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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

#121

Post by yencabulator »

civilitty wrote: post #103
abeppu wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard people casually make the argument that human hunters function similarly to natural predators in terms of increasing population fitness -- but does that actually make sense? A natural predator is incentivized to identify and go after a weak prey animal, b/c it's easier. Maybe this shifts the prey population to be a bit faster, or have sharper reflexes or something. But a modern human hunter may feel drawn t…

What have those vegans done for animals? Just because they can’t stomach eating them doesn’t mean they actually “care” about animals enough to do something productive. In the US, hunters have long spearheaded conservation efforts. Theodore Roosevelt said, over a hundred years ago: > “In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who…

Meanwhile, humans have hunted countless species into extinction.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#122

Post by cryptonector »

tptacek wrote: post #114
kibwen wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honeybees aren't native to the US, but there are lots of native bee species. I see no reason to assume that every beekeeper is only in it for the honey.

They're all keeping honeybees, which are competing with the native pollinators. (You can of course buy mason bee nests or whatever, but nobody calls you a beekeeper for doing that).

I am quite interested in building native bee "hotels".

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#123

Post by peteradio »

justinclift wrote: post #111

> John asked me not to disclose his exact location, because his hives fell off the radar of the National Bee Unit ... > Gareth John ... who lives on a quiet lane above a river in Oxfordshire. > In Oxfordshire, John led the way to his apiary, which was on a small pasture at the back of his property, bounded by high hedgerows. Giving his full name and the area he lives seems like a super incompetent way to "not disclos…

Probably gave the name of his beekeeping rival/nemesis.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#124

Post by ggm »

idlewords wrote: post #120
tptacek wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're all keeping honeybees, which are competing with the native pollinators. (You can of course buy mason bee nests or whatever, but nobody calls you a beekeeper for doing that).

We acknowledge that the land on which we pollinate is the traditional territory of the plasterer bee, the southeastern blueberry bee, and the ogallalla fruit bat. As we gather the nectar that sustains us all, we honor them and the wasp and placental mammal ancestors who have been stewards of this land for countless generations predating our arrival.

But who will speak for the Varroa mite?

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#125

Post by MostlyStable »

yencabulator wrote: post #121
civilitty wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What have those vegans done for animals? Just because they can’t stomach eating them doesn’t mean they actually “care” about animals enough to do something productive. In the US, hunters have long spearheaded conservation efforts. Theodore Roosevelt said, over a hundred years ago: > “In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who…

Meanwhile, humans have hunted countless species into extinction.

Not to say that we haven't hunted some species to extinction, but the vast majority of how we kill them is habitat destruction through our expanding civilization. Both are factors, but hunting is by far not the primary one.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#126

Post by SEJeff »

mrweasel wrote: post #76
bleuarff wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, the head of the french hunting federation has openly said he couldn't care less about animals and regulations. While receiving public funds to fulfill a mission of regulation.

Okay, that is actually down right idiotic. The Danish hunters association even wants cat regulated due to the excessive damage they do to wildlife.

Domestic cats are the number one killer of songbirds globally. This is factual.

Some strays used to stalk our bird feeder and I was finding dead goldfinches decapitated. Then we got an outdoor dog.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#127

Post by justinclift »

peteradio wrote: post #123
justinclift wrote: post #111

> John asked me not to disclose his exact location, because his hives fell off the radar of the National Bee Unit ... > Gareth John ... who lives on a quiet lane above a river in Oxfordshire. > In Oxfordshire, John led the way to his apiary, which was on a small pasture at the back of his property, bounded by high hedgerows. Giving his full name and the area he lives seems like a super incompetent way to "not disclos…

Probably gave the name of his beekeeping rival/nemesis.

Doesn't seem like it.

The photos in the article look like the same person found using that name doing bee related activities.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#128

Post by 000ooo000 »

caput770 wrote: post #95
000ooo000 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's basically the same as claiming that hunters don't care about animals Is there a suggestion here that people who kill animals for fun/leisure care for them? In the same sense that one might use the word 'care' when referring to a loved one or a pet?

You clearly have little idea of what you're talking about if you think hunters kill animals for fun and leisure.

You're probably right. I might be reading too far into them posing for photos with the dead animal, or them having the animal's head mounted on a wall in their home, or travelling to far away places to hunt a particular type of rare animal. These are no doubt very important parts of maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#129

Post by lostlogin »

giantg2 wrote: post #91

Very interesting read, even for someone who has some exposure to these ideas as a beekeeper. A lot of it really comes down to personal theories and opinions. I keep my bees as "treatment-free". I don't treat for mites. I haven't had anything like AFB, but that would require drastic measures. I leave on plenty of honey for the bees and try not to feed at all. I use foundationless frames. I want to have "survivor" stoc…

For anyone that isn't aware (and the following depends on your jurisdiction), the treatment for American Foul Brood (AFB) is pouring petrol into a sealed up hive and then burning the hive and hiveware.

It's typically spread by poor beekeeping - infected hiveware being shared or infected, dead hives getting robbed by healthy bees. It's all bad and really sad. I haven't had it, but it's within a few kilometres of me (which is well within bee flight range).

Re: Natural beekeepers are the radical dissenters of apiculture

#130

Post by lostlogin »

ggm wrote: post #30

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.

On the flip side, I got 250kgs of honey from two urban hives with many other hives in neighbours gardens within 500m.
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