How honeybees keep themselves healthy

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Confused myself with two live videos the same day.....see below..
 
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Don't fall asleep ike I did at one point.....only momentarily; with some videos I completely drop off.....old man syndrome.
There's know nodding of in this honey room, maybe later when the underfloor heating kicks in I've set it at 25c but it's freezing atm.
Is there such a thing as a young man's syndrome.
Jarring and labeling and delivering jars today glad of the break from making equipment :sunning:
 
I watched half the BIBBA zoom talk last night. Excellent science. The short take-away, thus far, is select for propolis. It's the bees antiseptic, protecting against fungal, bacterial, viral and parasitic infections.
 
I liked the clarity and gentle assertiveness of her explanations. For one thing, as seems logical, Ms. Spivak says that "propolis" is resin....nothing addded nor taken away, apart from maybe a bit of bee-spit and wax. It's not magical and it hasn't been chemically changed by the bees. They are hijacking it to achieve the same purposes that it has on the plants from which it is taken.
 
I like the idea of a propolis envelope. My bees do coat the inside of both wood and poly boxes but only with a thin layer so I thought I might give this a go with one of the boxes.
Propolis
Marla Spivak wasn't recommending it as a preventative measure, she was showing the experiment which demonstrated and supported the general idea - that bees propolise for good reasons - and from there that to encourage that behaviour in strains is a good thing. (And, the other side of that coin, to select against propolising is a bad idea).

I'm sure you won't like this: but I think she'd be aghast at the idea of doing the job for them. It is just that 'veterinary' mindset that is the cause of (a good many of) our problems. The veterinary approach is great for closed populations, and in equal measure bad for open ones. In such a setting to help individuals is to weaken the population. It undermines the natural selection that is the population's ultimate defence system.
 
It is just that 'veterinary' mindset that is the cause of (a good many of) our problems. The veterinary approach is great for closed populations, and in equal measure bad for open ones. In such a setting to help individuals is to weaken the population. It undermines the natural selection that is the population's ultimate defence system.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I hear that offal as a dietary choice is becoming more popular, apparently it has many health benefits.
More tripe anyone?
 
I'm sure you won't like this: but I think she'd be aghast at the idea of doing the job for them. It is just that 'veterinary' mindset that is the cause of (a good many of) our problems. The veterinary approach is great for closed populations, and in equal measure bad for open ones. In such a setting to help individuals is to weaken the population. It undermines the natural selection that is the population's ultimate defence system.
Sorry. Don’t understand this bit
 
Marla Spivak wasn't recommending it as a preventative measure, she was showing the experiment which demonstrated and supported the general idea - that bees propolise for good reasons - and from there that to encourage that behaviour in strains is a good thing. (And, the other side of that coin, to select against propolising is a bad idea).

I'm sure you won't like this: but I think she'd be aghast at the idea of doing the job for them. It is just that 'veterinary' mindset that is the cause of (a good many of) our problems. The veterinary approach is great for closed populations, and in equal measure bad for open ones. In such a setting to help individuals is to weaken the population. It undermines the natural selection that is the population's ultimate defence system.
I paint all the insides of my hives with home made propolis varnish before they go into use ... it's a naturaly product which the bees make and as they coat the inside of hives with it themselves I see no hardship or downsides to giving them a helping hand. I think it helps with bait hives as well as an attractant.
 
Marla Spivak wasn't recommending it as a preventative measure, she was showing the experiment which demonstrated and supported the general idea - that bees propolise for good reasons - and from there that to encourage that behaviour in strains is a good thing. (And, the other side of that coin, to select against propolising is a bad idea).

I'm sure you won't like this: but I think she'd be aghast at the idea of doing the job for them. It is just that 'veterinary' mindset that is the cause of (a good many of) our problems. The veterinary approach is great for closed populations, and in equal measure bad for open ones. In such a setting to help individuals is to weaken the population. It undermines the natural selection that is the population's ultimate defence system.

I saw a good example of this in a recent episode of a heartwarming TV series which follows the activities of an SSPCA "rescue" centre. They concentrate their efforts on baby animals, which as we all know, are usually cute and cuddly and vulnerable. These will often have become separated from their mother because of an accident of nature or one caused by human activity. The people who care for these animals are hugely skilled and very effective in enabling the animals to grow to maturity. The animals are then mostly released into "the wild". There was an exmple of six or seven foxes all released into one "protected" area. at the same time

Whilst what the SSPCA is doing is admirable and well-intentioned, what they are doing is giving a relatively advantageous start in life to animals which are possibly more likely than wild-raised creatures, to carry genes for behaviours which are not good for the independent survival of the species. Additionally, in many cases, these animals will be more likely not to have the same level of innate fear and distrust of humans which should be natural to them.

Painting propolis inside a beehive is a long way from being a parallel to the situation described above. But we can't possibly emulate the way bees would do it. We will also not know how inclined to use propolis our bees are. But if the bees are healthy and have a need to propolise something, unless we have chosen to breed that urge out of them, they will propolise the beehive themselves.
 

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