11-6 IAN TLC

11-6 IAN TLC

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.

A treatment for colony collapse disorder. I have had so many chats with commercial beekeeper Bill Ahaus over the years and most conversations have been disturbing. My latest was not. “I just talked to a commercial guy that I send my bees to in California around 1 February and he asked me how our bees did this year and I told him it was the best honey crop that we have had in 10 or 12 years. I am very pleased and the bees look real good. I cannot explain exactly what happened but I had a guy helping me. He was a retired doctor and he was helping me more to gain some experience himself but he would come out once a week and I had to plan something like, what are we going to do? He is coming out this week so I guess we will go and inspect hives. So we were a lot more diligent about taking care of them than I had been in previous years. Is it possible that the answer to colony collapse disorder is just a little TLC on the part of the beekeeper? I’m not sure that is the total answer but I have said before that this colony collapse disorder and the mites have made beekeepers, better beekeepers. Unless you are knuckled down and take care of them you are going to lose them. The lazy beekeepers are gone so I guess yes, like you said, a little TLC.

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