“The faster we can move away from reliance on tactics that introduce additional stress to the hive such as toxic mite controls and antibiotics, the sooner we are likely to see relief” – Ross Conrad- Author of Natural Beekeeping.
Amen Brother.
I just finished reading a small article in the February issue of Bee Culture titled Honey Bee Stress Reduction.
In the article, the author discusses how honeybees have been put under too much stress during the last century from a wide spectrum of sources. Pesticides, mites, you know the litany. It should be no wonder that honey bee populations are crashing around the world. What gets me is that we should have seen it coming. When our bodies and psyche’s are under stress what happens to us humans? We get sick, feel weaker, or decide one day to blow away half of our office mates after having Elf Bowling emailed to us for the nth time. The proverbial “straw” adds up until finally we succumb.
Well honeybees or any other living organism are no different.
I have a confession to make. I like gadgets. From the IPhone to the indoor remote control helicopter, I love technology. Even with beekeeping I once could have seen myself buying all of the latest gadgets and miticides to solve my problems of the instance. But I think what happens over the long term is we end up building a process of actions akin to a Rube Goldberg device just to maintain our bees health and make our life “easier”. When really what we could be doing is helping our bees over the long term through more of a hands off or natural approach. When I say “natural” approach I don’t mean stop brushing your teeth with fluoride but returning to a state of beekeeping that allows the bees to solve their own problems rather than relying on quick fixes.
Poppycock you may say. 90% of my hives will be lost. And to you I say you are probably right. This is a bitter pill that you will have to swallow but just listen to some of his ideas before you nay-say.
1. Our apiary’s medicine cabinet is full of miticides and antibiotics that were all designed to make life easier for our bees by not allowing them to suffer through tremendous losses. However this has caused several things to happen. It has left toxic residues in our hives which will vector into the food chain and has fostered the rise of a weaker bee. The antibiotics we use do kill off the bad bacteria in our hives such as AFB, but also the good pro-biotics which in the end, negatively effects the overall immune system of our honeybees.
It is true that through the use of chemicals/medicines we have prevented the immediate total collapse of our honeybee colonies but over the long term our bees are only going to become weaker and succumb to other stressors. However, if we can keep these pests and diseases in check using natural methods that don’t cause stressors of their own compared to the unnatural ones, we are able to eliminate or reduce several stressors at once. With each stressor eliminated we are able to increase our hives chances of survivability when dealing with other stressors effecting their immune system.
To this effort of eliminating unnatural elements in our hive Ross Conrad suggests we begin relying on ordering honeybees that have a proven reliability when dealing with these stressors. For instance purchasing honeybees that have come out of the program run by Dr. John Harbo and Dr. Roger Hoopingarner to develop Varroa resistance mites through Russian stock is a good option. Other breeders, such as Bee Weaver, are producing honeybees that have not relied on chemicals since 2001.
In the past it was popular to not use honeybees that generated huge amounts of propolis as this caused hives components to become stuck to one another. However this propolis has been known for years to be an extremely powerful antibiotic/antiviral and is responsible for extending the immune system of honeybees. Because propolis is so powerful it is surmised that throughout the course of natural history honeybees have not needed to develop an especially strong immune system to the same extent as required by other insects. – C. Ross, Bee Culture.
2. Another recommendation by Mr. Conrad is to rely on quality wax sources that are not infused already with chemicals as a source of foundation. However finding a source of chemical free wax can be hard to do and expensive. One suggestion is to allow the bees to draw out their own comb while providing them with a limited amount of foundation instead of a full sheet. He mentions when doing this to be sure your hive is level with the ground as bees will naturally draw comb parallel to the direction of gravity. So if your colony is situated on a slope, the honeybees will pull their comb down and miss the mark of the bottom frame.
I was wondering if maybe very thin sheets of balsa wood could work too. Maybe I will try this with one of my hives this year.
If these potential solutions work in conjunction with each other this may help reduce the total stress levels on a hive to the point that it will outweigh the necessity to rely on chemical solutions.
In my opinion, our best option is to purchase honeybees from producers of good survivor stock. This focused effort of forcing the bees to deal with the stressors through tough love may at first seem brutal but in the long haul may be to the benefit of honeybee populations in general. Evolution has brought bees through at least 35 million years of disease and predators. With human efforts we can narrow the time limit but it takes an initial dose of perseverance and a willingness to basically start over.
JPBELLAVANCE
It is that time of year. The temperatures outside are starting to significantly drop, the smell of burning leaves is in the air, and the Christmas decorations have been up already for 1 month, at least here in Charlottesville. Soon the tidal crush of consumerism will be upon us with all of its trimmings. But let us pause and give thanks before we rush out with the stampede and crush the nearest Wal-mart security guard to death so our children will Rock Band2 on the Wii.
The best way to give thanks is to get on our knees and…. thank Farmer’s Market Foods for coming out with an canned/organic Pumpkin Pie mix. I am sure if canned pumpkin pie mix had been at Plymouth during 1620, the Native Americans would be around today in far larger numbers. Pumpkin pie can sweeten even the most dour Puritanical demeanor and with a little whip cream, well, Life is Good even if your religious cult thinks chastity belts and burning witches are all the rage.
My wife makes a great pumpkin pie but I found this recipe the other day and think its the Bee’s Knees. You can view it at this link (recipe) or follow the recipe below.
Recipe for Honey Pumpkin Pie
3 eggs
1 pastry for single 9-inch pie crust
3/4 cup honey
1 can (15 oz.) canned pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F
In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Brush one teaspoon beaten egg on inside of pie crust. Place crust on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add the rest of the ingredients to remaining beaten eggs and whisk to combine. Remove pie crust from oven and carefully pour honey pumpkin mixture into hot crust; bake 5 minutes more at 425°F. Reduce heat to 350°F, and bake 30 to 40 minutes more, until filling is set. Cool completely and serve with Honey Whipped Cream (recipe follows).
Recipe For Honey Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Beat whipping cream until mixture thickens; gradually add honey and beat until soft peaks form. Fold in vanilla. Makes 2 cups. Delicious!
If you make it this year let me know what you think.
Have a peaceful Thanksgiving.
Probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen about bees. Was that Reese Witherspoon’s first role?
Probably one of the best movies I have seen about bees.
Honeybees and cinema can be a deadly combination, but if done just right it can make for a great movie.
I believe there is a certain ratio of bees to movie time that is the determinant factor for the success or failure of the movie. If the movie is 90% bees and 10% everything else the movie is sure to fall like a rock in a vacuum. But if the movie is primarily about the people and the bees are tangential to the story than the likelihood of success multiplies.
To prove my point just look at some of the movies listed below.
1. Ulee’s Gold. Good movie and a good story. Honeybees are not the primary focus of the movie.
2. The Secret Life of Bees. Again the bees are only an aspect of the story.
3. The Bee Movie. This movie is technically about honeybees but they are so anthropomorphized that it is really a human story with honeybees as fill ins for actors. Think about that movie if it portrayed honeybees for how they really act. Can you imagine the critical acclaim it would have received if all of the drones were thrown out of the hive at the end of the year to starve to death. Granted, seeing the Seinfeld character bemoan his situation as he froze to death in the snow might be a laugh for us but children would probably not understand.
4. The Great Santini: Another great movie where the bees play a small but vital role.
And then we get movies like the one seen at the top. The bees are portrayed more ridiculously than the human characters. This is usually what comes from made for TV movies. Crap plot, B-grade special effects, and community theater actors getting their first big break.
If you know of any other Bee-Movies please list them here. Good or bad.
Sometimes the beekeeping gods deal you a 7-2 off. Your neighbor is just a plain jerk. Your house sits across from a DOW chemical plant. Or, rednecks like to shoot double ought buck shot into your hives during the opening day of hunting season. Whatever the case may be, the ancient call still permeates within you to keep bees no matter what the consequences.
Sometimes this requires you to open up the Beekeeper’s Guerrilla Guide to Keeping Bees. When the deck is stacked against you, you either have to bend like the reed and work with the problem or begin RC modeling in place of apiculture.
Chapter 1 of the GGtKB states that when operating in the “bush”, evasion is your first line of defense. This is because you can never always be with your hives. At some point you will have to go home to your family for dinner and a bath and your hives will have to fend for themselves. How they fare depends on how much preparation you have put into your evasion methodology. This can be broken down into several aspects.
These are just a few things you can do to improve the surviability of your bee hives. We will have to leave bears to another article.
Guerrilla beekeeping involves knowing your enemy and how they think. It is sad that there are people out there who have nothing better to do than tipping over beehives but it is a fact we have to deal with.
People’s eyes either light up with delight or furrow in thought as they think of an excuse to not help you out in the apiary. My wife, a credit to her soul, is always up for trying something new at least once. And one of those instances was when I requested her help in the bee yard.
I did not really need much help but I thought I could introduce her to the wonderful world of beekeeping and get her hooked.
The weekend was perfect, late September, and not a cloud in the sky. We rolled up close to the hives in my car and unloaded the equipment. At the time I did not have an extra suit and I assured Nina that she would not need to get too close to the hive. While I was preparing for everything I asked her to take the two 1 gallon pails to my uncles house and fill them up with a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water. I wanted to give my bees a little extra help for their winter larder.
While she was away I smoked the entrances of the hives to get them to settle a bit and then began the inspection of them. I am sure I was thinking to myself, “This is going to be great! My own wife will become my first student to beekeeping and she will eventually want some hives of her own. Beekeeping will become a great Bellavance family tradition.”
When Nina came back carrying the two buckets I had her place them down next to the car and I motioned her to come over. I showed her the layout of the hive and explained some of the basic fundementals concerning keeping the bees. Special importance was placed on being gentle and knowing exactly what you wanted to do before starting.
After about 30 minutes we were done and I began to close up the hive. With almost everything stacked I began the last step of closing the hives by inverting the sugar water pails over the inner cover. That was when the Johnstown sugar flood of Bellavance Apiaries, colony #2, took place.
I had forgotten to check to see if Nina had firmly placed the lids on the sugar water pails. As a result, a torrent of sugar water plunged into the heart of the hive and created a deluge of disaster from out of the entrance. Hundreds of bees were ejected from the front like miniature Hawaiians surfing a 30 foot set at Pipeline. A second later thousands of bees exploded out of the front of the hive and began swarming around with a determined effort to find the god-like being who had wrecked havoc upon their world. Luckily I was in my bee suit. Unlucky for Nina for she was only wearing some jeans and fleece pullover. To the bees she probably looked like a blue bear because they went after her with vigilance. Nina began the ever so popular bee dance and ran for the hills with arms waving and swatting at the hive minded horde.
Amazingly she did not suffer one single sting. Her hair was displaced and demeanor a bit heightend but other than that everything was OK. In my mind the dreams of having my better half helping me into old age burned like the Hindenburg. It’s been 10 years since and I have yet to ask her again.
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