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Thread: We're the bad guys - again!

  1. #1

    Default We're the bad guys - again!

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening...g-friends.html

    Yet again the "natural beekeeping" lot tell us everything would be perfect if only we were like them.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    from 1985-2005 there was a 53 per cent decline in managed honeybee colony numbers.
    And from 2005 to 2012 there has been a massive increase.
    there are current statistics available so why stop the clock at 2005 unless it is a case of lies, damned lies...

    Traditionalists might scoff at some of her methods, but the proof of Heidi’s work is in the bees themselves. Each hive houses a healthy colony. Of the 30 colonies that faced last winter every single one survived. Most beekeeping groups reported winter losses in the order of 30 per cent .
    Well done if she got 30/30 through the winter but last year's UK winter losses were in the normal range in the teens not 30% as claimed.

    The worst thing about the article is that there are beginners who will follow the
    'Don’t use chemical treatments for disease and pest control (incl varroa mite)
    . who will lose their bees as a consequence.

    The other aspect I would take issue with is promoting swarming at will. Maybe she lives miles from human habitation but non beekeepers don't want bees taking up residence in the chimney.

    The 'let them swarm' and 'don't treat the varroa' advice lines are probably the worst messages associated with natural beekeeping. The reality is that most untreated colonies will die.

    I have plenty of time for the more sensible aspects of natural beekeeping but this is poor advice.

  3. #3
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    Anyone who promotes a hive which is not weather tight and has to be kept under cover has their priorities wrong.

    I speak as one whose TBHs have very good temperament and little varroa drop but I treat with thymol and try to control swarming.

  4. #4
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    Anyone who promotes a hive which is not weather tight and has to be kept under cover has their priorities wrong.

    I speak as one whose TBHs have very good temperament and little varroa drop but I treat with thymol and try to control swarming.

  5. #5

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    Someone needs to do an interview with you Jon or a combined interview with you and Randy Oliver. It seems the press only want to hear from the fringes of beekeeping and if the hives are painted in pretty colours so much the better.

  6. #6
    Senior Member prakel's Avatar
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    I've no issue with people who truly know what they're doing going down the treatment free route but I can never get my head around these small scale guys (with insufficient colony numbers to offer a realistic point from which to select) who refuse to treat against a parasitic mite. Do they allow their dogs to carry thousands of fleas because they're 'still alive'? Do they refuse to kill lice in their their children's hair because they're 'still surviving' irrespective of their infestation? Yet bees are different. Do they actually understand why they believe that to be the case? I only ask because none of them seem to be able to explain why they don't treat against the one but think it's fine to kill other parasites.
    Last edited by prakel; 15-01-2013 at 09:48 AM.

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    I like the bit where it says " she regularly collects swarms and handles her bees in her everyday clothes without being stung " - so it's just the BBC presenters then that accompany her that get stung then ?

  8. #8

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    Having reference Tom Seeley’s work on preferred sites being between 2.5 to 6 metres of the ground the article ignores that the same research found cavity shape matters not a jot!

  9. #9
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    She is a class A loon though, and the one who stuck a TV presenter without any kit next to hive entrances with predictable results, that alone means I don't give much value to her opinion about beekeeping.

  10. #10

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    I tried to ask her a few questions on the beekeepingforum site. Apart from a fair dose of sarcasm and cheek I didn't get much of a coherent response. Why do I bother?! Sometimes I just can't stop myself rising to the large juicy fly floating down the burn!

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