Treadmill of Production: A CMAP is Worth a Thousand Words

I created this cmap in order to explain treadmill of production theory to my Public Policy class. I think it is such a thing of of beauty I thought I would share it with my readers. If this theory is empirically valid, what implications might this have for honeybees and sustainable beekeeping?

Video: Disturbing Video and Comments

This video and the comments it has received on youtube are rather disturbing and depressing, but it does demonstrate the need for more "bee" education, as well as, environmental/ecological awareness. The comments, mostly by what seems to be male posters, do seem to support the contentions of ecofeminism, however.

Article from the European Parliament Website

The Treatment Treadmill

I have been reading Bell's Invitation to Environmental Sociology yesterday and am intrigued by his use to the treadmill metaphor. There are social, cultural, and economic routines that we get caught up in that seem to us almost impossible to stop without everything coming crashing down on us. We may get caught in the "treadmill of conspicuous consumption" where we attempt to constantly keep up with the Joneses as the Joneses relentlessly try to keep ahead of us, creating more and more consumption that seems to have no productive end and only negative environmental impact. The "treadmill of production" leads to producing more and more products, cutting more and more corners, using more and more resources, and searching for more and more potential markets, in order to attain higher and higher profits for stockholders who already seem to have enough.

Beekeepers find themselves on another treadmill that also can lead to disasterous environmental results: the "treatment treadmill". Whether we treat for prevention or because our bees have a particularly nasty pest or disease, we jump on a treadmill that can be hard to get off. Once we treat, and interfere with Darwinian laws, we help maintain bees who are weaker and will forever be dependent on our treatments.

Some may read this and say, "Well, just jump off this treadmill...Just say no to drugs!" The chief difficulty here is that the "treatment treadmill" is in a dialogical relationship (Bell) to other "treadmills" we are equally stuck on. How can I get off the "treatment treadmill" when my commercial beekeeping outfit is also stuck on the "production treadmill" or my family is stuck on the "consumer treadmill"? Hobby and sideline beekeepers face the same difficulties in their attempts to jump off the "treatment treadmill". How does the "prestige treadmill" play out at the local beekeeping club? Do I risk all the condescension and "I told you so's" by taking a "live-or-die" apicultural approach?

Clarifying Issues: Part II

After reading my last post, I could see that it might easily be misinterpreted. I need to make something very clear: I have not given up on using organic and natural apicultural methods. If I can, I use the most "natural"/"organic" management methods available. So for example, I use foundationless frames in the Langstroth and, of course, simple top bars in Metpropolis, leaving cell size up to the bees. My varroa testing and management includes a screened bottom board, two drone brood frames, and periodic powdered sugar dusting. The bees water in a little planted pond kept balanced and mosquisto-less with white clouds and koi. Pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers are not used in the Forest of Beelandia, nor on the rest of our property. The grass (and weeds) are even mowed with an old-fashion push mower.

That being said, the foraging environment of Beelandia's bees is not over healthy I suppose. Within a two mile flying radius, the bees experience (a) the Mississippi River and all its pollutants, (b) two or three factories, (c) the West Side Public pool, (d) a golf course, (e) 4 bars :-), (f) a Brach's Candy factory, (g) the busy traffic of three main streets, and (h) the countless small gardens of neighbors who use both chemical and organic techniques in soil mixed with generations of lead paint and who knows what else. Add to this, the fact that the bees I've installed were produced in California and are not adapted to Minnesota winters, and I have a collection of interacting variables that can't help but stress the bees, making them more susceptable to an array of pests and diseases. In an environment like this, must I be infrequently prepared to set aside my "natural" apicultural management ideals when the bees are sick or plague by parasites? Or, must I just admit that sustainable beekeeping is impossible where I live? Only time can answer this.

Introduction

I remember when I first heard about the bee epidemic that has since been labelled "CCD". I was up early on a cold windy morning in either February or March engaged in my normal pre-work rituals: packing up my knapsack, making some hot tea and eating a granola bar so that I could rush out to teach my 7:45 class at the university. As usual, my partner and I were listening to the news on National Public Radio, waiting primarily for the weather report. Most of the news was rather expected, mostly concerned with violence in Iraq or domestic economic woes, but then I heard a report that made me stop and listen more carefully; Beekeepers around the nation were reporting the mysterious disappearance of bees.

This was very disturbing news to me, a "pit of the stomach", "end of the world" type of anxiety. I was not a beekeeper at the time but did recognize the importance of bees to the "community of life". Emotionally, I felt a particular fondness to the insect, remembering those days growing up in Brooklyn, New York, watching bees forage in a backlot near my house I was fascinated by their diligence and appreciative of their tolerance of me as I touched and examined them. A decade or so later, my interests turned to the human species and I pursued advance degrees in sociology but a concern and study of other species remained. I bred Angel fish in graduate school, and kept a number of exotic reptile species as pets throughout my lifetime. I was obsessive about the research on any species I kept, studying all I could find about the animal.

After hearing the report, I began to research on the web and at the university's library what I could discover about the epidemic . My research took me far beyond the species itself to its imposed relations with human beings. I found that the plight of the honey bee illuminated those abstract concepts, processes and practices (e.g. agribusiness practices and IMF policies) I had bored my students with in Global Issues courses. Those frames beekeeper's of all stripes were constructing to explain the crisis offered concrete examples of frame building for my Introductory Sociology courses as well.

The connections I was drawing did not go unnoticed to those around me, especially my partner. Dinner and driving conversation changed as I shared my new found knowledge. Finally, after one of my long, and animated monologues on bees, Monta suggested that I pursue the research more systematically even, perhaps, creating a course in Global Issues which focused entirely on honey bees.

Beekeeping in Sichuan

I read an interesting blog post today concerning beekeeping in the Sichuan mountain region of southwest China. According to the author, Richard Spencer, many residents of this region have received grants to start beekeeping after logging was banned. Over logging and the consequent flooding all but destroyed an area that was once the natural habitat of the panda. Spencer ends his post wondering "if it (beekeeping) can ever meet (the) farmers' dreams."

I wonder whether Sichuan is just heading for another ecological disaster. If Phil Chandler is correct (and I think he is) that ecologically sound, sustainable beekeeping is only possible when done on a small scale, then these farmers' dependence on commerical, apiculture as a means of economic survival is a short term solution in which the bees may pay an ecological cost.

Peace-Keeping Law of the Community of Life

I had said I was going to write a post on Daniel Quinn's book Ishmael and it's relevance to natural beekeeping. I will eventually write that. (I promise!) In the meantime, let me leave you with two short quotes from the book today concerning what the author calls "the peace-keeping law of the community of life:

This law that you have so admirably described defines the limits of competition in the community of life. You may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down your competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food. In other words, you may compete but you may not wage war. [129]

Bees will deny you access to what's inside their hive in the apple tree, but they won't deny you access to the apples. [128]

The Game Plan

I'm no Eric Mangini but I still have a game plan for my backyard apiary. Like any game plan, this one is not written in stone but will change with any unforeseen circumstances. In general, here is what it looks like now:

• Natural Beekeeping Without Ecological Fundamentalism - Whenever and wherever possible I will practice principles of bee husbandry that will help sustain the community of life rather than my own profit or convenience. This will make things more labor intensive for me and the occasional helper but, as an academic with more flexible summers, I can afford to do this.
  
• Hive Location - As a backyard beekeeper living in town, I have chosen a location which is inconspicuous and safe for my neighbors and other passerbys, and convenient for my family's other activities. (see photos) Shubbery and, possibly, screening will be used to divert the bees' "flight path" above pedestrian traffic.

• Hive Selection- I was fortunate to have read Flottum's book on backyard beekeeping because I hadn't really considered the full weight of different types of hives. Last October, I had major surgery and now am restricted from lifting awkward and overly heavy objects. Flottum has suggested that hobby beekeepers consider using 8 frame medium hives rather than 10 frame deeps in order to make lifting easier. So, with this in mind, I plan to order an 8 frame beginner's starter kit from Betterbee.

• The Bees-I have decided to buy my bees from B & B Honey Farm of Houston, Minnesota. They are located about an hour away from my home. The plan is to purchase and pick-up a nuc of Minnesota Hygenic bees.

That's the game plan for now. I'll inform you if there are any changes or additions. In the meantime, I will continue my obsessive research.

The Research

Whenever I start a new project, I research it obsessively. (Some people would say it's overkill!) I need to know exactly what I'm getting getting into so that all angles of the project can be anticipated. I take my responsibilities toward other living creatures seriously and do not want to be caught in a situation where I can't take care of their needs as well as my own and my family's.

Perhaps in the future, I'll discuss and review the wealth of information an aspiring beekeeper can find on the web. Today, I'll simply discuss some of the books I've read over the last few weeks.

• John Vivian's Keeping Bees. I found this book at my local public library and it was the first book I read on bee keeping. This highly accessible book provided me with a general overview of the process of bee management and an introduction to some of the sensitizing concepts I'll have to keep in mind as I continue future research.
• Kim Flottum's The Backyard Beekeeper. I have no plans to become a commercial beekeeper! I simply want one or two hives in my backyard which I can co-manage with the bees and observe their behavior. I don't want to extract large amounts of honey or beeswax and become a "bee tycoon". This book provided me with just that type of focus, especially in the areas of hive location and size.
• Ross Conrad's Natural Beekeeping. I am committed to sustainable living and environmental responsibility and want my beekeeping practices to reflect those values. I want to approach beekeeping remembering that bees did not come into existence for the purpose of providing honey and beeswax to humanity but are "equal members" in the community of life. Someday I might write a post comparing the principles found in this book to those found in Daniel Quinn's novel Ishmael.
• Langstroth's Hive and the Honey-bee. This is a "classic beekeeper's manual" written by the 19th century inventor of modern hive management, Rev. L.L. Langstroth. The love and enthusiasm Langstroth had for his bees is simply contagious and he still has many things to teach the modern beekeeper. His careful observations and scientific humility are great lessons often missing today.

I am currently in the middle of reading a few other books on bees as well and will include a short review of them as I finish each. In the future, I hope to read a few books on queen-rearing and will report back on those as well.

In the meantime, do any readers have any other suggestions for this novice beekeeper?