Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Getting a flu shot is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy this year. Flu shots are available and free to University of Alabama students at sites across campus and at the UA Student Health center and Pharmacy. Check out our schedule at CCHS UA EDU flu shot. Call 205-348-6262 for a flu shot appointment at the student health center or walk
[00:00:23] Speaker B: up Monday through Friday from 4 to 4:45pm WVUAFM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, y'. All. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. And man, oh, man, it has been beautiful.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: It's been beautiful. And it's funny because we might talk about the weather later.
It's funny how that works out.
[00:00:49] Speaker C: It really is. And, you know, it's so crazy just thinking about where we are in this semester. I can definitely tell just from driving around campus that. That the students can feel it, too. The amount of students that are taking graduation photos in front of the stadium and down University Boulevard.
I am so glad that was not a thing when we were in undergrad. Part of me is like, man, I wish I had had my own little graduation glamour shots. But I'm kind of like.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: But no, you know what's funny about that? I'm thinking back, like, a month ago. Ish. To no, not a month ago. The first of the month. Crimson couch to 5K.
And we had the walk at the Walk of Champions. And it was actually probably one of the best I think they've had with wellness and work life, balance, shout out to them. And as the race was ending, there were, like, people taking pictures. So people were having to, like, dodge people, you know, taking their senior pictures. But maybe this is a new tradition. I'm not sure. But the bottles of champagne, have you seen that?
[00:01:47] Speaker C: Yes, I have.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Where they, like, shake it up and, like, pop it. And I'm like, I did not pop bottles of champagne when I was in college. No.
[00:01:54] Speaker C: And I'm just thinking, like, how many of the, like, local alcohol beverage stores close to campus are probably making a killing on champagne bot just, you know, for maybe some of these students that are at the last minute.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: Well, it was really funny because the Walk of Champions totally smelled like booze and it was hilarious. But I mean, hey, if that's, like, a good picture, then go for it. But, yeah, this semester's winding down. Dead week is upon us. And finals. And then we jump into May, which I don't know about you, Sheena, but for me, May tends to be my most chill month, I think out the whole year. Even more so than, well, I don't know, December's pretty chill as well down, you know, on campus and everything. But May is like most of the students are gone, few possibly here. Programming kind of slows down a little bit. What about you?
[00:02:39] Speaker C: I agree. I'm about the same. You know, we're kind of all catching our breath in May where it's like, okay. And it's this buffer month where it's like, okay, yes, we need to start getting in gear, like thinking about like all the things. But we got a minute.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:53] Speaker C: Like we can do that in January.
[00:02:54] Speaker A: Yeah, May's like where we chill.
[00:02:57] Speaker C: Let's just go to a cruise, you know. And I've been wanting to take some trips in May. Like I try to knock them out early, but then I get really jealous of my co workers that we'll do like a last hurrah trip near the end of the summer. And I'm like, oh, why didn't I do that? Because now I, you know, so I don't know.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: We did that last year and it was kind of a last minute trip with my brother and sister in law. We went to the beach in August and it was awesome because it was right before classes started. So as people were moving in, we weren't here. So it was like when we came back, it just kind of started. So I don't know. I think a May trip is good, but I think it's more beneficial to go ahead and take that August trip.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: I mean if you're really balling, if you want to take a May, midsummer and summer trip, self care. Yeah. Labor Day weekend, last hurrah, like all the things. But you know, we won't be talking about that today. But I will tell you one little story, Whitney. I mentioned a little bit about it when we had before starting the show today, but I recently did a workout that was lit exclusively by black lights.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:02] Speaker C: And from a safety perspective, I do encourage other than for the cool like photo op. I do understand why they wanted everybody to wear white or neon. But yeah, something about being on a treadmill under black lights can seem kind of dangerous if you're not coordinated.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Well, so at the rec center we have our cycle studio. We have like lights in the studio. So it's not black lights, but you can make it dark if you want to. And even being seated on a bike if you don't have the right kind of lighting can be a little nerve wracking. I can't imagine doing it on a treadmill. Like, I feel like I'd be a little nervous, but sounded like you had a great experience.
[00:04:37] Speaker C: I did, you know, and it was. I think I was telling you it was me and my other fellow mom friend, we were the oldest ones in that class, including the staff. Like, my friend took inventory of how old the trainer was, and he's like, I'm 26. And I was like, oh, yeah, we're definitely older than even the staff by at least over a decade. But it kept me young. Like, I felt like I tried harder, even harder, because I needed to keep up with the youngins.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Sometimes I wonder, you know, because I forget that I'm approaching 40 and I'm like, yeah, I can do all the things. But I realized, like, my exercising has definitely changed than, like, compared to what it used to be. And sometimes I wonder if, like, am I trying to keep up or am I just, like, trying to maintain? You know what I mean?
[00:05:19] Speaker C: You kind of like, you know, I don't know.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: It's different as you age.
[00:05:22] Speaker C: Well, in the group that I normally work out around for 5am workouts, we're all, like, working mid older adult. And honestly, I think they're more hardcore than the college.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: I can see that.
[00:05:35] Speaker C: Like, these women in their, like, late 30s, early 40s that, you know, could have been former athletes or just intense moms in general. Like, that translates to the treadmill and the rower. And it can be really scary because,
[00:05:49] Speaker A: to be honest, I don't really think I worked out super hard in college because, I mean, you're young. You don't really think about killing it that hard. And I don't know. But, yeah, it's definitely different.
[00:05:57] Speaker C: It is, but it's got me back in routine, so I'm thankful for that. But, y', all, we have to take a quick break. I promise we're not gonna continue to talking about working out with college kids and older folks. We have some fun things on the horizon. But you are listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheena and Whit 90.7 the capstone.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Welcome back. You're listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheena and Whitney. And we've been super excited about this guest that we're having on today.
[00:06:35] Speaker C: We have, you know, without further delay, we'll finally tell you who it is. You know, we've been geeking out about different things, and of course, with it being the month of April, Whitney and I have kind of had on Our radar just wanting our listeners to be more weather aware. So what more do we do than bring a local celebrity weatherman? That's right on our show. But Richard Scott, Chief Meteorologist for WVUA23, thank you for joining us today.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Hey, happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: I feel like your voice, like I've heard it on TV when I'm like watching like, okay, we're in a watch, we're in a warning. And I'm kind of like, all right, now the voice is on the radio with us. It's pretty cool.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Awesome to be here. Thank you for having me.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Yeah, so we're kind of curious, you know, could you just kind of tell us a little bit about yourself? Your hometown, your academic background, all those. All those cool things.
[00:07:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So I grew up in a small town called Linden, Alabama. So two red light town below Demopolis, if you know where Demopolis is. Linden is just south of there. It's actually the county seat of Marengo County.
It's one of the smaller communities. But anyway, grew up in Linden and I moved to Tuscaloosa in 2005 and I went to Shelton State for a couple of years to get basic credits knocked out for going over to Mississippi State for meteorology and went over there, got my degree in broadcast meteorology or geosciences with a concentration in meteorology and kind of started the road to working at wvua. During that time when I was over at Shelton, I found out about WVUA and said, hey, I'd love to come meet the staff, see what it's like in a real TV station. Growing up in a small town, I didn't really have opportunities to see cool TV stations.
So I had a chance to do that and I started an internship. And about a year after that, the weekend guy was leaving, he was graduating Mississippi State and moving on to different position. So that kind of gave me a role to jump into the TV side of things actually on air. And look, I'm telling you, I'm still country, you know, I grew up in a small town. I sounded hillbilly as can be. And for some reason they decided to put me on tv. And I don't know why, but I was very thankful for that opportunity because that gave me a chance to start somewhere.
[00:08:50] Speaker C: Sure. Well, okay, so you mentioned having a country accent. I'm actually curious when it comes to telecommunications and training for being on tv.
I hear this phrase non regional diction now, do they?
I actually had a close friend who had to kind of End her broadcast journalism just, I guess, path because her accent was so thick. So I don't know, has anybody been like, richard, you gotta stick with it. That's your shtick. Or has anybody ever tried to get that out of you?
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Look, everybody I grew up with back home says, there's no way you'll ever make it a tv. You sound too country. I said, you know what? I'm working in Alabama, so I'm working with people that sound like it, you know. Now if I were to go off to another state, say California, and get a job, you know, they would probably laugh at me. But I feel at home in Alabama, and I feel welcomed here, even if I sound a little bit country.
But I do love it here, and I'm so thankful to be able to have an opportunity to stay in an area that I grew up in.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Very cool. So, okay, what led to just like, you wanting to learn about the weather and be a meteorologist? Like, I mean, there had to be something in your life where you're like, you know what? I'd really like to do that.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: You know, it's funny you say that, because I don't even know where this started. It was as young as I can remember and even before I can remember, you know, my parents and friends telling me stories about things I would do. Like when I was in little league baseball, I would tell the coaches, hey, there's a storm coming, and, you know, we gotta stop this game at like 7 years old.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: That's pretty cool.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: But as far back as I can remember, I've always been interested in media, meteorology and science and weather. And it wasn't until I think my sixth or seventh grade year that I realized, hey, you can do this for a career. I just thought it was something that you could do. I didn't know you could get paid for it.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Get paid to?
[00:10:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: I mean, that's awesome. You get paid to do something you enjoy and really, really have a passion with. So I'm thankful for that opportunity.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: That's awesome. I always feel like I can tell what the weather's going to be because I get a headache and my ears hurt when a fresh moving through. And I don't know if maybe I should have gone to meteorology school, because that morning I'll be at home and I'll be like, man, I feel like a little pressure. I mean, is that really barometric pressure?
[00:11:05] Speaker B: There are studies out there that suggest pressure changes can affect the body. And you hear all the wives tales of my knees ache, and it's gonna rain.
But there are times and I know even for example, my dad, he's got arthritis and he says, well, I know it's gonna rain today. I can really feel it on my back or my knees.
So it is funn.
There's research out there trying to prove and disprove that's a thing. And it is interesting.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Well, I believe it because every time I say I have a headache and my ears pop and hurt, we have a storm.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: Well, I believe you because I see that in you for sure. And I feel like you mentioned that several times. But Richard, you mentioned going to Mississippi State and I've heard of others going to Mississippi State for that same program. Is that kind of like one of the premier programs like in the south or is that kind of a program in general?
[00:11:59] Speaker B: So there's other meteorology schools in the country, obviously, but this one is kind of the prime spot for the Southeast. But there's like I said, I don't want to bash anybody. But Mississippi State's kind of an attractive for people in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, this general area, Tennessee for meteorology. And being so close to home, I said, oh man, this is great. I can go home on the weekends if I want to.
In fact, we have interns at the TV station now from all over the world. We had an intern a couple of years ago from New Zealand. Oh, wow. Which was incredible. So I'm very thankful that I was able to, you know, be close to home. And when I go home and visit when I would, you know, miss that home cooked meal, I'm only two hours away. That's pretty nice, you know.
[00:12:44] Speaker C: Oh my goodness. Well, you know, one of the other things that I wanted to ask you about because I understand you are a dad, right? How many children do you have?
[00:12:52] Speaker B: I've got two boys. I've got a five year old and a seven year old.
[00:12:55] Speaker C: Okay.
I have a two and a four year old about to turn three and five. So how is it having two boys that are two years apart?
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Well, it's got its challenges. I feel like it's WWE in the house wrestling. In fact, when my now 5 year old was about a year old, that was the first time my son threw him off the couch wrestling. And I said, oh my gosh, you know, you're gonna kill each other. And it was quite interesting. But it is fun.
It is a lot of emotions at the same time. You know, one moment they're just a sweet little kid. What is a Sour Patch commercial? You see, one minute they're Sweet. And then all of a sudden the sour pat and they're beating each other up and then they're hugging and.
But it is awesome, especially them so close together.
They can play together a lot, so they keep each other company.
I grew up with two older sisters, one that was six years older than one that was 12 years older than me. So I love my sisters, but I didn't have that same age connection that my two sons have.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: Sure. And I'm sure your wife feels like queen of the castle among her house of men, so that's really good.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: It is interesting. She says, I'm surrounded by boys. I don't know what to do.
[00:14:06] Speaker C: Well, you know, Richard, I know we'll be talking about the weather a little bit later on. One thing I did want to bring up, I actually have something in common with you, and that is that we both lost our homes in the April 27th tornado in 2011. I know we'll be talking about weather later on, but I just want to briefly ask how much did that storm kind of impact your perspective within your career and just you as a person?
[00:14:33] Speaker B: I was one year out of college when that happened, and I was able to say up through college and I was able to afford a down payment on the home.
And having that opportunity to have a home when I was right out of college was pretty cool, you know, and 10 months into this thing when the tornado hit. This house was built in 1949. It was an older home. I remember the neighbors that had been there since the houses there were built in the 40s, said, We've never had bad weather here, never had a tornado here. Said, oh, man, this is where I want to be. I don't have to worry about it. Well, 10 months later, the tornado hit and obviously devastated the Tuscaloosa area.
And that was a big deal for me personally.
It kind of changed my perspective on severe weather. You know, being young, I was, I love severe weather.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: It's great.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: You know, it's a big adrenaline rush. You cover these big tornado events.
But after seeing the devastation that day and the fact that people died all around us, seriously injured, life changing storm, I don't want severe weather. If we can go a season without it, that would be awesome.
[00:15:35] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: But we're in Alabama and it's going to happen again. And I try to warn people, hey, Look, I know April 27, 2011 is a rare day, but we've had multiple fatal events after April 27, 2011. It just takes that one tornado and Tuscaloosa has been hit multiple Times. There's an F4 that hit the south end of Tuscaloosa in 2000, December 16, and 11 people died that day. So there have been tornadoes in our past and unfortunately they will continue to. To happen.
[00:16:04] Speaker C: Absolutely. No. And I appreciate you sharing that. And you know, and certainly that was one of the main reasons that we wanted to have you on today. We do have to take a quick break, but we are going to go in a different direction with you. But y' all are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:16:25] Speaker B: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:16:34] Speaker A: Welcome back. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney. And we have Richard Scott on the show. This is super cool because you've probably seen him on TV if you're ever monitoring the weather and hopefully it's not during a bad situation. But we do have those times in Alabama. And I just want to say to all of our meteorologists, thank you for what you do because as we Talked about with April 27, I feel like we're all scarred by that event and it's terrible. And we know we're going to have these events moving forward, but we're just very thankful that we have people that can keep us on our toes and make sure that weather aware and safe
[00:17:04] Speaker B: and that's what we're here for. And I do want to mention this, too. You know, we live in an awesome area. There are a lot of great meteorologists in this TV market.
If I go on vacation to other markets, other areas, or have friends that go to other areas, they're like, oh, my gosh, they don't cover tornadoes here like you guys do.
So this is a unique place in the country.
Great cover to a lot of people.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: I can see that.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: Yes, definitely. So, and I alluded before the break that we were going to go in a bit of a different direction with you. And our listeners may or may not know this depending on whether or not they keep up with you on social media. But you are a beekeeper.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: Yes.
I love getting stung by bees. That is the strangest hobby.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: First question, how many times have you been stung by a bee?
[00:17:51] Speaker B: I could not tell you. But I will tell you this. The most I've been stung at one time was nearly 150 times. Oh, my answer in one time, in one time. And that was unique. Under a mobile home in Barrie, Alabama, I was doing hive removal and I found this cheap. This one I first got started, I found this cheap Bee suit on Amazon for like 16 bucks. I said, man, that's great. These other bee suits are like $200, you know, and I'm laying on my back under this mobile home, Honey's dripping on me, Bees are falling on me, and they are just stinging me everywhere. It was awful. It was a terrible experience. But I made it through that night.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: So, like, my question is, you know, people have, like, bee allergies, right? And. And like I've always heard. I don't know if this is true. Maybe you'll know. But if you get stung multiple times, does it increase your risk of bee allergy or does it, like, help you?
[00:18:39] Speaker B: So if you're allergic to honeybees, and I actually found out My son, my 5 year old, is allergic to honeybees. So that's a whole nother realm of deals we have to keep an eye on and be extra careful not for him not to be stung.
But if you are allergic to honeybees, it only takes one sting and it can put you into a whole world of problems.
[00:18:58] Speaker C: Oh, goodness.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Anaphylactic shock is a real thing.
But for normal people that aren't allergic to bees, it takes about 500 stings to be equivalent to a rattlesnake bite.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: A thousand stings would kill any grown human, healthy human.
So, you know, you can get in serious trouble if you're around very aggressive bees.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:19:20] Speaker C: So, okay, I need to know what started this journey. You know, I just, I need the backstory. I see you extracting these hives from random places. I'm sure these people that contact you, we just gotta have some backstory.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's a strange thing. It all started with fruit. Believe it or not, my wife and I, we bought some land in North Tuscaloosa county and we said, you know, we want to do something cool. We want to raise kids. Let's do something that's farmer related. We wanted to raise fruit trees and sell to the farmer's market. That was our whole big plan.
And the first season we had the flower and blooms, we realized there's no honeybees. It was the strangest thing. There were wasps and butterflies, which are. They do pollinate some, but not like honeybees. And I knew I need honeybees if we're going to have successful fruit crops.
And I contacted Neil Hargl, Tuscaloosa county extension office agent, and he said, hey, have you ever thought about getting a beehive?
Not really. I've always been terrified of bees, you know, I mean, I Love nature, but I've always had a fear of bees. And he got me in the process of what I need to do to get started and got me in contact with other beekeepers. And it just went on for about a year, just kind of talking back and forth and researching what do I need to do. And.
And it ended up this couple, this sweet old couple over in Gordo, Alabama called me. They said, I've got bees on my front porch and I can't sit down and drink my coffee or my sweet tea, whatever it was. And I felt bad. I said, well, let me come get them. And it was a cutout. They were in the soffit of their house. I went on YouTube and found out how you do it. Of course, you can learn anything on YouTube.
I figured out the process. I actually built equipment to be able to get the bees out because I can't afford to get all this. If you were to buy all this outright, it would cost a lot of money.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Money.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: I went and got the bees and I posted something on Facebook and that was the biggest start of this as people found out and were like, oh my gosh, I got bees in my house, can you come get them? I got bees here. So for like four years I was running around everywhere trying to get all these bees. And that's where it got started. It was a snowball effect.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: That's crazy.
[00:21:23] Speaker C: Oh my goodness. Where is the most interesting place that you've extracted bees or just most interesting situations?
[00:21:30] Speaker B: I can think of it right now. John Essex High School.
That is the most interesting situation I've ever been in. The school was shut down several years back, I think in like 2015 or so. And two years after they shut the school down, they boarded up the windows. And this is large, like 10 foot wide windows. They had plywood on the front of it with. I want to say it was two by fours to separate the boards from the window, which made a perfect space for bees to build in. And bees had built in there. And we could go on the inside of the school and you could see the entire hive. It's like an observation.
Wow. You can see the whole colony of bees in all the comb. And it ended up being. My dad helped me on this one because it was in Demopolis, you know, close to where I grew up. And it ended up being around 7 foot tall. It was about 3ft wide. And then it was 2 by sixes because it's 6 inch wide comb.
So we ended up pulling over 200 pounds of honey from that one colony wow.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: It was 200 pounds of honey.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: 200 pounds. We had to go to the store and get more containers to put the honey in.
[00:22:32] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: But the bees were incredible. And they're still alive today. You know, they're still. I write on all of my colonies, all my boxes, where they came from and what day.
[00:22:42] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: So they're still doing good to this day. But that was awesome, man.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: So people, because this is kind of new to me, I'm just like, this is crazy. You know, you just get these. Now I have a carpenter view problem. That's a whole nother issue.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: Can't help you with that.
[00:22:55] Speaker A: Which they're pretty cool, too. I have, like, a weird little relationship with them because I'm like. I name them. They're like, you know, they're part of the environment. They're doing their thing.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: But do you. Do you sell your honey?
[00:23:04] Speaker B: I do. And we just. It kind of ended up a deal where I post on Facebook and people comment, hey, we want this many bottles of honey. And I just. I go deliver. I meet people. In fact, I've been to your house. He's delivered to my house.
[00:23:16] Speaker C: He's delivered to my office. I got Anna to pick him up for me at the parking lot.
[00:23:21] Speaker B: So I'm all over the place. But what I do, I keep a running list and how many bottles people want and their phone number just to make it organized. And it makes it a. Easier. But we started getting now to where we're selling to some local stores, which. That makes life easier because deliveries are.
[00:23:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And gas is a little expensive having to drive everywhere. So, like, local stores. Is it like, Manna Grocery?
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Do you have Piggly Wiggly? All the Piggly Wiggly locations, marks. Martin Northport, 15th Street Pharmacy, Duncan's Pharmacy, Andrews Hardware, just to name a few.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Wow. Is there a name for your company?
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Scott Honey Farm.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Scott Honey Farm.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. I'm here. We're going to have. You're gonna have to join the honey
[00:23:59] Speaker A: because it'll help with allergies too, right?
[00:24:01] Speaker B: It does. And unfortunately, we don't have honey this time of the year because it's similar to tomato season as bees bring in the nectar. In springtime, it's typically early summer before the honey's ready to harvest.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Wow. That's so cool.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: So I wish we had it now when everybody's allergies are still. I know, I know.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: I guess you have to start eating it in advance, right? Cause your body's, like, trying to get used to it. And I don't know, I'm just. Things I hear on the Internet are so.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: And honey, that's local. I mean, you know, they always say you gotta have honey really close.
It can be within 2, 300 miles. You have the same general ecosystem. And once you get out past 500 miles away, then you might have different types of flowering plants. But as long as you're in your same ecosystem, what's blooming around you?
Local honey is generally 2, 300 miles.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: How many colonies do you have at home?
[00:24:47] Speaker B: Oh, I've lost count.
I want to say between 50 and 60.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:24:52] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness. Okay. What is the lifespan of the queen?
[00:24:56] Speaker B: Queens usually last two to three years.
Now the worker bees, it depends on the time of the year. They might last 60 days. It could last over 100 days. Depends on if it's summer or wintertime. Winter bees last longer. They've got to survive through the entire winter time before the spring bees are born. But the queens last usually two or three years.
[00:25:15] Speaker C: Okay, okay. And now once a queen passes in a colony, do you.
Because my brother in law, he had some colonies and I've seen him, I guess, basically get a queen from somewhere and bring it to. Where do you get your queen from?
[00:25:29] Speaker B: So you can do that or you can let nature run its course. Bees are really smart. In fact, I can pull a frame with a queen on. Inside of a colony, you have frames, there are these sections of comb and there's 10 per box.
You can pull the frame out that has the queen on it, sit it to the side. Within five minutes, the colony starts to buzz and make this loud humming, buzzing noise. And that's an indicator, you know, the queen's missing. So you have pulled the queen out of that colony. They immediately start going into that reaction. We've got to do something. So they go to the process of making a new queen. Now, I mean, a few minutes isn't going to make a big deal, but if I were to leave that queen out overnight, they will have queen cells inside that colony getting ready to actually replace her.
[00:26:11] Speaker C: Wow. Okay. I want to spend the rest of the show talking about bees and honey, but we're not going to do that. We got to talk about some meteorology, but we've got to take a quick break. You are listening. Listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 9.7 capstone.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Welcome back, friends. You're listening to Fit to Be Tied and man, it's a crazy day. I'M getting real. I'm geeking out because we're talking about weather, which I find fascinating, and we're talking about bees, which are really cold.
[00:26:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm on this honey high or something.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: Maybe. Yeah, honey high.
[00:26:53] Speaker B: Great.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: Way to be high by honey, right? So we're having Richard Scott on the show. And, you know, the bee thing is cool, but I kind of want to geek out a little bit about the weather because I feel like, first of all, let me just tie this in to everybody. Everybody should eat honey because it's a great natural sweetener. It's healthy, it helps with your allergies. And the show is about wellness and the holistic approach and how we tie it all together. And so people are probably like, why are we talking about bees and weather? Well, in order for you to be healthy and, well, you have to take care of yourself. And I think being weather aware, especially in Alabama, especially where we live in Tuscaloosa, and events that have happened here, having ways to get information and know who you're gonna watch and all the things. And so I feel like we just need to talk about the biggest things that you, Richard Scott, emphasize to groups when you make your public appearances. Like, what do you tell people?
[00:27:43] Speaker B: So the big thing with, like, severe weather, for instance, is having a plan. What are you gonna do? Yeah, there's often times where we know there's gonna be severe weather, but how many events do we have where you're perfectly fine, you have a tornado warning, but the tornado misses you by a few miles or 10 miles or so forth.
But the big thing is not to be complacent because you go through those warnings, you go to that safe place, it might rain, might lightning, thunder, and that's about it, and you're okay. How many times are you going to continue to do that before you say, you know what, I'm going to lay in my bed. I think we're okay. It's 3 o' clock in the morning, there's a tornado warning. I'm sure this time I'll be fine. And that's the time the tornado, tonight it hits. So we tell people, don't be complacent. I know it's, you know, time out of your normal routine or maybe you're in bed asleep, but just take that few minutes. Usually it's 10, 15 minutes. You know, you have the warning and get in that safe place and where you're gonna go. So have a plan. That's a big thing. Make sure you know where you're gonna go. Because if it is one of those kind of surprise you type of events where you're in the middle of the night and you're woken up by your no weather radio, or if you have a smartphone app or something that were to alert you, you might go into panic mode. You're like, oh my gosh, this is a real deal. The tornado's about to hit. What I do and you don't think about it. So we try to tell people that plan over and over and over again. Where you go in your home, if you're in a mobile home, what should you do? If you're in a car, what should you do? That way if the real deal happens, you don't panic and make mistakes, it could cost your life.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: Sure. Well, and just from what you mentioned about where you go in your home, what you do if you're in a mobile home or in a vehicle, what do you do?
[00:29:18] Speaker B: Okay, so number one, if you're in a mobile home, you need to either find a community storm shelter, which there are a lot of Those now since April 27, 2011, what storm shelter is closest to you, which one are you going to go to? Or if you don't have that option, you have a friend that lives in a site built house, like a brick house, some sort of strong structured foundation house. And then where are you going to go in that home? Number one, you want to be in the lowest floor. So if you're in an apartment like in Tuscaloosa, you might be in an apartment complex or multi level home, you want to be in that bottom floor. That's a huge thing. You want to be in the middle of that house. Because if a tornado hits, the first thing it's going to get is exterior walls away from windows. It doesn't take much to knock out a window. And then you have flying glass and debris.
So the best thing we tell people, if you don't have a basement, basement's great. But if you don't have that interior closet, a small closet in your home is a great way to go.
And if you're in a multi level home or an apartment complex, for example, you might not have a place to go downstairs, make friends with people downstairs, you know, knock on a few doors before a storm comes, you know, you know, maybe a few weeks beforehand and say, hey, tornado season is coming up, if one comes, can I hang out with you?
[00:30:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: And that's, that's a good word of advice, car deal.
The best thing is to try to prepare ahead. If you know there's going to be storms. Try to think of places along your route where you can stop and go to. I mean, it could be a small store, anywhere that you can go to to be safe.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: Yeah, well, and I always think back to like, you know, when I was in college, I didn't really think a lot of, like, the weather didn't really freak me out that much. And I don't think I really thought that much about it until April 27th. And so I think about our college kids now and a lot of our students here, you know, they're not from the south. And so like, you know, some of them will work for us at the rec center. And they're asking me about the tornado. I'm like, well, no, you need to have a plan. This is just like what we do. This is like standard. Like, you just know what you do. And so I'm glad that on campus we have storm shelters that students can go to. A lot of.
I know, like sorority houses will have storm shelters. I think that's huge because, I mean, there's a huge need for that now.
[00:31:22] Speaker C: Yeah. And I know, you know, the, the space that we had our holiday event in Tutwiler is technically a very large. It is a storm shelter.
[00:31:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And what was it where I think you can push the button and then there come like a wall comes over the window. So it's state of the art way of being. It's pretty cool.
[00:31:42] Speaker C: Yeah, we got really excited about that. And Richard, you were talking earlier about people kind of becoming complacent with the warnings and everything. And prior to that April 27, 2011 tornado, I would have been in that category because I distinctly remember that day thinking, you know what, it's no big deal. Some people are freaking out, but it always misses whatever. I had a co worker at the time that was originally from Florida, had not been through a tornado, only hurricanes. And she said, this is freaking me out. Will you. You come stay with me in my bathtub? And she was living in Midtown Village condos
[00:32:17] Speaker B: very close to the tornado.
[00:32:18] Speaker C: Yes. And my house, the house that I lost was kind of right behind the. In the Forest Lake area. Right behind who's Q Barbecue. At the time, it was Mike and Ed's or whatever else. And so, yeah, lost the house. At that point in time. If I had not been in the bathtub with her because she was freaked out, I would have been at home.
Yeah. So, you know, it's really interesting, you know, thinking about things like that.
[00:32:42] Speaker A: Well, and you know, I was Just thinking about like storm chasers. Have you ever had a chance to do that or.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: I've done that a few times back when I was in college. But since then I've always been here because if there's tornadoes, I gotta be on the green screen, I've gotta be on the weather wall and, you know, track storms.
[00:32:56] Speaker A: I've always thought about like, you know, if I could redo things again, like how cool would it be to be a storm chaser. But then it's pretty risky, right? But I guess you have all the, the things you need to know to kind of track it. But.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Well, now let me say this. When I did it, this was like 2005, 2006, we didn't have radar scope on your smartphone.
Were iPhones even a thing back then?
[00:33:17] Speaker A: 2005, the very first iPhone I think was like 2004 or something.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: I had a Nokia flip phone if
[00:33:22] Speaker C: that tells you anything.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Only thing I'd do is call a friend back at the TV station, say, okay, where I'm going. And they would have to explain it to me. But you, you'd have to look at the structure of the clouds and identify where the danger is. But if it's a rain wrapped tornado, you're basically on your own on that.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. Well, I also have to ask, speaking of green screen, because we actually have one actually in the studio here, how hard is it getting used to pointing to the right counties and places?
[00:33:49] Speaker B: You know, I think the strangest thing is it's not the green screen, it's the fact that I'm talking to this camera, you know, and I'm telling a weather story to this camera as an object, you know, and I'm sitting there and telling this object what the weather's gonna do. Like if I'm talking to you, it's easy to talk to you guys because I can see you, we're talking to each other. But it's so strange being in that environment. We have nothing but a green wall behind you. And then in front of you you've got this big tall, six foot tall camera on a tripod, you know, and it is, it is very strange and it takes a long time to get used to.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't think I could do it. I'd be so confused. Like, yeah, we're looking at this over here in this county here. And you know, it'd be tough.
[00:34:24] Speaker C: Well, I know we have, you know, our last moments with you, Richard, before you actually have to go to your station, but I would like to assume that the viewers of WVUA 23 are quite pleasant people. But I have a feeling there's. There may be some that get disgruntled when they feel like your forecast wasn't right, quote unquote. How do you deal with that kind of feedback? Or do you ever have family members that kind of, like, will say things to you and you're like, oh, Lord,
[00:34:51] Speaker B: look, I've got friends and family, they love to rag me, say, hey, what about that snow back? And, you know, this date that never happened? Or, you know, we get that lot, but you just have to laugh it off. I mean, you can't take people's criticism seriously, you know, unless it's something that can help you grow and develop, obviously. But we do get that a lot. If there's a tornado event that doesn't seem to happen, you know, most of the time, people are okay with that.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:13] Speaker B: But the biggest thing is the winter weather. We're expecting snow and the kids get excited and it doesn't happen, then you get a lot of people upset about it, you know, and parents that are upset because their kids are. Are home and it's a rainy day, you know, so we do get that sometimes, but it's, you know, you just have to laugh it off and move on.
[00:35:30] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:35:31] Speaker B: We do get it wrong. Look, the science and meteorology, it's not perfect. I feel like we do a lot better than years ago, but there are times we're gonna mess up the forecast. It's just gonna happen.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: What's a good, and this might be my last question, what's a good weather app to have on your phone?
[00:35:46] Speaker B: There are. Well, the biggest thing is any sort of weather app that will get the NOAA weather radio alerts. So, like the. The tornado warnings torn.
In terms of radar apps, there's one that's called Radar Scope that we use. We actually use sometimes on TV during severe weather. It's a really good app. Now, I want to say it's like nine or ten dollars, so it's not a free app. But if you're a weather nerd like me, that radar app is really cool.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: That sounds awesome. I'm literally, as we speak, I'm looking it up.
We're in Alabama, so you never know you need to have it.
[00:36:18] Speaker C: But yeah, yeah. No. Well, we're grateful to you, Richard. And again, especially for someone who you wear so many different hats in a space, especially your meteorology hat. We appreciate the time that you've spent with us this afternoon. We hope to have you on the show again in the future. But just thank you for being with us this afternoon.
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Hey, happy to be here and thank y' all so much for having me.
[00:36:37] Speaker C: Absolutely. Okay, you guys, we're gonna take another quick break. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 a capstone.
[00:36:47] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:36:56] Speaker A: We're back, guys. You're listening to fits be tied and Sheena. What a fun show.
[00:37:01] Speaker C: I know. And you know, and normally we would keep our guest on for this last segment so that we could grill them about, like, their own wellness routine and all the things. But y', all, we just, Richard had places to be, obviously.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: He's a weatherman. Chief meteorologist.
[00:37:15] Speaker C: Yes. And we just, we geeked out so much about weather and bees that I just didn't even think about our traditional wellness questions.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: I know. And I guess, yeah, I was kind of a little, I'm like, see you on tv and now I'm having a conversation. So I did get a little kind of starstruck, I guess. But yeah, pretty cool show.
[00:37:33] Speaker C: Yes. Now, in our last few moments, I do have a question for you as a fitness professional. So I recently got a mechanical standing desk at work. We got a full furniture upgrade in our office suite. And I'm curious what your professional opinion would be on the, I guess, helpfulness or healthfulness of having one of those portable treadmills under my desk? Because I'm just thinking, I'm like, well, it's kind of fun to just kind of like casually stroll. But then I'm like, is this gimmicky? Like, like, are there gonna be any real health benefits? Like, is it gonna help my posture? I mean, if I'm standing at the desk anyways. I don't know.
[00:38:14] Speaker A: I, I, I don't know. I almost feel like it could be kind of dangerous. Like if you're walking and you like, maybe trip or something. I don't do well on treadmills. Like, I prefer to walk outside or on a track. I think, I think if it's, if it's your only way to exercise, I think that's a good idea.
But I do love a stand up desk. I don't know if I'd buy a treadmill desk just because I would feel like I couldn't focus on my work. You know what I mean? Because even at a standup desk, I have a hard time focusing on what I'm doing. So I have to be very strategic on when I stand. Most of the time. It's when I'm seated for a while and I can tell I need to stand. I'll pop up really quickly and start working. Or that reminds me that I need to go do a walk. So I don't know. I don't know if I personally would like a treadmill desk. I think I'd wipe out.
[00:38:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:56] Speaker A: And it would be really bad.
[00:38:57] Speaker C: But I think I am having these illusions of grandeur thinking like, oh, I'll be catching up on webinars for continuing in. And while I'm just kind of like actively listening, I could just stand as opposed to having an appointment with someone. That probably would be kind of dicey.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: I could see doing a webinar and catching up. That would be kind of cool. Or listening to a podcast or something. Or listening to our podcast. I could totally.
I think I get kind of nervous like walking on a treadmill.
[00:39:25] Speaker C: Well, if I bite the bullet and make it happen, AKA secretly give my husband messages that that's what I want for Mother's Day or whatever else. Cause they're.
[00:39:36] Speaker A: That's cool though.
[00:39:37] Speaker C: They're not cheap. No, they're not cheap.
So there's that. So I will keep you posted. I will keep the listeners posted.
[00:39:44] Speaker A: And I will say this. If you do our listeners, if you're thinking about a stand up desk at work, I really like a standup desk to remind yourself to get up out of your of your desk and do physical activity. But you can also fall into a trap. Standing with bad posture and harming yourself just as much as sitting. Sitting is bad for long periods of time because we're sedentary. We need to move our bodies. But standing can be just as bad if we're shifting our weight into one foot and then the other. It's like when you're standing in line at target. If you can even find a line at target. I don't even know why I'm bringing that up. But like, you know how we have our certain ways we sit and we stand. If you're standing in a very neutral position, position, ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees, knees over ankles, then you're good. But if you start shifting your weight around, putting more emphasis on one side of the hip, you're gonna have problems. So that's something to consider.
[00:40:31] Speaker C: Okay. This is something to think about. Cause it even makes me think about when Charles has been on the show and he was talking about like how weight is distributed.
So I'm absorbing all the information that y' all are sharing with me. But anyways, okay, before I start asking more random questions, questions, I think we should. I think we should end the show. You guys have been listening to fit to be tied with sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone, and we hope you have a fabulous week.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
