On 24 Sep 2003 at 20:46, yoonytoons wrote:
> Nobody has done any
> sustained study on non-treatment. If anyone is listening, I would like
> to
> suggest the following: capture feral swarms, give them empty frames with
> no foundation [small cell, finally], leave’em alone. If they die, do it
> again.
I've been doing this for about 10 years. I have captured four or
five each year, (10 of them four years ago), and do not treat them
in any way. This is only for swarms that I believe have been feral
for quite awhile, not for those I know come from kept bees.
Right now I have one colony that is 3 years old and still going
strong. I captured a swarm it cast in the spring and it died during
the summer. Also dying during the summer was a four-year old
colony that had given me very high hopes, and a three year old
one in a section of hollow tree.
I brought in another hollow log section this spring with a very
strong, but nice and gentle colony in it, that was removed from a
yard at least 4 miles from any kept bees. Unfortunately they died
in about six weeks. Fortunately the log gum "captured" a swarm,
most likely from one of the other feral colonies, but it was a very
late one and I do not think they have much chance for winter. I
suppose I could feed them, but that would be at risk of offending
some purist who would maintain that sugar hurts bees. Should I?
I'm also monitoring a couple of "wild" colonies. One has
apparently lasted four years.
The bees not only have to deal with varroa, but also hive beetles,
so this becomes more complex.
As you say, there are quite a few feral colonies here. Directly
along the coast, which I consider a starvation and poison zone, I
cannot always find honeybees on appropriate flowers. But if you
come inland ten to fifteen miles, there is a zone that starts and
continues up to the sandhills where there are always a few
honeybees, no matter where you look. In the sandhills, piedmont
and mountains. I've seen areas where you cannot find a single
honeybee, despite finding the ideal flowers that should be foraged.
Goldenrod is now about to bloom in the South. If there are any
honeybees in the area, they can be found on goldenrod. I
encourage everyone to monitor the bees, especially when out of
your own colonies' range, to see if there are feral colonies. They
might also be unknown kept bees, but beekeepers tend to know
where other beekeepers are.
I have been accused of being fearful and fearmongering. I have
examined my heart and, frankly, do not find fear to be a driving
force. I think my approach of taking the best conventional care of
the bulk of my bees, along with experimenting with a few, is driven
more by common sense.
I'd also like to point out that upper latitude beekeeping is unique,
and something that works there may not translate well into
Southern USA. I can appreciate the increased difficulty of keeping
bees in a harsh climate, but that may well also give some
advantages. The varroa mite seems to originally come from an
area of the world with mild climate, and may well have its own
difficulties dealing with cold.
I have lived and gardened in Southern and Northern USA and
also in-between. It's interesting to me that, while some of the weeds
and pests are the same, others are unique, and still others may be
a plague in one place and barely putting in an appearance in the
other.
That third group intrigues me. What controls a weed, in one spot
and not another? I expected the South to generally have more
weed and pest problems, but if you asked me that now, I'd
hesitate. It's a trade off; each region is unique, and I can no longer
make blanket statements about any region until I've been there
long enough to learn about it.
Further, with gardening, and with beekeeping, I can't find room
for arrogant insistance that my methods will work for everyone in
every time and place.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
|
