Description

How to integrate mite control, swarm control, honey production, and the overwintering of nucleus colonies in a northern climate using biotechnical controls and leveraging the bees’ own abilities.

People with a beginner’s interest in bees are often disturbed to learn that their bees will die without some form of varroa mite control. I was, and some of mine did. Yet they didn’t all perish. Data that I obtained from the Bee Informed Partnership for my region showed that the average overwintering survival rate for the bees of non-migratory beekeepers, even with chemical mite control, is around half. Luck, intuition, skepticism, thrift, research, the observations of others, and the help of generous online mentors has led me to develop a method that has allowed me to overwinter more than two thirds of my colonies consistently without chemical mite control.

I have written this book to offer an alternative to traditional methods that have not been working for sustainable beekeeping. This book is meant to save you money and, increase your chances of having a surplus of bees in the spring.