Natural Beekeeping in West Wales

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Natural Beekeeping in West Wales
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Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Tue Oct 24, 17 11:36 am Post subject:

mochasidamo wrote:

The issue that seems to worry many about leave-alone Warre systems is the monitoring for brood diseases, varroa and no doubt small hive beetle soon. And who knows what after that

I've no experience with Warre hives yet, but one of the Warre beeks on the natural beekeeping forum has been inspected by his local bee inspector, he had no trouble inspecting.
I seem to recall he gave a glowing testament to the bees & the bee keeper.
One of the first signs of brood disease is smell (foul) which will indicate as well in a Warre if not better than in a more open commercial frame hive.
Also taking a box (or skep) of fixed comb & turning it over to inspect is less disturbing than removing frames.
If the bees are less disturbed & less defensive it's easier to inspect IMHO.
It's easy to see between upturned combs & spot abnormalities for an experienced inspector.
The problem with natural beekeeping is generally other peoples biases & ignorance of the facts IMHO.
The more I learn, the more I'm convinced I'm making the right choices for me & my bees.
If you look at the history of foul brood outbreak it's quite telling IMHO that major outbreaks happened just after frame hives became popular here & in the USA.
Swapping frames between hives & the ability to propagate through the creation of nuclei also made it a lot easier to transfer brood disease from hive to hive, apiary to apiary & farther.
The methods of traditional skep beekeeping insured infected colonies where destroyed as part of the normal management process.
Culling of weak (possibly infected) colonies was the norm.
Brood disease spread was very minimal.

georginasj

Joined: 09 Oct 2017
Posts: 3

Posted: Tue Oct 24, 17 3:48 pm Post subject:
Thank you! That is really helpful and great to know. Hopefully see you there Georgina

BeekGuy

Joined: 18 Jul 2024
Posts: 3

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 24 7:50 am Post subject: Re: Natural Beekeeping in West Wales

hedgerow.crafts wrote:

Hi. We are planning on getting our first bees this year and want to use Warre hives. ...

Is there anyone keeping bees in Warre hives near Drefach Felindre / Newcastle Emlyn who might be up for offering a bit of moral support to a complete beginner?

I know a handful of natural beeks in Wales. Most use Warres. PM me for contact details.

BeekGuy

Joined: 18 Jul 2024
Posts: 3

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 24 7:50 am Post subject: Re: Natural Beekeeping in West Wales

hedgerow.crafts wrote:

I know a handful of natural beeks in Wales. Most use Warres. PM me for contact details.

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