I love these discussions since they usually are hobby beekeepers giving commercial beekeepers advice on how to
conduct their business.
Couple of truths.
If they followed the hobby model, they would go broke. I see new hobby beekeepers post here every year and I see
many who once kept bees, no longer here. Yet, while they were here they had truth and justice on their side. You
can read about commercial operations failing, because they are businesses. Hobby beekeepers go away not "with a
bang but a whimper".
If breeding really works so well, where are the queens? The problem with breeding for specific traits is that
other traits, just as important, can be lost. (BTDT) So if we want Varroa control, we already have a bee, which
is AHB, as demonstrated by some of our SW US friends. But they bring along a load of other traits that do not
fit the commercial pollinators blueprint. Plus, several of those commercial beekeepers who were managing AHB and
touted as doing so successfully, no longer are. (Note that almost all of AHB management is in fixed locations
and for honey, not pollination, so context is critical, but seldom brought up.)
Lots of the anecdotal findings on no-pesticide beekeeping posted here are just that. They lack any good science
and especially lack controls. Plus, they extrapolate findings well beyond any reasonable limit. You do not have
to look far for examples. But from those wild assumptions comes advice on how to run a 1,000 order of magnitude
bigger business.
I have both a science and business educational background. It was interesting to listen, in both arenas, to
those who had practical experience compared to those whose only background was academic. You could follow the
advice of most who had experience, since it matched your observations in the world, but only a handful of those
who eternally lived behind the cloistered walls were worth the bother.
Final truth. Were it not for the commercial side of beekeeping, there would not be any major science and
research dedicated to beekeeping. They are the driving force behind finding solutions. We hobby snipers should
be thankful for their existence as well as their unbelievable persistence in the face of tremendous obstacles.
I couldn't do it.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
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