I have been following this for years:
[www.kypost.com]

Bees are dramatically disappearing all over the world. In China, in Sichuan province, people have been manually pollinating the pear orchards since 1980, after bees were killed by pesticides. Some experts say that this can happen all over the world: [www.thisislondon.co.uk]

Just when I have figured out how I want to lead my life, it may be impossible in the near future to eat enough fruit? Which fruit is directly depending on bees? Which is not? Ugh!!

"It is not what you are against, it is what you are FOR that defines you".

I caught this quote before the off-topic "Fight the Illuminatti" thread that was just deleted.

So if we are for the well being of animals (bees in this case), or for natural fruit pollination it is more defining than to be against farming honey? I believe this is true.

From the bee's perspective the stealing of their honey and being left with sugar water must seem part of a diabolical new world order.

loeve,

I totally agree with you. I like honey, but it actually has an affect in our blood similar to sugar, so it should be taken in moderation if at all. So, leaving bees alone may be the best way to go, or just help them survive. We should not steel hone from them if we are affecting their life - they are too valuable for the nature and for us.
I have learned how to eat witout honey, but am yet to try stevia.

There are 3500 species of bees native to North America. They offer the best option to the European bee.

The Pinnacles - 400 species of bees:

[www.nature.org]

[attra.ncat.org]

brome, I don't think that you are aware that the whole USA is suffering from a horrible loss of bees. Just search on Google and you will see, thousands of articles about it.

After reading the articles, it seems the news has focused on European honey bees and colony collapse disorder, accounting for about 7 species of bees. There are about 20,000 species of bees worldwide, some better pollinators than honey bees, many living solitary lives in the ground, in rock crevaces, tree bore holes or mud homes showing their diversity. Pesticides seems to be universally destructive but organic farming practices avoid this and can nurture the local native bee species. I think I'll let some area return to meadow this year at least through apple blossom season to encourage the bees... last year relying on buckets of picked crab apple blossoms to attact them.

Thanks for the articles

loeve, it is truly refreshing to read such a constructive thinking as yours. You make me feel that there is hope in the future. No matter how little influence it has compared to conventional farming at the moment, organic farming is the only way of the future, I am convinced.

rab, for years I've been very aware of the problems facing European bee husbandry. I posted to point out that there are a great many different species of wild native bees that can provide pollination in lieu of the beekeeping industry (see the articles).

Thanks loeve for your excellent post.

This is another good reason to eat organic. In organic farms and orchards, the bees are thriving.

[www.guardian.co.uk]

A beekeeper I know hasn't had any die-off at all. He says to him it's simple: he buys non GMO bees from a company that doesn't dose them with high frcutose corn syrup. Upon recieving them, he immediately puts them on the organic honey from the previous hives. He says they don't get parasites or mites or any other weird disease, and they thrive in the wilderness behind his house, which is in an older subdivision outside of Detroit, btw. His theory is that, when you respect Nature and her methods, she respects you back.

The way commercial bees are farmed in this country is just wrong. And colony collapse disorder is just what I like to call, Darwinism At Work. It is a pity the bees must suffer primarily for our arrogance.

There are all types of commercial beekeeping operations so please do not classify all of them as "just wrong."

With that said there are two major problems that are leading to CCD (colony collapse disorder). The first is the introduction of neonicotinoid insecticides. These can be found most prevalent in corn and soybeans. The seeds are coated with this insecticide and as the plant grows the vascular system delivers this poison to the nectar source (stamen, stigma). This poison causes havoc on the immune system of pollinating insects hence they are unable to find their way back to the hives (understand why feeding corn syrup could be a problem?). It has been researched and published that rotational crops planted on the same plot of land can carry the insecticides for upwards of three seasons.

The second reason is mites and their treatment. Unfortunately many beekeepers do not place the interest of the bees first and allow mites to flourish not to mention other diseases.

I understand this is a Vegan website and I am not going to get into the ethics of beekeeping but just remember, the commercial honey bee pollination business puts fruits, nuts, and vegetables on our table. Without this industry the economics of eating fresh pollination required foods would be out of reach for most people.

As a former large commercial beekeeper all I can say is organic farming is the way it use to be before greed over took our world. Hopefully we will continue to encourage organic farming. Also imported honey is and has been cut with HFCS, to increase profitability, as much research lately is proving.

One thing people here can do to support the bees is to quit buying commercial farmed foods and to buy organic.

In commercial beekeeper, Joe Hansen's article No Way to Treat a Bee [www.oregonlive.com] he describes how his company makes 80% of their income from pollination services where the bees are trucked from region to region for much of the year to help pollinate large mono crops like almonds, apples and alfalfa. His bees are "jazzed up" by feeding them sugar so they can do more work, a method he doesn't sound proud of. The hives are then overhauled and fed formulas in the off season. This type of commercial beekeeping is not vegan due to its common practices more so than the concept, IMO.

Nutritional requirements of bees are not very well understood. Bee colonies grow fast and they need plenty of protein like can be found in pollen during the 14 or so days it takes a bee to reach maturity. Then they need fatty acids, vitamins and minerals much like humans do, preferably from a mixed diet, something their mono-crop diet might not provide. [maarec.cas.psu.edu]

Beekeeping is ethical, IMO, except for many of the practices, for one, Vegan ethical beekeeping would not involve the collection of honey for human use. Brome's article describes many ways bees can be encouraged to live where they are needed, like understory plantings, hedgerows and structures for pollen and habitat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2010 11:42AM by loeve.

NeonBee,

I am sorry if I offended; I had hoped readers would understand that I was talking about mainstream commercial bee keeping operations. I should have used the word "conventional" to modify "commercial" in my post.

Tam, that makes me happy to read about a bee keeper who is living proof of how to keep bees healthy naturally.
I love the bee. I don't want to eat it's spit up but I like it's actually self lots and lots.

Tam, No offense taken at all, please always speak your mind.

A couple of you bring up some good points and let me elaborate a little on pollination. There are, as with any industry, the great, the good, the bad, the ugly and the despicable. I have seen them all and when people come to me for advice I try to help them out by placing different options on the table and then letting them decide on the option that suits them best.

Many commercial beekeepers (C-beeks) do indeed feed corn syrup to build up colony strength and they do supplement with protein patties (or powders, usually soy based). They need to do this because they have robbed the colony from its honey stores from the prior season to increase profits. Remember beekeeping is farming and it can for some, be a hardship. Many C-beeks are now moving to pure granulated sugar mixed with water in lieu of HFCS - the problems with HFCS are slowly being seen in this industry. There are a few savvy C-beeks that I would like to mention - these are people that concentrate on the health and welfare of bee husbandry and realize that profits do follow if you take great care of your bees.

For example, there are a few (very few) large pollination companies that are strictly in the pollination business, not the honey business. They have realized that their business is pollination and they save the frames of surplus honey for splits and next year feedings. They have realized that the additional materials, equipment, labor, and cost of feeding substitute syrups or sugars exceeds the cost of harvesting honey (or at least the profits are minimal). So they save the frames of honey and feed them to the next seasons bee colonies and splits hence allowing for a more natural and healthier build-up of the colony. Remember that these people are few and far between but knowing them, I can assure you that they are running very streamlined operations and they know their core competencies. Usually they are also working with organic farming operations. Some of them also treat their colonies with essential oils (or not at all) to combat the ever present mite problems - they seem to be successful. Not only are these owners very savvy business people most of them are terminal degree holders in the realms of philosophy. (I am not implying this means anything, just commenting on education).

The difference in my humble opinion is simply passion. Those that are passionate about honeybee husbandry and place the well being of the hive present a different work ethic and interest than those who look at this as a job. It boils down to the love of the occupation.

Now the greed. Almonds in the US (California) are the largest pollination requiring crop in the US. Millions of colonies of bees are brought in to the orchards every year for productive pollination. With the collapse disorder we see some research and a little funding to research or combat the problem but the reality is that now there are GM self pollinating almond trees. The amount of money that is being tossed at research to create self pollinating plants/trees/shrubs is immense. So instead of cutting back on pesticides and trying to make farming methods more organic we are placing a band-aid on the problems that greed has inspired. For an advanced society we are really "stupid" and ignore the long term perspective of our actions.

Anyways, ethics aside, it is a business that will remain and will continue to possess all types of mentalities.

Personally, I truly hate genetically modified anything. If you are asking me, it should be illegal on planet Earth. It is damaging everything, our health, environment, and it insults my intelligence to think that someone even dares to attempt something like that.
But, my word is not important (please don't tell me to write to politicians), and I don't like fighting AGAINST, I prefer trying to do something positive.

NeonBee, if you could list some of the good guys in the bee/honey industry, I would appreciate.

thanks for these links, and thanks Prana for pointing out the organic connection. I'm going to share this info. xx



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"Not only are these owners (large pollination companies) very savvy business people most of them are terminal degree holders in the realms of philosophy."

In Marty Hardison's article Top-Bar Hive Beekeepers are also Philosophers
[www2.gsu.edu] an alternate beehive design (topbar) is suggested as a partial solution to the numberous challenges facing migratory beekeepers. He offers a little philosophy in there as well and cringes at the practice of one keeper where the hives are destroyed at the end of the pollination season for economic reasons, it being cheaper to start new hives in the spring than to winter them over.

The first bumblebee of the season parked itself in the warmest place it could find on a cool spring evening yesterday, coinciding with the first really warm day and the beginning of the apple blossoms.

The yellow jackets have begun building nests in the eaves and the undersides of seating benches. Maybe I'll tolerate them a bit more this year after a couple years where their numbers and aggression were getting out of hand.

After looking online at some honey bee retailers I come away with the impression that honey bees will survive this global exposure to mites and viruses (though feral bees might suffer). One dealer in honey bees has been using natural selection for many years to provide only the strongest survivors and claims it's working. It's a case for taking "great care" of bees.