1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: Ruthie's Table four presented by Sky. I think I got 2 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 1: interested in cooking as a way of dealing with all 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: the stuff I was growing. Yeah, and that's also like 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: for me, I really fell in love with bees, not honey, 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: so I do take honey from the bees. But how 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: did that start? Te him about the bee? My uncle? 7 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: I was thirteen. My uncle was like really really a 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: very gentle to me. He seemed like Saint Francis oft 9 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: a CC or something like that. He seemed almost like 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 1: a spiritual guy. But he had been a football player 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: for like LSU, and he played center and so, and 12 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: then he boxed, and then he was a fireman, and 13 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: he had a lot of he had problems with his 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: brain because of CT and repetitive trauma. But he always 15 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: just had a real kindness to him for a guy 16 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,559 Speaker 1: that had been such a pugilist in his life. And 17 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: I was very attracted to that way of being. And 18 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: when you're around bees, you really have to be like that. 19 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: So how did it start? How you worked with him? 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: One day and I remember we took off the bonnet. 21 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: We were wearing bonnets, and we took them off and 22 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: we just sat there with them and you have to 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: be kind of like still and thoughtful and moved slowly. 24 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: And I just loved all those parts of it. To me, 25 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: that was like the you know, I sound like such 26 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: a I do have an edge in me somewhere, but 27 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: I guess I'm not expressing it. Where are the bees? 28 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: Where are they? Yeah? I have bees in New York 29 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: City as well as well. Yeah, the bees in New 30 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: York City. I just made it back. I'd been like, 31 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: you know, when you have something like that that you're 32 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: caring for your daydreaming about them a lot of the time. 33 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: And I left the hive for you know, there's a 34 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: late forage that comes on with like golden rodens like that, 35 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: and I left it with an extra box on top 36 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: for them to fill, just in case or they become 37 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: honey bound. And I'd never taken it off. And then 38 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: it got cold, and now they have to heat quite 39 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: a large space, and I've heard it been freezing a 40 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: couple of times, and I'm thinking about, Okay, they're alive, 41 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: but they're hating this. And so I got back, shrunk 42 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: everything down, made sure that enough honey, put a thing 43 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: on top filled with wood chips that takes up moisture, 44 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: and then I insulate them just a little bit just 45 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: to break the wind. And then that night it went 46 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: down to twelve degrees fair enough. Yeah, and I was like, no, 47 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: and they're good. That was so good. They're good. Yeah. 48 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: If you hadn't done that, what have that? What you 49 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: say they might have been okay? I mean bees are 50 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: pretty durable in the winter. It's not the thing that 51 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: kills them. Moisture kills them more than cold, like if 52 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: they get wet, and then it's like if it gets 53 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: their own they create condensation in there because of the 54 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: temperature difference, so that like two gallons of water will 55 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: go through a hive in the winter and you want 56 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: to let it go up through the wood chips and 57 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: down the sides of the walls and anyway, I'm thinking 58 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: about them like all the time. It's somebody there, someone 59 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: who I do it. But if I'm away, I know 60 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: a beekeeper in Vermont, so I also have them in Vermont. 61 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: The ones in Vermont are really hard because I have bears, 62 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: and bears have taken out my bees. You have bears, Yeah, 63 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: bears have taken out my bees twice, big time, where 64 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: they just destroyed everything, like five hives and then once 65 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: where I was able to get it back together, and 66 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: I saw it doing it once. Actually I got into 67 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: my kids always tell this story where like I hadn't 68 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: learned to have the really serious electrical fencing, so I 69 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: had like one use for chickens because we also had 70 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: chickens up there. So I'm doing this like chicken fencing. 71 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: Whatever bear goes right through it one the bear half. 72 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: Do you think they want the larva? They want the larva. Yeah, 73 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: the people think they're after the honey like one of 74 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: the pooh But the honey is just the extra there 75 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: there after the larva the protein, and they eat frames. 76 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: And so I saw him do it. I ran down 77 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: there and started yelling at him, and yeah, because the 78 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: bear be careful. I mean, these are black bears and 79 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: the only attack. They're really big. I mean they're like 80 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: three hundred pounds some of them, but they're not. I 81 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: know it sounds cavalier. They really are a different type 82 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: of bear than like a grizzly or a Kodiak or 83 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:44,359 Speaker 1: a brown or polar bear. Will they do something maybe, 84 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: but like certainly not if you're making a lot of 85 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: noise going toward it. They run away, and so he 86 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: ran away. And then as I'm like trying to reinforce 87 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: it and put the whole thing back together, I get 88 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: it so that I jerry rigged something that could really 89 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: protect my bees. I go up the hill, I get 90 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: up to the house, the girls are watching. The bear 91 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: comes right through, knocks the whole thing, it takes it out, 92 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: and I was like, yeah, so that's what I'm dealing with, 93 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: man versus nature up there in Vermont, and I'm losing. 94 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: Are there more bears than they used to be? Are 95 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: they definitely? And is that because of the climate? You know, 96 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: I actually think because of the climate, there's more bears 97 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,919 Speaker 1: in the towns. Yeah, because they're going toward there for 98 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,799 Speaker 1: food because we've had a number of droughts and stuff, 99 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: and that's when they start getting interested. I don't leave 100 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: trash out or anything. I just have my bees, which 101 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: are a big reason for them to come by. But 102 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: if there's enough food in the forest, there's no problem. 103 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: So yeah, they go to the dumpsters and deleat anything. 104 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: But we haven't had like in Japan. I know they 105 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: have some problems with interactions between people and bears. Yeah, 106 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: what's the honey like the honey up there is more 107 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: easy to describe, Like the honey in Vermont really comes 108 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: in seasons. So you have like you know, the dandelions 109 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: first or maybe some I have a load of apple trees, 110 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: so like that for sure. Then So the main ones 111 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: though are dandelion, clover, golden rod. Those are like big chunks. 112 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,600 Speaker 1: And then there's also maple flowers come in at a 113 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: certain points, so it's it's fairly uniform, but not completely 114 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: New York. I get like a checkerboard, very very different. 115 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: It's all different things, and there's so much forage in 116 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: New York City, and also the heat being held by 117 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: all the concrete and everything being next to the water. 118 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: Icoro figs very easily and well in my backyard boats 119 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, because an Italian I believe must have 120 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: owned my house back in the day. Used to be that. 121 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: If you think that New York I always thinking. I 122 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: always think like there's a direct line from London to 123 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: New York. But New York is latitude as Naples. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, 124 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: it's very sad. It's very south and it stays. I 125 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: don't think we could grow figure. We've gone artichokes here, 126 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: We've grown Boilotti beans. I have an olive tree on 127 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: my roof like a permon and we have a Yeah, yeah, 128 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: I had for a while. I grow lemons, but I 129 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: bring them inside. Yeah you have to. Yeah, but I've 130 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: had one. This is funny. I have one that Reese 131 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: Witherspoon gave me from we did a movie together called Rendition. 132 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: This was I think thirty years ago or something, and 133 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: I've cared for that thing really actively for thirty years 134 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: and it really puts out lemons. It smells great. Yeah, 135 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: I love it and la Is I was just came 136 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: back from la and lemons every Yeah, they take for granted, 137 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: they take those for granted. Yeah,