By: Stephen Bishop
This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2019 issue of BEEKeeping Your First Three Years
We all like to think we are open minded and thoughtful people when it comes to our daily lives and especially our beekeeping. We want what is best for our bees as that is a great benefit to us if our bees are healthy and thriving. Good hives bring in lots of nectar and produce lots of honey which provide us with the money to continue doing what we love to do in our daily lives. Many of us sell by-products of the hive like the wax, the cosmetics we make, candles, pollen, propolis, honey, on and on it goes.
But how did we get to where we are today? Was it pure luck, or did we have the good sense to find a mentor who could help us grow with our bees and be as valuable to our bees as they are to us? Did we join a beekeeping club and attend meetings regularly where we could ask questions and get good answers to the problems we were having with our bees at different times of the year? Is it time to pull honey? What are the bees feeding on? How much smoke do we need to use to open a hive? Again, the questions are endless and they should all be asked and answered. But many times, this is where the problems begin. Many beekeepers are blind.
No, they can see all right, but somewhere in their minds they cut off their own learning experience by not allowing the light of truth to shine in.
This happens with new and longtime beekeepers alike. Example: A new beekeeper joins or visits a beekeeping club and asks a question such as, “Should I start with top bar hives?” The leaders in the club may answer, “No,” and let it go at that. Now the person asking the question is bewildered because they may have little funds to buy pre-made hives or may have read somewhere how great top bar hives can be. This can be a turnoff to many as they have blinded themselves to the truth. The mentor has caused this temporary blindness by not explaining why starting with a top bar may not be good for a beginner.
Starting with top bar hives may be fun and exciting, but it does take some understanding on how the hives work. Many new beekeepers have worked top bar hives and have been very successful as some folks just seem to be in the right place at the right time or just plain lucky.
Many experienced beekeepers have seen the problems that may arise for a new beekeeper pulling a top bar out of the hive and have the comb full of bees, honey, brood, and maybe the queen break off and hit the ground, killing the bees on the comb. They don’t want a new beekeeper to have to learn from making the same mistakes they have made over the years. They want to shed some light on what it takes to properly handle top bar hives and it takes time to learn how to do it well. Helping a new beekeeper see the truth may help him/her.
So the smart mentor will explain why he/she teaches what he/she does and the smart beekeeper will consider the reasoning behind why the mentor says top bar hives may be fun and cheap but it does take some education to keep them well.
The blind beekeeper will get upset that someone disagrees with them and their own preconceived ideas and do many different things as a result. They may decide to go ahead and start with the top bar hive, they may quit this club and move to another one where they may hear a different opinion that they can agree with, or they might just decide not to become a beekeeper at all. Blindness can cause many problems for us all.
Most clubs and mentors want to avoid this by making sure they explain the pros and cons of each situation that comes up. But remember, it takes years to become proficient at beekeeping for most and you cannot learn everything in one meeting or class. Nor can a mentor teach you everything in one sitting at a club meeting or class. Blinding yourself and blaming others for your mistakes or lack of skill does not help you grow as a beekeeper or a person.
Open your eyes and consider the options you were given and make your decisions on facts and not opinions. You have heard many folks say that if you ask ten beekeepers a question, you will get twenty or thirty different answers. Opinions are not answers to questions. Seek out the facts and you will move a long way forward in whatever you decide to do. That takes an open mind with blinders off so you can absorb the information that comes your way, but remember, the first few years can be overwhelming with so much to learn. We have all been in your shoes and after many years, we must have listened and learned at our own pace along the way.
In today’s world of instant everything, many will go to social media for answers. Please be aware that many wannabees also use social media to propagate what they believe whether it is true
or not. Many are very well-meaning good folks who don’t who know what they don’t know. We see this with so many videos posted showing the new beekeepers making their first hive inspections or honey extractions that they are so proud of. If they would watch their videos in five or ten years down the line after they get some knowledge, they would be embarrassed by the mistakes they have made and the bad information they put out for others to see. Many folks who watch videos on social media may be a month or two behind those who posted the videos. How sad for the honey bees.
If you like to watch videos, then by all means please do, but keep in the back of your mind that you have no way of knowing if the person posting the video is a successful beekeeper or all their bees have died soon after the video was made.
And this rule goes for reading beekeeping materials as well. Everyone should read as widely as possible and gain as much knowledge as they possibly can. However, if you read things that are wrong, you will end up doing the wrong things you read about online. Even the esteemed colleges will have papers published that may not be exactly what is realistic in the real world. Sitting in a lab does not make a person an expert on beekeeping. Writing papers on subjects you have read about from some other author’s papers or books does not make you an expert. When reading such reports, take notice of how many times the writers use words like, this may be the result, or it could be, or we think, or more research is needed, or we may find, or we shall see in the future. Yes, we need research, but opinions should be left out until the facts are proven. But even then, who is funding the research? Is the end results biased to keep the funds coming in? We hope not.
Working with honey bees does not make you an expert either if your bees die every year or you keep buying replacements so you can say you are a beekeeper.
Blindness can lead you into walls that you may not know are there. Putting down a mentor who is trying to help you is blind thinking and will cause you much regret in the end. Instead of pointing fingers and complaining, try to listen and ask more questions to help you understand what is being said. You can help the mentor if you are willing to speak up, to become a better mentor for you.
Are all mentors perfect and know it all? Of course not. No one knows or understands everything there is to know about beekeeping or any other subject. Some think they do and may charge large sums of money to speak to your local club or group. Many like to use the letters in front of or behind their names to make them appear to be knowledgeable on any subject, but that is not always the case.
Just because someone tells you they have Dr. in front of their name, does not mean they are qualified to operate on you medically. The Dr. may be a designation from some unrelated field that you are trying to become proficient in such as beekeeping. Many long time beekeepers should have a “DR” behind their names meaning they “Do Right” by the bees and those they are mentoring because they have put in the years to master beekeeping and are continually striving to do better. Many have made the same mistakes you are about to make and would like to help you see you are blind and cannot see how you can harm your bees by not gaining more knowledge and insight on how bees work in nature. We are all still learning and hopefully getting better at our craft. Don’t be impressed with titles and degrees that mean nothing to a bee. And remember, most received their degrees years ago before beekeeping became more difficult with all the new pests and diseases coming along each year or season.
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get a long time beekeeper or a commercial beekeeper to attend your local club to bother meetings? Many regular do not want to bother on a regular basis with the questions and lack of understanding new beekeepers have. Good ones know how important it is to help new beekeepers in order to replace retiring and dying old time beekeepers to keep the craft alive.
Some will speak if they can make money by doing so. Some may take advantage and sell new beekeepers things that are not necessary to be a successful beekeeper. Some like to hawk their latest book or paper. I have seen new beekeepers buy used boxes that should have been burned because the new beekeeper was blind to the problems that can come with used equipment.
I used suggest you learn as much as possible about anything you get involved in, but don’t be blinded by your own ignorance and biases. Open your eyes and you may be surprised at what you have been missing. It is a beautiful world with the bees all around us. Wouldn’t it be sad if they were to disappear?
And a closing thought. The next time you hear a speaker or read in a book or magazine that Einstein said mankind would die out after four years if bees became extinct, stand up and explain that Einstein never said that and that it is not a true statement at all. Of course our diets would become very bland having mostly wind pollinated foods, but we can stop that scenario if we all become better beekeepers. We can do that by keeping our opinions to ourselves and seek facts that the bees have proven to work over the years. Remember, bees don’t read books.
