Dee writes:  "You cannot treat one without treating all and thus breaking 
the balance and this has been tete tete for years now it seems, and reason 
for my stand on NO dopes in a hive, and no artificial feeds."

Happy Thanksgiving Dee and all,
    Dee, I certainly understand where you are coming from with regard to 
the complexity of natural balances in biological/ecological systems.  
However I think it is important to keep in mind that these balances are 
never static.  Having to maintain a static balance between all the macro 
and micro flora and fauna within the “whole” system would mean certain 
failure for that system. There is considerable flexibility and resilience 
within these systems.  Flexibility is vital, and yet there are limits to 
that flexibility as I’m sure everyone knows.  That is why, in order to stay 
well within the limits of what can be considered balanced, it is smart 
beekeeping to do as little as you think you have to in order to manage your 
bees and reach whatever goals you have set for yourself.  Smart beekeeping 
also means having a really good, well thought out reason for doing 
something to a hive, with more than just passing consideration for the long 
term implications.  I think it’s really important to keep in mind also 
that, everything we do in bee management has an element of experimentation 
in it.  
     So you are always messing with the balance.  You are as natural as you 
think you can get away with being, but every time you make a split you are 
violating nature, upsetting the balance as it were.  Now, it may be that, 
in the effort to control everything within the complex biological system 
which is a bee hive, many have reached a point where they are doing more 
harm than good, especially in the long term.  But it is not necessarily 
true that anything one might put into a hive that the bees wouldn’t put 
there themselves is going to “break” the balance past what bees can 
sustain, even over the long haul.  The balance will shift, but the balance 
shifted when you put your bees into a box on sheets of stamped out wax.

Gobble gobble,

Steve Noble
        

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