Description
Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture by Ross Conrad offers long-term solutions for healthy beehives. Beekeepers face unprecedented challenges, a fact that is now front-page news with the spread of "colony collapse disorder." Newly introduced pests like the Varroa Destructor mite have made chemical treatment of hives standard practice, but pest resistance is building, which in turn creates demand for new and even more toxic chemicals. In fact, there is evidence that chemical treatments are making matters worse. It's time for a new approach. Natural Beekeeping offers a holistic, sensible alternative to conventional chemical practices with a program of natural hive management. Ross Conrad brings together the best "do no harm" strategies for keeping honeybees healthy and productive with nontoxic methods of controlling mites, eliminating American foul-brood disease (without the use of antibiotics), selective breeding for naturally resistant bees, and many other tips and techniques. Detailed management techniques are covered in a thoughtful, matter-of-fact way.