Day #119 Switching to Natural Hives

Since the bees I'll be picking up in seven weeks (only SEVEN!) will have been raised on pre-formed foundations, and since they will have been treated with various medications, because that's what the bee farm where I'm getting them does for its bees, it's liable to take me a while to wean the bees off those conditions and into the natural set-up I want to encourage.

For "natural" beekeepers, survival of the fittest is a way of life. Hives that are not strong enough to fend off invasions of small hive beetles or varroa mites will ultimately fail. I plan to put in vegetable oil traps to help get rid of some of those pesky beetles, but what I truly want to do is raise bees with a minimum of intervention.

Keep reminding me of this, will you?

BEEattitude for Day # 119:

       Blessed are they who live simply, for they shall move with a light heart from one day to the next.

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       My daughter with whom I can now talk “woman to woman.”    

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