So now we have organic honey. (Letter 21-8-96). Originally the word organic
was an adjective describing anything derived from a living source, i.e.,
plants and animals.  In this respect all honey is organic since it  comes
from plant sap, directly or via aphids.  The public's idea of organic today
is linked to the farming of plants and animals without the aid of
herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, synthetic fertilizers, growth hormones
and so on. Such farming is still rare.
Whether we use any form of medication in our hives or not the fact remains
that our bees fly two miles or more in their search for nectar and pollen,
thus covering some twelve square miles of surrounding territory.  Within
that area gardeners are spraying flowers, fruit and vegetables and farmers
are spraying fields and orchards.  Some of these residues must end up in the
nectar and on the pollen and we can do nothing to prevent it.  In this
respect no honey is organic, using the word in the sense of purity.  Will
the use of Apistan, for example, used as directed, when no surplus honey is
being produced, make all that difference.?  Two years after Varroa appeared
in my part of the world the effect was devastating.  Beekeepers, beginners
and experienced alike, suffered 50 to 100% losses.  If we had let nature
take its course we should now be practically bee-less.  As it is the use of
Varroa strips has allowed our bee population to be re-built.  The honey may
be slightly more tainted (the jury is still out on that one) and if that
worries the individual he has the option of not eating it.  What is far more
important is that we maintain sufficient bees for effective pollination.
Last year I was counting Varroa drop in hundreds.  Strips saved my bees and
this year, after early spring treatment, they have prospered, allowing me to
send out between a quarter and half a million foragers daily to pollinate my
area.
Someone recently quoted statistics to the effect that if one hundred stocks
were left to fight Varroa naturally probably only one would survive.
Pollination is so important that we cannot take risks like that.  Natural
immunity may take a long time to arrive.  Use of strips or other treatments
may slow down the development of immunity but the need for pollination
requires that we keep our bees alive.             Sid P.
 
I posted the above letter to the Bee-l in the usual way (23/8/96) and
received the following message the next day.
 
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Delivery Failure
 
Your message to the following recipients was undeliverable:
@voca.org
To me this is meaningless. Did the letter appear and who is voca.org?
Could some more knowledgeable person than I am please explain.   Sid P.
 
_________________________________________________________________
Sid Pullinger                    Email :  [log in to unmask]
36, Grange Rd                Compuserve:  [log in to unmask]
Alresford
Hants SO24 9HF
England