Comments on: Treatment-Free Beekeeping Explained

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 13:39:58 +0000

Interesting thoughts. I’ve an interest about honeybees and am not an apiarist. As a veterinarian I am pro vaccination for public health. Could you direct me to information about disease and parasite control with natural methods, or the “old fashioned” way? Too, did any of you know the Aebi’s and how they managed their hives? Thank you. Email reply welcomed.

Sincerely,
Jack from Pennsylvania
jsmvmd@aol.com

By: Lynne McIntyre

Lynne McIntyre — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 02:53:47 +0000

For those of us who think treatment free beekeeping is a great disservice to the entire beekeeping community, I suggest researching Ron Hoskins of Swindon, England and the virology findings of his bees or the USDA ARS Russian Honey Bee Project.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 11:51:13 +0000

In reply to Mike Frace. I feel the same way. Our local club touts the same philosophy, that if you don't treat, you are part of the problem. Hence, we rarely go and so don't ever feel welcome to share our views and philosophy. It's a pretty isolating feeling.

By: Twizz

Twizz — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 02:43:38 +0000

So squishing an organic banana over the frames to stimulate a clean-out response to rid the hive of Chalkbrood would be a treatment. That’s as far as i go. (South Australia, no varroa or shb).

By: GT

GT — Fri, 12 May 2017 01:33:03 +0000

What’s “natural” about beekeeping in the first place? So, you choose to not do anything to help the hive survive and somehow think you are moving the pile forward. You choose to do nothing to help the hive fight a mite load and in doing so help infect a neighbors yard and he suffers a 50% loss. My position is that you should think about raising red worms

By: Susan Chernak McElroy

Susan Chernak McElroy — Tue, 02 May 2017 02:43:53 +0000

Well put! Thank you for putting treatment-free into an understandable framework. I believe that stopping mite treatments, and making it illegal to sell package bees would go a LOOOOOONG way to helping bees survive and thrive.

By: Mike Frace

Mike Frace — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 17:04:17 +0000

In reply to Christina. I am a nurse as well and I bring the same philosophy into beekeeping as you. I too have seen what antibiotic resistance can do to humans-unfortunate stories of suffering. I chose to use essential oils so I do not know where that falls in the definition of "treatment-free." I also have been told that I am part of the "problem" by another local beekeeper who just returned from our state beekeepers meeting (sponsored by the bee pharmaceutical industry!).

By: Barbara Money

Barbara Money — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 18:11:15 +0000

In reply to Christina. Oh I hear you! I think I was at that very conference...

By: Barbara Money

Barbara Money — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 18:09:32 +0000

Thank you for a simple explanation of treatment free-beekeeping. My intention is to do the same for my bees, if I can keep the “treatment-only” crowd from vilifying me!

By: Snoop

Snoop — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 16:51:38 +0000

In reply to Donald Rideaux-Crenshaw.

When someone wishes people who naturally keep hives have a quick death to their colonies because they don’t treat, that’s just plain wrong. It’s man who wanted to control these insects to begin with and then when we dose them up with chemicals, we treat their forage with chemicals….it’s okay. If you think nature has it’s own way of doing things, did you ever think that because of the treatments we are doing for mites…etc., that nature is building up a natural immunity? It’s been proven time and time again on developing a natural resistance to treatments. Ultimately, it’s survival of the fittest and the traits that are survivors is what we need…not to just dope up everything and call it the healthy way of doing things.