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Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 363 Likes: 4
4 point
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4 point
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 363 Likes: 4 |
I'm not trying to be "that guy" but I have a different perspective on that, because I WAS a beekeeper.
An increase in bee hive/colony numbers IMO, doesn't mean that bees are doing well. The colony collapse disorder mentioned in that article might be better, but it also was never identified as a disease. It just happened with little or no idea why. IMO it had more to do with the Varroa Mite and academia want to agree with.
Varroa Mites are the main reason that feral bees all but disappeared. VM are still the main killer of Honeybees and to keep VM's to a manageable level takes a dedicated regimen of miticides. "Almond bees" are sick bees. Commercial producers use antibiotics on those bees as a treatment, for living. Bees that have been exposed to the almond crops are usually trucked all over the US following other crops. The honey they produce isn't fit for human consumption because the bees were fed antibiotics while they were making the honey.
The bee problem won't be over until the Varroa Mite is eradicated. IMO that will never happen. There are those that market their bees as "treatment free" and don't use chemical miticides to keep them alive. I bought into that theory when I first started beekeeping but learned that's impossible before I got out of the business. It's completely possible to be treatment free, as long as you're dedicated to raising new bee hives on a constant basis to replace your dead hives. When I had 7-8 hives I could be treatment free. I just had to raise 5-6 a year to replace the dead ones. Once I started treating for mites, I jumped from 7-8 hives to 20 in one year. I also increased from 10 "nucs" (nucleus hives) to 25. When I started using chemical miticides, the mortality rate of my hives dropped by 90%. Nothing else changed, other than my stance on treating for mites. It also cut my work by about 80%.
Again, not trying to throw water on the fire, but when local beeks start having bees not die without treatment for Varroa Mites, then the bee problem will be over. You sir are 100% correct all Bee Keepers struggle to keep pest out of our hives .No one that keeps Bees would believe that things are better
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