Gallery
My wonderful mentor Bill Treichler–who is no longer with us–taught me that the world encompasses far greater possibilities than any “expert” can describe
Sir Albert Howard defined modern Organic farming with a concept that beekeepers must also use to survive and thrive in the future: Pests and diseases should always be seen as friends and allies–showing us where our practices are poorly adapted, and how to bring them back into balance.
Charlie Mraz made important contributions to beekeeping practice and created the American apitherapy movement during a long career in Middlebury, Vt. He was my first mentor and employer in commercial beekeeping.
Brother Adam–world famous beekeeper and bee breeder. Much of my apiary system was lifted from his work.
Masanobu Fukuoka–Japanese farmer and author of The One Straw Revolution and other books. He developed and practiced over many decades a profitable method of growing rice, citrus and vegetables using no fossil fuel or agricultural chemicals of any kind. Over the years he had dozens of apprentices and thousands of visitors, yet no one has been able to fully replicate his success. Why?
of the best information and inspiration for dealing with the current beekeeping problems comes from the old bee books written between 1860 and 1910
Without adopting the tracheal mites as mentors, I would never have been able to find a satisfactory solution to the varroa problem.
The box I have always used for propagating nucs for overwintering and for testing my new crop of queens.
Excellent overwintered baby nucs in the spring of 2006, with their strength numbers written on the covers.
One of several hundred healthy nucs in early autumn 2010–eight years after the last treatment of any kind was applied.
The color and position of the white tack shows the new queen’s mother, potential mates and date the nuc was established.
Another favorite photo showing beautiful brood from a four year old queen–five years after the last treatment.
The Russian bees formed the raw material for my durrent stock. They are a true “wild type”, and need to be aggressively propagated and selected down to develop the traits we want and need.
Good queen cells raised from your own favorite colonies–the basis of future health, resilience and productivity in any apiary. Raising good cells in untreated colonies is not a problem.
Learning to make my own was foundation on a small scale was the most difficult thing I ever did with bees. Don’t try it or buy anything without calling me first–I might save you a huge amount of trouble and money.
The way I currently prepare my new frames with homemade foundation–two horizontal wires and two vertical wooden sticks.
A typical frame of summer brood nine years after the last treatment was applied. The truth is, I worry less about the bees now than I did when they were being treated.
2011: For the last 20 years I have always had my own overwintered nucs and queens to replace winter loss and expand. I sold nucs as well in all those years except two
With bees becoming more scarce and valuable, it’s not necessary to have a huge investment in bees, facilities and vehicles to make a living from them now