:idea: :idea: What do you mean by no foundation. Don't you have to have foundation? I have plasticell foundation in my hives. How would it have chemical residues if I never used chemicals? Speaking of chemicals, the club that I joined when I started this adventure was a big proponet of treating for varroa mites and foulbrood and other nasties. My first reaction was that my family and I and possibly my close friends would be eating this honey and I didn't want it tainted with chemicals. The reply I got was that the chemicals were applied in the fall and by the time the spring honey flow came the tainted honey would be gone, consumed by the bees. I still didn't like the idea so I have refrained from chemical use. I have lost a couple of hives over the winter though and am not sure why.
There is a fact that ALL tha food you eat, and yes, even the so called organic food, does contain some chemicals through fertilizers, bug sprays, herb sprays and any other applications that HELP you live better through chemicals. THAT IS A FACT OF OUR LIVES HERE IN THE US of A, and, now that we are fed copious amounts of " fresh " veggies and fruit from South America we are no doubt subjected to their CHEMICAL programs.
Soooo what am I saying here? Well, are not people LIVING longer and LONGER healthy lives? Well at least my OLD MA is, at almost 90. Folks are living longer and longer lives to the point of being, for some, a problem :?: Not everyone is paying the HIGHER PRICES for products that are
called organic so it seems as though there is less harm in CHEMICALS as thought but there is still the FEAR :?: I dunno, but it's just a thought.
I do recall mixing D D T as a very young child to spray our potatoe crop. If you didn't spray you didn't eat potatoes. The DDT was pink and we used to pour water in a # 3 wash tub and hand mix the stuff, pour it into a sprayer and walk up and down the potatoes rows to hopefully kill the dreaded potato bettles. In general, today, chemicals are used in crops and since bees and plants go together, you ARE being exposed to chemicals through your " home grown " honey crop.
Long story short, it is commendable that someone would strive to live chemical free but IT IS NOT POSSIBLE :!: The chemicals and poullants arrive through the AIR, kinda like the " 82 Airborn Division " for an assault.
There are some methods to control various ailments that beset bee hives/colonies that are " non-chemical " but they do require a much more pro-active approach than the " laid back " read LAZY, method. On the other hand to just apply treatments to bee hive as a " mattter of course " is not the right way IMO. The fact is, if you treat as a preventative measure, you will not know wheather your bees are able to well WITHOUT any treatments. Kinda like yourself, if some days you don't fell too good what do you do :?: Personally I wait awhile to see if I feel better the following day or even a few days later. If not, I consult a Doctor and more Doctors until I find out what is bothering me.
Bear in mind that here, in the US of A, commerce IS the BE ALL and DO ALL of our existance. Chemicals ARE manufactored products and they are promoted.
YOU NEED TO EDUCATE YOURSELF IN BEEKEEPIN :!: In all aspects and not just:
I AM NOT GOING TO FEED CHEMICAL LACED HONEY TO MY LOVED ONE OR FRIENDS.
I hope I've said something useful here and not just a rant. Fact is I have not yet fed or treated my hives with anything but confectionary sugar and a couple of applications of Sucrocide. I have lavished LOVE and HUGS to all my girls, but somehow not ALL have appreciated my tender approach and reacted agressivly. I suppose they are JUST LIKE REAL GIRLS, they do not know a real LOVER GUY when they see one
Take care. :P