What Now for New Generation Beekeeping

I might be new to beekeeping but . . . .

Bees and Beekeepers have suffered over recent years There is no getting away from the fact that the honey bee is suffering and therefore so are many beekeepers. The Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) being experienced by large commercial beekeeping operations in America is not being experienced by the, mainly smaller, beekeepers who are following 'bee friendly' organic principles in the management of their bees. In the UK the willingness of beekeepers to throw all sorts of wierd and wonderful chemicals, even if they are approved, into a hive to kill varroa mites etc. is frightening. I gave up farming many years ago when the instructions for the use of pesticides were dwarfed by the instructions to the doctor treating the operative, who had keeled over in a field somewhere after using the product. Intensive beekeeping is going the same way. My intention is to keep bees in a manner replicating their natural use of hollow trees. My hives are based on the Peoples Hive designed in France by Abbé Warré also in the late19th Century. He believed in a non intrusive method of beekeeping more in tune with their nstincts and behaviour and relied on natural selection to allow them to cope with pests and diseases. By following bee friendly organic principles only pure natural raw honey will be harvested, should the bees have a surplus.

Bees have been on this planet for millennia, humans have taken and eaten their honey for centuries. But have only tried to increase their productivity by intensive methods since the 1850s and now the cracks are showing. After my research it seemed that there were not many options which allowed the bees a more natural and sustainable environment and the beekeeper a more satisfying role.