Hi Peter & All,

>     .... Honey bees are in crisis, Dr. Spivak said in her acceptance
address, and beekeepers are not
> helping them much.
<snip>
A new set of rules is necessary to
> get the bees off the chemical / pesticide treadmill.  Her advice was
direct and to the point:.....
>

Below is a copy of her suggestions and Statements from me in parentheses.
You may want a grain of salt on hand just in case you do not agree with my
opinions. d:~)>
------------------------------------------------
1. Stop right now any preventative feeding of antibiotics.
( I agree, I do not use them even on myself and even I am healthier for it.)

2. Cull combs to remove AFB spores and pesticide/antibiotic
residues.
( I agree, but my combs have no pesticide/antibiotic residues and I have the
added benefit of reusing the wax to mill my own 4.9mm cell foundation with
the 4.9mm foundation mill I bought this summer. I had to buy a mill because
it is the only way to economically cull combs and replace them with
foundation. Clean wax is hard to come by.)

3. Leave mites in colonies; do not try to eliminate them all;
in some cases bees can sustain 10% to 15% infestation with little
harm.
(I agree, I let the bees manage the mites.)

4. Pesticides "pamper" bees; let them use their own innate
defense mechanisms.  Use selective breeding to give bees tools to
work with and then leave them on their own.  This includes
incorporating hygienic behavior, SMR and characteristics of other
stocks (Russians).
(I breed my own queens from my best surviving stock, I have Caucasians and a
few Russian stock. Breeding being 1/3 of the health and sustainment of the
colonies, the other two thirds is nutrition = honey & pollen no substitutes,
and worker comb cell size = 4.9mm. These three components combined with ULBN
= unlimited brood nest and Housel position of combs to create colonies that
are strong and robust with plenty of room for brood and stores never lacking
to need fed.

Dr. Spivak, I think, is really suggesting that beekeepers take the bull =
bees by the horn = stinger and start rearing and breeding queens for
themselves and not relying on someone else to do the beekeepers task. At
least this is what I hope she means, it sure sounds like it when she uses
the words "Use selective breeding" and "incorporating".)

5. Use IPM now!  This means thinking before acting; apply
pesticides only as a last resort.  Use soft chemicals when
possible.  Again, leave mites in the colony so the bees have a long-
term fighting chance on their own.
(the only thing I can say here is never use pesticides around honey bees.
The beekeeper can sort it out with genetics. Better to start now than have
to later because of necessity.)
------------------------------------------------

> So, thinking - Who is working for who?
>

The bees, we should all be working for the bees, if we are not already doing
so.

> Let us work towards IPM, but at the same time as the rest
> of the Agricultural system plays the same game!
>

I am already using a form of IPM but I call it HBPM = honey bee pest
management, which means, I let the bees use their own innate
defense mechanisms to fight pest and disease.

To some beekeepers what she is suggesting might be scarry, but really, it is
only beekeeping that she is suggesting we do.
   . ..
c(((([
Keith Malone
Chugiak, Alaska USA
Caucasian Bee Keeper
[log in to unmask]
http://takeoff.to/alaskahoney
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Norlandbeekeepers/

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