Winter is a clip for reflection , and how is time best spend than reflecting on how we might be full beekeepers come spring ? In this two - part series , we explore the multiple ways we beekeeper put stress on our colony as well as ways we can rest modernistic while slim down those stressors .
compose this tilt , I realized that everything we do as beekeepers add together stress to the colonies we care . By virtuousness of tending to bees in artificial hives , we stress them . The unfeignedly strain - spare elbow room to be a beekeeper is to , well , not be a apiculturist . To truly be stress - free to our bees , we might only check and admire the ferine colonies and probably make do without honeybee Cartesian product .
But that is not the mode of our world , nor is it the road we need to take now . As bee populations dwindle away worldwide , we must take action . So how can we equilibrate the two ? How can we be honorable stewards of the planet and respectful apiarist ? How can we manage hives so that they prosper while also deoxidise our damaging effects on their health ?
Here are several fundamental ways in which the average beekeeper might accent their beehive :
1. Chemicals
It ’s virtually impossible to pilot in our current world without fall into contact lens with chemicals . But most scientist secernate us that there ’s a threshold . Tiny sum of a yield toxin might not harm us , but amount does count . When it derive to bee , Lebanese pound for pound , the chemicals that are present in our world impact them greater than they do us . What ’s more , many of these chemicals ( pesticide , weed killer and antimycotic ) are sprayed in the precise places where bee scrounge : ploughland and flower .
2. Lack of Resources
honeybee are “ preppers . ” They squirrel away resources while they are abundant for the metre those resource are scarce . When honeybee are not capable to put away enough dear or pollen for winter , they tolerate and often die . Colonies that do survive on special resources might begin the year rather weak , and they are susceptible to pests and diseases .
3. A Dirty Hive
Honeybees are very clear and tidy . They do n’t care debris or dirt in their hives , and they certainly do n’t want foreign objects or creatures in their home plate either . Pests such as the minuscule beehive beetle , wax moths and even rodents put a huge stress on honeybees .
4. Transporting Bees
Many commercial beekeeper make their living by displace their urticaria hundreds and sometimes thousands of Admiralty mile for pollenation months . But this stresses the bees and disclose them to only monocrops of solid food in short salvo .
5. Unnatural Foods
In addition to the monocrop forage mentioned above , honeybee that are fallible from lack of lifelike forage are often fed sugar water and sugar syrup as a substitute . While a gamy sugar informant , sugar syrup does not stop the nutrient that bee ’ favorite nectar sources contain .
6. Artificial Breeding Techniques & Manipulation
From raising queens for rearing or royal jelly to harvest pollen and experimenting with novel hive role model and accoutrement , or dependency can become overwhelmed and go into selection mode .
7. Excessive Harvesting
One of the most obvious ways we stress our bee is byharvestingtoo much honey . As mentioned above , when honeybee go into wintertime , they require significant amounts of stored , capped honey to survive the dusty months without fresh forage . For most bee , this is 40 to 60 pounds of honey per beehive .
8. Making a Split
get along spring , many beekeepers are ready to spread out , and making a split is a natural style to take vantage of strong Colony with increasing populations . Making a split command an extensive inspection , as well as removal of G of bee from the mother colony .
9. Frequent Inspections
As beekeepers , we have an indebtedness to keep up and monitor the bees in our charge . We put them in the box seat , so we are responsible for for them . However , there ’s a balance to strike with inspections . When they ’re direct too frequently , bee scramble to furbish up wax , mop up spill dearest , interchange propolis and cleanse up their dead .
In the second part of this series , we ’ll explore way toreduce our impact on our bee , twelvemonth round .
