 Welcome to Adventures in Small Business. This is a collaborative effort by the US Small Business Administration of Hawaii, Hawaii Small Business Development Center, the Patsy Mink Center for Business and Leadership, and the Veteran Outreach Center of the Pacific. We showcase stories of local small businesses here. My name is Sandra Cancinos, and I am with the SBA Hawaii District Office. Today we have Serene Osalero, who owns Island B Removal. Welcome, Serene, to the show. And I just wanted to talk story today about your business and just the unique industry, first of all. And I know that lately we've been hearing from environmentalists about saving the bees, how the bees do so much for the environment. And I'm very curious to know and learn about your business and how it affects Hawaii. Thank you, Sandra, for having me on the show. Well, we noticed when we started working with Hawaii bee hotline, how many calls we started to get during the summertime when the heat gets so hot. The UV rays, the sun, is so intense. I mean, when we stay out in the sun for 20 minutes, we get sunburn. Can you imagine the environment and what's happening to the environment when they have that UV rays shining on them? And so the bees get really hot, so they're learning to live in our homes, our businesses. All they do is they find a little hole large enough for them to enter. And they start building a nest between the walls or in the ceiling. And so summertime are super busy. The heat really brings the bees active and it freaks everyone out because they don't really know what's happening, why the bees going in their house, what's going on. But the bees need shade. They need water. So sprinkler systems, our water hoses, it's good access to water. And in their natural environment, maybe there's not enough water for them. So yeah, we're learning that during the summer, fall, time, we're getting a lot of calls. People needing help all over the island. So how did your small businesses come about? How did you get inspired to work with bees? How did you always want to work in this business? Actually, years ago, back in 2010, I worked for a packaging company. And for about a year, I would go all over the island, service the supermarkets, other businesses with plastic containers, single use plastic containers. And it wasn't until I was in Maui, I just felt as I was going around the island servicing my customers, I just felt really convicted with single use containers. Feeling that, I feel like I'm polluting Mother Earth. How can I have a finer job that is more supporting Mother Earth? And I made a decision to leave the packaging company because of the conviction I felt inside. And I was making $60,000 a year. I was getting commission. It was a good paying job. But it just wasn't enough for me. My happiness was more important. So during that time, I've met my other half. And his name is John. And we just were inseparable. And he had a boat. He had a fishing boat. And I encouraged him to start a business and become a commercial fisherman and sell his fish at the block. And so here I am. I quit my job, started working at a restaurant part-time. But then we started fishing together. And I would drive the boat. He would reel in the fish. And I was really excited. At that time, we did that for about a year. And at that time, I got pregnant. So we have a son. He was born in 2013. And we still was fishing, but not as much now that we have a new baby. And he would go by himself. And that made me really nervous. So we sort of slowed down on the fishing business, commercial fishing business, and started to focus on what could we do. John has an acre and a half of land in Makaha. And he always wanted bees on the property. That was his dream, to have bees on the property. And we called Howa'i Bee Hotline in the beginning and spoke with Ken. He's the owner of the company. And at first, he didn't want to sell us bees because we didn't have a bee suit. We didn't have any knowledge about beekeeping. He's like, well, that's a liability if I sell you bees. You don't know nothing about bees. But him and his wife, Penny, brought us in and pretty much took us to the farms that he had bees, Kahu Manu Farm, and Naked Cow Dairy Farm, where they sell cheese, produce cheese in Waianae. And we were fascinated. And when the first time he opened up the bee box, we were just in love with the bees and what they do and how they work. They're one big organism. You've got 20,000 to 50,000 bees and a hive that work together to create honey and bring up the population and support the queen. So we were in love. And then Ken gave us a call. And he said, hey, could you help us with a bee removal on the weekend? And so we're like, OK. I was still serving at a restaurant. And then John got a job working at a company that cleans AC, air duct cleaning. So he was working full time. And so on the weekends, we would help what you bee hotline to be removed. And it was fun. It was super fun. And he pretty much was his apprentice for about three years. Yeah. Long time to be an apprentice. And so from there, as we started doing bee removals with him and learning, he let us keep some of the hives. So we were able to have free hives on our property. And then 2016, he said, I'm getting a lot of calls. Too many calls. So could you please take the money through Friday calls? And then he's like, the only way I am going to handle, give you the calls is if you open up your business. You have to open up a bee removal business, apply. Like every other business does, get your general liability insurance and do it the right way. So what we did is we opened up a business. And then from there, he started giving us calls, Monday through Friday calls. So from there, we put our day jobs. We opened up our business August of 2016. And it's been a crazy journey because I never thought it was a need to do bee removals. So can you take me through the process of when you get a call, the money needs bees removed? What is it exactly that goes on? Yeah, so I'll call a customer that has a bee problem. And of course, half the time, they're scared. So we kind of have to talk them into what's going on. A lot of times, they find a little hole and they go into the wall. Sometimes the bees, the first 24 hours they move in, they are walking in between the walls or in between the ceiling, looking through any little ray of light that will lead them out somewhere. Between the walls and the ceiling is pitch black. But you'll see little white lights that will lead them to recess lightings or other openings. And sometimes they'll lead into inside the house. So you'll have hundreds of bees going inside the house because they find little holes through the walls. And it freaks everyone out. So what we have to do is we'll go to the client's house. And if we're able to help them immediately seal whatever hole that's leading the bees into the house, and then we kind of have to figure out where the nest is inside the walls or the ceiling. How long does it take to remove bees? It's about four to five hours, more or less, depending. Are you going to say days because they're hidden inside the walls in the room? No. So we're able to kind of hone in to where the nest is because in between walls, you have studs, two studs. And then in between, that's where they're pretty much contained, unless they're in an older, historical home. And depending on how the building is built, then we kind of have to figure out how exactly where the nest is. And then from there, we have to make a nice clean cut open. Sometimes it's outside the exterior wall. Sometimes it's inside through the drywall. And nice clean cut open. We put that portion that we cut on the side. And then we grab the nest and then transfer it to our bee box. We remove whatever comb that they make as well. All the honeycomb, brood, we transfer it to the bee box. So what happens to the bees when you remove them? What we do is we relocate them. Either we take them to Makaha, to our little farm, or we take the bees into a wine night valley into a five acre farm. The farmer there, his name is Bula. He is a retired fireman. And he grows Tahitian limes, green onions, and dried taro. Sells them to down to earth. Oh, OK. And a couple years ago, there was a really bad forest fire. And he said that there was no bees to pollinate his limes. So he asked us to keep bees. So last year, we started keeping bees there. Then there was another forest fire that happened. We burned down our hives. But we're pretty much supplying our friend, Bula, the farmer, with the bees. And where he lives is just right against the forest reserve. The bees have the mountain, the forest. They also have the farms around the neighborhood, the wine night valley. They have free range, too. We have a clip of them extracting bees, right? You can put that on. So can you walk us through what's going on in that video? Yes. So in that video, that was a house that was infested with bees. I mean, the size of the hive in between the walls were about six foot by six foot. And a lot of it was, it took us six hours to remove. So that was just a quarter of what you saw that we removed. And I was going to ask you, are your services just in Oahu or also on other islands? Just on Oahu. Just in Oahu? Yeah. OK, so you get a lot of just the calls from Oahu and then? Sometimes Hawaii bee hotlines get calls from Big Island, all over the islands. And there are beekeepers, bee removal specialists that take care of the people on the other islands. And then can we show the other picture? So that's inside a house? Yes, that's in a house with a grand opening, front opening. And bees made nest in the walls again. They found a little hole. So what happened was this is on the windward side. And something about the roofing, there was a leak. And the water leak created a hole on the side of the wall where the bees were able to find and enter. And that's where they started building comb. And then the second picture would be on the outside. Yeah, that's in Hawaii Kai. We did an exterior removal. That was like the third floor. We used scaffolding to reach and another ladder to get up there. But we also work with a licensed contractor to do more intensive work if it's difficult to do. Yes. And then here's the last. So this last photo is in Royal Kunia. And we did an exterior removal. And that wall leads to another wall in the bathroom. So we took an exterior wall out. And then also another interior wall that leads to the bathroom tub. So those are bees in the bathroom tub that we've removed. And how are they can get in there? Oh, yeah. And because of climate change, I feel it's just so hot that bees need to be in a cooler environment. It's fine. OK, we'll be right back with Small Business Assistant. Hello, I'm from Hawaii, and I'm from Hawaii. Hello, I'm from Hawaii, and I'm a host of the country. Every Monday and Monday, I'm here to talk to you about how we can help people in Hawaii. I'm here to talk to you about how we can help people in Hawaii. Please stay tuned. Hello, my name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea program. My program airs every other Monday at 1 o'clock on Think Tech Hawaii. Most of my programs deal with my own life and law experience. Recently, I interviewed Alex Jampel, who I have known for over 30 years, about his voyage across the sea as a lawyer from Tokyo to Hawaii. Those are the type of stories that I like to bring and like to talk about, human stories about law and life. Aloha. Aloha. My name is Wendy Lowe, and I want you to join me as we take our health back. On my show, all we do is talk about things in everyday life in Hawaii or abroad. I have guests on board that would just talk about different aspects of health in every way, whether it's medical health, nutritional health, diabetic health. You name it, we'll talk about it. Even financial health. We'll even have some of the Miss Hawaii's on board. And all the different topics that I feel will make your health and your lifestyle a lot better. So come join me. I welcome you to take your health back. Mahalo. Hi. I'm here with Serene Hostelero with Hawaii Bee Removal. Just talking a story with her about how she got inspired to get into the bee removal industry and what is going on with climate change and the bees having to find shade in different areas and houses and roofs and in between walls. So could you tell us a little bit more about how we as a community maybe help the bees out with that? I think that if you do notice bees around your area to call what you bee hotline, or if you know a local beekeeper that's able to help, contact them because we're able to remove them safely and live. A lot of people don't realize that the bees are slowly dwindling due to climate change, or row on my small hive beetles. You know, it is possible to do a live removal. And I also recommend sealing up around your house, especially right before spring, just to walk around your home and see if you have any cracks or holes to seal with either insulation foam or silicone sealant, waterproof sealant, because we're noticing a pattern during the spring, summer, and even fall time. Because we're noticing that even in fall, it's still pretty hot. And so check around your house, seal any holes that you have, and then you won't have these kind of bee problems. And is there any partnerships that the bee hotline or your company have with the community? Yes, so because I was more fascinated about doing bee removals, the business aspect of it I was clueless on. I would rather be out on the field working with bees, but in actuality, in order to run a successful bee removal business, you have to really think about the business aspect of it. And I really got help from the Gen community and YNAI. They have classes there. And also, Mary at SBA, yeah. So what were some of the challenges that you faced, maybe starting your business or during your business, any challenges that you felt? Yeah, I just felt like I just threw myself out there and I winged it. I learned online. So online, there's a lot of information that you can look up. And how I started the business is I went online and I got my license and all that all online. I didn't have to go anywhere. I just went on the computer, looked it up, registered everything online. I didn't get to meet Lisa from to Gen until I met Carol. And Carol is, she works for the YNAI community. And she really wants the YNAI community to connect and also provide through farmers markets. And she actually reached out to me in hopes to show our honey. And at that time, I didn't have much honey to sell because my focus was more on doing B-removals. So the honey is secondary to me. And I hope that in the future, once I get this business going and work with to Gen, that they can definitely steer me to the right direction. Because I felt like I just went into the business and I didn't know nothing. So I'm learning. Even Patsy Mink Foundation, Nuala, she's very helpful with knowledge about starting up this business. We've only been three years, but I've learned so much within the past three years. You mentioned you worked with Mary from SBA. And then how was she able to guide you or any tools that she gave you that you felt were very much needed her? Well, the honey aspect. So I had no clue how to run a B-removal business and a honey business. So I went up to Mary and she really helped me with kind of just directing me to not opening up another LLC honey removal honey business, but maybe doing a DBA honey business with the B-removal business. And somehow I'm learning to incorporate that through SBA. So it's much easier on your tax guy when you're going to file taxes. I don't think you would be really happy having to file two LLCs. And it's much affordable probably to do a LLC DBA through that for honey. So I'm still learning. It's an ongoing process when it comes to running a small business, but I'm so grateful for the local communities that do help. And so I know you're still learning, but anything that you've learned that you can maybe share with people who are wanting to start their own small business or maybe go into also the B-removal business? Yeah, so have an open mind. Also look into the community. The community does support local businesses. And through them, you can meet a lot of other small businesses, business owners that are able to support you and guide you. And with Tugin, I was able to meet another small business owner that makes wood boards, like handcrafted, beautiful wood boards. Whatever type of wood you want, he's able to make for you. But he makes a special polish. And he uses my beeswax. Yeah, so we were able to trade, or not trade, but to work together in supporting the business. I'm really grateful for that. Before you mentioned that you wanted to expand to honey, anything else besides honey that you might want to expand in? Definitely, with Bula's Farm, I'm hoping that we can work together and do farm tours. I also am interested in doing classes as well for schools. Teaching how to bee keep? Yeah, so my son, he goes to Makaha. And even the preschool, we're fascinated about what we do. So they invited us to do a class and teach the kids about the bees. So I was able to do that with my son. But there is schools that are calling us asking for my time to speak about the bees. That's another future. Yeah, I like that. So for my last question, from this whole segment, what is the main message that you want to send out to the community regarding bees and anything that involves your company of removal, bees in general, community, everything all together? Bees are friends. And we don't necessarily have to immediately spray poison. I do recommend calling the Hawaii bee hotline. And any questions, we're able to help and provide any knowledge. And also, I guess just save the bees. Save the bees. Don't kill them. OK. So, you know, just like the synopsis. So don't poison the bees. Call, do you have a website that we can actually go online and seek assistance? Yeah, so Hawaii Bee Hotline, Ken is the owner. But he's pretty much our mentor. And through him, he'll give us bee jobs. So we can also call him and ask for siren. But the website is hawaiibotline.com. Siren, I want to thank you so much for coming to the show. I appreciate the new knowledge of bees and what it takes to do bee removals. Also, I want to thank the audience for tuning in. And hopefully to see you next, like, oh, thank you.