Playing Catch Up On the Blog

I've neglected to write in this blog for a few weeks, all for good reasons. This entry is meant to catch everyone up on "doins" in Beelandia..

• I have reluctantly finished  4 of the hives treatnent with Api-Var.  While I would like to treat the bees "naturally", I recognize that my bees do not live and forage in a "natural" world, but a world of globalization,   monoculture, urban development, neighbors with pesticides and herbicides, and a nearby golf courses. Given the high mite counts, I made a decision to treat with the safest, most sustainable miticide. Nothing is ever fixed in my mind, so we will see how this works.
• I combined Bee Glad... with the nuc I had started earlier this spring. The nuc was too far behind while Bee Glad... went queenless.
• Lake No-Bee-Gone is now fishless. A local leopard frog got in the pond and ate all the fish while I was in the hospital. I will rethink the pond arrangement for watering  the bees.

Sustainable Beekeeping in an Unsustainable World

Every year about this time I make beekeeping resolutions for the coming season. After listening to Marla Spivak's talks at both Saint Mary's and Winona State, and reading Randy Oliver's series of articles in the American Bee Journal, I have decided to recast my apicultural practices somewhat. I would really like to be totally natural in my approach but I must recognize that my bees forage in an un-natural world. They live in a world of suburban development, city ordinances against 'noxious' weeds, conspicuous consumption and leisure, growing monoculture, the casual use of pesticides and herbicides, and globalization. All these social problems impact the nutrition, and health of honeybees. While a 'social apiculturalist' should also be working to fight these economic/political problems, in the present, I need to be concerned about some of my bees' immediate problems. With this is in mind, I resolve to do the following practices this bee season:

1. Culling three year old comb-  Comb retains many of the noxious chemicals and diseases bees come in contact with while foraging. This season I have already removed comb that is three years or older.
2. Supplement Nutrition- I will be more disciplined in supplementing the bees' nutritional needs with pollen supplements when called for. This grates against my 'natural' tendencies but I am convinced now that my neighbor's on the west side of Winona are not providing my bees with a diverse enough diet.
3. Monitor and Manage Varroa Better- I will be monitoring the varroa count of each hive regularly, removing drone comb, and using essential oil based miticides if the mite count calls for it. 
4. Carrying Capacity-  I may have been pushing the number of beehives in the neighborhood to its limits, especially given the rainy and cold spring/summer we had. I will try to stay within a 4 hive limit (with nucs) in the future.

"Beekeeping Pure and Simple" Available Online

One of the biggest influences on my approach to beekeeping is Phil Chandler, author of the book The Barefoot Beekeeper. Chandler's approach is holistic, recognizing that honeybee sustainability is not simply a question of what I do as a beekeeper, but what we all do as global citizens socially and environmentally. Chandler has recently published a short pamphlet called, Beekeeping, Pure and Simple where his holistic approach is laid out in a very accessible manner. I recommend you all download yourselves a copy.