Beekeeping

The way I describe how I manage my bees is that I try to do so in an 'organically orientated' way.

Beekeeping in an entirely organic way is extremely difficult to prove, as bees are natural foragers, able to fly for miles in order to collect the nectar, pollen and propolis they require for the management of their hive. This means that the beekeeper has little or no control over where the bees forage and what they forage from. Some of the plants that the bees visit to forage from may have been sprayed with insecticide and trace elements of that chemical can potentially end up being brought back to the hive, rendering that hive 'unorganic' in some peoples eyes. Unless you own the land around your hives for miles around and can demonstrate that there are no chemicals used on that land that the bees could take back to their hive, then you cannot call it truly organic. I would also argue that, even then, it is possible that your bees could possible pick up chemicals that have been brought into the area through other means.

Honey bee collecting nectar from thyme
It has been reported that although bees do bring back some chemicals back to the hive that they have picked up from plants, the most likely way that chemicals are introduced to a hive in any volume is actually done so by the beekeeper. Well meaning beekeepers, new and old, are coaxed and encouraged to use a variety of chemicals in the hive. Many producers claim that their products are natural and use chemicals like Thymol which comes from Thyme, or Oxalic Acid which is contained in Rhubarb, so must be a natural remedy and will not do the bees any harm. I have used some of these products in my first few years of beekeeping because that is what you are told you must do to keep them alive by publications which are at least partly funded by advertisements for such chemical products.

To any new beekeeper I would recommend that you should read as much as you can about all the different ways beekeepers all over the world use to manage their bees, to scrutinise magazine articles, interview other beekeepers in your local association, to do those bee exams, chat to your bee inspectors, read all the books you can find on the subject, and then decide what you want to do, how you think you want to try and manage your bees. Don't be afraid of doing things differently to others if you think it is right for your bees and for you. There are so many types of hives, methods of management, tools and gadgets, processes and procedures, old and new; all you have to do is choose what feels right for you and give it a go. In the places it doesn't work, adapt your management method a little and try again. No-one has it nailed, no-one has worked out the perfect way to keep bees; if they did, they would be making a fortune and our bees would not be suffering a decline in so many places across the planet.

So what is it that I do that makes me claim I am organically orientated? There are a number choices I have made and techniques I execute that are arguably more natural and disturb the bees less than some of the more traditional techniques recommended in so many books, magazines and associations. I don't knock those other techniques and remain interested in all the new gadgets and methods of beekeeping; there are plenty of beekeepers out there doing things differently to me and being very successful at it too. It works for them, and that's great. Here is a collection of different techniques I use that I think help me reduce that reliance on chemicals.
  • I decided very early on to go with Open Mesh Floors in all my hives, including the Top Bar hives. This should allow any mites that fall or are pulled off the bees to fall through the mesh floor, onto the ground and then they cannot get back into the hive, back onto the bees. Solid floors, it is believed, allow the mites to climb back the sides of the hive and find another bee to hang onto. Some beekeepers I have heard of don't use floors at all; remember that in the wild, bees do not have a floor under their colony's comb. I think we need to make a balance between what the bees do in the wild and what is practical for the beekeeper in terms of maintenance.
  • No Chemicals. I don't put any chemicals into the hive; they only things I do put in the hives are sugar solution or sugar fondant if they need feeding, maybe some icing sugar dusting (even that is rare) and that's it. 
  • Leave that propolis alone unless it really stops you being able to manage the bees.  
  • If you do paint your hives, use natural paints that are not chemical or oil based. 
  • Consider how you can help the bees to self-medicate. Grow lots of herbs like Thyme for them to forage on - and if your Thyme gets leggy then you can cut it back, dry it and put it in the smoker.
  • I don't buy queens anymore, I let the bees create their own. This can be tricky and does take practice, but it saves you money and is better for the bees. I bought queens when I started, as I did not have the confidence to bring on my own queens, but now I mostly let the bees decide when they want to get a new queen. Not being obsessed with getting loads of honey helps...
  • I don't collect any honey from the bees unless I think they can spare it.

Do you have any other ideas about how to help your bees without having to use chemicals?

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