Folks, you need to step back a moment. You guys are feeling altogether too good about yourselves and the impact of beekeeping.
There are no Honey Bees native to NA. Europeans brought them here.
They are all invasive, so this nonsense about keeping bees to help nature and all that is horse hockey. We keep bees to have honey. If you want to help the environment leave honey bees alone and build native bee habitats. Any Feral Honeybee hive is in direct competition with the native bees in the area, and thus the exact opposite of helpful.
Beekeeping is farming...well closer to ranching...with a species not meant to live here.
If you want to fool yourself that you are a saint helping out the environment (and BTW that is the field I actually work in), well you are indeed fooling yourself. If anything the practice of keeping bees harms the native bees.
Sorry, but these are just facts. I keep bees in spite of these facts because I deeply value honey. The bees are simply a means to an end. And thus I give them any reasonable and natural advantage...as Oxalic acid is quite common in nature and is naturally found in a beehive anyway...judge and farm as you will, but do it with clear vision of what we are doing. I suppose more importantly understand what we are not doing...wearing some white hat come to rescue nature.
Barry
BAHBEES
By your reasoning, even man is not native cause this is not where the species originated. I keep hearing something about the bering strait. I didn't see anyone getting on their high horse or saying they were saving the world in this thread and so missed the need of the point you are making. I do agree that most keep bees for what bees give them rather then just set up habitat like you would with a blue bird nest. I thought most of this thread was based on how to raise bees with out resorting to having to do something about mites and also if that was possible.
Cheers
gww
Ps Paus- I can not see eggs either and can only see small larva if I find big and work backwards. I can relate.
I agree gww. I did not see any sign of anyone here that seemed to feel to good about themselves, trying to get on a high horse, or wear a white hat, try to save the world, show signs arrogance, or an indication of a high opinion of oneself up until a certain post. Up until then I read good solid discussion and reasoning from each poster. I think I understand what you tretment free folks are talking about, as Paus said and I agree. Treatment means some type of chemistarty compound added to the hive, either inorganic or organic for that matter. Is this correct non treaters?
One of our posters said, "Beekeeping is farming...well closer to ranching...with a species not meant to live here."
OK let's look at the farming and ranching here in North America. What is native to this continent which is essential to the farm industry?
Let's look at cotton. Originally from India, (Soybeans - China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Russia), (Almonds- Western Asia gets the credit.), (Watermelon- West Africa), (Buckwheat- Asia.), On and on we could go at the plants and such which All are important to our farm industry. Money for a strong economy. Food to feed hungry people as well as livestock. Should the Honey Bee not earn the same respect?
Let's look at livestock starting with ranching here in America; Beef and Dairy Cattle- (Asia and Europe), Sheep-(Asia) I do not know much about goats, tame rabbits, chickens. Let's share and learn together in our beekeeping section having fun doing so.
Blessings
.