BAD BEEKEEPING

What Defines Bad Beekeeping?

One of the main threats to honeybees today is Bad Beekeeping, and I don’t hear anyone really talking about it.

Pollinator documentaries highlight the atrocities of the commercial beekeeping industry... but what about small farmers and backyard beekeepers? Who is holding them accountable for bad beekeeping practices?

With so many people becoming new beekeepers during the quarantine, it is crucial we bring to light the fact that many people purchase bees without knowing how to manage them. This is not okay. It is the responsibility of the person selling the bees and the person purchasing the bees to ensure there is enough understanding for the new owner to properly manage their new hive.

I’m not saying you need to be a master beekeeper to begin with bees, but you should definitely know the difference between a worker bee and a drone. Also, have a plan of action to learn more or hire a professional to train with until you are confident to conduct inspections by yourself.

The world of beekeeping is extremely polarized over many different view points. Langstroth or Topbar hives, Treatment or Treatment-free, Flowhive is cool, Flowhive is evil... the list goes on with what beekeepers DO NOT agree on.

So, if we can’t agree on what Good Beekeeping is, can we all at least agree on what defines Bad Beekeeping?

Probably not.

But, I think there are some core concepts that the majority of beekeepers will agree on. Hey, and nobody is perfect! Beekeeping is meant to be a learning experience, and even the most experienced beekeepers still make mistakes or don’t uphold the best practices. I’m definitely guilty of a few of these, but I want us all to be Better Beekeepers. The bees deserve better.

What do you think?

NEGLECT (Time Management)

When was the last time you checked your bees???

Maybe you’re busy. Maybe you’re not confident doing a proper inspection. Maybe you know its been too long and you’re afraid of what you’re going to see. Maybe you bought a Flowhive and you think you don’t have to.

Check your Bees, Please!!!

Right now. Get your smoker going. Put your suit on. Take some deep breaths of self-love and grace, and go check your bees. They deserve that from you.

Listen, we’ve all put off doing things we know we should do. Maybe you set aside a day, and it rained all day. No worries! Life happens. Bees will forgive you, to a point, but I beg you to not let it get close to that point.

How often you have to check your bees will depend on the season, nectar flow, and pests/diseases of your region. For healthy hives with steady nectar flow, once a month inspection is the best practice. For hives with heavy nectar flow or any issues in the hive like pests or disease, you may need to check your hive as often as once a week. Pest management is not fun, but implementing a plan and maintaining it will be your best chance for success, and the bees best chance for survival!

YouTube is a good source for some beekeeping information, but check with your local beekeeping association, beekeeping supply store, or farmers market to connect with a local beekeeper you can hire to help with a few inspections until you feel confident in what you need to do. I have read so many beekeeping books, and watched so many videos, but it is only when you are really working in a hive that you truly learn about bees. If you are a new beekeeper, most caring beekeepers will lower their price for their services or offer to help you for free, so don’t let money be the reason why you don’t inspect your honeybees.

If you can afford to buy bees, you can afford to manage them properly.

NO PEST OR DISEASE MANAGEMENT

You heard about natural, treatment-free beekeeping, and you love the ideas of keeping bees and just letting them do their “own thing.” Or you bought a Flowhive and think harvesting honey is all people do with their bees. If you are keeping bees, in a Flowhive or other hive, they need to be checked, and there needs to be some type of pest and disease management put in place. Treatment-free does not mean you don’t have to do anything! Treatment-free often involves many preventative measures and more frequent inspections and observations to ensure the strategies are working, along with a better understanding of the inner workings and needs of a hive.

If you owned a cow, and never inspected it, or gave it any treatments for disease or cleaned it from any pests... that cow would not be doing so good. Honeybee colonies are a Superorganism! Both a cow and a hive are livestock. Choosing to own a hive is like choosing to own any other creature, and you need to take care of it.

If you don’t know how to implement the type of pest/disease management you would like to use, then hire a beekeeper to help train you.

By not properly addressing pests and disease in your hives, you are contributing to the spread of these issues amongst all honeybees. Educate yourself, and take action to become a responsible beekeeper.

TAKING TOO MUCH HONEY
Shit, you haven’t checked your hive in months, and now you have to preform an emergency honey harvest! Or maybe you’ve been checking your hive once a month and you know your next inspection will be a honey harvest. Either way, you’re taking honey from your bees. How much do you take?

Some beekeepers take it all.

Shame on them.

Taking all the honey and supplementing with sugar water or high fructose corn syrup degrades the immune systems of the bees and the entire hive and contributes to the loss of many honeybee colonies.

Taking more than half and doing the same thing, is just as bad.

If a frame of honey contains at least 80% capped honey, it is ready for harvesting. Many factors affect how often you will be able to harvest from your bees and how much you can take, like how strong your hive is, how much honey is present, and if there will be another nectar flow before winter. In general it is good to leave 40-60 lbs of honey for the bees over winter, but better to leave too much than too little. A hive that starves to death in the winter is not a fun thing to clean out.

If you’re keeping bees just so you can harvest honey, this is not helping the bees. Please don’t become a beekeeper if this is your only intent.

EQUIPMENT CARE AND CLEANUP

This is a food and medicine-grade operation. Please treat it as such.

It is the least fun part of beekeeping, but one of the most necessary. I will take accountability first by saying I have definitely let a box sit that I was going to clean the wax from, but took too long and the wax moths got to it. Ew. Nothing worse than cleaning out a bunch of wax moth larvae.

Not only is it gross and more difficult to clean-up, but by not taking care of equipment or cleaning up right away you can spread pest and diseases that are detrimental to all bees. As well as the equipment not lasting as long or getting destroyed.

Also, not cleaning and sanitizing equipment (buckets, jars, extractors, etc.) for honey harvesting is gross. If you’re a local small time beekeeper selling at farmer’s markets, your customers are trusting you. And your bees are trusting you with some of their most precious, hard-earned liquid gold. Please honor this trust on all fronts and clean and sanitize your equipment.

Plan time for Clean-up! Invest in the proper non-toxic supplies to clean thoroughly. Store equipment in a dry, clean space, ideally located somewhere free of pests.

USING NON-ORGANIC CHEMICALS ON THE LAND

I saved this one for last, because I’m sure it is the most disagreed with, as many old school farmers and land/home owners I know will fight for their right to use Round-up, and other non-organic herbicides and pesticides on their lawns, gardens, fruit trees, and farms, despite the science showing the harm to the soil, insects, animals, and humans.

If you’ve never had a hive die from poisoning you’re blessed, it is heartbreaking. Honeybees can forage in up to a 3-5 mile radius. Though you may not have control over this entire span for your bees, ensuring that what is within your ownership does not contribute to the poisoning of pollinators is an important role of a beekeeper. As well as educating your neighbors to help spread the healthy territory for your bees.

If you are an urban or residential beekeeper, it is a risky business. No matter how well you take care of your hive, they may be exposed to something beyond your control that will taint the quality of the honey and the health of the hive. I think these types of beekeepers are important, but they often aren’t aware of this potential, so it’s just a good thing to know before making the investment.

BETTER BEEKEEPING

The path of the pollen is not an easy one. When bees choose you to be their keeper, the role does not come without challenges, hard lessons and losses, but there are simple practices you can put into place to avoid many blunders in the world of beekeeping. Instead of causing more harm, you can contribute to really saving the bees!

Thank you for loving the bees. They love you too. So do I.

Aloha