It would be a good thing if we could remove the demonization Barry speaks of from both points of view and achieve success through honest discussions of what is and isn't working with the realization there will be a vast chasm of what works in hobby operation and what may work in a commercial operation. We would all like to be treatment free. The truth is we are on path in that direction but have a ways to go, especially for commerical operators. The answer for larger operations will likely never be no treatment but more natural treatmens and achieved resistance. Certainly I've had my "defensive" moments on beesource so am a guilty as anyone. I think even within a successful similar operations great differences in success are likely due to the intraccies of any individual beekeepers managment plan and as well due to personal physical limitations (eyesight, sense of smell, etc). I can find and examine a queen in a hive quickly and see a suspcious looking brood issue because after years and years, thousands and thousands of hives inspections, training from some good bee people and a great deal of study and research I've developed a "system". Now that I am in my 50's though on my best day with good training and tons of experiance, and I work bees every day, that success is dependant on my bi-focals. Carpal tunnel in my elbow from driving and driving and driving slows me down, distracts me some days and I miss things I might not have 10 years ago. My goal is not aimed at treating or not treating but aimed at keeping healthy with minimal chemical interference and then responding as I identify issues:
1) We look at a hive as a single organism, not just a group of individuals within a hive. Picture your body with organs that all need to function properly to keep you working. Now picture each caste of bees from nurse to field worker as an organ within that hive. When you inspect are those organs (castes) all working properly and strong you have the best chance of keeping healthy bees and minimizing or eliminating the need for treament. Dr. Shiminoko, formerly of Beltsville always taught this in his lectures. All our hives have all the pathogens for disease and collapse but usually only succumb when an "organ" or a group of organs weaken the hive and the "organism" succumbs just as if your heart and lungs were weak at the same time and you became ill. There are ways to boost weak organs through simple manipulations, such as equalization if you run 2 or more hives, which will keep bees healthy.
2) I had to learn what a healthy hive looks like, sounds like, smells like, acts like. I think the most important inspection I make in our yards is the one standing and watching the entrance and seeing what the bees are doing. Are they doing the appropriate action for the weather and time of year? Are there a good number of active guard bees during a nectar flow? Are field field workers coming and going quickly with purpose, are there drones coming or going, are there bees on the ground alive near the hive that shouldn't be, are there an unusual number of dead bees outside the entrance, is their any dead brood visible at or near the entrance? These and other clues tell me who's getting opened today for a closer look.
3) What is my bee space? Not that space between frames and combs but that space the bees forage within. How much forage do they have, is it shady, sunny, are their other competing hives nearby, how much can this area reasonably support. Too often we lose sight of the fact once any area is overpopulated with a species and comptetition arises disease, starvation and parasites are nature's natural population controls.
4) What are my genetics. With CCD and the huge numbers of packages and queens being produced by fewer operations the "puppy mill" effect takes place and the quality of available stock from many suppliers has decreased due to pressure. Good genetics are an absolute essential and even within those genetics evaluation of indivdual stock is critial as a poorly mated, injured or substandard queen like a bad heart - your organism may survive for a time but the end result due to weakness is inevitable. Studies, I think from Beltsville, on queen rearing operations showed queens being shipped form suppliers with as many as 12 or more viruses in fresh stock. We can't cure see or cure the virus only watch in wonderment as a hive weakens and dies from the symptoms. We choose our suppliers carefully to bring in fresh stock and breed from own stock. Keep in mind no beekeper is too small to improve his/her own stock through breeding.
5) Education - Read, watch video's, attend lectures and seminars, research and keep notes when you start out. Personal knowledge is the most important weapon in keeping healthy bees and keeping healthy bees is the 1st step to being minimal treatment of being treatment free. Can you recognize nosema, AFB, varroa infestation before it becomes an issue? Do you have your bees tested? Starting out with healthy stock or getting stock healthy and the right genetics will give you a much higer level of success with fewer treatments and potentially no treamtments.
6) Respond to circumstances beyond your control. You will evenutally be exposed disease, parasites, starvation, bad weather, from sources you can't forsee or due to a queen which may take 2 brood cycles to deterimine a health or genetics problem. We had a rough spring with cold temps and chill brood for our nucs this year followed by a 6 week period of drought and nectar dearth. Supplemental Feeding, using formic to keep down mites, minor "treatments" kept a few hundred hives healthy and taking care of themselves and my family. We keep bees in an area where 6 or 7 years ago state inspectors were burning hives for AFB like vikings pillaging English hamlets. We will use anti-biotics to protect our's and other's operations but with the clear concept the term Anti-biotic means "against life" and we need to continue to develop hygenic behavior in our stock.
We look at our operation like we would ourselves and our children. I don't take an advil every time I get an ache or pain and I don't treat every time I see an issue. The possiblity of keeping bees treatment free in the near future for me is unlikely because I am keeping un-natural numbers of a species in my bee space - usually 25 hives to a yard. Additionally we have many beekeepers in our county and although we work to stay isolated I know there is pressure from other bees. As I feed my family with my bees if Beltsvilles finds an issue with bees sent for testing I act responsibly and treat minimally. Just as if my kids had an infectious disease or a parasite and needed treatment. It's likely if they have the common cold or a headache we'll let nature take it's course. Healthy organisms are bombared by threats and usually survive the non-pandemics fine. We are treating far less then we did after losing our bees in 1997 to Varroa and appreciating success through keeping bees healthy. As more natural treatments become verified we shift to those and in some cases have found the bees are able, if we are willing to loose our weak hives every year and breed from our best stock, overcome many issues on their own.
For those pointing the finger agains those attempting non-treatment I would say their influence has shifted the industry towards a much more natural approach. For those point the finger at those of us who do treat - 1 of every three bites of the very cheap food we appreicate in this country is a result of commercial beekeepers who do keep bees contrary to the laws of nature - and out of necessity - treat to keep them healthy,\.