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N AT U R AL B E E K E E P I N G
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N ATUR AL B E E K E E P I N G
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disease-resistant stock, favorable apiary sites, and good colony management, plus a
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continue to rely on them. Natural beekeeping is not only the best way to keep bees, it is
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the only way we should keep bees.
KIM FLOTTUM , editor of Bee Culture
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Ross Conrad has created an intimate guide to beekeeping that clearly details holistic
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methods aimed at hive health.
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Urban beekeeping;
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on marketing provides valuable advice for anyone
resource for organically minded beekeepers. Today,
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who intends to sell a wide range of hive products.
more people than ever are getting into beekeeping
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Cover design by Melissa Jacobson
Author cover photo by Tad Merrick
NaturalBeekeeping_cover.indd 1
Chelsea Green
ROSS CONRAD
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F O reWO rD tO t h e F Ir St e DIt IO N
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Natural Beekeeping
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p r e FaCe
Its hard to believe, but it has been over five years since
the first edition of Natural Beekeeping was published.
The book was released on the heels of colony collapse
disorders first widespread impacts, and much has
changed since then. There has been phenomenal
growth in the number of new people getting into
beekeeping, and our knowledge and understanding of the honey bee and its pests and pathogens has
grown tremendously, thanks to increased funding
for research. There are scores of new products on
the market based upon these new understandings.
Beekeeping management has continued to evolve
at a brisk pace, with beekeepers both new and old
experimenting with novel approaches and philosophies. Interest in urban beekeeping has exploded,
and top bar hives have become commonplace.
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xii
Natural Beekeeping
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xiii
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xiv
Natural Beekeepi n g
chemical usage and to provide a number of alternative options in the effort to keep bees healthy
without toxic chemotherapy controls. The more
options and knowledge we as beekeepers have at
our disposal, the greater the opportunity for flexibilitysomething that is sorely needed today to
help us adapt successfully to changes and events
that challenge our beekeeping operations.
Ill be the first to tell you that I do not have all
the answers. In fact, no small part of my enjoyment of the craft of beekeeping stems from the
creativity, adventure, and sense of discovery that
is inherent in the process of attempting to maintain
healthy hives in a natural and sustainable way.
From the very beginning, I have always refused to
use toxic chemicals in my hives. My stubbornness
caused me to lose many hives in the early days,
but by persevering I have proven to myself that it
is possible in this day and age to keep honey bees
without resorting to the use of dangerous synthetic
chemical compounds. I have attempted to present
my experiences and what I have heard or read in a
manner that will be of the most benefit to others
in regard to natural and organic apiculture. As a
result, I have taken pains to indicate which techniques I have directly tried and experienced and
which I have only heard or read about in passing.
I see the activity of beekeeping in much the
same way that I view activities like gardening
and raising children. There is no single correct
approach that applies to everyone. Each one of
us who participates in the craft of apiculture
will develop approaches and techniques that are
unique to our particular needs, styles, and situations. As with gardening and child rearing, how
individuals approach beekeeping will depend on
NaturalBeekeepingRevisedEd_finalpages.indd 14
their resources, knowledge, purpose, level of confidence, and philosophies for becoming involved
in the activity. A full-time migratory beekeeper,
for example, will manage hives quite differently
from a commercial honey producer. And both of
these approaches to beekeeping will differ greatly
from those of a person who maintains a hive simply
as a hobby in order to provide themselves with a
source of honey bees for apitherapy. No matter our
reasons for keeping bees, it is beneficial to seek out
beekeeping information from a variety of sources
and to choose those forms of hive management that
best fit our personal situation, goals, and finances.
Thanks to the continual development of innovative technologies and management techniques,
new methods seem to surface every year that fit
the natural and organic philosophy, and improvements are gradually being made to many of the
older ways of going about things. Some people
may choose to incorporate just a few of these ideas
into their hive management routines and simply
reduce the number of chemical treatments they
need to apply on a yearly basis. This would lead to
an integrated pest management (IPM) approach,
which dictates that treatments are applied not simply routinely but only according to need. Others
may choose to be more aggressive in implementing
nontoxic beekeeping and manage their hives in
an entirely natural manner, as I endeavor to do.
Either way, significant cost savings can be gained
from reduced chemical, drug, and feed supplement
expenditures. More important, greater peace of
mind will be obtained, by easing concerns about
toxic chemical contamination and exposure. The
final outcomehealthier bees and robust hives
is everyones ultimate prize.
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