Today, we talk with Dara Scott of Advanced Science out of Galway, Ireland, makers of HiveAlive.

Off the west coast of Ireland grows a variety of see borne plants, commonly called sea weeds, that have evolved defenses against their biotic pests that live in the ocean. Bacteria, antifungal organisms and other biotic pests are well controlled by these seaweeds. Farmers have taken advantage of the defenses these plants have developed and are feeding sea weeds and sea weed extracts to their land-based animals to take advantage of these sea borne benefits against land-based pests.

Land based pests generally have no immunity to the defenses produced by a sea borne organism, and the effect has been incredible for dairy, horses, fish and now, honey bees

HiveAlive is a mix of several sea weed extracts, along with added lemon grass oil and thymol. Research indicates the extracts work very well to deal with spores of Apis cerenae, chalkbrood, and helps boost the immune system of the bees so they are better able to deal with the other pests haunting our bees at present. Moreover, the plants these compounds are extracted from are sustainable and renewable, so supply and over harvesting is not an issue.

Listen as we talk with Dara about seaweed extracts and how you can leverage their benefits as part of your overall hive management strategy.

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

• HiveAlive - https://hivealivebees.com/
• Kim's Book Review: Crop Pollination by Bees. Vol 1., Evolutionb, Ecology, Conservatiobn and Management. 2nd Edition. By Keith Delaplane
• Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

HiveAlive is the #1 feed supplement for honeybees worldwide. HiveAlive has been proven to give more bees, more honey, improved overwinter survival and improved intestinal wellbeing. It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and lemongrass. Whilst it is unusual for bees to be fed seaweed, the practice of adding seaweed to other animal feed is long established. Seaweeds are fed to animals for multiple benefits such as productivity, general health, gut health, immune function and nutrition. As well as providing multiple benefits for the bees, HiveAlive is super easy to use and also prevents syrup from fermenting. Simply add just 2 tsp of our concentrated formula per gallon of syrup.   Due to demand from beekeepers, we have also created HiveAlive Fondant Patty. This gives all the benefits of HiveAlive in a ready to feed sugar fondant with added vitamins & amino acids. The patties are individually sealed meaning they won't dry out and are thin to allow easy placement close to the cluster. These patties are ideal for feeding colonies over winter and for emergency feeding of colonies.   Ask for HiveAlive and our new HiveAlive Fondant Patty at your local beekeeping store or find it online at https://usa.hivealivebees.com/. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout. 

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected]

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Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC