Natural beekeeping

[susan2016]

What do you think this means and do you consider yourself a natural beekeeper?

 

[Brosville]

It's a widely used misnomer - no beekeeping is by definition entirely natural - but there are some of us who seek to be "more natural" in the way we keep our bees, and I'm happy for it to be known as "natural beekeeping"
It's often defined by the type of hive used - for me it's a long list of what I don't do.......... I don't mark, clip, replace or confine queens, I don't suppress swarming or cull brood, use no foundation, seldom use smoke, very seldom feed, always leave them with their own stores for winter, don't subject them to unnecessary intrusive inspections, or use "chemical" nostrums as a matter of course....... As I said, not totally natural, no beekeeping is, but a little closer to how they would live in the wild.
I have heard it called "apicentric beekeeping" as it puts the bees first.......

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Brosville,

What's your overwintering success rate been for the last few years with your natural beekeeping methods?

 

[Brosville]

100%

 

[mbc]

What do you think this means and do you consider yourself a natural beekeeper?

I tried this, but then realised it was only because my flies were undone

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Interesting ... for how many years ?

 

[Brosville]

3 years...

 

[mbc]

3 1/2 years....

 

[OXFORDBEE]

and (out of polite interest....) before then??

Just so you know, I've experienced between 3 and and 7% winter losses..

 

[Brosville]

3 winters, no losses... before then, no bees!

 

[susan2016]

I think this is excellent and after some years of reading everything I could get my hands on about bees before having my own hive, I think this is what I am aiming for. The only thing I currently don't do from Brosville's list is leave them to make their own comb, simply because I can do something 'natural' about that and save them some effort. I thought I was being idealistic in thinking this but I am glad there is a beekeeper doing this and experiencing success for his efforts. Surely our aim is to be helpful without being intrusive?

 

[Poly Hive]

Any competent beekeeper considers themselves to be a "Bee Servant" ie putting the bees first which is why I prefer poly hives.

PH

 

[Brosville]

Not using foundation is to me pretty fundamental in trying to be more natural - my bees can build whatever comb they like, of whatever cell size - I'm not imposing a uniform size or type of comb, it's also very difficult to get hold of foundation untainted by chemical residues...
I'm also not entirely sure of the "saving them some effort" thing as well - it is natural for them to build comb from scratch, and they can throw up comb very fast.....

 

[susan2016]

So Brosville, you just put frames in (I have a National hive) and let them build their comb? How do you harvest honey? Could I use an extractor just by putting in frames without foundation and spinning the comb the bees have built themselves?

 

[Brosville]

I know people who use national hives who just put in a "starter strip" in the frames.
For a hobbyist beekeeper like me, "crush and strain" does me very well - I don't want to reuse the comb - it's simple, low-tech and cheap, all the "tools" are in the average kitchen..

 

[susan2016]

Forgive my ignorance and I don't wish to monopolise your time but, what are starter strips, I've not heard of these?

 

[The Cumbrian]

Forgive my ignorance and I don't wish to monopolise your time but, what are starter strips, I've not heard of these?

If you have a look on the net for top bar hives you will see examples.

Basically what the name implies a strip of foundation fastened to the bar at the top (say 1cm but I am sure somebody will give other ideas) the bees can then draw their own comb anchored to this.

 

[Brosville]

There's all sorts of different starter strips - half an inch of conventional foundation, some use a triangular sectioned piece of wood (or "lolly sticks") dipped in wax, attached to underside of the top of the frame, I use cotton string stuck onto the top bars with molten beeswax

 

[susan2016]

Fascinating. The reason I haven't heard of them is that I don't know a lot about TBH. Anyway...crush and strain sounds easier than extraction! Just filter through several filters then? OK....if I were to adopt the method of a starter strip on a national frame how do I attach it to the top of the frame because I think the whole sheet inside the frame is what keeps it taut?

 

[tonybloke]

Fascinating. The reason I haven't heard of them is that I don't know a lot about TBH. Anyway...crush and strain sounds easier than extraction! Just filter through several filters then? OK....if I were to adopt the method of a starter strip on a national frame how do I attach it to the top of the frame because I think the whole sheet inside the frame is what keeps it taut?

with molten wax