Bill Truesdell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>There is another route, and people like Joe W. are following it, which is
to let the bees take care of the
>problem. But how do you do that on a national scale as well as keeping it
economically viable?
Hello Bill,
I will say that even for a small operation such as mine, I did feel a
monetary hardship while more than 10 or so years of live and let die
program caused great stress for me in my little operation. I got real
good at the dying and losing money part of beekeeping, but the letting
live and making money part is much more difficult.
I can afford to goof off with ferals and make stupid mistakes, I can write
a book on stupid beekeeping mistakes. But how we can expect those making
a living on bees to do the same and providing the needed productivity
would be a great challenge.
But now the struggle has lessened for me a bit, years of catching ferals
to try and keep alive while purposely letting them swarm to the woodlands,
has now appeared to make turnabout. I am seeing payoffs coming back to my
bees in the form of much better breeding. Breeding that I was quite
embarrassed about is now in the past 2 or so years, greatly improved.
I loved what Randy mentioned,,, what did he call it?,,, a “natural
selection yard” I think?
That IMO, is something every beekeeper can afforded to do. It should be
promoted in beekeeping, a small yard, perhaps only a few dozen colonies,
besides being a great learning tool, it has a potential of promoting bee
improvement that is of great importance to the welfare of the bees.
Best Wishes,
Joe
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