GENETICS MATTER!
Host, Eric Bennett takes us from poetic honeybee musings straight into the practical world of queen bee production on Hawaiʻi Island.
After a heartwarming news segment about 9-year-old beekeeper Nicholas Bard and the Santa Rosa community pushing back on an outdated city ordinance, Eric sits down with Rebeca Krones of Hawaiian Queen Company in Captain Cook.
Rebecca explains why Hawaiʻi is one of the best places on the planet to raise queen bees, how controlled genetics (via Dr. Joe Latshaw) produce gentle but hard-working stock, what their year-round queen breeding business calendar looks like, and how to successfully introduce a new queen into your beehive so you don’t lose your investment.
They also detour into Hawaiian honey flows (mac nut, lehua, and Christmas berry 😋) and shipping mishaps — including the time a carrier bagged 150 queens and…well…suffocated them.
The episode closes with Rebecca’s best piece of beekeeping advice: don’t assume this year will be like last year.
VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/UfIU0kzelKA
Mann Lake's New Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mannlake
Rebeca Krones: https://hawaiianqueen.com/
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