DON'T Watch This Unless You Want To Know The Truth About Beekeeping / Beekeeping 101

[@beefitbeekeeping]

For those interested in joining the Baked Beekeeper group -> 💚m.facebook.com/groups/392572192199007/?ref=share&mibextid=I6gGtw

[@devroy6456]

hi hope you well . i am from bangladesh . i am willing to know about your treatment , how you treat them. this year i lost three hive . actually i am treat my bees .

[@lowrydrlaydee]

Hi I live in Romulus just outside the Metro Airport. I have Bees since May 2022. The 1st winter out of 4 hives only 1 survived. Spring of 2023 I bought 2 nucs making 3 hives ...good production . In general ... have langstroth vertical (2) but this year added a horizontal built by a friend. This fall I lost (2) in my yard ( to Yellow jackets). My 3rd is well .

[@rbell4201]

I always watch and read as much as I can about beekeeping. Then, I pick and choose what I try. Eventually, I’ll find my own way. Always appreciate great information.

[@srae1503]

This channel seems to be Caseys channel now. His views, he is doing all the talking. Emily, when you first started you researched all the experts, all the researchers, you educated yourself and then took what you learned and then took us along on how you tried to implement it. Now you follow Casey and his ideas. You don't seem to be that independent enthusiastic learn all you can beekeeper anymore.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

No actually we have spent a year having conversations and growing and have developed our ideas together, sorry you don't like the channel anymore but things have to grow, people grow, people grow ideas together, this is a research yard where we learn by experience not by googled content sorry if that affects your day negatively. But watching will be more beneficial that just us explaining what other people learned through their experiences and experimenting.

[@rajbeekie7124]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 When you say research yard, what qualifies it as a research yard? Do you have control groups?

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@rajbeekie7124 yes we have multiple yards what we learn in BY51 we take those lessons we learn in this yard we apply to the outside yards, we do not wish to only know what we know because Google told us it was true, honestly why are you so annoyed/angry someone would run an entire yard just to see see what happens through personal experience good bad or ugly and then take away very important lessons to apply to other yards, like why does that hurt your feelings so bad?

[@rajbeekie7124]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 LOL. What did I write that triggered you to say, "Why are you so annoyed/angry someone..." Sorry I triggered you. All I asked was a clarifying question. Hey, you do you.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@rajbeekie7124 it's actually not me being triggered, you came off with an undertone of annoyance anger, if that wasn't your intention my bad, our goal with this yard is just to experiment, the reason we show this yard is because other people may have awesome ideas to give a go next year. We love open minded people, I hope you are an open minded person.

[@richardvogel1195]

I've watched this channel because you're not afraid to throw everything at it and see what works. Now that there's 2 of you there's more ideas tried

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Thank you! I couldn't be happier that you see our goal with experimenting to learn through actual experiences not through googled content

[@jaredgodwin5956]

When the brown middle is more than the black ends it’s supposed to mean a mild winter 13:18 . I’m seeing a lot like this one over here in the Hudson Valley New York area.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Well I gotta ask what is your prediction? I'm interested in hearing it?

[@CastleHives]

Kinda speechless at this. Breed bees to be less resistant, smh. Talk to Dr Peck, Dr Jack, etc etc. If we could eliminate mites, they'd be gone.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

I don't think that's true tho I truly don't see it being in the best interest for the industry

[@CastleHives]

@theterriblebeekeeper7435 talk to them. Plus, Dr Boncristiani.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Can you give me a way to reach out to them? I'd love to hear their thoughts

[@CastleHives]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 I'll message you.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

@CastleHives His email is [e-mail]

[@ericbrodersen3666]

A great episode! You both shared a lot of thoughts and ideas that I don’t normally hear. I also appreciate the time and effort some people have put into their comments, sharing their ideas, what works for them and what might work for you.

[@davidryle1164]

I'm from the U.K. we keep bees exactly as you keep bees in America, we treat with a mixture of synthetic miticides(Apivar), we treat with organics Formic pro, oxalic acid etc; some bee keepers don't treat at all, same results as here, massive losses occur.

[@phillee2814]

We don't have anything like the huge amount of migratory trucking of bees around the continent, spreading whatever they have as they go and re-queening each colony annually being regarded as a cost of doing business, whereas we just have a small amount of movement into the hills to gather heather honey each year, and that is tens of hives, not thousands. Although that is not widely shown on KZbin, it is most of the US hive count by far, and bees are bred specifically to build up very fast each spring so that they qualify for the lucrative Californian almond pollination, which means most lines are difficult to adjust to suit the backyard and small scale operations.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@phillee2814 wow well said! This is basically what I have been told through talking with people round the world

[@geraltofrivia8529]

Speak for yourself, I also live in the uk. Very few registered bee keepers (Bee base) in my local area treat for varroa. Our bees havent been treated for over 4 years. I've had 3 dead outs this year, including winter (Less than 10%) i put all of those down to older queens. Until this year bee inspectors and bee magazines completely dismissed the idea of varroa tolerance, now there is actual "Scientific" research on hives in america they are having to accept what they have been told for the last 20 years or so. Some colonies cope and others dont. Nature will find a way and by using treatments you are interfering with nature. All depends if you base your knowledge on "The experts" or people with actual experience of doing something.

[@phillee2814]

@@geraltofrivia8529 I didn't even mention treatment, just bulk migration.

[@FOXHAVENHIVES]

Your theory is very intriguing. In comparison, I wouldn't let my dog be infested with fleas. So I'm having a hard time accepting treatment free. 🤔

[@JamesLeesBees]

Good things bees aren't domestic pets - or conditioned to be dependent on humans for life. Set your pooch free into the wood with coyotes and let us know how that turns out? Now your bees - stay because they want to, and in some cases will survive if they leave - despite you. Pet dogs...not so much.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@JamesLeesBees valid point.

[@chanceneal4899]

Bees are domesticated

[@JamesLeesBees]

​@@chanceneal4899 Got some data for that? Honey Bee's still mate independent of their keepers Honey Bee's still source and produce food independent of their keepers Honey Bee's still craft and defend their domiciles - wild or man-made independent of their keepers Honey Bee's ARE used for domestic purposes, ie. honey production, pollination, and other products of the hive - but those items remain in production whether a human is involved or not. Simply - Honey Bee's DO NOT require human hands to survive - domestication is a misnomer. But if you'd like a better example of what a domesticated insect looks like, I'd refer you to the Silk Moth, Bombyx mori. This species CANNOT survive without man's hand. I'd wager that bees raised commercially without natural defenses against pests and pathogens would be considered a form of domestication of the species, but that's pressing it IMO.

[@FOXHAVENHIVES]

You're not seeing my point. Fleas carry disease and cause anemia. So do ticks. I've seen wild foxes suffer from these pests. I've seen ferral cats suffering. I see the point of making money and scaring uneducated beekeepers by pushing their products. It just seems that in this theory, only the strong survive and when/if this program is successful these bees will cost a fortune. So we will be back to the money grubbers.

[@christopherw4527]

I like your channel, but I guess it would be nice to see you two get sober totally. I never have seen any body that is has gotten clean regret it. You two have so much potential. I'm not being critical. But the dope thing seems to come out a bunch in your videos about bees. I wish you great success and fun in the upcoming season.

[@marianne_briere]

I am in Québec, Canada and I use queens that are breeded here to be adapted to the harsh winter climate we have here as well as VSH genetic lines. I keep my bees juste as a cow farmer would. I bought land especially for my bees to forage and I will cultivate plants for them. I keep my bees always at home in a dense forest area without any industrial agriculture. Looking to do canola honey and mustard honey next season with the new land!

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

That sounds awesome what's some of the major problems you run into in Canada, I'm not super familiar with some of the struggles you guys go through?

[@terry4943]

I have only used OAV on my hives. Usually just a couple times after honey is pulled in August. My hives are all from a swarm I removed from a dead tree. All of my Georgia bees I bought have passed within 2 seasons. I lost 2 hives from robbing this fall. 16 strong hives going into winter. 😊

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Nice!! So your working with genetics from a cut out bee tree? That's awesome, I take no issues with treatment for the people who use it, and if I was running 10 yards 200 some hives, I'd treat to that's just risk vs reward, but this yard does not effect our other yards but the bees that come out of it are strong and can manage themselves to a great deal. Which is part of the over all goal.

[@jack00scarecrow]

i love my instant vap to treat mites with oxalic acid, it makes treating the bees super easy. i'm from UK, 50 ish hives, 6 years in the game. .

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Nothing wrong with being on either side of the fence, treatment or not, I don't judge for either way, this yard is treatment free and a hard study into the results, we learn from this yard not from googled content, we wanna see things with our own eyes and see what we can come up with, so BY51 is a learning yard where we are gonna show the good the bad the ugly but nothing will be hidden all will be show and we hope people can look and come up with new thoughts based on what we see in this yard, we want this to be everyone's experiment yard if there are better shots or views people need we will do better to get those, a million eyes looking at a problem or experiment will do wonderful things for keeping bees.

[@capnspicy5565]

Wait... What was the truth about beekeeping?

[@halleyevans1980]

Sprinkling Diatomaceous earth along the ground around your hives will really help with Small hive Beetle. I use the diatomaceous earth and it works so well. It can still keep working even after rain but it is good to reapply after a heavy rain. Its great for the larva that try to pupate it kills them.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

We are actually talking very deeply about ways to help reduce the beetle populations with out the treatment being inside the hive throughout the studying we have been doing in BY51 I think we actively work against the bees with small hive beetles because of how bees are kept in the modern way of beekeeping

[@Beekeeping_Bro]

Nice work I’m from Bosnia beekeeper. I’m in USA now, beekeeping is journey to find a solution every day next day, never stops…. I like Randy Oliver VSH breeding program, maybe you can find interesting ideas on his program

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

What parts do you find the most interesting about his system?

[@Beekeeping_Bro]

Hi is choosing the best of the best every year.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@Beekeeping_Bro that's how I've gotten to viplado being a line I trust, I have set parameters I chose my queens from and every year I've put them through what I call stress tests

[@Beekeeping_Bro]

What is your thoughts on INSTRUMENTAL INSEMINATION queens Selective breeding programs ?

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@Beekeeping_Bro anytime humans get involved we make things worse, what if we could breed only one type of people, the world would go insane, same if we start controlling the bees breeding by forcing it don't know if that's a good thing. But I can't tell people to not do it.

[@srae1503]

What were the Varoa count on the pollination colonies?

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

She did a video i do believe I'll ask her but I think she did

[@geraltofrivia8529]

Good info on yellowjackets (wasps) and hornets. Put some traps out into late autumn because the queens and drones are then flying. Put them out again early spring, get the queens. Every queen you take is a load less hassle for your bees. I'm currently watching some hives in a hornet heavy area to see which ones behaviour (Genetics) cope best with hornet predation, mine are already coping ok with varroa.

[@imysteryman]

I am going to put horse mats under my hives so the small hive beetles can not get to the ground to reproduce, they are 4x8 and only cost about 40 dollars.

[@radsk5]

I started this year by buying 4 nuks and 1 package and then I set up swarm traps and caught 10 incredible swarms so out of 15 hives the 4 nuks have almost no stores put away for winter the package is fully filled and so are the swam hives ,I find this very interesting

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

That's actually super interesting to hear, so what's your thoughts and theories on why that might be the case? I love brainstorming!

[@radsk5]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 I’m new at bee keeping so I really don’t know

[@radsk5]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 what I do know is the swarms I caught Survived the worst winter we have ever had in northeast South Dakota ; they came from feral bee hives because the local bee keeper didn’t get his hives placed until July ,for some reasons they couldn’t get them shipped back from Texas

[@radsk5]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 and I caught the 10 swarms before he was set in his yards

[@radsk5]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 the package was from mannlake and they are Saskatraz bees

[@illumi-Nate]

The baked beekeeper, only in Michigan

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

I just really enjoy chill people, bees and chill people makes for a great life!

[@rm1881]

Hi from Lithuania. We treat bees from varo mites most with oxalic acid strip and steaming, essential oils strips, ants acid steaming and strips. This is just three metods that Lithuania beekepers use to control varo mites quantity.

[@jimwaldele9084]

afternoon to you,, i think i heard it correct but cant find it,, baked beekeeper,, is that right or send a link please,,

[@DennisZimmerman]

I can't find the baked beekeeper on Facebook

[@lcan9447]

Quick question, I don't know if you ever check for varroa mites. I know you're doing treatment free bee keeping I would think if you don't check for verroa mites you can't rule out if the colony may have left because of that. I'm not saying treat, but just see what kind of infestation the colony may have. Just a thought. .

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

I can see what your saying with that, honestly it makes sense, I let Emily mite wash she's good at it and I just help her take the notes and create new ideas where to push them in new experiments.

[@TerryWheelyabarrabackApiary]

Love your channel. Just one thing. About selling products to stop verroa mite and spreading verroa mite. I think it would not benefit in anyway of keeping mites deliberately spreading them in order to sell products. It would be counter productive. The reason being is if it becomes so costly and so much work keeping bees and losing bee colonies, then people would just give up having bees. It would be in their interest to stop the mites and sell other health products to a far greater audience. Loosing customers is no way profitable in the long run. Also if they didn't invest in mite treatments and the research and development, there would be no bees to treat. Mites are also evolving into different strains and need constant research which costs lots of money that they can only collect in the future if they manage to create a cure.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Take in to note, most new beekeeper give up year three but they market the Beekeeping hobby to people all the time, as beekeeper leave year 3 after spending a ton of money and giving up, brand new keepers take their place like a never ending wave of zombies getting mowed down financially.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Also they sell their bees in bulk packages and splits every year they need them to die so people keep buying them it's a business model.

[@schulerimkereiobsflotwedel35]

yellowjackets: only the queens will make it through the winter

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

I thought that was what it was.

[@heavymechanic2]

I'm in Virginia and the state is strict about the spread of disease. Lots of people in the county are treatment free and cannot manage their bees from a lack of understanding of their needs. I use OAV in the fall 1X per month and 2-3 rounds at Thanksgiving to eradicate the Varoa because I know some of my neighbors breed a mite bomb. I don't even use Apivar or Apiguard as less is better as a management type.. You are absolutely right about the scare tactics to sell over priced stuff like FormicPro.. My average losses are in the ten (10) percent range as half are from the summer dearth failing to requeen and robbing. I lose a few hives between winter and early spring but its acceptable. I also run a fair number of resource hives to build my own queens as commercial queen rearing has never been sustainable... My position is having a 10% loss with a minimal investment in Oxilic Acid or watching you talk about a 10% survival rate going treatment free.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

It's a stacking effect it's not a single year to year plan, if 10% make it through the first year, and from there we breed again and, the next year we get 20% and do it again and the next year we get 40% and so forth, but like I maintain I'm not against treating, it makes sense for some yards, but for this yard it's a survival stock experiment yard, and I think people missed the part where we explained we never lost a single one of our genetic lines this year, only queens we took as gifts or pollination queens our genetics are doing just fine.

[@louiseibbotson588]

Go for it guys we can only try , the fit win out , cruel but true . 🇬🇧👍

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Thank you so much, it's the entire goal for bee yard 51 learn through actual experiences not through what can be googled

[@iosta5694]

Are you guys a couple now? I follow your channel. Keep up the good work.

[@Swarmstead]

Another excruciating Fitbit Clickbaiting upload. I missed the "truth about beekeeping" part. Just cracking dry hives in the cold for content.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Hey look I know that you don't necessarily like what we are doing in this yard I respect that, but can I say I'd like to chat can we find a way to chat I have ideas you could help with

[@donaltland7957]

The truth was they did not treat the pollination hives and they were all dead out by the end of the year.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

@@donaltland7957 we where never gonna treat them so yeah we showed you that so why you angry or is it you just wanna be angry we ain't hiding nothing of what we are doing ?

[@donaltland7957]

I did not try to post an angry reply, just stated to the person who did not understand what happened. The real down side to buying those hives would be that their drones could have diluted your treatment free genetics by mating with your other queens. @@theterriblebeekeeper7435

[@maxpower1337]

Colder air will shrink wood.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Really? That's neat to know is that an unstoppable effect, I don't talk like an expert on things I don't know and I'm not sure so much about weather on wood

[@alswedgin9274]

In Europe Bees are not categorised as fish.

[@chanceneal4899]

I wasent going to quite say it like that I understand respect what your trying to do but don’t loose sight of who you truly are

[@CharlesCromer]

Seems like it is time to invest in a suit for the camera man....

[@lcan9447]

Or at least a mosquito net and safari hat for the face.

[@StonewallJackson-n8w]

I like you guys but i don't do Facebook.

[@mduckett8194]

My bees were bringing in pollen yesterday. 10/28.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Oo idk if we met where are you from?

[@howdarei6761]

im beekeper in bosnia and here its horror story.we have everything from varoa afb wfb....afb its the worse...no one admits it but its spreading like wildfire..1000 yards from my beeyard there is a a beekeper piling up boxes from dead bees..hundreds of them dead from afb...can do nothing about it but treat my bees and hope

[@CrazyIvan865]

Try a brobiotic mist in your hives. It won't entirely prevent or cure it. Once a hive gets AFB (here in the states) you have to burn it. Unless you get approval to wax dip ALL the equipment. Only 350+F will kill it. But when bees have a disrupted or diminished hive or gut microbiology, they're more susceptible to the disease. Treatments for varroa and antibiotics kill of the bacteria and microbiology that helps fight against the Paenibacillus Larvae bacteria that causes the foulbrood. So down at the market you can get a 16 strain probiotic in the digestive health zection. Many sources will tell you those strains are not associated with bee gut ir hive microbiology. That's a lie. They're the same that would be naturally found on plants, in pollen and nectar ect. Take a 1L spray bottle, add in about 200mL of your own honey from your healthiest colony, add in chlorine free spring water or rain water, pull a capsule of the probiotic apart, add it into the spray bottle and a little bit of pollen from your healthiest hive. The pollen acts as nutrients for the probiotics, plus will have beneficial microbes. Shake it all up, let it sit for at least 12 hours to ferment; then put the spray on the lightest mist you can and gently mist the bees, inside of the hive and the capped brood. Avoid open brood and open nectar so it doesn't ferment your honey. It won't absolutely prevent ALL brood diseases. But can help the bees resist most diseases. And those specific bacterias also help promote virus resistance, and increase immunity and immune gene expression. If you're worried about it, try it on a couple of your weakest colonies and see how it works out. It likely will help them become stronger. If not, they were weaker colonies to begin with. I love reading the studies on colony microbiology. Then reading separate studies on what those specific microbes so in humans and other animals. The varroa treatments kill many of these beneficial bacterias, and antibiotics kill almost all of them. The bees can't digest food without good gut microbial colonies. So the probiotics can help.

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

O wow that sounds horrible, I'm not familiar with having to afb or what it can truly do to bees, but could it be life offering the chance to watch it first hand and help be the one that brings new information to the world about what we can do in the future?

[@CrazyIvan865]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 it's good that you never experienced it. Jt's one of those that once it shows symptoms... the colony is lost. You can devote it to science and have it quarantined. But there is no stopping it. And people think it isn't there, and then suddenly it is. I'm heard people be like "I've had bee samples and brood comb tested and it came back negative, blah blah..." bullshit. Just because it doesn't show up on a test doesn't mean it's not there. When they do those tests, they take swabs, have to cultivate what's on those swabs in various forms of Agar plates, incubate them, then check under microscope or through DNA or RNA sequencing and see what they have. The issue is, 1- below a certain threshold it won't show up. 2- if a colony has a good healthy microbiology of beneficial microbial cultures, those cultures are going to outcompetes at the very least, preventing it from growing. Or they're going to straight up merc the bad bacteria. So just becUse it doesn't show up on a test doesn't mean it's there. It's always there. It's ubiquitous. Just like how botulinum rarely shows up ever. It's there. It's a soil bound microorganism that bees get when they're collecting up soil nutrients or mycelium spores. It's just killed off by the good bacteria or the conditions aren't proper for it to be ablento incubate and grow. But you start causing disturbances to the microbiome and it has a chance to pop up, because it no longer has as much competition or enemies fighting against it. Found brood acts in the same way the BT (baccillus thuringenesis) does. It pretty much eats the larva from the gut outward. And they say BY has no affect on polinators. But it targets the larval stages and many of the targe species ARE the larval stages of butterflies, moths, various beetles, etc. And the only strain of BT available to the public, on the shelf of pretty much every garden center, is the 1 strain that was proven to have devastating affects on bee brood. Probiotics. I know a woman who almost lost her first nuc to chalk brood 2 weeks after she got it. She did exactly that method I prescribed with probiotics. Gave them a mist every few says for 10 says and then left them along for a very anxious 2 weeks... she was worried she had lost it until she started seeing lots of activity and pollen gathering. She opened it up and it was THRIVING. It's been about a year and a half and it's still her strongest colony. Se uploaded pictures of every frame from here September inspection and that hive is FULL of honey and bees. Most people say to use antibiotics or an antifungal for chalk brood. That doesn't help. In fact, it's a yeast/fungal organism. Antibiotic will just kill the bacteria that fight it. Nosema is also a fungal organism... and is actually a occyst intestinal parasite, much like the coccidiosis that chickes and other fowl get. There's a lot of stuff that can be treated with the proper application of beneficial probiotics. Of course, over use and you start to lose beneficial fungal organisms. Like saccharomyaces (yes the same yeast used in brewing) which is an important part of the bees' digestive tract.

[@selfmadewells2855]

Am a beekeeper from the caribbean an i never treat my bees an they survive through the year/years thats just my expreience

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

What's the weather like year round for you? I'm not sure if your climate but Id love to learn more about where your from

[@selfmadewells2855]

@@theterriblebeekeeper7435 we only have two seasons dry an rainy seasons ,so we just do feeding in the rain y season that's it

[@chanceneal4899]

I watch you hurt as u watch your bees die and make your self be ok because ur man said so… attempting to be treatment free doesn’t mean you can’t do what u need to help them live through the winter u can still strive to raise treatment free please share his opinion but still hold strong to your roots

[@noahG82]

Gonna get the bees addicted to nicotine 😂

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Lol I think you are actually right I've been taking note of it for a few years now!

[@stevenkawano9746]

Beefit Podcast YES🍯📲🐝💛👏

[@alswedgin9274]

use 'Twitch

[@allsmilz7234]

*Interesting content*

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Thank you truly!

[@rstlr01]

Bees are flying when it’s 40 because they are starving. If they were well fed, they would not be flying. I think you obviously need to add mite counts to your skill set Because you’re current set up is ponderously slow and wasting ton of resources. You could’ve been smashing subpar queens back in August like I do and combining with your best performers to create the super bee you want. Obviously killing 300 Bees is much more emotionally damaging than cleaning a dead out in January saying the very un scientific experiment is working. Harbo, Colby, Stevens bee co and many others have laid out the path. Hell even Randy Olivera The leader on mite treatments now has stock the is so mite resistant he is literally buying commercial pollination hives just like you folks did just so he can do his research for treatments. Your current plan of action is definitely half baked👍

[@rajbeekie7124]

Okay, I see you guys are into conspiracy. It is a fun entertaining world. There is never a dull moment. Yes, we do keep bees differently in America. We are a large country with concentrated areas of food production that require the transportation of bees. This by default creates a gathering point to share diseases which are later dispersed across the country when the bees are sold or taken back to the states they came from. Personally, I do treat bees. I do lose colonies and I do buy replacements. I also raise a few colonies. I do accept this practice as beekeeping in today's environment. I am hopeful that through genetics a bee that can be developed that can fight off the mites. Note: Recently I also spoke with a beekeeper who lost all 10 of his hives due to not treating. A year ago, I spoke with a beekeeper who has lost all 30 of her hives in 3 years. They both tried to go treatment free. As a result, I will not even try to go treatment free. I keep bees in St. Paul, MN

[@ohio1970]

I recently talked to a beekeeper who said he goes treatment free,without varroa loses.I treat my bees so I just don`t know.You are right about the yellow jackets.

[@rajbeekie7124]

@@ohio1970 Does the fellow have any losses??? If so, how does he know they are not due to varroa??? I have never heard of a beekeeper who does not have losses. I think the average loss for beekeepers is close to 50% a year.

[@ohio1970]

He told me he has kept bees for 30 years I really don`t know about his losses as we did`nt talk about that.Im surprised to hear the 50% figure as my losses have not been that high.@@rajbeekie7124

[@theterriblebeekeeper7435]

Legit comment! Through this yard I'm learning by first hand experience what I feel I do need to intervene in, like I've been thinking heavy on the Small hive beetle situation, I think I'm starting to think I see how the situation of modern beekeeping may make natural in hive methods for the bees to control them impossible.

[@CrazyIvan865]

​. Ao losses average around 50%. Even among the treatment lemmings. But still you keep treating? Doing something over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. What is your opinion on Shroedinger and his experiments with gassing cats? I'll wait for your response there. Also, every loss gets blamed on varroa. Ir on the diseases vectored by varroa. Or on Oarasitic Mite Syndrome. Or this or that that is the latest excuse or buzz word. When there is a long line of studies (if you had any care to actually learn anything that isn't a lie that's spoon fed to you) that will tell you that the treatments kill off the beneficial microbiology in the hive, especially those that assist the bees in viral and microbial disease resistances. So the treatments cause sickness and illness and allow disease to take hold. One thing that's for certain about every parasite is that they are significantly attracted to hosts that are not well. You may think you're healthy, but if you go out and are getting eaten by mosquitos, come in, take vitamins, wait an hour and go back out, you get bitten less. The mosquitos can smell that vitamin deficiency and think your are weak and sick and malnourished. Same with the bees. You kill off the bacteria they need to digest food with chemical treatments, they become sickly and malnourished, the mites know this and breed rapidly. But genetics only plays a small part. Do you have your hives ventilated up top with the entrance reducer removed? Do you have a screened bottom boards? What about the studies that have proven CO² reduces mite reproduction? Do you have your hives well ventilated and dry? What a out the studies that have proven that a natural hive humidity of 73% significantly reduces mite reproduction? Or how about the studies that have proven that many plant and nectar contained compounds, which break free from the nectar, help reduce mite activity and reproduction? But if those compounds are venting out of the hive, instead of being circulated in the brood chamber, they have no affect. Do you have the hives well insulated or poorly insulated? In the sun or in the shade? A colony's natural habitat is a well insulated tree cavity in the forest. Too much heat, too much ventilation, and poor insulation causes stress. Stress had a deleterious affect on geakth and immune system function. Are you opening the hive EVERY week and using smoke? What about this UBeeO that has PROVEN that bees detect the unhealthy and infected brood, and remove said diseased brood, based on olfactory (smell) sensory? You know someone who lost 10 hives, know someone who lost 30 hives. What were they doing that cohkd have been done differently? And how many treatment beekeepers do you know that lose hives continually, or jump through hoops with requeening and swapping frames and combining colonies, all so they don't have to admit a loss? Every treatment beekeeper claims to have 95+% survival rates. But statistics (and that's only including the ones whose pride allowed them to answer the survey truthfully) prove that's nothing short of a lie. If you exclude first year beekeepers from the statistics, there is still no significant difference in survivability between treatment groups and treatment free groups. I was reading a study on varroa resistant genetics in Europe from. Ack in 2013 or somewhere around there. They were tracking these feral wild bee trees to ensure they didn't die out during winter and weren't having regulations die outs. They collected samples from expelled carcasses and confirmed they did have varroa. The average colony survived 7.6 years without interruption or lapse in activity. One survived over 15 years. So they capture a swarm coming off one of these older colonies that has the maked queen, put it in a box, built it up, started feeding, made a couple splits, fed more sugar water, took it out to the island for the Bond Test and all the colonies died. So what happened? The bees didn't change, the genetics of the mated queens colony didn't change. The presence of mites did change rapidly without explanation... what changed? The Hive changed, the location changed and unnatural feeding took place. Unnaturally poor conditions proceeds unnaturally poor results. 6 Ps. Proper planning prevents piss poor performance. If you take bees from a natural environment, put them in an unnaturally poor environment, and subject them to all manner of unnatural genius conditions... lije the "smoke calms bees"... no it doesn't. Smoke means their home is about to burn up, their babies are about to burn up, they're gonna have to grab what they can and get out to find a new home. It's stressful and terrifying to the bees. Every smelled the clothes you wore to the bonfire 2 days later while putting them in the wash? You couldn't smell smoke on them the day of the bonfire, but you can now. And bees olfactory sense is sonsidered to be 100 and 1,000 orders of magnitude more sensetive than a dogs. How does that affect their ability to find firage, find unhealthy brood, recognize diseases, know whether they are queen right or queenless etc?0 You can't torture an animal, and expectbit to thrive and be healthy. Shriedinger was an insane horrible mad man for putting cats in a box, filling it with toxic gas and then expecting it to be alive. But what do we do to bees? Put them in a box and fill it full of insecticides.