Dedicated forum for bee keepers aiming for least intrusive approaches

[triscleeire]

I have been keeping bees for more than 15 years now and am well aware of some fundamentally different approaches to bee keeping.
I apologise in advance if my views upset anyone.
This is NOT to start a discussion about bee keeping ("natural" or otherwise) but I would really like to find likeminded people to discuss issues with without being slated by those who do not share the views.
I am aware that those with a less intrusive approach are often accused of neglect, irresponsibility and worse.
My approach is to let the bees do what they want, including building queen cells, swarming and most importantly consuming their own produce. I am not interested in honey. If they leave some for me, grant, else they can have what they produced.
Is there a forum or a part of this forum where likeminded people can exchange experiences?

 

[rolande]

Not sure if it's still active but Phil Chandler used to run such a forum. Think it was under the bio bees banner, but not looked in for a long time so it may possibly be defunct now. Worth a look.

 

[Mint Bee]

no longer active. read only I believe

 

[Wilco]

There's a subforum on here regarding treatment free stuff. I don't endorse your approach- it's having bees not keeping them- but sounds like your mind is set.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/forums/treatment-free-beekeeping.98/

 

[rolande]

There's a subforum on here regarding treatment free stuff. I don't endorse your approach- it's having bees not keeping them- but sounds like your mind is set.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/forums/treatment-free-beekeeping.98/

At least you can have an interesting conversation about treatment free beekeeping, conversations about 'do nothing' beekeeping may be a little more of a niche interest.

 

[Wilco]

At least you can have an interesting conversation about treatment free beekeeping, conversations about 'do nothing' beekeeping may be a little more of a niche interest.

True although I guess there could be reporting on bee behaviour at the hive entrance, overwinter survival rates, hive types, honey yields, how many swarms issue, behaviour (as presumably there's no intentional selection by 'man') and how often colonies die out.

 

[rolande]

True although I guess there could be reporting on bee behaviour at the hive entrance, overwinter survival rates, hive types, honey yields, how many swarms issue, behaviour (as presumably there's no intentional selection by 'man') and how often colonies die out.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for some of those reports.

There's probably a lot of useful observations to be made by hands off beekeepers but I'd have thought that they'd need a level of hands on management skill before they could really know what they were observing.

 

[Wilco]

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for some of those reports.

Quite, although it would be interesting and, despite how it may appear, I do try and give people the benefit of the doubt!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is there a forum or a part of this forum where likeminded people can exchange experiences?

Moved to Treatment Free section
This is a beekeeping forum. Having bees in a box and doing nothing with them isn’t really beekeeping but the TF section may have something for you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

.

More rubbish...bye bye

 

[user 819]

I have been keeping bees for more than 15 years now and am well aware of some fundamentally different approaches to bee keeping.
I apologise in advance if my views upset anyone.
This is NOT to start a discussion about bee keeping ("natural" or otherwise) but I would really like to find likeminded people to discuss issues with without being slated by those who do not share the views.
I am aware that those with a less intrusive approach are often accused of neglect, irresponsibility and worse.
My approach is to let the bees do what they want, including building queen cells, swarming and most importantly consuming their own produce. I am not interested in honey. If they leave some for me, grant, else they can have what they produced.
Is there a forum or a part of this forum where likeminded people can exchange experiences?

Set up a sub forum on here or ask for one , one will get those who disagree but one simply has to take it on the chin.
I for one can't agree with wanton /deliberate swarming unless one hasn't near neighbours it affects otherwise in our congested villages /towns it amounts to just poor knowledge/management and it's impact on others . Fundamnentally different approaches are ok but when likes of swarming impacts on others in closer /tightly congested neibourhoods then all it does is create greate issues .
There may be a place for your phylosophy but it has to be in the right place .

 

[JamezF]

I for one can't agree with wanton /deliberate swarming unless one hasn't near neighbours it affects

In Honeybee Democracy Tom Seeley suggests bees might cover an area of something like thirty-five square miles when looking for a new nest site. By my calculations that's anywhere within a radius of 3⅓ miles. Granted in the UK it may be different, but that's an awful lot of near neighbours not to have.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

Set up a sub forum on here or ask for one

I doubt admin will agree. A forum has to be busy and I don’t think this one will have any takers. Even one of our mods couldn’t get one for his favourite bee.
The OP has a thread now in TF.

 

[pargyle]

With 15 years of keeping bees under his belt I would hope that the OP has learned something and may have some interesting comments about how he manages to keep his bees ..So, it's in the treatment free section of the forum, although he does not say that he keeps his bees without treatment. Looking at the location County Clare is about as far West as you can get in Ireland and I suspect that it may be a very rural location where he keeps his bees..

So, let's give him some space and see what else he has to say before the usual suspects start to tear him limb from limb. There's room on here for all sorts of beekeeping ..

Philip

 

[pargyle]

I doubt admin will agree. A forum has to be busy and I don’t think this one will have any takers. Even one of our mods couldn’t get one for his favourite bee.
The OP has a thread now in TF.

Agreed ... no need for another section. It's either beekeeping or it isn't.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So, let's give him some space and see what else he has to say before the usual suspects start to tear him limb from limb. There's room on here for all sorts of beekeeping ..

This is NOT to start a discussion about bee keeping ("natural" or otherwise) but I would really like to find likeminded people to discuss issues with without being slated by those who do not share the views.

So if you aren’t “like minded” please ignore the thread entirely.

 

[user 819]

I think one will always find some reaction and disagreement within threads a part from some pointsI am all ears in to what some one else tries.
County Clare will be far different conurbation wise to congested built up RH10 where I live.

 

[warsaw_hive]

Is there a forum or a part of this forum where likeminded people can exchange experiences?

The most open minded forum at the moment is the Canadian beesource.com. Most of its users are from the US, but it has users from Europe/UK too. It is moderated very well I think. Like most forums a small number of posters think it's their duty to post on every thread and can dominate discussions which can be annoying, but you don't get the petty arguments.

The Warré googlegroups email group can be viewed like a forum. It's members probably match your beekeeping style. Certainly some people on there don't harvest honey, or just honey from dead colonies. It wouldn't matter if you don't use a Warré hive. Unfortunately there have been very few posts this year.

I asked on the BBKA forum where the BIBBA people hang out and got no useful response. They are certainly not on here (or only lurk if they are). There seems huge sections of the UK beekeeping community that have been driven out of forums and are presumably only to be found on private faceborg or whatsapp groups.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There seems huge sections of the UK beekeeping community that have been driven out of forums and are presumably only to be found on private faceborg or whatsapp groups.

I think that’s very unfair if you are alluding to us. There are places for different opinions as you have helpfully pointed out. I very much doubt they exist because they have been driven away from here.

 

[pargyle]

I think that’s very unfair if you are alluding to us. There are places for different opinions as you have helpfully pointed out. I very much doubt they exist because they have been driven away from here.

Or inferring that this forum is not well moderated - I think, as mods, we are very tolerant and very often just quietly edit out the comments that could be construed as unhelpful - rather than (on some forums) removing members and their posts.