Post by beenatural101 on Aug 26, 2011 21:52:36 GMT -6
Ok, so now you have a hive. You even read everything you could find, took a class or two, and picked the brain of every beekeeper you could find. Most beekeepers are good at describing their way of keeping bees. First off, you have to realize one important thing. Chemicals kill bugs.
It is that simple. Yes they can have mite problems, beetles, moths, diseases...whatever. They can pretty much handle all of the above except the chemicals.
And they do a fair job of handling chemicals on their own too. In a good environment that has a couple decent flows a year. This lets the bees do what comes naturally. Springtime is life and the plants (trees mostly) provide ample nectar, which the bees collect for energy. Sure they get some nectar from other flowering plants (clover, buckwheat, kudzu, etc...), but the bulk usually comes from trees. Pollen comes from most everything, the more diverse the better. They use the pollen for protein and feed it to worker and drone larvae. Such abundance cues the bees to feed the queen more royal jelly and she lays a thousand or 2 eggs a day. Well this can make it crowded, and when she has no room to lay(honey and brood take up space), she will lose weight as the bees begin preparing for swarming.
We can assume it is a good spot and year, and an average of 3 year lifespan for a hive in a natural setting. Used to be longer.
So the hive splits in half by swarming, the old queen leaves with half or more of the bees leaving brood and hatching queens, all the wax, and some honey to get by while things get going again. it takes 3 weeks or so from this point for a queen to begin laying, and weeks before she may lay well. In fall with a decent flow she may pick up maybe not. It may be spring before she shows her stuff. So after 3 years of swarming like this a hive is likely to die from chemical overload.
Simple fact, the bees can not stay out of the many pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other chemical contaminants found in nature. The wax actually absorbs most of this stuff, but can only do so much. And wax is difficult for bees to make.
When a hive dies the moths come in and the larvae eat it all. Cleans it out for the next go round.
Remember you will be told you must medicate your bees.
All I do is split mine yearly, harvest a little bit, and burn my wax that is 3 years old.
Oh and some other stuff, but I covered a lot of that earlier. Mostly that and watching.
And I have some good bees.
And I refuse to use any chemicals.
And I have fun.
It is that simple. Yes they can have mite problems, beetles, moths, diseases...whatever. They can pretty much handle all of the above except the chemicals.
And they do a fair job of handling chemicals on their own too. In a good environment that has a couple decent flows a year. This lets the bees do what comes naturally. Springtime is life and the plants (trees mostly) provide ample nectar, which the bees collect for energy. Sure they get some nectar from other flowering plants (clover, buckwheat, kudzu, etc...), but the bulk usually comes from trees. Pollen comes from most everything, the more diverse the better. They use the pollen for protein and feed it to worker and drone larvae. Such abundance cues the bees to feed the queen more royal jelly and she lays a thousand or 2 eggs a day. Well this can make it crowded, and when she has no room to lay(honey and brood take up space), she will lose weight as the bees begin preparing for swarming.
We can assume it is a good spot and year, and an average of 3 year lifespan for a hive in a natural setting. Used to be longer.
So the hive splits in half by swarming, the old queen leaves with half or more of the bees leaving brood and hatching queens, all the wax, and some honey to get by while things get going again. it takes 3 weeks or so from this point for a queen to begin laying, and weeks before she may lay well. In fall with a decent flow she may pick up maybe not. It may be spring before she shows her stuff. So after 3 years of swarming like this a hive is likely to die from chemical overload.
Simple fact, the bees can not stay out of the many pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other chemical contaminants found in nature. The wax actually absorbs most of this stuff, but can only do so much. And wax is difficult for bees to make.
When a hive dies the moths come in and the larvae eat it all. Cleans it out for the next go round.
Remember you will be told you must medicate your bees.
All I do is split mine yearly, harvest a little bit, and burn my wax that is 3 years old.
Oh and some other stuff, but I covered a lot of that earlier. Mostly that and watching.
And I have some good bees.
And I refuse to use any chemicals.
And I have fun.