And although there are far more than I can possibly list here, we would like to make sure you are aware of those few that I think are most important.
Certainly at the top of the list is that honey bees enhance the productivity of our gardens, our farms, and the wild plants everywhere due to their pollinat- ing behaviors. There’s a conspiracy between plants and bees — where bees gather a flower’s nectar and pollen for food and in the process share one flower’s pollen with the next flower they visit. Thus both plants benefit and can set the seeds of their next generation.
Meanwhile, the honey bee helps herself to the sweet and nutritious rewards offered by the flowers. These rewards are used to feed the young and sustain the honey bee colony over the winter. What a grand relationship. Both flow- ers and bees, and even beekeepers benefit.
Beekeepers and honey bees have a similar sort of arrangement. Honey bees, driven by instinct to gather as much of nature’s bounty as possible, often store far more than they can ever use. This they share with their keepers, who in turn provide home and hearth, safety and protection for the colony, their queen and their future. Both are winners in this honeyed dance.
But beekeepers have had to pay more attention to the safety and protection they have been providing because unknown and unseen perils have come to visit our bees. Colony Collapse Disorder and other deadly pests are causing our bees problems. In some cases serious problems.
But we have responded in the new ways of the world. We’ve developed new and innovative Integrated Pest Management systems that control these pests, that care for the nutrition and health of our bees, that shield their young from harm, and that protect them from the things that go bump in the hive.
We’ve learned that there are many, many ways to win these battles, ways that are safe, sane and healthy for both beekeepers and their bees. These are the beekeeping practices of the future. These are what we must know, and what we must do.
And beekeepers are learning the many advantages of growing their own. Beekeepers are producing their own queens, selected to thrive in their own backyards, chosen to grow where the beekeeper lives. These are the bees of the future. This is beekeeping at its best.