I think the issue of acceptable beekeeping practices deserves further discussion or at the very least some private consideration.

Here in Canada it used to be the practice in many parts of the country to purchase package bees from California each spring and kill them with cyanide each fall. This was much more economical than trying to overwinter colonies.  The closure of the Canadian border to the importation of honeybees meant an end to this practice and this caused great financial and personal hardship on both sides of the border. However, one benefit was that the honey industry no longer had to defend itself against stories in the press suggesting it was somehow wrong to kill the hives in the fall.
 
I spent three years in the late seventies working for a two thousand hive outfit in northern Alberta that operated using this system. It was always  exciting and invigorating each spring, leaving winter behind and heading down to California to get the first load of packages. I know many beekeepers who loved the adventure of heading down for a load and those years have left a lot of good stories about good times. 

The bees were killed off in September when the nights became cool enough to cause them to form a loose cluster. It was best if there were no bees touching the bottom board so that the cyanide powder could be pumped into the middle of the board. For  two years I was the designated cyanide man of our outfit, going out at the crack of dawn to gas five yards, then meeting the crew back at the first yard to help dump out the dead bees and sort the frames for use the following spring. Those that haven't done so might think gassing a yard of thirty hives on a crisp fall morning would be a silent affair, but there is a noise made by the bees letting go and trickling down between the frames.  

I know many beekeepers who look forward to the day when we can go back to these old ways. Cyanide is no longer available but there are other products that will take its place. Since this practice can reflect on our industry as a whole I feel it would be prudent to discuss its appropriateness. People I have discussed it with have one of three opinions: there is nothing wrong with the practice and we should return to it as soon as possible, there is nothing wrong with the practice but we should not return to it because of the bad press that would result, and finally that the practice is somehow wrong and should not be allowed. If you hold this final opinion it opens up a whole Pandora's super of what IS acceptable practice in beekeeping.  

I must admit I don't spend much time thinking about the number of hives I've gassed, but at the same time I am glad I no longer have to do so. What surprises me is that every now and then on this discussion page, someone will say something that seems to assume that bees have no nervous system at all. I am still struck by the image left when someone said that their favorite hive photo was one that had lots of bees squashed between the supers because it showed what a populous hive it was. I do not stand in judgment of this being right or wrong. I realize that I cringe at the thought of this only because I am attributing human sensations to bees. What suprises me is that some people can work with bees and note all the human emotions ( anger, contentment, excitement, etc.) and intelligence a hive appears to exhibit and yet are not anthropomorphic about the bees themselves.
 

Commercial beekeepers by definition operate in a rural environment where people tend to mind their own business and do what they can to see their neighbours get ahead in life. Perhaps this does not allow individual operating practises to be a topic of discussion. However, as the number of people actually involved in food production dwindles, the general public's attitude towards the treatment of livestock in food production is changing.  I feel we should be thinking about this and consider how it might affect the beekeeping industry in the future.


Ted