Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER - TALKS & REPORTS => Topic started by: kklein9 on February 06, 2008, 12:44:15 pm
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I don't have a hive yet but I want to get started this spring. My first question is whether I am wasting my time. Will any colony I start just collapse or can this scourge be controlled?
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What part of the world are you from?
Most people believe that it is mainly the problem of migratory beekeepers. They stress their bees too much and the bees have poor diets, weakening them more and disease sets in.
Get bees and keep them healthy and you'll do great.
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Most beekeepers won't even see CCD in their hives.
Beekeeping is just like any other hobby or vocation that involves living things. There are diseases and pests that can be an irritation or a scourge. Tomato blight, fleas, kennel cough, hip dysplasia, fin rot, just to name a few from a few of my experiences in other realms of hobbies.
Varroa and tracheal mites, killer bees, were going to be the end of beekeeping as we know it, but hobby beekeeping is still largely the same as it was with a few changes. Commercial beekeeping is different, to be sure.
Will you get hit with CCD if you start? Who knows. I haven't and I don't think that most here have. It is scarey and all over the news, but I think it is still a small portion of hives that got it.
Like Jerry said, it seems to be more for the commercial beeks. Don't let it stop you any more than fin rot would stop you from getting aquarium fish or hip dysplasia or kennel cough would stop you from getting a dog. There are ups and downs, euphoria and disappointment in any hobby.
It is helpful to find a mentor or beekeeper that you can talk to and follow around. Then you can see the day to day and get a feel for what is going on. On the news you will get the worst of news, and on these forums there are a lot of people asking for answers to problems, so you probably see the worst of it. It really is a great hobby!!
Rick
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>I don't have a hive yet but I want to get started this spring. My first question is whether I am wasting my time. Will any colony I start just collapse or can this scourge be controlled?
Since no one knows the cause it's difficult to say if it can be controlled. But it does seem to be mostly a migratory beekeepers issue. I've never seen it personally, but the stories I've heard are a bit frightening.
I intend to continue to do what I've been doing, keeping bees on natural/small cell comb without any treatments. It's working fine for me.
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The only beekeepers, that I know, who have experienced CCD are sideliners (parttimers) who move hives, area commercial (area of a state), reginal commercial (multi-state), or natiional commercial (From North Daokta to Florida to California). Most of the hobbiest who've lost hives have done so from traditional ways--nosema, Foul Brood, but mostly starvation or freezing after getting wet (lack of ventilation).
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kklein9. Welcome to our forum, you will find this a wonderful place to learn stuff when you decide to keep bees. When you start to study about the bees and find out more and more, you will become addicted to this fascinating field. Welcome, ask any questions that you need or want to, the questions will be answered. Have a wonderful and great day, Cindi