Keep Bees Without Fuss Or Chemicals PDF Download

Many new books have been published about honeybees, talking about the mystery and magic of bees and the hive. Bees are certainly fascinating creatures and an endless subject of study by naturalists and scientists. But for those new to beekeeping it is important to know the basic natural history of the hive, which I provide in the second and third chapters. Many new beekeepers are disappointed when they lose their bees through unintended neglect or errors in hive management. The chapters following describe the observations and actions required of the beekeeper throughout the seasons. The Natural Beekeeping movement is a reaction against what were considered exploitative practices of conventional beekeeping, interfering with the natural and instinctive behaviour of the honey bee. I agree with most Natural Beekeepers that removing so much honey that it has to be replaced by sugar syrup is a form of exploitation of the bees. However, the main purpose for keeping bees in a hive, instead of just allowing them to live as feral colonies in buildings and trees, is to harvest some of their honey. For pollination purposes, bumblebees and other species of bees do a much better job and also bring wider biodiversity to the environment. In this book I aim to show you how to harvest good crops of honey, following the principles of Natural Beekeeping. The reasons behind my approach are given in the first chapter. My advice starts with a set of prohibitions that contradict the general practices of conventional beekeeping:1. Don't be greedy and take off more honey than will sustain the colony throughout the year, feeding sugar syrup to make up for their depleted honey stores. The colony's own honey is better for them than sugar, and the productivity of the hive will be higher, so there will be no need to feed the bees, except in emergency.2. Don't import bees from other regions. Set up your apiary with local bees, gathered from swarms or supplied by local beekeepers. Local bees will be better adapted to the environment and climate, and therefore happier and more productive.3. Don't cull queen cells or drone cells. 4. Don't clip the queen's wing to prevent her leaving with the swarm. These are cruel practices that have little effect in preventing swarms or controlling varroa.5. Don't mark the queen - there is no need to do it and there is a risk of harming her. You can tell if a hive is queenright by the presence of eggs and brood.6. Don't treat hives for varroa. Unlike many conventional beekeepers, who, judging by their journals, are obsessed with varroa, Natural Beekeepers are not worried about it. There is ample evidence to show that bees are evolving to counter varroa by hygienic behaviour, and the beekeeper, by treating varroa, is preventing the evolution of varroa resistant traits.7. Don't use chemicals against varroa. If chemicals harm varroa, they are likely to harm bees - see references below to research papers that support this view.8. Don't do unnecessary disturbance of the hive, it will disrupt the bees efforts to maintain the temperature and air flow in the hive, which is necessary for the developing brood. That is, don't fuss with the bees!9. On a positive note, trust in nature and the bees' adaptability!This book is a revised issue of "Keep Bees without Fuss or Chemicals", updated to include the latest years experiences of my own hives and the body of knowledge gained by beekeepers and scientists in the behaviour of wild or feral bees in colonies that have not been interfered with by man. It covers conventional frame hives, rather than Top Bar hives, which are popular with the growing movement of Natural Beekeepers. These are the subject of my companion book "Care of Bees in Warré and Top Bar Hives": ISBN 978-1-908904-58-4, published by Northern Bee Books, and as a Kindle e-Book and paperback under the same title available from Amazon. © 2018 Joe Bleasdale