>There are people promoting the use of pheromones (AKA Bee Boost), 
probiotics, and whatever else to restore, remediate, or stimulate bee 
colonies. My question for you is: do you regard these as "treatments" 
and therefore, inherently a sort of interference, or are they OK because 
they promote health rather than attempt to control some imbalance (such 
as parasites)?

That is a loaded question...  checkmite corrected an imbalance of 
parasites...

I the strict sense, everything we do and use to keep our bees healthy is 
unnatural and could be considered a treatment or therapy, from screened 
bottom boards and powdered sugar dusting to dumping toxic chemicals in 
the hive.  They are all intended to control something in an attempt to 
have healthy bees.

It comes down to the line you personally draw between 'treatment' and 
(i'm not sure there is a good word for it)   ... 'non treatments'   
(which promote health by _treating_ the bees with something or some 
process that will affect them).   For some no treatment means no 
feeding, chemicals or any substance added to the hive by the 
beekeeper.    Others draw the line a bit closer to the man-made toxic 
chemical end of the spectrum.

-Tim

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