The Honey Bee Rant

So I don't hold a degree in etymology, agriculture or any other area that would label me a professional or able to speak on the science of  honey bee health as far as the academics are concerned. I only know what I see in my little part of the world and the data I see from other parts and then attempt to apply my observations to the best of my ability.

Of course this year so far I have been a lousy bee keeper but I must say my hives appear to be quite resilient and other than a few lost swarms and some missed honey the girls all seem to be doing well despite my complete neglect of them.

What gets me is the politics of the "Save the Bees" movement we have going on these days. In my opinion the so-called honey bees dying off movement is little more than a look into the heart of what is wrong with our culture today.

We have the well intentioned but easily fooled and mostly ignorant eco-freaks who are being manipulated by large scale corporate bee keeping outfits and joined by liberal multi-cultist and "native-ist" just to add a bit of their own politics into the thing.

Here's the deal. I am not saying that Neo-whatever herbicides are not a contributing factor but look at the state by state losses of honey bees and a peculiar trend seems to show that those states with the least amount of mono-crop agriculture and the greatest amounts of non-tillable land seem to suffer the least amount of honey bee losses.

Now ask yourself what is the single most widely planted crop in the US?  If you answered Corn you are the winner. Ya know what appeal Corn has to Honey Bees? About none. Wheat? Pretty much zero. Modern day Soybean hybrids... not much either.

Most of the crops that honey bees are required for that are being sprayed are also interestingly enough where you get the huge migratory bee companies trucking in 1000's of hives to pollinate for a few brief weeks then trucking those hives miles and miles to do it again. In the mean time ever seen a video of those large bee companies harvesting honey from those hives? It's wonder any bees are left after they are done.

Yet no one out there seems to ask the question that perhaps the modern day techniques of California style (because let's face it that's where most of this type of agriculture is practiced) mono-cropping and migratory mass bee keeping isn't having an effect as well.

Secondly. I make it a habit of finding out what my bees are foraging off of. Very little of it would be considered a cash crop honestly. My girls like the Clovers, ditch flowers and trees more than anything else. Yet year after year I see roadsides and wild areas full of Crown Vetch and clover crops killed off and replaced with so called "Native" grasses by the government urges on the eco-freak back to nature Native-ist types.

Wonder if that is having an effect?

Honey Bees as we know them evolved and adapted to a specific type and style of keeping, agriculture and terrain. Why does it surprise everyone so much that the further and faster we change to different types of those things the honey bees have a problem keeping up?

Some in the movement want to keep their gravy train going I understand that. Some hate big agriculture and herbicide/Monsanto like stuff... I understand that too. Some just hate anything manipulated by man with a large part of them hating anything groomed by a European White Man more than anything else on the planet....

I got news for the last group. Honey Bees, the useful, productive, non-lethal breeds ARE from Europe. Same as your beloved horses BTW. AND they each require traditional European style agriculture to thrive.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!