>> It goes without saying that all beekeepers want to reduce or
eliminate
>> all treatments. I think you will find we are all kindred spirits
here.
>> My problem is that many who have touted natural methods are not
>> keeping bees anymore for obvious reasons, but new ones arise to play
>> the same seductive pipe.
>

>It is already happening, but these beekeepers are falling on deaf ears
presently and this pipeline is, >for the most part, not ready to hear of
their success. They have tried and were shut up and put out.



Keith is right. We as a group haven't gone anywhere and collectively our
bees are getting stronger and more numerous each season. Not sure where
this fellow got the idea that all our bees died. It is frustrating to
hear of alternative beekeeping being looked down upon, with arguments
like "if your kids were sick" or "if you had cancer". Its not the same
thing, not even remotely. Its frustrating too because it is called
"alternative beekeeping". Funny, but it's the way bees were kept long
ago, why is it alternative all of a sudden. Its like how honey is being
called a healthy alternativce to sugar and HFCS.

There are more and more chem free beekeepers free from the whole
spectrum from apistan and checkmite all the way to freedom from formic
and oxalix acids and essential oils also. As a group we all just keep
bees. Some of us are even more strict that the rest and the only things
put inside a hive are strictly bees, not even foundation.

Yes most of us have given up talking about it. I still speak up once in
a while. Dee still speaks up once in a while, and Keith obviously has
just spoken up, but for the most part you don't hear from us much
anymore. Just as Kieth has pointed out, you get tired of no one
listening and throwing erroneous excuses and reasons for refusing to,
such as "no data or study" "Where is the proof?", or "Do you take
tylenol?"

Probably the hardest thing to consider is that the people that general
choose natural beekeeping are the least like to record statistics for
you. We arent' scientists, obviously because the scientists are the ones
pushing the "fixes". We just decided to go for it, and hey so far it
works. Some people get lucky right out of the gate, and some people have
a hard time for the 1st couple of seasons, but ultimately except for the
few who dropped out the 1st year, we are all going strong and amazed at
our bees' vigor.

For new beekeepers the choice is easy financially. Chems cost money. For
the entrenched commercial beekeeper, yes the financial choice can bee
harder. It is VERY possible to loose your entire livestock in one year,
that's devistating. I understand it, though if your business is going to
die anyway, what's the difference??

Bottom line is we are still here, and the proof for us is that we are
AND strong too. Too bad no one wants us around or hear our story. Guess
it's time to go back to keeping quiet so I don't sound like a fool
amidst y'all. Whether quiet or loud, we are all still here.

--
Scot Mc Pherson
The Mc Pherson Family Honey Farms
Bradenton, FL USA
http://beewiki.linuxfromscratch.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/OrganicBeekeepers/
mailto:[log in to unmask]


                             .   `  ,  ` '
                         .,';`,.  ``.  '.
       _/^\_          :;.,';`'.,` `., ' '`,
      /_____\       .:.,"'`
     /\_____/\   .,:`'"
       \###/.,';`

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::