Natural Beekeeping

CONVENTIONAL BEEKEEPING

In conventional beekeeping the interests of the beekeeper are the top priority. Modern beekeeping is oriented to maximize honey production and bee breeding is aimed at only producing bees for their high performance. The bees are seen only as livestock and as honey suppliers, and therefore their behaviour is altered to create an efficient and easy to handle creature for the beekeeper.

Since scarcely one hundred years, conventional beekeeping has intensified the honey industry with countless unnatural interventions in the bee colony.

Bees swarm to be able reproduce and disseminate, and this completely natural act is systematically prevented by the modern beekeeper. This is prevented in various ways such as cutting the queen bees wings, and by removing developing queen Bee larvae from the hive. Mother queens are replaced with so called high performance queens, which in turn are artificially inseminated  and can then be packed and transported by post any where in the world.

Beekeeping that is aimed at only making a financial profit, usually leads to large concentration of hives in one area. Bees collect nectar and pollen mainly from around their hive and this mass concentration of bee hives will inevitably lead to competition for food. The food supply is rarely sufficient, and bees are being transported bees to new locations. The magnitude of how far the beekeepers transport their bees, is shown in the film “More than Honey.” A film made by the renowned Swiss film maker Markus Imhoof.

Ambitious bee breeding programs have led to a worldwide bee trade; the consequence of this is that the native bee population’s existence is being threatened by the spreading of foreign parasites carried by foreign bees.

NATURAL BEEKEEPING

A more natural and responsible approach to beekeeping, is to observe and understand the processes and laws in the hive, and the natural life of bees. It is important to recognize the nature of bees, and understand that a bee colony acts as a single organism, and even today we find ourselves surprised to learn that we are still discovering and learning about the behaviour of a bee colony.

A bee colony is an intimate unit consisting of the queen, the mother of the beehive, the worker bees and the drones. One could also say that the honeycomb belongs to this unit, as it forms the "body" of the colony

A bee colony exhibits a very complex social order, in which each member performs his role solely for the welfare and future of the entire nation. The queen is the central component in this organism and therefore any manipulation of the queen will affect the whole colony.

A fundamental part of life of a colony of bees is the nuptial flight of the young queen and the old queen swarming with members of her colony. If both are prevented continuously, the colony’s health will deteriorate to a degree where it will affect the colony’s very existence.

In a natural beekeeping environment, the pairing of the queen takes place at a higher altitude and in natural sunlight and not clamped upside down in a laboratory with sperm that was previously removed from the drones.

FOR THE WELL-BEING OF BEES

• The bees receive neither honeycomb from wax, nor artificial honeycomb. The honeycombs are built exclusively by their own natural construction, in which the bees themselves determine, form and size of the cells, and regulate with it the balance between workers and drones.

• Their dwellings are made from natural and untreated materials such as wood, straw and clay, and only so many bee colonies are placed in one location, ensuring there is enough pollen and nectar to meet their needs

• The creation and preservation of bee pastures with an ample and continuous supply of food, helps to create an environment where the bees do not need to migrate to be able to survive, and is the ultimate objective of our Bee Sanctuary.

• EIn a naturally kept bee hive the bees should be able to hibernate using their own honey stocks. However, due to the lack of natural flower-filled areas, with an adequate food supply, supplementary feeding is often required

• White sugar is an inferior manufactured product from which all natural and beneficial substances are removed, such as minerals, enzymes, vitamins and trace elements. The process of changing the white sugar to honey is an extra drain on the bee’s energy and weakens their vitality.

• Any supplementary food that the bees receive should be as near as possible to the nectar and pollen of plants. Therefore, the feed solution that we will use is made up of organic sugar and honey with seven different herbal tea varieties supplying the nourishing flower properties. And honey will only be harvested, when the colony produces more than it requires for its own needs.

• Drug treatment is avoided as much as possible. Chemical or synthetic drugs, or even the use of organic acids such as formic acid or oxalic acid, produce strong side affects and cause long term damage to the bee’s immune system.  Viruses, bacteria and fungi usually only take over when an organism is weakened.

• One of the other disadvantages is also that these drugs promote a high level of resistance in pathogens and parasites, due to their advantage of being able to fully evolve naturally. Whereas, the bees have the disadvantage, that they are weakened by being bred for high performance and drug treatment. 

It is also known that after a few years, between host and parasite a natural balance is established, as long as there has been no medical intervention from outside. In cases of illness and to be able to support the bees self-healing powers, we will treat the bees using natural remedies. (for ex. hoemeopathy)

Our Bee sanctuary will orientate itself according to biodynamic guidelines. Biodynamic beekeeping requires that the areas around the hives are prepared with an assortment of minerals, medicinal plants and natural fertilizer. This procedure ensures that the areas around the hives are populated with strong healthy plants, which in turn promotes a healthier soil quality around the hives. Also,  cosmic influences on the bees will be taken into consideration.

Ecologically responsible beekeeping encourages the bees in their natural independence, and therefore allows the bees to live as naturally as possible, just as Mother Nature intended. We must make sure that we protect the bees from anything that is foreign to their nature or any other artificial influences. Rudolf Steiner said in 1923: “Anything that is foreign or artificial to bees will weaken them, and in particular it will weaken the relationship between the worker bees and their Queen.

And it is this relationship that we need to protect; it is amazing that this relationship withstands, until now all unnatural interventions, and that bees can live and survive to continue their existence and therefore ensure their species survival.