>The so-called natural beekeeping utterly precludes anything resembling an apiary, and apiary management.

In my very humble experience, it is difficult to paint with broad strokes and still apply color and shading with the precision of Rembrandt.

As a faithful reader of each month's addition of the ABJ, I frequently read the contributions of one of our distinguished members who provides excellent feedback on historical perspectives of beekeeping and I thoroughly enjoy them.

And history is certainly an instructive and helpful resource to glean from, especially since the biology of the honey bee has not materially changed since the dawn of apiculture.

So what is different today, at least since the days of Langstroth and Root? I think most of us agree it is primarily the addition of the novel parasite varroa and the associated viruses it vectors.

Based on our collective success rate with varroa in the Northern Hemisphere, I am not convinced that we are yet at a point to declare any particular mainstream approach to varroa management is or will remain an unbridled success into the future.

Thus, I am of the opinion that it is a worthwhile endeavor to consider what is conferring success in various contexts (including natural selection and intense artificial selection) and see if these mechanisms are worthwhile in our particular setting.

To be frank, I am no apologist for 'Darwinian Beekeeping' - but having been a student of how honey bees survive in the wild in my own neck of the woods, I can see why Dr. Seeley chose the mechanisms he did.

And I'd encourage anyone to not immediately conflate lack of peer-reviewed literature as akin to 'prayers and mumbo jumbo'. Dr. Seeley's framework was only published in 2017 and has not enjoyed broad industry support. 

Whether it will prove both viable and valuable to certain segments of the beekeeping population at-large in the future remains to be seen.
 

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