Beekeeping - the Darwinian Way
“As someone who has devoted his scientific career to investigating the marvellous inner workings of honey bee colonies, it saddens me to see how profoundly -and ever increasingly- conventional beekeeping disrupts and endangers the lives of colonies.”
Thomas D. Seeley”
Darwinian Beekeeping
Darwinian beekeeping aims to improve honey bee health by applying some principles of their biology to management techniques. Unlike domesticated livestock, all honeybees are essentially wild animals that can live very well on their own. This is a fact that modern beekeeping practices seem to have forgotten or choose to ignore. Only in recent decades have biologists begun to investigate how these industrious insects live in the wild. And, how wild honey bees may hold the key to reversing the alarming die-off of the planet’s managed honey bee populations which has grown at an alarming rate over the past 15-20 years.
NATURAL BEEKEEPING
The topic of natural beekeeping is a highly debated topic among beekeepers. It is however, as with all my agricultural ventures, a wonderful approach that I instinctively prefer.
Natural selection is a foundational concept for understanding the biology of most living creatures on the planet. For some reason, however, humans in the modern world ignore this scientifically proven theory when it comes to beekeeping and instead opt for high input methods. Much like any other modern agricultural practice. And I find this sad for both the animals and the humans involved.
It is most unfortunate because solutions to the problems of beekeeping and bee health may come most rapidly if we are as attuned to the nature of the honeybee instead of trying to manipulate them and bend them to our wills. After all, honey bees have a stunningly long evolutionary history, evident from the fossil record.
Bees have existed for millions of years. Successfully, without interference of humans. The interdependence they share with flowers is one of nature’s epic partnerships. The period over which humans have actively been involved with beekeeping is a mere moment in time compared to how long bees have successfully taken care of themselves.
This all begs the question – do we help or hinder our bees?
Those who practice and advocate natural beekeeping believe that bees are extremely effective at taking care of themselves through natural processes and with little (or no) help from man. I am one of those people.
Treatment-Free Beekeeping
Let’s get one thing out in the open now – as a beekeeper you will experience the loss of bees. It is, sadly, a fact of beekeeping life; even the most experienced of beekeepers will lose bees. Maintaining a healthy beehive is a complex and occasionally difficult challenge, with threats to our bees including pests, pesticides and more. Naturally, raising bees for honey so I can make mead here in Grande Prairie, Alberta has the added difficulty of long cold winters and very short summers.
Perhaps the most common practice mentioned by proponents of natural beekeeping is the desire to avoid chemical treatments to address issues in the hive. This is also the most controversial aspect of natural beekeeping and you will easily and readily find experienced beekeepers on both sides of this coin.
As a generalization, the natural beekeeping perspective is to let nature take its course and, over time, bees become more robust. This is the philosophy by which I keep bees. It is also where the idea of Darwinian beekeeping gets it name. The philosophy is grounded in the science of natural selection. And one that I ascribe to. It is especially important here in Grande Prairie where I want to build up a robust colony of bees able to withstand our cold northern winters!
Natural beekeeping encourages minimal manipulation