I constantly hear people argue various beekeeping practices saying how can it be wrong, beekeepers have been doing it for X number of years.
This evokes the sacred law of "If it ain't broke don't fix it"
With the constant battle against Varroa mites, systemic pesticides, aging number of commercial beekeepers, CCD... the list goes on, I would argue that beekeeping is broken.
Even when it comes to a topic such as overwintering, a beekeeper is happy if 50-70% of their hives make it (in my region). There is room for improvement. Technology is allowing us to monitor much more inside a hive, who knows what we can learn. People may argue that science and technology have done a lot to hurt beekeeping, but please don't confuse gained knowledge with how people have chose to use it. (I'm not necessarily advocating wires and batteries in hives, just don't hate on research and ideas.)
The main argument I have with this reasoning is how stagnant it is. I believe we should always be striving to improve, and I hope you all do to. The world around us is constantly changing. Beekeeping experiences new challenges and scientific breakthroughs every year. If you are not adapting your beekeeping practices and staying up to date with the latest research, beekeeping may not have a place in the future.
This evokes the sacred law of "If it ain't broke don't fix it"
With the constant battle against Varroa mites, systemic pesticides, aging number of commercial beekeepers, CCD... the list goes on, I would argue that beekeeping is broken.
Even when it comes to a topic such as overwintering, a beekeeper is happy if 50-70% of their hives make it (in my region). There is room for improvement. Technology is allowing us to monitor much more inside a hive, who knows what we can learn. People may argue that science and technology have done a lot to hurt beekeeping, but please don't confuse gained knowledge with how people have chose to use it. (I'm not necessarily advocating wires and batteries in hives, just don't hate on research and ideas.)
The main argument I have with this reasoning is how stagnant it is. I believe we should always be striving to improve, and I hope you all do to. The world around us is constantly changing. Beekeeping experiences new challenges and scientific breakthroughs every year. If you are not adapting your beekeeping practices and staying up to date with the latest research, beekeeping may not have a place in the future.