Honeybees vs Beekeepers

Now that I have a larger place to garden, I thought it would be nice to have some honeybees to assist me. After all, my Dad had all these bee hives that he had stored for ages. Why not make use of them and maybe receive some organic honey from my bee friends?

 

A ten week Beginner Beekeeping class was being offered from the local Beekeepers Association. The class is excellent and I am learning a whole lot about raising bees. I am hearing from both hobby and commercial beekeepers who have kept bees for fifteen to twenty years.

I just had no idea that there isn’t any organic honey available except maybe from Australia.  I just assumed it was a natural organic product from the bees.

Well I have learned differently. Raising bees seems to be similar to “factory farming” with the use of insecticides, fungicides, antibiotics, feeding GM corn syrup and refined white sugar, the use of artificial insemination, moving the hives over long distances, and the yearly exchange of queens. Besides dealing with all these internal hive stressors which would compromise their immune systems alone, they are dealing with all the external environmental pesticides, pollutants that people use on crops, produce and yards.

 

Now, I am being told that the bee wax that is used on the frame and foundation is full of fluvalinate and coumaphos – pesticides used in the hives to combat varroa mites. Well, I guess so if they are continually spraying all the different insecticides and fungicides all over the bees and their hives.

 

But don’t worry because the researchers tested a method for reducing the acaricide load in beeswax. “Using gamma radiation from a cobalt 60 source housed at Penn State’s Breazeale Reactor, they irradiate the sheets of beeswax that beekeepers use as the structural foundation for the bees to build their combs. They use radiation levels at the high end of that used to irradiate foods. Irradiation broke down about 50 percent of the acaricides in the wax”. (1) 

The food industry is allowed to irradiate our foods without labeling the food. The irradiated food is virtually nutrient and enzyme deficient. At this time, as far as I know we only pasteurize the honey (cooking at high temperatures), which kills most of the nutrients and enzymes also.

 

The bottom line seems to be if the pre-formed bee frames and foundation have increased size of the cells on the frames that equals more honey production from the bees. The research that I have read says that the increased cell size allows for more of the Varroa mites to infest the pupa in the cells. Allowing the bees to build natural sized cells reduces the infestation of Varroa mites. “One cause of this is shorter capping times by one day and shorter post capping times by one day. This means less Varroa get into the cells and less Varroa reproduce in the cells.” (2)

Also “continued treatment with chemicals to which mites can develop immunity is counter-productive, as we are simply breeding tougher mites by default.” (3)

 

The other interesting process of beekeeping is to harvest all their honey in the fall and then feed the bees sugar water or corn syrup during the winter to keep them alive. Yet, the bee’s natural food is honey. Something feels wrong about this procedure. Backyard hive.com suggests harvesting the honey in the spring and allowing the bees to keep enough honey to get themselves through winter. If they need backup feed, feed them honey mixed with a little warm water.

 

I asked about using my Dad’s old hives and they told me to use them for fire wood. There is a chance that they could contain virus spores that stay alive for forty years or more.

 

There must be someone raising bees in a more respectful and natural way. Then I found the site www.biobees.com – an excellent international forum and website with author/site administrator Phil J. Chandler and other expert top board hive beekeepers from all over the world such as Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and Spain. 

 I read Gunther Hauk’s book, “Toward Saving the Honeybee” which is beautifully written and very informative.  Gunther has a honeybee sanctuary on his Spikenard Farm now located in Floyd, VA.

 

I also discovered www.backyardhive.com who sell beautiful crafted made top bar hives using sacred geometry universal measurements (in harmony with nature and the bees). They also have other bee products and excellent information, classes and resources.

I have finally found the way to raise bees with love and appreciation for their help in our survival on our beautiful earth.

 

(1) American Bee Journal, October 2008, “Pesticide Build-up Could Lead to Poor Honey Bee Health”, page 8.

(2) Beekeeping Naturally, www.bushfarms.com

(3) The Barefoot Beekeeper, Philip J. Chandler, Great Britain, January, 2008, page, 19.