I consider myself to be a "natural" beekeeper.  I use no Apistan, Check-Mite, Terramycin, Fumidil-B, or any other pyrethroid or organophosphates (unapproved insecticides like Tactik or however you spell it).
   
  My bees prosper.  I count mites under screen bottom boards and catch feral swarms to raise my own queens.  More and more, I requeen annually.  I run around 150 hives.
   
  Some colonies have no mites at all, others seem to have quite a load and seem to prosper just the same.  And yes, some colonies die out in my yards, but no more than when I used chemicals.  To me, my present practices are more of a winnowing process of the weaker, more susceptible hives.  
   
  I use fogged mineral oil, fortified with a selection of essential oils.  I place a shop towel soaked in canola oil over the top bars, and quite frankly, there is nothing "natural" about oily shop towels in a bee hive.  And any oil is still a "chemical."  And I must remind myself that essential oils, when used as a pesticide, are not approved either.
   
  I have not had much success with small cell, probably my fault in poor attempts at regression.  I've had better luck using strips of foundation to allow the bees to draw out cell sizes of their own choosing (and it seems to be a fair amount of drone cells in some of the hives).
   
  I LOVE plastic foundation, but that's not very natural either.
   
  It may, in the end, simply be a battle of semantics.  I'm not really interested in arguing or discussing issues.  While I like to listen to the opinions of others, while I will gladly and joyfully affirm your success (whether chemical or natural), I think there is greater power in sharing our journeys rather than trying to predetermine the destination.
   
  I do find it easier to simply fly under the radar and do my own thing.  While I try not to be "more natural than thou," or convert the chemically "heathen," it's hard to be "natural" in the face of "there's no way you can do it without chemicals," or "there are no more feral swarms left."  There are some who preach the message of "more chemical than thou" as well, as if that was the only way to raise bees.
   
  The beauty of keeping bees is that whatever method you choose to raise your bees, it is the condition of your bees that will be the true indicator of your success.  Is it possible there is more than one way to raise bees, even as we try to define it as "natural" or "chemical?"
   
  Just my 2 cents.  I'm going back under the radar now.
   
  Grant
  Jackson, MO

 		
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