Typical of a bee supplier. Always saying "oh your bees need feed just like cows , And treatments other wise they will die blah blah blah" . Advertising and salesman pitch . You cannot compare honey bees to cattle or horses . First of all they are completely different animals in every way . Second of all cows and horses do not collect and store feed for the winter. 3rd there are honey bees surviving out in the wild on their own without human intervention. I say human manipulation of honey bees is the biggest mistake because we interfere with their natural evolution. We humans breed honey bees for our convenience- honey production, rapid colony growth for pollination ect.. what about the honey bee? just another human server .
Your argument might make sense if he was selling sugar and water. an unethical supplier would tell you not to treat for mites, in the hopes of selling more nucs after your hives "mysteriously" died. 10 formic pro strips cost about $70 while 10 new nucs will cost $1500-2000 or more. do you yell at ants for ranching aphids? or for letting silverfish run around the colony like a pet? both species gain benefits and deal with downsides of the situation. if anything we are mimicking the very acts that mother nature has been doing since time in memorial, two species coexisting. the keepers get honey, the bees have more places to live (unnatural as you may think it is.) If the bees feel that used, they can literally fly away at any time.
He's speaking to beekeepers who keep domestic hives. If you just want bees just to say you have bees, there's no need to keep a domestic style hive. Just hang a hollow log 8-14 feet up in the air and be done with it. Of course bees are not exactly like cows and horses, no one is milking bees and I've never saddled one up for a ride into town either. 🙄 He was making the comparison because just like we have to accommodate our farm animals into living in conditions that are not the same as their wild counterparts, we have to take care of our "domestic" bees as well. Wild horses and wild cows also exist.
Humans have stuck their hands into just about everything that lives. So when we do stick our hands then we have to do the best we can to care for them. So if you do have hives in you care then you need to care for them. Just as we do for horses and cows. Have to consider them live stock, and do our best to keep them alive.
Great information Blake.
Informative video. Thank you for sharing..
I am pre-beekeeper gathering supplies and info to have an ag exemption on 20 acres in Lampasas / Burnett County.
Why not just treat for mites routinely?
Mite treatments aren't always good for bees, so it's best to only use them as needed.
Typical of a bee supplier. Always saying "oh your bees need feed just like cows , And treatments other wise they will die blah blah blah" . Advertising and salesman pitch . You cannot compare honey bees to cattle or horses . First of all they are completely different animals in every way . Second of all cows and horses do not collect and store feed for the winter. 3rd there are honey bees surviving out in the wild on their own without human intervention. I say human manipulation of honey bees is the biggest mistake because we interfere with their natural evolution. We humans breed honey bees for our convenience- honey production, rapid colony growth for pollination ect.. what about the honey bee? just another human server .
Your argument might make sense if he was selling sugar and water. an unethical supplier would tell you not to treat for mites, in the hopes of selling more nucs after your hives "mysteriously" died. 10 formic pro strips cost about $70 while 10 new nucs will cost $1500-2000 or more. do you yell at ants for ranching aphids? or for letting silverfish run around the colony like a pet? both species gain benefits and deal with downsides of the situation. if anything we are mimicking the very acts that mother nature has been doing since time in memorial, two species coexisting. the keepers get honey, the bees have more places to live (unnatural as you may think it is.) If the bees feel that used, they can literally fly away at any time.
He's speaking to beekeepers who keep domestic hives. If you just want bees just to say you have bees, there's no need to keep a domestic style hive. Just hang a hollow log 8-14 feet up in the air and be done with it.
Of course bees are not exactly like cows and horses, no one is milking bees and I've never saddled one up for a ride into town either. 🙄
He was making the comparison because just like we have to accommodate our farm animals into living in conditions that are not the same as their wild counterparts, we have to take care of our "domestic" bees as well. Wild horses and wild cows also exist.
Humans have stuck their hands into just about everything that lives. So when we do stick our hands then we have to do the best we can to care for them. So if you do have hives in you care then you need to care for them. Just as we do for horses and cows. Have to consider them live stock, and do our best to keep them alive.