Carl Webb
I can understand what you are saying, but after over 25
years of doing, and showing others, and without all the
doping treatments/artificial feeds, all I can say is, that
until you travel the path, you cannot see without doing,
and doing takes a good 3-5 years, to see how the bees react
basically, and then the rest is a continuous learning curve
for your whole life. Is there solid research to say it
works? WEll, I personally think there is, and written
about, and in quite a bit of detail, though not the way
rationalized by most of todays factory farming trained more
modern beekeepers. Also, the most recent is o/s in EU and
not here and quite detailed.

For small cell beekeeping is also a wholebee beekeeping
system that takes into consideration, environment,
breeding, and food; and how naturaly done, then works in
harmoney with nature, and her plants the bees forage upon,
in local/regional areas. 

For the road up in artificially upsizing the bees that
threw things out of balance is also the road back.

You don't have to accept SC beekeeping on faith, for all it
is is basicaly changing the comb, to set things in motion,
and then understanding the changes it makes, as you see it
physically coming about. Nothing hard. But bees on LC comb
vs SC comb react differently in the real world, and quickie
60-90day to 6 month experiments/research don't work, due to
the adjustment the bees must make with queen shifts, etc
and local readapting that requires a longer time frame for
seeing/noting. But still it is not hard and many are doing
it now with the organic list with over 1800 members and
growing, learning and passing information on. But doing is
your choice......

I myself don't see the evidence that the current upsized
5.4mm you talk about is better, while bees continue to die
in record numbers industry wide, while those going back to
pre upsizing sized combs which are smaller SC are now
getting happy, healthy bees again without the usage of
artificial feeds and all treatments.

You say you want proof of SC working. LIke how? In the
beginning I and husband were told change nothing but the
comb and we'll see (USDA researchers here telling this to
us/me). Well that is now practically a quarter of a century
ago and I am still going without treatments and nothing
else changed! How much is physical proof? One family
commercial like me, or several beekeepers from all over the
USA and several foreign countries doing same, which it has
now grown to today (over 1800 formal members not counting
those informally several times that number and growing
worldwide)......and yet beekeepers like you keep saying
show me the proof! WEll, all I can say is come and
physically see for yourself........Been down that route
many times, and so far no one disappointed from what I
know.
As for published papers, it is out there and more coming,
besides the archives for reading. 

As for you wanting the mental to do. Only you can decide
that, I cannot. Then you must also be willing to do the
work necessary to make the change; and only you can do
this, I cannot......

Best Regards

Dee A. Lusby




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