2019 EcoFarm
Beekeeping is more difficult today than it used to be.
Our changing agricultural landscape provides less forage, and growers still apply pesticides to freely (although the pesticide situation for bees today is far better than it used to be in the ’60s and ’70s).
The main problem for honey bees worldwide is the recent invasion of the varroa mite, which acts as a vector for Deformed Wing Virus.
The long-term solution is to breed bees naturally resistant to the mite. In this presentation I offer a brief version of how to go about doing it. There is more information at my website.
Until such bee stock is more widely available, good bee husbandry requires occasional treatments to control the mite. My sons and I run a successful commercial beekeeping operation, and have used only organically-approved treatments since 2001.
I also give a progress report on our registration of extended-release oxalic acid for mite control. This organic treatment will help us to keep healthy, thriving bees.
You can find instructions for keeping bees healthy at https://scientificbeekeeping.com/first-year-care-for-your-nuc/
The slides for my presentation can be viewed at 2019 EcoFarm short (this is a large file with many photos, so may take a while to download).
Happy beekeeping!
Randy