We all want stuff for free. So what if you could build a bee hive for free? That’s right…no materials cost, no wood cost, no glue cost. Free.

Free Beehives?

Would you do it?

Here is the basic idea…

Just build two hives and sell one.

All you have to do is this:

When you cut a piece of wood, cut one extra.

When you glue one side, glue one extra.

When you nail a board, nail one extra.

When you finish your Warre beehive, you will have one extra!

Then, sell it for whatever you feel is a fair value.

You could sell on Craig’s List. Or eBay. Or to your next door neighbor.

In the end, you will cover your hive costs.

Who knows, you might even make some money!

If you do this, let me know how it goes…I would love to hear from you!

If you have ever wondered what to get a beekeeper for Christmas, wonder no longer! Here are some gifts that any beekeeper would give his/her best bee suit to receive. Well, maybe not a bee suit, but you get my point.

Without further fanfare, here is a beekeeper’s wish list:

New Beekeeping Hat

I don’t know of a single beekeeper who wouldn’t like this new bamboo beekeeping hat with veil. A bamboo hat is sturdy, yet cool in the summer. The veil is a white fabric so the it is easy to see through. Besides, it just looks nice, doesn’t it? $19.95US at GloryBee Inc.

Flavored Honey Sticks

I love honey sticks. They are so tasty. Each stick is filled with quality honey that has been flavored with natural flavorings such as raspberry, strawberry, root beer…etc. These honey sticks from GloryBee Inc are USDA certified organic and are even kosher to boot! Yum!

A Real Bee Skep

Most everyone keeps bees in wooden boxes these days, but our ancestors used skeps. A skep is basically an inverted basket used as a beehive. While skeps are illegal to use as beehives in most places, they are perfect as a conversation piece for a beekeeper’s living room, empty of bees of course! $22.95US at Brushy Mountain.

Honeybees for a Needy Family

The best gift on this list is the Gift of Bees from Heifer International. With this gift you can help Heifer provide a family with some honeybees, a beehive and training in beekeeping. This is a life changing gift for those who receive it.

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

“There has been no time for natural selection to evolve a response to varroa – which is why it kills our colonies.”

This is an interesting question…do honey bees need to “evolve” a response to varroa, or do they already have an instinctive response to the varroa mite? It seems that some bee strains do indeed have an instinctive response to the varroa mite, and this genetic trait can be passed along to other strains through selective breeding.

For instance, researchers and bee breeders have been Breeding Bees for Resistance over the last 15+ years to produce a honeybee which is Varroa Resistant.  Other strains are naturally resistant, such as the Russian Stock. This particular strain has been used to create a line of bees which shows good Varroa Resistance.  Olympic Wilderness Apiary is a good example of an apiary which has developed mite and disease resistant bees.

If some bee strains have developed resistance, then could it not be possible that other bee strains in the wild could have developed a similar resistance naturally?

“Here in the UK almost all wild/ feral colonies have died in the last 5 years – and presumably wild colonies were making ‘natural comb’.”

This is an interesting statement. Is it documented? I would like to know if it is hearsay or fact that almost all the feral colonies have died in the UK. Just across the Channel in France, researchers have documented cases of Honey bee colonies that have survived Varroa destructor. Some of these colonies have apparently lived for more than six years while actively combating Varroa.

There has been an increase in feral swarms

I work mainly with feral swarms…and in my area (NW Oregon and SW Washington) there has been an upturn in the number of feral swarms over the last 15+ years. My source for this information is from beekeepers in the area, researchers, and a major bee pest control companies here in Oregon. One company I consulted has been operating since the 1970′s and the owners kept honeybees even before that.

My point is that we do not really know for certain how many colonies around the world are resistant and how many are not, mainly because we cannot physically access all of the feral colonies around the world. I tend to look at it this way: if you find a feral swarm and you know it came from a wild colony…then there is a good chance this feral swarm has some level of mite resistance. After all, it has survived in the wild for some time without human treatment.

“…nobody has yet explained why forcing bees to breed in smaller cells will stop parasitation by varroa.”

I am an advocate of natural cell beekeeping.

I don’t think it will either. I am not an advocate of small-cell beekeeping. I am an advocate of natural cell beekeeping. Why not let the bees build their own comb to their own specifications? Typically, natural comb is not an average size. It varies from “large cell” to “small cell.” I know that Varroa can attack in natural cell size as well as in regular foundation cell size. I would rather have my bees combat Varroa in the cell size of their of making, rather than one I have forced on them be it natural or small-cell.

Those are my thoughts on varroa mites.  I am currently looking into Essential Oils for Mite Control to reduce mite loads and combat disease in the hive.  I will post my findings here on this blog.

Thanks for reading! I value all input and comments. Discussion makes the world a more interesting place.

Humanity depends on the lowly honeybee

Honeybees are in trouble. Varroa mites, nosema, colony collapse disorder and foul brood have all taken their collective toll on the small but hardworking insect to which humanity owes so much. Besides furnishing honey for commercial bread-baking and beeswax for quite a few of the top of the line cosmetic supplies, bees regularly pollinate over one-third of the world’s agriculturally derived food supply. Needless to say, humanity depends on the lowly honeybee.

Thus it is our responsibility, our duty, as beekeepers to ensure the health and happiness of the bees in our care. We must practice bee-friendly and sustainable beekeeping.

To do this, we need three things: a bee friendly paradigm, or worldview, a bee friendly hive for the bees to live in and a bee friendly management system that puts the honeybee first and the beekeeper second. This does not mean that the beekeeper cannot expect to obtain honey or hive products…it simply means that he must always put the welfare of his bees before potential gain and profit.

We need a bee friendly beehive system

Gain and profit have driven many beekeepers to adopt hives and management procedures that are unnatural to the bees, all for the love of honey or money. We have often heard the phrase: “Bees are adaptable and can live in any type of hive cavity.” This may be true…but we quickly forget that along with some hive cavities come the management practices of the beekeeper who owns those cavities (aka beehives.)

As long as these management practices mirror naturally occurring bee phenomenon, the beekeeper will have a healthy hive. If the management practices contradict naturally occurring bee phenomenon, weakening of the bee colony is the inevitable result.

For instance, in frame beekeeping, a beekeeper often fills frames with ready made beeswax foundation. Pressed into the foundation are hundreds of cell bases, all ready for bees to draw out into wax comb. This seems all right…until we look at the fact each cell is exactly the same size. Do bees make each cell the same size in naturally occurring comb? Apparently not.

Naturally occurring comb has a large variance of +/- 6.1 mm to +/- 4.3 mm. Is it healthy to keep bees in cells that are all the same size? It is interesting to note that the current modern era of bee diseases coincides with the rise of the modern frame hive 150 years ago. Does forced cell size have a part in the problem?

To help the honeybee is to help mankind

In order to put the welfare of our bees first, we as beekeepers need to make sure that our bee hives and management practices match as closely as possible natural bee phenomenon, or what bees would do naturally in the wild.

We need management practices that are non-intrusive and bee hives that protect the synergy of the bee colony residing inside. We also need to have a paradigm in which we see honeybees as part of a greater network of life in this world. Bees truly are an integral part of the environment, and to help the honeybee is to help mankind.