beekeeping by the stars

[beesontoast]

I have long considered that the moon - at least - must influence the behaviour of honeybees. In particular, I suspect that swarming, queen supersedure and possibly temperament may be affected by the lunar cycle, but have not yet been able to set up any experiments or consistent observations to test this.

Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Mark]

Well, there are Dr Steiner's lectures on bees. Do you know them? Bees seem to be creatures of warmth and light which do not thrive too well in a lunar environment - wet. The assertion seems to be that anything that can be done to keep them up in the light and warmth will honour their nature and thus help them thrive.

(Enzo's lecture associates the virroa susceptibility with Mars.)

[beesontoast]

Well, there are Dr Steiner's lectures on bees. Do you know them? Bees seem to be creatures of warmth and light which do not thrive too well in a lunar environment - wet. The assertion seems to be that anything that can be done to keep them up in the light and warmth will honour their nature and thus help them thrive.

(Enzo's lecture associates the virroa susceptibility with Mars.)

OK, I have read Steiner's lectures on bees a couple of times. I found most of it pretty 'out there' and some of it interesting. Creatures of light and warmth? Warmth, certainly, but they are in the dark far more than the light. And how does 'associating varroa susceptibility with mars' help at all?

[Mark]

... how does 'associating varroa susceptibility with mars' help at all?

I hope there is enough meat in the other reply. But this brings an reasonable example. Assuming the figures used in Enzo Nastati's rationale are not massaged as you considered, and further that such number juggling isn't just a sleight of hand which might be there to distract us etc etc - assuming that this is a reasonable avenue of approach, then what are the practical implications of finding that Mars is a foreign impulse to the bee hive but supports the varroa? One would need the broader information (that those attending the lecture were assumed wither to have or to ask about then) about how you can minimise the Mars influence. In the lecture notes this is about the removal of the iron in the wires used in foundation, the queen excluder, the nails, the frame spacers etc etc. Iron is the metal associated with Mars in this world view. The tree is oak and hence his surrender in the FAO/UN trials.

[beesontoast]

Thanks for clarifying the Mars thing. And it opens up a question that has bugged me for a while - why don't BD beekeepers use top bar hives? They allow the bees to build comb freely (no foundation) and have no wires or other metal in them (aside from a few wood screws or bolts, well away from the bees themselves)? I have asked this question of the beekeeping world in general, elsewhere, and there is an orthodoxy based on framed hives that most of the BD people seem slavishly to have followed, rather than taken the most obvious path to simplify the whole process.

I don't necessarily expect an answer to that Q - BTW - just passing on my thoughts...

Now I will read your other post and find it answers all my Qs...