organic??

Highlandsfreedom · May 09, 2009, 06:16:49 PM

I would like to go drug free on my colonies.... is that commiting sucide or are their some ideas that work??

slaphead · May 09, 2009, 06:53:18 PM

Well there are probably as many ideas on this as there are beekeepers with many participants here trying different approaches. Recommend you search the forums for "natural cell" as that will lead you to postings by Michael Bush, among others. I think you will finding some of the experiences reported are encouraging.

SH

Highlandsfreedom · May 09, 2009, 08:57:54 PM

thanks for the positive words I will search for those

SgtMaj · May 09, 2009, 09:00:47 PM

There are many useful ways to go organic for most pests.

Mites are easy to treat organically, but I'm not so sure about some of the other pests like Nosema.

Robo · May 09, 2009, 10:17:47 PM

It really depends on what you mean by drug free. If you mean not treating with the hard synthesized chemicals like Apistan and checkmite, than good success can be had with organic acids such as formic and oxalic. If you mean no treatment at all, nada, none, than your best best is to start with local survivor feral stock. I have migrated all my stock from local survivor stock and am going into my 4th year of no treatment. I have some on small cell and some on large cell and they seem to do equally well.

annette · May 10, 2009, 12:20:41 AM

I do not treat my hives with anything except powdered sugar dustings once in while. I hear you can lose bees whether or not you treat them with anything. So I prefer the natural route.

Highlandsfreedom · May 10, 2009, 12:24:24 AM

sweet this is good news because this is my first colony and it was a swarm!!!!!!! I'm glaf to hear good vibes

annette · May 10, 2009, 12:31:42 AM

Let the bees be natural. Let them make their own wax combs, no plastic in your hives. It works out great. I started out all wrong when I started beekeeping. I read books and took classes, but nothing was as progressive as the stuff I learned from this forum.

I never did medicate them though even from the very beginning because it just did not seem right to me. I feel I am doing the very best for the bees now.

Good Luck and stay in touch about every little thing.

Robo · May 10, 2009, 08:37:45 AM

Quote from: Highlandsfreedom on May 10, 2009, 12:24:24 AM
sweet this is good news because this is my first colony and it was a swarm!!!!!!! I'm glaf to hear good vibes

Not to dampen your vibes, but a swarm doesn't mean survivor feral. Yes they were feral, but could be a swarm from another beekeeper. So, that queen you have could be from a queen breeder way down south. A colony that has been feral for a year or more is what I consider a survivor. Cut-out where the owner knows how long they have been there is the best place to get survivor stock.

Highlandsfreedom · May 10, 2009, 09:55:38 AM

that is true...... I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for an established colony

Michael Bush · May 10, 2009, 08:35:24 PM

>I would like to go drug free on my colonies.... is that commiting sucide or are their some ideas that work??

I haven't treated with anything at all from 1974 until 1999 and nothing at all from 2001 until now. But I'm now on natural and small cell.

Here's the results:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beescerts.htm

Here's how:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm