I agree, I agree, I agree. When I got my 'education' from experienced beekeepers 12 years ago we had a teacher/beekeeper who was 'the man' who knew all about treatments. And then there was that winter all his colonies died (100+ production hives). Since then he is rather quiet to be honest. Treatment doesn't give us the guarantee all will be fine.
I agree 100% I keep my bees treatment free, and I have had them for two years now, the only thing I do is provide them with water, because I don’t want them to go into my neighbors swimming pool. I value the insights and guidance you provide
All excellent points and great video. It's about being part of the solution, not the problem for me. Also, with treating, you never have survivors. You only have "alive" bees as a result of triage.
We've really enjoyed this series. We left our copy of the book in our mountain house when we closed it up for winter. We'll need to read it again when we go back up this Spring.
Hi there , frist thing , we really enjoy your video and hope to follow Dr Leo's method . I am wondering if you belong to your local bee accusation and if so do you get much blow back from other members. I ask this because we are new bees to this in notheren Ontario Canada and plan to follow Dr Leo's method . Up here we have to register our bees with the provincial government and they have right to inspect our hives and I am not sure if they can in force the use of treatment on us. Anyway good luck.
Hey Richard, We don't belong to any local groups in our area. We are members of the local Facebook beekeeping group but have yet to go to any actual meetings. Hopefully you're area isn't to stingy on how to keep Bees, and maybe possible inspections could just be checks for foulbrood. In any case speak to your local Beekeepers and find out their experiences. Glad you're following Dr. Leo! Best, - Wes
Hello Alex, do you have any more info on what your provincial government requires for beekeepers in Canada? I am quite curious what they are requiring.
I have all Leo's books and Lazutin. I was treatment free for 8 years. This is my 9th season and I made the switch to treat my bees. I just can't afford to keep going this way. I commend you for trying this. I wish you good luck. I just couldn't make it work for me. Good health and God bless 👍
Sorry it didn't work out for you, in the end we all have to find efficient methods for us and if you have found success then you gotta do what you gotta do. I'll check out your channel and wishing the very best for you and your Bees!
I’m curious for northern guys maybe big problem is maybe using the type of bee for the climate, like using a northern type for northern climate instead of guys using the Italians for the north.
I do have a question. You Are beekeeper in the US, I live in Europe. You catch 'wild' swarms in the wild, where I live there is no such thing as the wild anymore. When we catch swarms, these are either Buckfast or Carniolan and their DNA is fucked up, that's it. So your catched swarms are what? Are they a mixture of wild and Italian and carnolan and... or just 'wild'? When we ask our older beekeepers about these wild bees in our area they will tell us these are stingers, you don't want them. Period, end of the conversation. So your wild bees are they stingers?
So the Bees we catch are probably a combination of many of those species. All the Bees here breed with one another so you're never going to have a purely Italian or purely Carniolan breed. When people ask me what type of Bees we have I typically just tell them what their traits are. Our Bees are only slightly aggressive, usually just sending out a guard when people are right up beside the hive. Most of them are disease resistant and also winter well. They like to swarm usually between mid March to mid May. Their colors usually range from a gold to a darker gold hue. So I tell people they are wild Bees because the queen will mate with several drones from different hives and a mixture of their genetics will be formed. Hope that helps!
Id say wild bees do not have to be in the woods. They are any bees that have been left to nature for a extended period of time. I live in Kansas City MO and we get bees that move into our neighborhood all spring even though there are no beekeepers for 10+ miles. Most of them are mixed with Italian and Western European, though I have a hive in my back yard that is most definitely Western European mixed with Italian. They have little white strips and are almost black, and my Italian are a bright orang/yellow with a strong black a abdomen. Id say they are most likly italiens mixed with something else.
It's ironic, everything you're saying about the bees, applies directly to humans. Except saying this about humans is practically blasphemy these days. I grew up playing outside my entire life in forests and creeks. Never had allergies or any immune problems. Was forced to take vaccines a couple times when young for public school and it was the only time I felt horrible and got badly sick during that time.
It's definitely blasphemy to speak against treatment for a lot of Honeybee groups. People just won't accept to letting nature takes its course and by using chemicals their Honeybees just end up being worse off than if they hadn't used them. When their colonies die then that's just a shame but if the treatment free colony dies then its cruelty. People play a lot of mental gymnastics over their Bees and yes they do the same over their own health as well.
@@SecureAcresNaturalBees Went to visit the nearby beekeeper yesterday. He goes mostly natural although still uses plastic foundations, and heavy interaction with the bees. I will most likely be buying an 5 nuc colony from him after I finish my boxes.
@@SecureAcresNaturalBees i was probably going to make a swarm trap even in case mine decides to split or swarm itself. Only i havent seen any honey bees around my area, hence the main reason i want to introduce them.
I'd say, if you're 'treatment-free' then you're not really 'keeping' bees the concept I'm exploring is that we're going to give the local bees, houses - if they come, great, if they go, well, they are free, not kept. :)
I'm reading that book now. it is great.
Great video Wes!
I agree, I agree, I agree. When I got my 'education' from experienced beekeepers 12 years ago we had a teacher/beekeeper who was 'the man' who knew all about treatments. And then there was that winter all his colonies died (100+ production hives). Since then he is rather quiet to be honest. Treatment doesn't give us the guarantee all will be fine.
I agree 100% I keep my bees treatment free, and I have had them for two years now, the only thing I do is provide them with water, because I don’t want them to go into my neighbors swimming pool. I value the insights and guidance you provide
That's awesome!
All excellent points and great video. It's about being part of the solution, not the problem for me. Also, with treating, you never have survivors. You only have "alive" bees as a result of triage.
Words from the wise! Thank you Bruce it means the world to hear that from you.
We've really enjoyed this series. We left our copy of the book in our mountain house when we closed it up for winter. We'll need to read it again when we go back up this Spring.
Glad you enjoyed it Roy! Hope y'all are doing great!
Hi there , frist thing , we really enjoy your video and hope to follow Dr
Leo's method . I am wondering if you belong to your local bee accusation and if so do you get much blow back from other members. I ask this because we are new bees to this in notheren Ontario Canada and plan to follow Dr Leo's method . Up here we have to register our bees with the provincial government and they have right to inspect our hives and I am not sure if they can in force the use of treatment on us. Anyway good luck.
Hey Richard,
We don't belong to any local groups in our area. We are members of the local Facebook beekeeping group but have yet to go to any actual meetings. Hopefully you're area isn't to stingy on how to keep Bees, and maybe possible inspections could just be checks for foulbrood. In any case speak to your local Beekeepers and find out their experiences. Glad you're following Dr. Leo!
Best,
- Wes
Hello Alex, do you have any more info on what your provincial government requires for beekeepers in Canada? I am quite curious what they are requiring.
I have all Leo's books and Lazutin. I was treatment free for 8 years. This is my 9th season and I made the switch to treat my bees. I just can't afford to keep going this way. I commend you for trying this. I wish you good luck. I just couldn't make it work for me. Good health and God bless 👍
Sorry it didn't work out for you, in the end we all have to find efficient methods for us and if you have found success then you gotta do what you gotta do. I'll check out your channel and wishing the very best for you and your Bees!
@@SecureAcresNaturalBees thanks I appreciate your channel. Good health and success to you and your family God bless 👍
I’m curious for northern guys maybe big problem is maybe using the type of bee for the climate, like using a northern type for northern climate instead of guys using the Italians for the north.
Brian the best Bees to use are the ones you catch locally. They are the most acclimated to your climate and have the best chance of survival.
Brian, but maybe that's what you were trying to say. Sorry haha.
I do have a question. You Are beekeeper in the US, I live in Europe. You catch 'wild' swarms in the wild, where I live there is no such thing as the wild anymore. When we catch swarms, these are either Buckfast or Carniolan and their DNA is fucked up, that's it.
So your catched swarms are what? Are they a mixture of wild and Italian and carnolan and... or just 'wild'?
When we ask our older beekeepers about these wild bees in our area they will tell us these are stingers, you don't want them. Period, end of the conversation. So your wild bees are they stingers?
So the Bees we catch are probably a combination of many of those species. All the Bees here breed with one another so you're never going to have a purely Italian or purely Carniolan breed.
When people ask me what type of Bees we have I typically just tell them what their traits are. Our Bees are only slightly aggressive, usually just sending out a guard when people are right up beside the hive. Most of them are disease resistant and also winter well. They like to swarm usually between mid March to mid May. Their colors usually range from a gold to a darker gold hue.
So I tell people they are wild Bees because the queen will mate with several drones from different hives and a mixture of their genetics will be formed. Hope that helps!
Honeybees are native to Europe. You have wild bees. In America they are feral.
Id say wild bees do not have to be in the woods. They are any bees that have been left to nature for a extended period of time. I live in Kansas City MO and we get bees that move into our neighborhood all spring even though there are no beekeepers for 10+ miles. Most of them are mixed with Italian and Western European, though I have a hive in my back yard that is most definitely Western European mixed with Italian. They have little white strips and are almost black, and my Italian are a bright orang/yellow with a strong black a abdomen. Id say they are most likly italiens mixed with something else.
It's ironic, everything you're saying about the bees, applies directly to humans. Except saying this about humans is practically blasphemy these days. I grew up playing outside my entire life in forests and creeks. Never had allergies or any immune problems. Was forced to take vaccines a couple times when young for public school and it was the only time I felt horrible and got badly sick during that time.
It's definitely blasphemy to speak against treatment for a lot of Honeybee groups. People just won't accept to letting nature takes its course and by using chemicals their Honeybees just end up being worse off than if they hadn't used them. When their colonies die then that's just a shame but if the treatment free colony dies then its cruelty. People play a lot of mental gymnastics over their Bees and yes they do the same over their own health as well.
@@SecureAcresNaturalBees Went to visit the nearby beekeeper yesterday. He goes mostly natural although still uses plastic foundations, and heavy interaction with the bees. I will most likely be buying an 5 nuc colony from him after I finish my boxes.
@@Dan.Parker Sounds like fun. You should put up some swarm traps too and see if you can catch some Bees!
@@SecureAcresNaturalBees i was probably going to make a swarm trap even in case mine decides to split or swarm itself. Only i havent seen any honey bees around my area, hence the main reason i want to introduce them.
I'd say, if you're 'treatment-free' then you're not really 'keeping' bees
the concept I'm exploring is that we're going to give the local bees, houses - if they come, great, if they go, well, they are free, not kept. :)
Free Bees are the best Bees!