beat pumpkin
pie for dessert. But yeah,the squashes. And I'm thankful for the
friends and family who have gotten meto where I am today. Oh no,

(11:16):
we were all thankful for our friendsand families. And I'm thankful so
much for you and all you've taughtme and everybody on this show, all
the great information. And I lookforward to continuing to move forward and continuing
to learn more from Barbie Bletcher,our Queen Bee, and you know,
stay in touch with you. Asfar as your new venture as a personal
consultant. I think it's going tobe pretty darn cool. So we'll get

(11:37):
back in touch after the holiday seasonand start getting folks fired up for the
spring season. Maybe you want toeven get them out there and get them
set up with some highs. Butwe'll learn more from Barbie Bletcher. Thanks
for joining us this morning. HappyThanksgiving weekend and we will talk to you
in twenty twenty four. Happy Thanksgivingto you, and I'm very thankful for
you, Ron and all the supportyou've given us. Absolutely our pleasure.

(12:01):
Barbie, have a great weekend.Two All right, bye bye, Barbie
Giving. It's back at you,Barbie Butcher, the Queen Bee, one
of the Three Stingers. Someday Ihave the Three Stingers in the studio.
It will be the craziest show ever, trust me. Eight hundred eight two
three eight two five five. Comingup at the top of the hour.
Monica Brubaker, the Wild Winged WonderHere in the Garden with Ron Wilson.

(12:26):
Landscaping made easier with your personal yardboy. He's in the garden and he's
Ron Wilson. All the news andthe views of Brian Thomas Monday morning at
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