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Is horizontal beekeeping more natural?

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Bob Wilson:
Are horizontal hives a more natural way of beekeeping than using regular Langstroth hives? Over the past years, as I researched beekeeping practices, I keep finding that idea put forward. There are several reasons why people say this. Here are a few which I have found.
   1. It mimics natural tree cavities. I often come across the claim that using horizontal hives is natural beekeeping, because they better mimic natural tree trunks in the wild. I find this claim very unconvincing. I would think that most tree cavities in the wild are rotten tree boles which are vertically rotting downward in old, standing trees, not in fallen logs laying on the ground. Therefore, it seems to me that it is stacked Langstroth hive beekeeping which more accurately simulates tree cavities. Regardless, wild bee swarms which are natural by definition, occupy all kinds of cavities of all kinds of shapes in all kinds of places, both in the wild and in civilization. If the bees find a hive box appealing, then isn't it naturally a good choice?
   2. Foundationless. I do believe that allowing colonies to build their own comb is more natural. The colony is not managed into raising larger sized bees because of a pre-stamped cell size, or limited in where they can lay drones, etc.  Foundationless is more natural than using foundation, but it's not exclusive to horizontal hives. Even stacked Langstroth beekeepers can remove the foundation from their frames, and I am sure many do at various times.
   3. Treatment free. I have never treated for varroa mites, from my very first hive five years ago. I have lost one hive and two nucs along the way, due to dividing colonies too small and letting them become overrun with hive beetles, but none to varroa so far. My present 10 colonies are treatment free not because they are horizontal, but simply because I don't treat for varroa. I made up my mind beforehand that if I had to treat in order to keep bees, that I would not be a beekeeper. So, I didn't. Anyone can do that, regardless of what kind of hive they use, vertical or horizontal.
   4. Minimal (or no) inspections. Some beeks inspect all the time. They believe it morally wrong not to properly tend to their bees' needs, sort of like neglecting to take a child to the doctor or a pet to the veterinarian. I am not in that camp. Bees are not pets in my understanding. They are not dependent on the beekeeper, nor sleep at the foot of the bed. They are wild. I personally think that housing a swarm in a box and never inspecting is fine. The colony no doubt finds the hive better accommodations, else they would not stay. It is drier and more spacious than other options. For certain they will swarm if unattended, but all that means is that they will propagate themselves in a healthy manner, which means more bees in the world, which is a good thing. On the other hand, some beeks think that keeping bees in horizontal hives is more natural, because you can just leave them alone except to pull honey in the fall. As far as inspections go, if a beek wants to make honey and not swarms, he will have to inspect and manage the hive, regardless of horizontal or vertical. In fact, because of the limited size of my horizontal hives (4 feet long, 30 deep frames), I actually have to do more, not less management to keep them from swarming and to get a honey crop. My personal verdict is still out on the Layens hive, which claims to discourage swarming with only two inspections a year. I have newly received a 14 frame version, not the 20 or 32 frame Layens, so I imagine I will have to manage them more often.
   5. Abuse of the bees. It seems there is this idea of the exploitation of bee colonies in various conversations on the internet. They seem to imply that Langstroth (read that as American or capitalistic) beekeeping is unnatural. Besides the fact that any colony can simply fly away and leave any time it wishes, this argument is not about what style of hive a beek uses, but about his management. Most beeks want honey. I do, and I manipulate (read that manage) the frames and the colony to both propagate the species and produce a large honey crop, which benefits us both.
   6. Only removing a little honey. I find this idea intimated on websites of beeks with just one or two hives. I believe they like the idea of helping our environment, which is good, and not unduly messing with nature. I do. Therefore, they treat their hives as an environmental pet project, in which they can pull a couple of jars of honey a year, as opposed to stacking supers. However, taking any honey at all is disrupting a colony. It is "stealing" honey, regardless of horizontal or Langstroth.
   I personally keep horizontal hives for several reasons. It's just a hobby for me, I have back problems and don't want to lift boxes, and horizontal hives afford me all the honey I can use. Keeping bees naturally is not one of the reasons. Besides which, is there even such a thing as natural beekeeping? I suppose that the only truly natural way of beekeeping is not to keep bees at all.

The15thMember:
Good post, Bob.  One of the interesting things about beekeeping is the many different hive styles that can be used, and I think you are right, none of them are natural.  We can certainly learn how to better manage our bees from how they manage themselves in the wild, but an animal being managed domestically will never be wholly natural, and that's perfectly fine, as long as the beekeepers are being good stewards of their bees.   

Michael Bush:
Bees are opportunists when it comes to their homes.  They live in horizontal and vertical arrangements with equal ease.  I don't see that either is more natural.  I've found bees in limbs and trunks. I've found them in walls and floor joists.  You could argue that adding boxes to the top is less natural than adding them to the bottom, but adding them to the bottom is a lot of work and I don't think it matters that much.

Robo:
I'm also convinced that some folks confuse primitive with "more natural".    This is another case where beekeeping is regional.  Here in the Northeast (or any cold climate) horizontal hives are "less natural" because the honeybees instinct to work vertical is a better solution in colder weather.   In a tree they start at the top and drive the queen down through the season as they backfill with honey above.  Come fall the brood nest is at the bottom and all the stores are above.   As they progress through winter they work their way up consuming honey that is pre-warmed by the heat of the cluster.   The next meal is always above them and they don't have to rely on the temperature being warm enough to move to new stores like they would in a horizontal configuration.   In warmer climates this is not an issue and they will do equally well in either configuration.

Ben Framed:
[Quote Robo]
"I'm also convinced that some folks confuse primitive with "more natural".    This is another case where beekeeping is regional.  Here in the Northeast (or any cold climate) horizontal hives are "less natural" because the honeybees instinct to work vertical is a better solution in colder weather.   In a tree they start at the top and drive the queen down through the season as they backfill with honey above.  Come fall the brood nest is at the bottom and all the stores are above.   As they progress through winter they work their way up consuming honey that is pre-warmed by the heat of the cluster.   The next meal is always above them and they don't have to rely on the temperature being warm enough to move to new stores like they would in a horizontal configuration.   In warmer climates this is not an issue and they will do equally well in either configuration."


Your logic makes perfect sense.

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