>He never suggested how I might get a grant, or whatnot.
Might be worth checking in with these folks - Dr. Dewey Caron has a write-up on this book in this months BC. It appears they've been able to develop a business model around a 'natural nest' approach to beekeeping:
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/raising-resilient-bees/https://digginlivin.com/beekeeping/
To be clear, I'm not endorsing their model - just pointing out there are folks making alternative approaches work for them at a close to commercial scale (looks like they are running +/- 700 colonies).
I've not run into a lot of folks who subscribe moral significance to the manner in which someone else keeps bees.
I do however get the sense that many in the 'Darwinian Beekeeping' crowd tend to be guided by more esoteric goals for having bees, and are typically not looking at it from a business mindset.
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