How do we learn the noble art of beekeeping? I suppose it’s a combination of practice and theory, bolstered by reading books, chatting to others, attending courses and so on. I doubt that I am the only beekeeper who occasionally suffers from the urge to ‘meddle’ — I try things out to see if they work. The problem is, such experiments are nearly always very unscientific and based on small sample sizes. It’s quite possible that I draw conclusions about the various successes and failures that I experience that are just plain wrong. The whole issue of ‘cause and effect’ can turn into a guessing game, as I try to piece together my experiences with those of others, to produce some perfect understanding.

Local vs. Universal

The enormous variability of beekeeping conditions across geographical locations, the diverse nature of different colonies of bees, climatic variation and change, and the different practices by beekeepers (passed down from mentor to beginner) all contribute to a smorgasbord of ideas about right and wrong in beekeeping. It would be boring if we all agreed. Even neighbouring beekeepers, in the same area with the same weather and the same bees, can have opposing ideas on a range of beekeeping topics. And, based on their own experience and information gathering, they are possibly both equally right or wrong.

Available Sources

The way that ‘knowledge’ is passed on has changed over the decades. Currently, in early 2024, I imagine that social media will be a big vehicle for knowledge (or opinion) exchange. Even I watch the occasional YouTube video by Ian Steppler, Bob Binnie, and others, and I’m practically a fossil. My concern with the immediacy of social media content is that it tends to be a snapshot of what somebody is experiencing at a moment in time, rather than reflections on decades of experience. Furthermore, the competition for attention means that what appears on a video may not be best practice at all; rather, it is something to grab a few seconds of a viewer’s attention.

What’s more, who has the time to make loads of social media posts to build up an audience and keep them? Some people do have the time and skills to do this, and some of them are even good at beekeeping. Who has the time or inclination to write a book? It’s hard work for almost no financial reward; the time could surely be spent more profitably tending to hives?

Imposter Syndrome

There are many incredibly knowledgeable and experienced bee-botherers who few people ever hear about, apart from a select handful who live near to them. Their knowledge gets passed on to those who work with them, or chat to them and ask the right questions. In my case, having written two books on beekeeping, I do feel a certain ‘imposter syndrome’. My get-out clause is that I tend to pass on information gleaned from better beekeepers than I, which seems to be a worthy cause. After finishing a book I promise myself to never do that again, but as the years pass, the urge to have another go gets stronger.

Not Everything Gets Researched

Some people think that we can only rely on peer-reviewed research. I had that problem in a former life, as a director of a company delivering mental health services to local authorities and the National Health Service. You rightly have to show that what you do produces beneficial outcomes. It’s not enough to collect feedback from users, who say that they experienced positive change in their lives. You need to use evidence-based questionnaires that have been tested and approved in order to ’prove’ the effectiveness of your service. The trouble is, there aren’t many of these tools, and nobody can be bothered to fill them in properly. Just because something hasn’t been properly researched doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.

Review-ception

I digress, but what is it with all the review requests nowadays? When I order a product, I get requests to review it, and they keep on asking. My policy is to almost always delete such requests. Recently, I even get emails asking me to ‘rate my delivery’. Not only am I expected to review a product, but now they want me to say how well it was delivered! There’s a kind of ’tail wagging the dog’ situation here, where positive reviews drive increased sales, leading to questions about exactly how valid such reviews really are. Gosh, I’m a grumpy walrus.

Known Knowns etc.

Anyway, my long-winded and meandering journey to the point has arrived. The point of this article to try to shine a light on the fact that we have a tendency to form conclusions about beekeeping based on very little evidence. It’s a bit like that ‘known knowns’ speech by Donald Rumsfeld.

As an example, I may do mite washes on my bees and discover that most have low mite counts. If I was insanely optimistic, I might conclude that my bees are resistant to mites. However, let’s do that mite wash again in a month, and another month, and another. Let’s do it over several years. Most people wouldn’t do this. If they did, they would find out that the cause of low mites at the beginning was not due to ’mite resistance’ but some other factor (an unknown unknown?).

This continually happens to me, although not with mites and treatments. I’m already convinced that my bees need treating, or they will die (based on my experience, that of many beekeepers, and nearly all the science). I have both timber and poly hives, and one year the timber hives seemed to perform much better than poly. I was ready to proclaim the death of the poly hive, but the following year the opposite happened. Now I haven’t a clue; they both seem to work. Boring, but there it is; few things are black and white.

My Cheat Code

My ‘cheat’ to navigate this minefield of knowledge, experience and opinion, is to latch onto some well-experienced and successful bee farmers, and listen to what they say. Then, I try it in my apiaries, and see how it does. It’s tricky with the differences between local conditions, though, so some things from other countries need to be taken with a pinch of salt. The more people you talk to, the more alternatives you’ll find, which is why it’s a good idea to rely on a select few ‘experts’ — so choose wisely!

New Book!

Healthy Bees, Heavy Hives – How to Maximise Your Honey Crop should now be available to purchase. If not now, then very soon. It’s going to eventually be widely available at online stores (just search online), Northern Bee Books (the publisher) and, hopefully, in the odd book shop. I love bookshops. Hay-on-Wye seems to be full of them. Paul Horton and I will be at The Beekeeping Show, and we will even be doing a book-signing event at midday at the Northern Bee Books stand. Hope to see you there!