BBE-Tech: Honey Bee Conservation

You might have noticed there is a plethora of ‘Beginner Beekeeping” materials anywhere you might look.  Online, in magazines, for free, at a price, at beekeeping clubs and at local colleges, etc…

One thing about information is that if it’s properly presented, it needs no interpreter.  Something to be alert for then is information that requires an interpreter.  Usually, the need for an interpreter is a crutch or a tool.  It’s commonly a device that builds in a need to demand a high price.

What’s an interpreter?  A ‘teacher’ is an interpreter.  The more one insists that the masses cannot or will not ‘understand’ the information, usually means it is presented in a way that requires someone to interpret it.

This is a form of proprietizing of information. It also is usually a vehicle for pushing one person’s or group’s particular agenda.

Does that mean one should not need teachers at all?  of course not.  If one studies  on their own and finds that clarification and guided experience will benefit their learning, finding an objective teacher who facilitates ones learning and experience rather than dictates it, is a terrific opportunity.

Does that mean all information and education should be ‘free’ as in no cost?  Absolutely not.  The work put in by someone to present cohesive, understandable and relevant material is worth paying for.  The time it took to prepare and present that material required someone investing a lot of time and effort into the project and these folks have bills to pay just like we do.

What I am saying is to be careful.  Be observant and be your own thinker.  If someone tells you that you “need” them to explain the information to you, that’s usually a dead giveaway that they are trying to make a buck at your expense.

A good presenter should be providing information in a way that is understandable and, clear and concise.  The presenter is there then to provide a summary of the information and provide clarification as well as practical demonstration of the intangibles. ( hands on experience.

They are a facilitator.  They allow you to interpret and make your own decisions as to the good, bad, right or wrong as it pertains to each persons situation.  It is not their place to tell people those things.

Be cautious of ‘free’.  If information is presented as ‘free’ as in no cost, usually it is either someone who really really believes in the open sharing of information or, it is a low effort that gave you what you paid for, not much in between.

Also, never be afraid to disagree with the so called ‘experts’.  While we can appreciate and show respect for how much they might have gone through to obtain the learning, experience and information they have accumulated, no one, absolutely no one, is perfect and neither are they always correct.

Some of the greatest mistakes come from those who believe they are the most ‘right’.  At the same time, some of the greatest breakthroughs come from learning  from someone elses  and our own) mistakes.

When beekeepers get together, especially when there are new beekeepers in the mix, the inevitable questions about “What kind of beekeeper are you?” pop up.

Are you a commercial beekeeper?  A Sideliner?  A hobbyist?  Are you primarily a pollinator?  A honey producer?  A breeder?

When I say  I am a sideliner conservationist, looking to become a commercial conservationist, I get a flash of non-recognition quite often.  Most folks know what conservation is, it’s just that most folks aren’t really sure how that applies to working with honey bees.

To me, and those who  I work with, for the most part, a conservationist beekeeper  is part breeder, part ‘animal control agent’, part pollinator and part advocate.

Obviously, when we say ‘conservation’ we want to conserve honey bees.  We want to protect them and increase their healthy populations, so, you might say conservation beekeepers are firstly breeders.

However, because we want to protect them, especially in light of all the diseases, pesticides and other poisons that are having such a detrimental effect on them, we want to find those bees that are potentially in danger, such as those who swarm onto some persons property or bees who have made their hive in a home or other building of people who do no want them there.  We ‘rescue’ those honey bees to prevent them from being killed as squatters.

One of the best ways to protect honey bees is with education.  This makes us advocates for the bees and for other beekeepers.  We set out to inform and educate the general public as to what is going on with honey bees, why it is important to keep them alive and have them in our living areas to promote plant growth and success.

Finding ways to help people become beekeepers in their area or to continue or expand beekeeping to other areas is also in our best interest as well.  This means working with local city, county and state offices to foster positive relationships and interactions.

Lastly, some conservationists are even part honey and bee hive product producers.  You’ll notice that this is pretty much the last concern as the others, particularly breeding and ‘rescues’ take top priority most often.

Being ‘part pollinators’ helps us to raise money to continue our work and provides locations to place honey bees that allows them to do what honey bees do best.  The same can be said for producing honey and other hive based products.  They help us to afford to do the other things we are doing as well as provide concrete examples of what honey bees provide for people.

Conservationist beekeeping is real.  Our priorities aren’t always the same as as the ‘typical’ beekeepers, but we share a lot of the same concerns, interests and methodologies.

Every beekeeper is a new beekeeper at one point in their life.  Sometimes, more than once for the folks who leave it for a period of years then return to find what might have changed since they were last involved.

Much as some would like for you to believe, there is no concrete right or wrong in how we work with bees.  Don’t take the tone of some peoples advice too seriously.  As a matter of fact, don’t take any one’s advice too seriously until you have had the chance to experience for yourself what and how you intend to do things.

There are beekeepers who are very generous and un-assuming with their advice, and sad to say, no matter how nice they are are, sometimes, their advice may not be the correct advice for you.

There are also beekeepers who are elitist and even rude and demand that if you do not follow their advice you are doing  things wrong.  Again, their advice may not be correct for you.

Beekeeping and bees have their own unique issues.  Regional temperatures and plants that prosper in your area may not be the same as the beekeeper even across town from you, let alone across the state or across the country.

Take all the advice you read and get and see how it applies relative to your area.  The best advice you might get is from the beekeepers nearest you and even then, personal style and objectives will be different.

Don’t be disheartened  to have less than spectacular results your first season.  One season does not a success or failure make, keep trying until you find the right mix of ideology and methods to make beekeeping successful for you in your area.

Take lots of notes, don’t be afraid to experiment. Find ways to be less intrusive yet find out what is going on inside the hive  (using H Storch’s  “At The Hive Entrance” is a brilliant book to begin to learn this.)

You took up beekeeping for a reason, focus on your objectives, be forgiving to yourself and the bees  (some folks take it personally when bees sting them as a beekeeper, get used to it, it will happen, think of it as a ‘love tap’)

Most importantly, have fun.  enjoy what you are doing.  don’t take on too much too soon.  If it becomes like a chore and you don’t enjoy it any longer, you are no longer doing the bees or yourself a favor.

In a lot of texts and internet postings, you will see it mentioned, often proclaimed from the mountain top, that bees ‘want’ to move up.

This is true, relative to what the bees are doing.

In a vertical hive, say a an upright tree or that wall of yours they decided to move into, They will find the highest point they can, and start building comb.  As they expand, they are bringing nectar in and the queen is laying eggs, brood is developing.

The movement of the colony is downward as the comb is drawn in the only direction they have available to them. Down.  As more comb is drawn and more nectar is brought in to create honey stores, this is typically stored at the top-most section of the comb and as the top fills in with honey and then pollen, the brood and egg laying moves toward the bottom of the comb.

The colony is moving down.

As winter arrives for this vertical hive, there is less egg laying and brood development.the temps get colder and the bees begin to cluster.  During warm enough temps, the bees eat honey.  Where is the honey?  UP.  They must move up from where there where in relation to brood development to get to the honey stores at the top of the comb.

Movement is relative to intent.

It’s easy for people to get the impression that bees somehow are possessed by movement in a single, uniform direction at all times, because that is what is written so often, in more books and forums than  I can list.

” Bees want to move up.”   and they do…. when they want to eat.

Very few things in the natural world are so concrete or “black and white”.

Nature adapts.  Even the most hard coded, instinct based creatures in this world either adapt as the environment is always in a state of flux, or they perish.

Bees also move horizontally.  This is a fact.  There have been enough documented and verified instances of bees found in fallen, horizontal logs, bee swarms moving into roofs and floor where the design requires them to move horizontally once the limited space for horizontal drawing of the combs is filled out.  They adapt.

Bees have successfully adapted from ‘natural’ vertical and horizontal locations to living in man made hives.  This is a major adaption in itself because by observing “natural” comb, bees tend to build it to fill out the entire space of the cavity they inhabit.  The comb will be wide and long long in one piece as much as possible.  Man made hives ‘force’ comb  into small, sectional pieces.

We can observe that bee movement has instinctive tendencies.  They will build comb down from the top first and foremost, regardless of vertical or horizontal.  As the expand, if they have room, they will extend the comb lengthwise.

First down, then long,  to fit the available space.  Typical, but not always.

People like things to be finite, concrete, because that makes things ‘easier’ for us to understand and take action on.  If we can make a case for bees having finite movement, that means we can set up a deliberate system to plan for and put into effect, steps that take advantage of that.

Nature isn’t that easy.  If we are to be honest and true students of nature and sincere beekeepers, we must be ever vigilant and accept that bees are natural creatures who adapt and customize their environment, regardless of what we intend.

It’s exciting to see the variety in types of hives and approaches to beekeeping one can find on the various web sites and beekeeping forums.

However, it’s also equally interesting to see how many people get themselves riled up about how other people do things.

Beekeeping is not a competitive sport or a business of proprietary secrets.

For as many beekeepers that exist, there are about as many approaches, methods and hive types  as well.

When most people ask about using a hive style or particular manipulation  or method, their biggest concern is not whether other beekeepers approve, but whether their efforts will harm the bees or not, or if others who utilize similar methods and have similar goals concur on something.

Yet, some people become upset, even confrontational over how other people do their beekeeping.  it’s amusing some times, frustrating at other times.

There is room for beekeepers of all types in the beekeeping world.  There is no need for competition or snobbery among among.  If one does not like to use a method, manipulation or hive style, one simply just does not do it.  Denigrations, criticism and confrontation are entirely unnecessary.

There is so much to be celebrated and shared in the community of beekeeping.  The bees need as much help and all the opportunities we can give them.

When we all get together, I’ll bring some of mine and you bring some of yours.  We may not use each others methods and ideas, but it is intersecting to share all the same.