Hi Bob,
Thanks for your interesting response about the apples. I do
understand the need for some sprays, -- I requested, and got, the
spray schedule for Windy Ridge farms, and will send it to you
offlist, if you want. They are strictly organic, but they do use some
sprays that are allowed in organic practice.
But on to bees....
At 08:09 PM 10/21/2006, Bob Harrison wrote:
>Also painting all treatments used in beehives as "dopes" does not help in
>getting the research community to look into your methods.
I honestly think the onus is on the research community in this case.
Dee is a successful commercial beekeeper who keeps bees without using
what she likes to call "dopes". The phrasing, in my mind, should make
zero difference to a research scientist. Here is someone who rebuilt
an operation that was decimated by varroa during the early years of
this problem (if I recall correctly -- please correct me if I am
wrong, Dee) into a successful, healthy operation of over 1,000 hives
using her own unique methods. Not only that, but there are other
beekeepers across the country who have used her methods with great success.
She is not, nor does she pretend to be, a research scientist. She is
a beekeeper who makes a profit in a difficult market without using
chemicals to combat the pest that has decimated many operations. If I
were a research scientist in this field, I not only wouldn't care
what words she used, I wouldn't care if she painted herself in purple
polka dots, spoke Esperanto, and said she learned her methods from
aliens who landed in her back yard. I'd still be looking for what she
was doing right and why it worked -- not only for her, but for others.
But, in fact, Dee is an articulate woman who has taken the time and
effort to read as much of the research and literature on the subject
as she can. She also takes the time to generously share her knowledge
with beginners and others on her Organic Beekeeping list. While I
understand that her passionate certainty can be grating to some, I
still think her successes, and the successes of those who use her
methods should be of great interest to research scientists. Her
method is not simple -- it's not a question of small cell, up or
down, but also of breeding and feeding and even frame positioning.
The point is that she is successful, as are others using her methods.
In my mind, a scientist should not give a rat's rear end about how
Dee, or anyone, presents her method. A scientist's job is to look for
the answers to questions that have been posed, and one of the primary
questions that most research scientists in this field have posed to
themselves and others is how to keep bees from being killed off by
varroa and the concomitant diseases. Dee apparently has at least one
answer to this question. Perhaps some of her pet theories will not
hold up under the scrutiny of a well-designed experiment, but I have
yet to see any solid research done incorporating her three-pronged
(feeding, breeding, small cell) approach over the amount of time that
she advocates as necessary.
In closing, let me say that scientific research is not a popularity
contest -- it is an investigative procedure that, ideally, ignores
personalities in the quest for solid information. Dee has something
that seems to work, not only for herself, but for others in a variety
of different climates. I would think this would warrant considerable
interest on the part of the research community.
Regards,
Diotima
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