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Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio
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- From: "Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>
- To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Colony Collapse
- Date: Sat, 4 Apr 2009 10:01:26 -0700
Tim, So far, as far as I’ve been able to find, no organic beekeepers
yet report any CCD. This includes commercial organic beekeepers and those
with hives that are moved from field to field. I don’t know how far
they may travel, and suspect it’s not coast-to-coast as it may be easier
to find enough organic nectar sources in specific areas. I agree with you that more small hobbyist hives would certainly
help the problem, and not just among orchardists. ~ Stephen From:
nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On
Behalf Of Tim Inman Here
is a subject for us that we can actually do something about. We need bees
to pollinate our fruits and also, the honey they yield is delicious. I'm
beginning my second year as a beekeeper. Just installed 4 new hives
yesterday and released the new queens this morning. It is a wonderful
hobby, and I think all of us orchard folks who can ought to consider also being
beekeepers. I've been amazed at how gentle the honey bees are, and how
much fun it is to work with them - and how undemanding they are of my time. That
said, from my reading and discussions with other beekeepers, my observation is
that stress is a significant factor in bee disease, especially CCD.
Commercial keepers' bees now travel all over the USA, non-stop, producing honey
and pollinating crops - from coast to coast via trucks. They are removed
from their normal work/rest cycles because they are put on specialized trucks
and hauled to the next venue the instant their pollinization chores are
completed in one place. Seems logical to me that the spread of diseases
to every corner would be one end result. Also, stressed weary critters -
bees or beasts - get sick and die easiest. Dr Keith Delaplane seems to
agree that the causative factors for CCD are many, and that stress contributes
significantly. So,
what to do? Instead of relying on commercial beekeepers (who are up
against the money wall big time to keep their operations going) I think we
hobbyists or 'small time operators' should consider keeping some hives of our
own. Our little bees can do their thing for us, and we can give them
happy stress free places to grow and be healthy. Since we aren't
feeding bankers to keep our bee businesses going, or expecting huge profits
from honey sales, we can offer a gentler more normalized lifestyle for our
honey bees. Even busy bees need a little laid back slower pace from time
to time. Plus,
it is a ton of fun! Tim
Inman Randolph,
Iowa |
-
[NAFEX] Colony Collapse,
Tim Inman, 04/04/2009
- [NAFEX] link to article on organic beekeeping standards, Stephen Sadler, 04/04/2009
- Re: [NAFEX] Colony Collapse, Stephen Sadler, 04/04/2009
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
-
[NAFEX] colony collapse,
Tim Inman, 04/04/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse,
Stephen Sadler, 04/04/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse,
William C. Garthright, 04/04/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse,
Stephen Sadler, 04/04/2009
- Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse, Kevin Moore, 04/05/2009
- [NAFEX] Persistent herbicides in hay and manure, Hilborn . E, 04/06/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse,
Stephen Sadler, 04/04/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse,
William C. Garthright, 04/04/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] colony collapse,
Stephen Sadler, 04/04/2009
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