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Beekeeping as it has been done since the widespread adoption of the Langstroth hive [circa 1852] has been bad for bees ... The opening from the top destroys the

Beekeeping as it has been done since the widespread adoption of the Langstroth hive [circa 1852] has been bad for bees ... The opening from the top destroys the bees' carefully maintained nestduftwarmebingdung... This may all be true, but none of it addresses the huge, sudden, new losses that are being reported in this story: Annual bee losses of 5 percent to 10 percent once were the norm for beekeepers. But after colony collapse disorder surfaced around 2005, the losses approached one-third of all bees, despite beekeepers’ best efforts to ensure their health. And even though this poster points out that boutique chemical-free beekeeping exists, he doesn't say that such beekeepers have been spared this blight. I don't know if they have in fact suffered less or not, but you'd think that if they had, that would be both something worth mentioning and kind of a huge clue into whatever degree of mystery the collapse disorder really represents.

mmanfrin 14y ago
Adding to your statements: my family has a hive. We harvested it once in 6 months and the colony died about 4 months later. We have put absolutely nothing in the way of chemicals or pesticides in there, we haven't replaced their honey with sugar water (we harvested in summer, gave them ample time to rebuild honey reserves). We never moved them. And the colony died, randomly. Also happened to some friends' hive. The beekeeper we bought the supplies from hypothesized it was the cold, but we didn't have an unnaturally cold winter and we live in the bay area (not really known for being freezing).
- adventured 14y ago
  I wonder if the colony would have died if you had not harvested it.
  - mmanfrin 14y ago
    Colony died well after the harvest, though. We harvested about a month after the die-off and got about 8lb of honey (it's a small hive, that was a decent amount).
- gcb0 14y ago
  as state by the other bee keeper friend post above, nobody adds chemicals to the bees directly, it's mostly impact of the environment they feed. are you sure there's no pesticide on the plants on the lands nearby? that would also explain the CC of your friend's if he lives in the same area

mmanfrin 14y ago

Adding to your statements: my family has a hive. We harvested it once in 6 months and the colony died about 4 months later. We have put absolutely nothing in the way of chemicals or pesticides in there, we haven't replaced their honey with sugar water (we harvested in summer, gave them ample time to rebuild honey reserves). We never moved them. And the colony died, randomly. Also happened to some friends' hive. The beekeeper we bought the supplies from hypothesized it was the cold, but we didn't have an unnaturally cold winter and we live in the bay area (not really known for being freezing).

adventured 14y ago
I wonder if the colony would have died if you had not harvested it.
- mmanfrin 14y ago
  Colony died well after the harvest, though. We harvested about a month after the die-off and got about 8lb of honey (it's a small hive, that was a decent amount).
gcb0 14y ago
as state by the other bee keeper friend post above, nobody adds chemicals to the bees directly, it's mostly impact of the environment they feed. are you sure there's no pesticide on the plants on the lands nearby? that would also explain the CC of your friend's if he lives in the same area