Busy Bees

I attended a free course at the local agricultural school. It was all in Gallego and not Spanish so it was fortunate that I had some knowledge of what they were talking about having done a beekeeping course at Derby Agricultural college. It was about organic beekeeping and I have registered to become part of the organic beekeepers of Spain. I was interested to know how they treat Varoa and Foul Brood diseases using organic methods. In Derbyshire there was a great deal of worry about the spread of the Foul Brood diseases which had hit neighbouring Leicestershire before I left so they were waiting for the first signs of it. In the UK the procedure if you felt there was something of these diseases in your hive is to notify the man from the ministry of agriculture who was assigned specifically for beekeepers. If the worst fears were confirmed then the hive and equipment would be burnt. Here the only person you inform is the vet who will give you a prescription for penicillin. Apparently it is not a cheap treatment and any honey that comes off such a hive would be sold as Galician honey rather than as organic because it would have been treated with antibiotics etc. The disease spreads via spores which can remain active for decades. What they have said is that we will experience this disease here as it is now endemic and although people are supposed to report that they have it not everyone does. Because of the threat of forest fires any equipment that is disposed of is buried in the ground. They also recommended the open floors for the hives in deterring the varoa mite which is what Steve Rose of the Derbyshire Beekeepers has been doing for some time now. Interestingly varoa originated in the forests of Asia where they have not been treated for it and where the bee colonies have not been wiped out. The view of the agricultural technician leading the course is we need to help bees build up a resistance through good practise and selective breeding and not through the use of chemicals and medicines. To be an organic beekeeper you have to be at least 3km away from any form of intensive farming. I wonder how easy this would be in the UK? It seems to have a lot in common with biodynamic beekeeping which I'm also looking at.

Today, as I went to empty the compost bucket on the compost heap I heard a tremendous buzzing. I looked up to see the ivy that covers the wall in flower and a swarm of bees enjoying this late and important provider of nectar.


I was about to start feeding my bees to build them up for winter but they said no sugar syrup is allowed. If you must feed them it must be organic honey. It does make sense but as the colonies are new and I've yet to take honey off them I will have to see if I can find some honey.

The different diseases/illnesses etc that the bees could go down with was quite depressing. I think the most disturbing and one which shows just how sensitive bees are to man's meddling with nature is Colony Collapse Disorder. Please view the following link for this very worrying sign of something being very wrong! http://www.bbka.org.uk/articles/imidacloprid.php Also check out the following link of this very interesting organisation http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/info/info/enviro/the-need-for-organic-beek.shtml A recent article in the Times on line also asks people to wake up http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article2231321.ece This is a very good reason to make sure we get our plant seeds from organic sources and not just off the shelf from any outlet. It has certainly made me think about some sunflowers I planted from a pack that I picked up and I certainly won't be doing so again. I usually stick to HDRA seeds where possible.

I do worry that I will miss the signs of one of these illnesses as I am relatively new to the world of beekeeping but I've been told that as long as I check the hives regularly I should begin to notice if things go array.

Apparently Germany are the leaders in honey production and investigation. It was their analysis of honey that led to Chinese honey being banned for two years from the EU due to high traces of antibiotics along with honey from other countries. Please buy organic or biodynamic honey wherever you can. I am convinced having attended this course that it is the only way we can help the bees to survive these diseases and enable them to build up some kind of resistance.

Rudolf Steiner gave eight lectures about bees, which he considered to be more important to agriculture than any of the domesticated species because of their vital work in pollinating crops. Albert Einstein considered them so vital that he predicted an early end to human life on earth should the honey bee become extinct.