Countryfile

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One word to describe it all

But they usually come in pairs!!!

 

[SteveJ]

Would love to of seen Julia's face a couple of hours later Would also like to see an SBI try and inspect one of those hive for disease. Oh forgot Hippy Woman probably thinks they won't get any diseases becuase they are kept "naturally"

 

[domino]

Would love to of seen Julia's face a couple of hours later Would also like to see an SBI try and inspect one of those hive for disease. Oh forgot Hippy Woman probably thinks they won't get any diseases becuase they are kept "naturally"

I'm wondering what natural behaviours beekeepers are suppressing, as suggested on that piece? Apart from swarm control, which is more of a managing of the behaviours rather than suppressing, it I'm not sure what others are suppressed?

 

[REDWOOD]

I'm still in shock, she must be on something that is growing at the back of her green house

 

[johnandyrob]

Th***nes will be doing them at £250.

Lurved the crystals....

They will be an optional extra

 

[Chris B]

I'm wondering what natural behaviours beekeepers are suppressing, as suggested on that piece? Apart from swarm control, which is more of a managing of the behaviours rather than suppressing, it I'm not sure what others are suppressed?

I read in Willie Robson's book, the best way to manage swarming is "push the bees the way they want to go" i.e. the opposite of suppression.

 

[adrian wilford]

nice one, but get in the queue please

 

[Hivemaker.]

I found the countryfile weather forcast more interesting, freezing cold weather heading down from the north during the later part of next week.

 

[For want of a better word]

I found the countryfile weather forcast more interesting, freezing cold weather heading down from the north during the later part of next week.

Spoke to our Totnes Tottie in her floaty black Natural beekeeping dress this morning, as she was going to sing to the TBH colony in the sacred orchard ... that lies upon the silver leyline........
and she said that her forecasting crystals said we should expect snow in the first week of November and another early spring with the temps up in the 70s for the first week of March !

 

[pargyle]

We now seem to have three separate threads with some very childish comments from people who should know better - this is what I posted elsewhere earlier this evening - if the cap fits wear it !

Well - I'm a new beekeeper - indeed, I can't even call myself a beekeeper yet as I won't actually have my bees until Spring ..and in the presence of beekeepers of many years standing, massive experience and hundreds, if not thousands, of posts on forums I stand in awe and respect of this assembled congregation.

I'm a member of this and other bee forums and I've spent the last two years or so reading just about everything there is to read about bees, both on the web and in print in readiness for my start in keeping bees. My hive is a Top Bar and I'm going to try and follow the 'natural' style of beekeeping as far as is practical and possible - I'd like to think that my decision to go down this route is the result of thorough, open minded and pragmatic research. I'm a 16 stone, ex rugby playing, beer drinking BLOKE - I've never drunk camomile tea and I don't exactly look fetching in floaty dresses (and no - I wouldn't go near a hive, at present, without a bee suit) but I don't consider myself as anything other than rational, logical and in no way eccentric.

There are many beekeepers, natural and conventional, who are able to work with their bees without PPE - understanding and observing their their bees and instinctively knowing when PPE IS required and when they can open their hives without fear of a reaction from the bees. In the circumstances shown on Countryfile (I saw the programme at the time) with lighting, camera, sound crews and a presenter who was, obviously, uncomfortable with the proximity of bees, there was every likelihood that the bees WOULD react - and JB probably didn't help by flapping her hands about once a bee got in her hair - if she had been able to remain calm she may not have been stung.

That this TV program has promoted so much condemnation of Heidi Hermann, her methods and her variety of Sun Hive is, however, extraordinary and frankly disconcerting - particularly to me - new to the beekeeping fraternity (and that's a massive misnomer as there appears to be little fraternisation in some quarters of beeks). The comments are even directed on a more general basis to, it seems, ALL natural beekeepers - and I suppose that means me as well ? - one of the worlds moderate people !

I am constantly disappointed at the apparent chasm between 'natural' and 'conventional' beekeepers - there are beeks on both sides of the divide taking up bigotted and aggressive positions with, it appears to me, little knowledge of or the desire to understand the methodology or viewpoint of the other side.

There is, undeniably, a problem with our bee population - it is shrinking - some may say the bee population is in crisis. To deny this situation is as ridiculous as stating that the earth is flat and was made in seven days. Whether the current situation with bees is the result of disease, parasites, climate, interbreeding, globalisation, chemical intervention, pesticides or the way bees have been kept since Langstroth, is a debate that continues and is yet to reach an agreed conclusion.

The declining or disappearing bee population may be a combination of all these factors - but, bees managed to exist for millions of years, surviving changing climate, natural calamities and primitive man until modern man started to put his influence on the planet - and the last 100 years have clearly been the period during which we humans have had the most influence on our natural environment. So ... somehow WE are to blame - it ain't the bees fault !

For ANY beekeeper to state 'my hive's fine' is a bit 'I'm alright jack' - you just continue fiddling while Rome burns ! The problem is that bees cannot be entirely restricted to remain in your 'posession' so your fine bees one day may not be there the next - there are plenty of instances on this forum where bees have simply gone ... or rapidly died off - with no rational explanation.

I'm not a peace loving, tree hugging, bohemian nomad - I'm a rational, 62 year old former company director and if I can see that there is a problem then it must be blindingly obvious to anyone and certainly to those with far more experience and knowledge than me !

I recognise that some of the ideas and designs put forward by 'natural' beekeepers may be radical (occasionally outlandish) and Heidi Hermann's hives come into this category - but she (and a growing number of other natural beekeepers) are trying to find alternative methods that may, in the longer term, provide different ways which ALL beekeepers can find of benefit and subscribe to. Their efforts should be applauded or, at the very least, tolerated or are we just going to try and find more chemicals as the parasites and disease organisms explore their Darwinian right to develop immunity to the latest drug ?

To categorise all natural beekeepers as the 'Potty Fringe' and a danger to beekeeping in general is very disparaging and frankly uneccessary. There are natural beekeepers that are seeing positive results - Visit Phil Chandler's Barefoot Beekeeper site or Michael Bush's web pages before condemning natural methods out of hand and go further ..there are lots of web sites now appearing under a Google search for Natural Beekeeking - if you are still in need of conviction then read Ross Conrad's book on Natural Beekeeping.

However, there are equally polarised and opposite views found in 'natural' beekeeping forums where there exists a number of 'natural' beeks who cannot see ANY good in ANY conventional methods. As my grandmother used to say 'they all need their heads banging together'.

For goodness sake all of you .... we are all going in the same direction - we want healthy bees, free from parasites, in hive environments that the bees can be happy and comfortable in. Ultimately to produce some honey for our own consumption and pollinate our farms, gardens and countryside.

You have only to look at the change in the last few years in chicken farming - whilst I would never liken any beekeeping to battery hen conditions the reality is that the methods of intensive chicken farming have now been modified and the main consumer demand in the UK is for eggs that are free range. Even Mr Kipling has free range eggs in his products ! I keep a few ex-battery rescue hens in my garden and I can tell you that after a few weeks the sad looking, featherless, drug ridden, barely mobile hens that we rescued changed in appearance, mobility, personality and egg production - because I house, feed and treat them in a way that they would live in a natural world. Their eggs bear no resemblance to intensively farmed eggs in appearance or taste.

Perhaps in the future there will need to be changes to beekeeping, the world changes, We change and perhaps the bees are telling us that they need a change ? As I said earlier - we are all heading in the same direction so, please, let's see a bit more tolerance of opinions and practices that we may not share as our own. There may be a middle ground if we look a bit further over the divide. I, for one, am determined to remain open minded and whilst my hopes are for a natural beekeeping regime in my hives I can see that there may be situations where only conventional methods or chemical intervention will work. I treat my dog homeopathically most of the time and he's very fit - but if he needed antibiotics then I wouldn't hesitate to resort to them.

Come on ... no more of this antagonistic attitude please.

 

[BKF Admin]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21199