>
> >my preference is for the more natural approach, where possible.


Mine too.  But the bees don't appear to care about our own prejudices of
whether what we do is "natural" or not.

I ran my operation for 20 years eschewing the feeding of sugar syrup or
pollen sub because it wasn't "natural."

Then I started noticing how much better the colonies looked in operations
that did feed.  We now feed regularly during our late-summer dearth, and
during spring rains and snow, and find that our colonies are healthier and
perform far better.

Is it natural?  No.  But should I allow my colonies to suffer from the poor
environment in which I am perhaps unnaturally keeping them, solely due to
my own idealism, or should I rather practice good animal husbandry?



-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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