Backyard beekeepers as warriors against a plague

[New York Times photo, from below article]

My in-laws sent me this great article on backyard beekeeping from the New York Times. It points out that backyard beekeeping can be an important source of protection against some of the problems facing the domestic bee populations. Basically, the genetic stock in domestic bees is looking really thin, so that (predictably) when new strains are put on the populations, like the newly introduced Varroa Destructor Mite
from Asia, the populations collapse.

Right now, bees are under a multi-point plague situation. The Varroa mites are attacking hives left and right, and that opens the bees up to other infections that they might otherwise be able to fend off. Asian bees have grooming behaviors to protect them from the mites, but the ultra-specific modern commercial bee stock in the U.S. doesn't display this behavior.

From this new information, my plan as an urban beekeeper is looking better and better. What I wanted to do was buy only one starter colony of bees commercially, and then learn and begin to collect swarms as they occur in the area for my other two hives. There are many reasons why this is beneficial: 1. the bees are free 2. a colony swarms when it is doing so well that it decides to split off 3. colonies that swarm are therefore healthy and most probably better adapted to local conditions, carrying genetics that you would want to encourage.

Years ago, when I first got the idea to start keeping bees, I approached Glen Andresen and talked to him about possibly mentoring me in the endeavor. It's been many moons now (3-4 years) but I do believe I'll be going back to talk to him about beekeeping, and most especially about gathering wild local swarms.

Enjoy your honey and insect-pollinated plants,

Bp