From: "deelusbybeekeeper" <deelusbybeekeeper@excelonline.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 07:44:42 -0800
To: <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: THE ORGANIC BEEKEEPER

Robert wrote:

> It's totally unrealistic except for the very few, or beekeepers in
> countries like Sierra Leone where they can't afford to put fertilisers on
> everything. Short of going to Africa (which we have been discussing) I will
> never be able to produce honey to organic standards, so forget it, it's
> outside my control. All I'm going to worry about it keeping the chemicals out
> of my hives. One thing I gain from urban beekeeping is that nobody is ever
> going to spray enough forage to kill my hives.

Reply:
If all beekeepers used common sense (of course the rest of agric also) and
never used the various dopes/treatments within their colonies at all to
begin with, there would probably be no problem today with the various
residues and health concerns. It would have shortened the process long ago
to leaving the scientists and regulators to get back off of enlarged combs
and back to natural beekeeping, thus ending the problem. But then beekeepers think and make things too help, but they should think better about what they are doing. But alas- that is the hard part! Knowing what you are doing is right and fits in with the natural.

Dee