Natural beekeeping is a whole new way to keep bees. But going natural covers much more than just bees. It involves all agriculture. And it involves all of us.

Personally, I have a hard time understanding how, as I watch this earth’s resources shrink, and the populations grow and agricultural problems increase, just how traditional agricultural models will meet this crisis.

Some, especially those who have a long career or are heavily invested in traditional agricultural practices, sometimes have a hard time really understanding what ‘natural’ is all about. It seems like another fad, or a new buzz word. Something to get in the way of progress. Something to confuse the issues.  A pipe dream!

But results are telling. My natural beekeeping has been the most productive beekeeping I’ve ever experienced. It’s based on understanding and maintaining relationships rather than pushing the bees for maximum production.

What I’ve experienced on a very small scale with bees is being replicated, in another area of agriculture, on a very large scale.  The principles are the same. Take a look at this:

What do you think? Not only is natural a socially and environmentally responsible way to keep bees. It can become the a great model for feeding us all. And if the same kind of results are found in other areas of agriculture, like I’ve experienced with bees, the future is full of hope.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

Hi Guys,

http://www.wildbienen.de/index.htm

Most of my beekeeping focuses on honeybees. But I’ve been dabbling in natural pollinators for almost five years now. They’re a very valuable part of natural beekeeping.

Native bees will pollinate my apple and fruit trees when honeybees won’t touch them. And many of them fly in weather that keeps honeybees in their hives.

They are shy, varied, independent and beautiful. It’s quite easy to provide a little shelter and habitat for them. And they thrive without any fuss. They’re the idea suburban bee.

A wild bee from my backyard.

I really enjoy studying and photographing them.

Googling will yield most of the best wild bee links I’ve found. But here’s one that isn’t so easy to find. Check out this wild bee link.

I’ve shamelessly stolen this one from Dave Green as mentioned on the Bee-L list. He comments on this site in his own pollinator blog which is certainly worth looking at as well.

The site is in German. But even without Google’s translation, the pictures are worth a long visit! Take time and look around this one.  This site is certainly worth bookmarking.

I’ve got a few new ideas to try out. How about you? If not, check this out!

How about now? Want to try providing some shelter for some native bees? It might be an ideal project for a school or nature center.

Still interested but not in a mega project? Check this out. There’s not a house or garden that wouldn’t benefit from a little wild bee art.

Here’s the untranslated German site.

Enjoy.
Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

Where to Now?

Lately, I’ve been wandering off the bee natural pathway. And I bet you’re thinking here he goes again!

But life is more than bees, especially when you live in Wyoming’s climate where there’s more none-bee weather than bee weather in a season. It will be many weeks before any meaningful inspection is possible. And real bee work is still months away.

If all was done right late last summer, everything that can be done, has already been done. The bees are what they are. Messing with them now only makes matters worse.

Equipment work can wait for warmer temperatures when glue, paint and a warmer beekeeper just seem to work faster and better.

What, Me Dance?

Here’s a clip that I find absolutely mesmerizing.

I’ve never understood dance. I witnessed some of it’s power that night my son can back from Iraq.

But this performance absolutely astounds me. It has a power and beauty that I’ve rarely experienced. While watching, I quickly lost my full awareness of two humans dancing. And it didn’t fully return until the lights came on at the end of the performance.

What do you think? Did those dancers accomplish their purpose?

Is it too late for an old beekeeper, who was too awkward, too ignorant and too embarrassed to experience the power of the dance, to learn something new?

Bee Dance

Concerning bees, maybe the DVAV dance should get it’s old name back? I’ve always thought that the ‘joy dance’ was a better name for it. Joy is the perfect word to express the energy and excitement the dancing bee transfers to her lethargic partners. Sometimes science just takes the joy out of things!

And my opinions aren’t all based on some sentimental anthropomorphism. It was commonly thought that smaller brained animals lacked the full range of functions experienced by larger brained animals. But recent research has shown brain size is not a limiting factor for brain function. Smaller brains can experience the full range of function and emotion of larger brained animals. They don’t lack function, just precision.

Me and the Bees Dancing?

Just like those honeybees, where one full of energy and expression shakes up her lethargic companion, these dancers have revived something in me!

So it’s out with the DVAV and in with the joy dance! Both for me and the bees.

And if I’m in the mood and I’m way out in a beeyard by myself. I might do my own version of a beekeeper’s joy dance there.  I’ve certainly experienced my share of joy while working bees.

In my mind, my joy dance might resemble that dance above. It would be full of power, expression, grace and energy. But as joyous as that might be in my mind, I’m sure you know why I’d only do my own bumbling and stumbling by myself, way out in one of my beeyards

Too Far?

Did I wonder too far off the path?  Certainly not far enough off to get into much trouble, I hope.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

Phil working his bees naturally.

Phil Chandler has released An Introduction to Natural Beekeeping. It’s free. And it can be read online or downloaded in various formats.

Beekeepers, new to natural beekeeping, are often surprised how simple natural beekeeping is. And at six pages, Phil’s ebook is a fast read. It describes all the basic principles a natural beekeeper must know. And it’s a good read. Check it out.

Phil  is the barefoot beekeeper I’ve talked about in another post. He hangs out at biobees.com and has other must read resources available there.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

The Beginnings

Goodbye commercial beekeeping. I've stayed way too long.

I’ve been around commercial beekeeping since  high school, when I was hired as cheap labor. Then, few treatments, if  any were used. And even feeding sugar,  except for emergencies, was hotly debated. I saw lots of swarms. Hive populations were large. So were the honey crops. Routine requeening wasn’t practiced. And winter loses were easily made up by splitting in the spring.

After college and the Army, I left a lucrative career as a senior exploration geologist, to manage a commercial bee outfit in Lingle, Wyoming.

Cliff Weller, the elderly gentleman who started the Lingle operation after WWI, would stop by and visit. One day, I asked him about an old container and some signs I’d found in a cabinet. The sealed container had a very faded, curled and yellow paper labeled “Sulfa”. And the signs stated: “Warning. This beeyard is under quarantine. All honey is poisonous and unfit for human consumption.” He laughed and said he’d bought the sulfa after WWII if he’d encounter a bad outbreak of foulbrood. But he’d never used it. The sign? It was designed to scare thieves away. He’d put them in a yard when it experienced theft or vandalism.

Later, my brother and I  established a sideline bee operation in Delta Junction, Alaska. We treated our initial package bees with Fumidil B. And brought a bucket of tetra with us which we never used.

The Slippery Slide

Then returning to Wyoming from Alaska, I worked commercial bees part time. And then years later, full time for a commercial beekeeper. I had with my own queen rearing business on the side.

Through time, prophylactic antibiotics, often in the form of antibiotic grease patties became the norm. Feeding sugar, then corn syrup became routine.

Hive populations decreased. Honey crops overall, got smaller. Queen failures increased requiring frequent requeening. And winter loses could no longer be made up from overwintered bees. Package bees were imported from California.

Over the Edge

Then the mites arrived. Their presence exacerbated all of those slippery problems. Commercial beekeepers, to cut cost and to deter pesticide resistant mites, began treating bees with several barnyard chemicals. Then later, with any chemical/pesticide concoction. Remember the arsenic spills in North Dakota?

I left commercial beekeeping in 2000. But continued with my hobby hives until moving to Florida in 2007.

Into the Sump

Upon my return to Wyoming, I visited one of my commercial beekeeping friends. He couldn’t find anyone to work the bees. It’s just hot, heavy, dirty, low paying work that requires long hours with lots of stings as a bonus. You’ve got to be a beekeeper to love it. And as most people know, you’re nuts to be a beekeeper. 

My commercial friend needed help. He was older and was having trouble doing the lifting. He offered me a job. I offered to help a friend.

It had been almost a decade since I’d been involved with commercial beekeeping. And things hadn’t gotten any better. I’d gone natural with my own bees and never looked back.

When working with bee equipment in his  shop,  I’d get a mild, but weird kind of headache and become slightly nauseated toward the end of a long day. Strange? It would stick with me for the rest of the day. But I’d sleep it off and be fine the next morning.

In the beeyard, my commercial beekeeping friend, on the pesticide treadmill, was running faster than ever. After working a yard, hives were routinely sprayed. A hivetool full of powder was tossed in. And a couple of oily construction paper strips were left in each hive before closing them up.

As soon as the this process started, I became  sick. It was worse when working downwind of the open buckets/spray. But even on a still day, my head would pound and I’d become slightly nauseated after a time. And I recognized that strange pounding headache. It was the same as I’d experienced in shop!

The End

My friend tried to limit my exposure in the field, but to no avail. Those chemicals permeated the operation, the equipment, the building, the clothing. This kind of commercial beekeeping made me sick! Even when you’re crazy enough to be a beekeeper, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re stupid enough to stay in this  situation.

My commercial friend wasn’t an innovator. But he would quickly and readily adopt practices touted by other commercial beekeepers. So, I know what I’ve experienced in his shop and others, was probably more typical than not. Most commercial guys see beekeeping as an agribusiness. And honey is seen as just another agricultural commodity.

Have you seen those clandestine videos from other agribusiness operations? What did you think? But did you know it possible to make the same kind of video for a beekeeping agribusiness as well?

I suspect a few good commercial beekeepers  actually see their business as producing a natural healthy food product. And run it so. But most run as an agribusiness that produces a bulk commercial commodity with low cost being the determining factor. The food, health and pure aspects of honey are left to the bottlers, lab technicians and the marketing guys.

Commercial beekeeping, it’s a dream I’ve had all my life. But it’s become a nightmare. Now it’s time to wake up. Commercial beekeeping, goodbye forever!

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

Reflections

A little over a week has passed since I welcomed my son home. He has his own place now. Is driving his wheels. Has been visited by the woman he loves and plans to marry. I’m sure almost everything seems normal. And that’s great.

But one thing still haunts me. As I slowly walked through those troops toward my son, there were some who had no one to personally welcome them home.

I’d see them out of the corner of my eye, standing next to their gear. Occasionally, several would be standing together starring quietly into the crowd. Sometimes a guy would be standing by himself. And as the crowd thinned. Some were still standing there wondering what to do. That’s what sticks with me now.

And I’m sorry that I didn’t take the time to personally welcome them home. I could have, and should have taken the time. My wife was with my son. My slow feet could have tarried a little more. Jon wouldn’t have even noticed the delay. Maybe he would even have understood.

Slow Feet – Slow Mind

Why were my feet moving so slow? Was it the conflict going on between my head and my heart? Was I dragging an emotion anchor? Or maybe packing some national guilt? Selfishness? Embarrassment? It’s hard to say. But I did experienced a kind of mental gridlock. Have you been there?

My mind said rush off to your son. My heart, my spirit wanted to tarry and hug them all. Would they have understood? Would they have cared? Would it matter?

When I was young, my mind ruled. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that’s not always the best course to take. And I’ve learned that the hard way. Ouch!

Priorities?…Priorities!

On that parade field, I could have made a difference. But…..

Ouch! Another lesson learned. And I’ve screw it up again. I’ve got the equivalent of a PhD this way.

Something missed. Not All Is Lost.

I missed my chance. I lost out! It’s not the pictures taken of my wife and son. It’s not that our whole family was joyously together again. But it’s that haunting  image that sticks with me now.

I know it was only a moment in time. That those young men and women weren’t depending upon me.

I know those young men and women celebrated their return, in their own way as everyone must. And I’m sure they are in much the same state as my son. They’re back to living their lives. And that’s great!

But I’d do it different today.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

Here’s a neat TED talk about quorum sensing. It gives some insight into the basic processes and complex relationships all those good and bad bacteria form with the creatures they support as they fight it out for our life and health.

The implications of this research are profound. Wonder why CCD might be so hard to define. Or why virulent bee diseases disappear for awhile and then ravage the bees later. It might be more than just bee genetics and susceptibility. Or why the loss of probiotic critters can be so devastating?

This talk should give everyone something to think about.

Enjoy – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

The Situation

Early morning welcome back from Iraq for my son and his comrades.

I’m back again after a week away from home.

You see, my son has just returned from Iraq. He’s in the Army and has spent the last year in and around Baghdad. I’d been there to personally see him off. And I just couldn’t let him return home without personally greeting him. Ecstatic joy filled my being.

In typical Army fashion, he was scheduled to return about mid-week but didn’t get there until early morning on the weekend. So, I had a little time to burn before he eventually arrived.

My son was at West Point when the terrorist brought down the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the hijacked plane. I would have gone to Afghanistan to capture Bin Laden. Get him, if he survived and get out fast. But my military days are far behind me.

Iraq was a different situation. I never supported the decision to go into Iraq. Not before, during or now.

The justification and rush put on by the Bush administration, the debate in Congress, the coverage by the press, and the almost paranoid reaction by us Americans, made me often wonder just what it means to support the troops.

Early on, I would seen those magnetic car stickers and ponder if the driver really supported the troops? And that’s with the proper planning, material support, justification, followup and prayer. Or did those stickers represent a weak sentimental emotion that would leave those young boys ill prepared, poorly supported and abandoned by bureaucratic bungling when they returned home and needed this country’s help. History now shows us it was mostly the latter, at least by those that started the war. It made me very angry!

What do you say to your son when he and all those young men are departing? What about their return?

The Memorial

Arriving troops are welcomed on a parade field next to their battalion headquarters. The Fort is large. So, I decided to scout out the site during the day, and not wonder around lost at 2 am. It was easy to find. The day was warm. There’s time to walk around.

Next to battalion headquarters is a monument area. I wondered over. A circle of black obelisks surrounded a bronze sculpture of a soldier helping a child. I sat down  and looked around. Columns of names and dates covered both sides of most of the obelisks. A scattered rose here or there. A battalion patch carefully set down by a returning comrade.

Deep penetrating sorrow soaked my being. Tears filled my eyes as they wandered up and down, putting together the totality of this human loss through time.

Joy and sorrowing, like oil and water sloshed around inside my being. Neither fully mixing with the other. Yet somehow both became emulsified by the intense emotional energy of this place. I wanted to get up and run away. But I did not.  I could not! I had to stay and let this place, these people,  have their way with my soul.

Political prevarication?  Bungling bureaucracy? Self serving generals? Blind idiotic patriotism? My anger? Now, in this time and place, all of them are irrelevant!

After a time, I look up and see my wife standing off a ways. She is sensitive and has felt the power of this place. It’s too much for her. She patiently waits for me.  It is time for me to go.

The Welcome

It’s 12:30 am. In the 30’s with a stiff wind. It’s dark and cold!

Two big screen TVs  illuminate the steps of battalion headquarters. A small group of people huddle in the entrance way, out of the wind, as an airplane icon crawls across the map. That’s the plane they’re on. And they’re getting closer to home.

Army personnel setup cameras, power up amplifiers, light up the field and provide security. Everything must be ready. And they’ve done this before. They know their duty and the routine.

It’s 1:30 now. Cheering. Lots of cheering and crying and praising God. They’re safe on the ground. They’re almost home.

People  sheltering in their cars fill the bleachers surrounding the field. Banners. Posters. Balloons. Old gray headed parents like myself. Young wives looking their best, tend to tired, cold, confused but excited kids. Friends. Bothers. Sisters.  All wait excitedly.

A rock beat floods the parade grounds. Then feet tap and heads sway to the warm beat of a Latin rhythm. It’s too much. The emotion. The song. The wait. People are on the field. They are dancing with joy, with expectation, with celebration.

Our boys are home. Our boys are home. They’re back on American soil.

An Army DJ takes to the microphone and begins to call out dance moves in the Texas way. The dancing crowd moves in unison to the calls. It’s hypnotic. It’s magnetic. Old and young, male and female, rich and poor, black and white dance rthymically communicating in a common spiritual way that is rooted in our ancient past. It’s the proper way. It’s the only way to really fully express one’s self until the buses arrive.

My wife didn't waste any time! Welcome home Jon.

As the buses pull away, every eye stains into the darkness. Then like lightning, they burst into the light marching with their colors and our flag. There are so many of them. They are so young. Where is my son. I see him. I see him!

A few words of welcome. A prayer. Then the crowd rushed the disciplined troops standing at attention. They appeared stunned.

My feet rush with the crowd until they got next to the troops. Then they stopped. My hands got lost while  covering my eyes momentarily. I found them again. They were on my checks as I looked at these young men and women. I’m as stunned as they are.

Then my feet walked through the crowd as I locate my son. Initially, he barely looks at us. The welcome home sign is barely acknowledged. I see much the same happening with other soldiers.

Is he still in a state of shock? What is he thinking? Is it extreme fatigue. I don’t know what my son and these young men have been through.

But I know what you tell your son when he leaves. And it’s what you live when he returns. It’s how you handle your responsibilities to those around you. Watching after each other. Doing your best for them. Caring for them. And doing what’s right even when the situation you find yourself in is not of your choosing and is the pits.

And that’s what these young men and women have done. They have put their lives on the line. They have made a difference. Welcome home guys. Welcome home Jon. You are my heroes.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

I’ve got a menagerie of equipment, top bar hives, Lang hives, combo hives, nucs, observation hives, etc. I thought that by giving them away and moving to Florida, I’d restart my beekeeping there. And I’d standardize on one kind of equipment, probably top bar hives. But by returning to Wyoming, I’ve got it all back again.

It’s a mess. The Lang equipment is failing apart. My frames at 1 3/8″ were wider than I desired. And the small cell comb in them is a decade old.

So, now’s the time, a once in a lifetime opportunity for a beekeeper! What to do? You can read about it here:

Winter Thinking

More Winter Thoughts

Just think! One kind of equipment. Simplicity!

What’s the conclusion of the matter? It’s probably not what you think and certainly not why! The details are here:

Well I’ve Gone and Done It

So, I’m back in the box and frame business. Lang hives are hard to beat. They are:

• flexible
• expandable
• compatible
• expensive, especially with freight

These hives will look the same on the outside, maybe even better when dipped. But I’ll run them as natural comb hives. It will be a new experience for me. There will much to learn and I’m sure much to share.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler

The drafting is done and the plans are ready.

My next top bar hive is a really good hive. It is completely compatible with conventional beekeeping equipment. It can be run in various configurations. And it’s easy to build. It’s a conventional long hive with top bar hive functionality.

But it has one major drawback common to all long hives using top hanging frames: Empty space is either below or beyond the frames.

If more height is needed for an optimum top bar hive. Or a beekeeper is transitioning away from frames to top bars. Top hanging frames are less than ideal. With a taller hive, all new comb is initially built below the frames. It is wasted when the frames are removed from the hive.

And if the self spacing frames are incorporated into the hive’s natural comb, they make for a messy junction with the thicker and longer top bars.

So, if you need a taller top bar hive with more top bar hive flexibility and some conventional frame capability, check out my ultimate top bar hive.

Regards – Dennis Murrell – BWrangler