Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Mon, 3 Mar 2008 12:13:45 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
Randy and all, allow me to indulge in a little pontification
The complex matrix of environmental conditions within which an insect
lives is never static. Sometimes it is changing slowly and other times it
is changing relatively quickly. If we use the classic definition
of “species” which is any group having the ability to interbreed and
produce offspring that are fertile, then I am guessing most bees in the
genus Apis could be said to be in the same species. That species has been
around for a long, long time and yet at the same time many sets of
characteristics have certainly come and gone as the need for them changes.
So while no one set of characteristics represented by a given sub-species
of Apis is likely to stay intact over the long haul, given the natural
variability within this diverse species, it is safe to say the species will
survive even the radical and bizarre manipulations of its environment
imposed by man. The question then is not whether honey bees will survive,
but whether beekeepers will survive and what methods will they have to
adapt in order to do so. And for the purposes of the beekeeper does the
honeybee really lend itself to the levels of interference that modern
agriculture has come to impose on it? We seem to be in a period of
judgment on that question.
It’s not that organically or alternatively or biodynamically kept bees
are impervious to stress. But I think it is always smart to ask of any
given stress that might be imposed, how this problem would be dealt with in
nature in the absence of human tinkering. Given whatever your beekeeping
goals might be, the idea is that to the extent that your beekeeping
practices flow with the forces and tendencies of nature rather than against
them, you will be at an advantage, especially in the long run. For me it
is not a question of good or bad, but simply what works and what doesn’t
work and more importantly what will be working in the future. I do think
that some of these less industrial practices work more closely with this
question of how nature would handle a given situation. It’s more or less
built into so called “organic” methods whereas it seems the greater
beekeeping industry is more focused on “How can we make these bees do what
we want them to do?” which often boils down to “How can we keep these bees
alive long enough to get through this year’s almonds?” As it turns out
this approach may be too short sighted.
It’s not just in beekeeping that this kind of thing is happening. The
blind faith in a technological answer for everything results in farmers
asking “What can we put on or in this corn to keep it from getting eaten up
by bugs this year?” and “How can we keep the cost down?” which almost
always translates into “How can we avoid paying for all the costs?” And so
the beekeeper may be incurring some of the costs of the crop grower. But
beekeepers may be incurring some of the costs of other beekeepers as well
if the practices of one group are too short sighted and result in
unforeseen problems that spill out into the greater beekeeping community.
In fact this may be what is happening with respect to viruses. If it turns
out that keeping tens of thousands of colonies in a single holding yard
provides the ideal conditions for viruses to mutate and spread and these
viruses then get shipped all over the country we would essentially have a
situation where lots of stationary beekeepers would be paying a cost of
keeping bees in giant holding yards; a cost for which they get no benefit.
I’m not passing judgment on anyone here. And I don’t think anyone has all
the answers. But these are elements of modern beekeeping that need to be
kept in mind as we move into a future that will almost certainly look much
different that the present. End of speech.
Steve Noble
****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm *
****************************************************
|
|
|