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Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

newyorker.com

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Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#21

Post by mrweasel »

There's a lot of weird assumptions in the article. "Normal" beekeepers try to breed varroa resistant bees as well, but still trying to keep the non-resistant ones alive too. It might be faster to just let nature deal with the issue, but that means losing an insane amount of hives. It's basically the same as claiming that hunters don't care about animals or the forrest, or that dairy farms don't care about their cows. All beekeepers want the same thing, health bees, being able to go out and just watch them, it's not like we have some weird need to open a hive every week and inspect 30 frames for bad signs... That's the boring part.

Most of the bees being kept by beekeepers aren't natural as such. One of the most common types is Buckfast and that's a cross between a number of different species. So is the suggestion that we kill 75% of the bees in apiaries to "keep it natural"?

Normally you also only buy one or two colonies, the rest of you apiary will be made from those original colonies and you only buy new ones in case of disease or if you want to build a larger apiary faster. So I don't get the negativity towards "buying bees online". While I do think swarm catching is great, I'd recommend getting the swarm checked for disease before placing it in any apiary.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#22

Post by meerita »

londons_explore wrote: post #9

In a way, beekeeping is stealing nectar from wild bees. I pretty much never see wild bees in my garden anymore - they're all honey bees, and usually some human is keeping/farming them - effectively stealing nectar from my garden and that of thousands of my neighbours that we had left out for wild animals.

And bees steal the polen and the nectar from flowers.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#23

Post by vbezhenar »

spookie wrote: post #16
dvh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think bees can easily live without humans, they would just became another insignificant species like many others, say for example, like Alburnoides Bipunctatus. Wait, why did I picked that one? What's so special about it that I picked it? Nothing, that's why I picked it.

That's true, but I do agree in part that we've a pretty good relationship with bees. And, any beekeeper will respect the bees and only take what's needed without making their life harder.

Beekeper extracts almost all honey and replaces it with sugar. Because sugar is cheap and bees survive with sugar.

Edited typo

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#24

Post by mike_richards »

londons_explore wrote: post #9

In a way, beekeeping is stealing nectar from wild bees. I pretty much never see wild bees in my garden anymore - they're all honey bees, and usually some human is keeping/farming them - effectively stealing nectar from my garden and that of thousands of my neighbours that we had left out for wild animals.

It may have to do with the flowers you have in your yard. I have a beehive and a large number and diversity of native pollinators, but I plant to attract and support them.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#26

Post by thebears5454 »

psychphysic wrote: post #2

No of course not. Paywalled article so just guessing.

The real headline could be more accurately put as "Is modern amateur/hobbiest beekeeping making bee's genetically weaker?"

"None of us knew at the time how strong the selection would be in the wild,” Seeley told me recently. “It turned out that the bees had the variation needed to develop the traits to resist the mites.” While beekeepers were experimenting with chemical treatments and hive designs, the bees in the forest were changing genetically. Their life styles helped them, too. “Colonies living in the wild have many things going for them,” Seeley said. The bees lived in smaller groups, relatively far apart, which made it harder for varroa to spread. They swarmed every year, which broke the reproductive cycle of the mites. (If a colony swarms, the nest is left without bee larvae, which is where varroa mites take hold.)"

Heres a small snippet that briefly explains some of the things some Beekeepers think amateur beekeepers do incorrectly.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#27

Post by khazhoux »

londons_explore wrote: post #9

In a way, beekeeping is stealing nectar from wild bees. I pretty much never see wild bees in my garden anymore - they're all honey bees, and usually some human is keeping/farming them - effectively stealing nectar from my garden and that of thousands of my neighbours that we had left out for wild animals.

> In a way, beekeeping is stealing nectar from wild bees.

Congrats! You've independently discovered the plot of Bee Movie, spawner of one million memes.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#28

Post by blueflow »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #15
londons_explore wrote: post #9

In a way, beekeeping is stealing nectar from wild bees. I pretty much never see wild bees in my garden anymore - they're all honey bees, and usually some human is keeping/farming them - effectively stealing nectar from my garden and that of thousands of my neighbours that we had left out for wild animals.

Stealing is a weird choice of words. Do you steal the oxygen that you breathe, or the water that you drink ? For it to reach your tap, it has been stolen by some fish's lake

Wait until they realize bees do all that work without a profit incentive!

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#29

Post by distances »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #15
londons_explore wrote: post #9

In a way, beekeeping is stealing nectar from wild bees. I pretty much never see wild bees in my garden anymore - they're all honey bees, and usually some human is keeping/farming them - effectively stealing nectar from my garden and that of thousands of my neighbours that we had left out for wild animals.

Stealing is a weird choice of words. Do you steal the oxygen that you breathe, or the water that you drink ? For it to reach your tap, it has been stolen by some fish's lake

The parent has a point, though I never thought about it that way. In a way a similar case would be if you had a squad of squirrels that gather seeds and nuts from your neighbour's gardens, and you would then take and sell the bounty that they bring back.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#30

Post by ggm »

A different article I read this week says urban bees exceed the feeding capacity in the city in some places and we need to be more circumspect about who, and how many bees.

More diverse pollination insects would probably be net beneficial in bee pollinated foods.

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