quote:
> So basically, the closer you can mimic the natural
environment settings the bees are from, the closer you are
to natural and the further away you are from doing it the
more you are on an artificial non-sustainable system for
the long-haul that then only creates problems.

I am 56 and have been interested in Nature most of those years. One of my
first heroes was Tarzan, Mr. Nature himself. Then I learned Thoreau wrote a
book on our relationship with nature. Finally, in 1989, Bill McKibben penned
"The End of Nature."

Without going into it in detail, the book shows how nature is not really a
separate entity from us, we have altered every corner of the planet, that
nature is now a thing to visit in gardens and preserves. Occasionally she
makes herself heard with hurricanes and other disasters.

Natural in the USA would mean: no honeybees. Eat only vennison, corn and
acorns. No almonds, no beef, etc. You get the drift. It is comical to talk
about nature as we drive around in our big trucks and produce honey by the
tanker load. 

I am a little tired of people getting up on the soapbox and claiming to be
"more natural than thou". I know plenty of beekeepers who would just as soon
stop applying chemicals if they could, but every time they do the bees
croak. You can't do beekeeping with no bees.

Keeping bees in northern climates is a whole different ball game from the
south. I lived near the Mexican border and now near the Canadian border so I
know what I am talking about. What works in your area often won't translate
to another area. 

Natural beekeeping is great as a concept, but it doesn't really add up to
more than a pipedream. It would be more natural to leave the bees the hell
alone and go back to grinding acorns.

pb

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