Thanks for the post Eve,

A few of us are asked to review scientific papers regarding honey bees.
Unfortunately many of those papers are based upon research conducted by
those with little experience in beekeeping in the "real world," or are
reviews that often grossly misinterpret other studies to fit a preconceived
agenda.

I've kept bees since before tracheal mite or varroa, back when AFB was our
main concern.  I've run hives commercially to almonds for around 35 years.
I don't find successful beekeeping to be much different or more difficult
nowadays than it was back in the "good old days," other than that we need
to spend around ten dollars a year per hive for varroa management.

That said, our hives are only in a monoculture during the almond bloom.
Keeping bees in  extended monocultures for the entire season would be more
difficult due to lack of diverse pollen and nectar sources over the course
of the season, and perhaps some pesticide issues.

But that is not a condemnation of "modern beekeeping,' but rather of poor
colony husbandry.  The better commercial beekeepers maintain good colony
health year round by either moving their hives to better forage, or by
providing supplementary feed.  There are plenty of folk practicing "modern
beekeeping" who have very healthy colonies.

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

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