[PDF]Beekeeping: Biodynamic Beekeeping QA

Biodynamic Beekeeping

Questions put to
Biodynamic Beekeeping Consultant
Michael Weiler



1 . What are the essential differences between conventional and Biodynamic beekeeping?
The most important points are:

• The biodynamic bee keeper aims to preserve the unity of the colony; he treats it as a
complete organism not as separate parts.

• If the colony begins to split from itself by preparing to swarm we harness the power of
this process, we do not suppress it.

• We use the power of the swarm process for renewal and all breeding.

• We do not make artificial nuclei or induce queen rearing.

• The bees build their own comb; we do not give them any foundation apart from little
starter strips.

• We only use natural materials for the hives.

• We do not recycle wax in the hives.

2. Is this type of bee keeping new and how has it been developed?

Yes, you could say that this type of bee keeping is really new. It developed in response
to the question: What do bees need in order to regain their vitality? What are the
essential expressions of bee life? What is suppressed in conventional bee keeping?

3. Is it just for hobby bee keepers?

No, professional bee keepers also work with the biodynamic 'Demeter' standards. In
Germany, most Demeter bee keepers own 50 to 100 hives or more. There is one bee
keeper with more than 500 hives - it is his main profession. There is no reason why
keeping bees in this way cannot be economically viable.

4. Do I need more expensive equipment for biodynamic bee keeping?

No, you don't need more equipment than is used in conventional beekeeping; in fact
some equipment like queen excluders or that required for queen rearing is not needed.

5. Can I use my existing hives and equipment?

Demeter Beekeeping Standards require that the brood box and frames are large enough
to accommodate all the brood as it grows without it being cut in two parts by the
wooden frames of two brood boxes - for this reason we use large brood frames. Normally
the brood area has a diameter of around 350 mm, seldom more. The brood area of a
colony is elastic and adapts itself to the form of the space. To allow for this we need 10
to 12 frames of about 350 x 350 mm each. Larger numbers of smaller frames can be
used, but only in one box. In Germany we generally use frames of at least 1200 cm 2 .
This contrasts with the usual practice of using much smaller frames. Because most
available frames are much smaller, we will need to modify them.



6. Are there any other limitations to commercially produced hives?

All hive parts should be made from natural materials (apart from essential fixings such
as nails). The wood must be free of agricultural pesticides and Varroa treatment
residues. This is particularly important if you get second-hand hives. Residues can be
transferred and may then be found later in the combs.

7. You advocate leaving a space of 100mm between the brood box and the floor. Is this
essential and what is it for?

The so-called "high floor" is not essential - but it is often used in Germany and not only
in biodynamic or ecological beekeeping. It's helpful for working with the large brood
box. If the colony is strong the bee cluster is able to hang down above the floor. This can
in turn help to prevent swarming. In Germany the "high floor" also has a "back door"
through which the bee keeper can take a look at the colony from below. In early summer
this can be helpful for judging the right time to put on the honey supers - if the cluster
is hanging down, it means that the weather is fine and lots of flowers can be expected.
Another point concerns the litter falling down from the cluster - a high floor gives a
greater distance between litter and cluster and makes it easier to monitor and observe
how well the bees clean this floor. If the floor is mostly dirty, your bees are bad cleaners
- this could be a reason for selection.

8. What is your view of top bar hives? Is there a place for them in biodynamic bee
keeping?

Top bar hives could be used - if they have a large enough brood area. It is more a
question of practicality and whether you want to be able to use honey supers and
harvest honey in the normal way. If you are happy with that style of bee keeping there is
no reason why you cannot keep bees in a top bar hive.

9. What about frames and foundation?

Foundation for the honey supers (if you use them) and starter strips, should be from
Demeter beeswax - in the beginning you could use other organically certified beeswax if
insufficient Demeter wax is available. You should collect your natural combs and wax
from de-capping the honeycombs to use for this.

The frame wood must be free of all pesticide and Varroa treatment residues.

10. Do you need to wire frames in which Bees will build natural comb?

I don't use wires, but then I don't move my hives to different sites.
Demeter Beekeepers are allowed to use wires (stainless steel) and I would say that if you
move your hives it is best to use them - it gives more stability for the combs. But you
have to make absolutely sure that the frames are hanging vertically in the hives, so that
the wires can disappear completely in the natural comb.

1 1 . Do you have any recommendation for spacing frames?

I find that in my brood boxes there is enough space for 12 frames with 35mm distance
between combs (from middle to middle) There is only natural comb in my brood boxes
and as these combs move a little bit more than combs made from foundation, you will
sometimes find little waves. This means that you have to be careful when getting the



first comb out of the brood box when working the hive. For this reason I only use 1 1
frames in the space of 12. This enables me to press the frames together a little and
increase the space between them and so avoid damaging the comb before lifting it out.

12. Do you recommend different spacing in brood chambers and supers?

I sometimes use thicker frames in the honey super (9 or 10 frames). It's possible and
normally not a problem.

13. What method of frame spacing do you recommend?

I use Hoffmann frames. I find that the Hoffman side bar is helpful to the bees - it
protects the brood area a little bit because it covers the brood nest from the outside
space, helping to preserve warmth. Other bee keepers use different methods equally
successfully - many ways are possible.

14. Can you use foundation in supers?

The Demeter guidelines allow the use of foundation in the supers, but it is a
compromise. Most Demeter bee keepers don't use it. Just as with the brood frames,
bees need something to climb up on to build the comb. You must either use foundation
starter strips or give them two complete, built combs in the centre of the box and fill up
with empty frames on either side.

You are allowed to use the fully developed combs again in the next years.

15. Demeter wax is a valuable commodity, how do you go about melting wax?

Demeter wax is a valuable by-product, much prized by the cosmetic industry, as it is
free of the residues found in the wax from conventional hives. Between 500 to 1000 g of
wax can be harvested per hive per year when keeping bees biodynamically.
A solar smelter is good for bee keepers who have only a few hives. With more hives you
could use a steam wax extractor or really hot, soft water and then filter the wax
through a fine sheet of cloth or muslin.

16. Do you have a recommendation for treating the outside of hives?

No, not really. I don't think it's necessary. Some carpenters say, wood without protection
lasts 144 months while with protection it lasts 12 years! It's more helpful to prevent too
much rain falling on the hive, so that it dries out quickly. If for aesthetic or other
reasons you want to paint the outside of your hives the exterior coating should be an
ecologically friendly paint with natural ingredients. Some bee keepers use linseed oil or
a very hot mixture of linseed oil and beeswax. The inside of the hive should not be
coated with anything at all and does not need protection.

17. Is there a problem with using metal in beehives?

It is perhaps good to be careful in our use of it. Some bee keepers in Germany don't use
wires in the frames or metal roofs. They say that these wires produce an effect like an
antenna. A radio engineer could measure the frequency of this antenna. It is anyway
important to use stainless steel if we do use metal and certainly for nails and frame
wires.



18. Does biodynamic bee keeping result in a lower honey yield?

Yes, especially when you first start you can expect a reduction of 30% - but this also
depends on how intensively or extensively you have been working before.

19. Is it more labour intensive?

When you first start and before you have found a routine for biodynamic bee keeping, it
will be more labour intensive. Later on you will find that there is a lot of work that you
do not have to do; no artificial queen breeding, no breeding calendar and so on.

20. What is your approach to raising queens and why?

I only use queens, which have developed as part of the natural organic activity of the
bee colony. This is the only way to produce a natural queen with all the attributes which
nature intended. The bees have a much stronger relationship with a natural queen than
with one, which has been introduced.

21 . What do you do about swarm control?

All bee keepers know when swarming starts in their region. Once it starts you have to
monitor your colonies for signs of the swarm process. First you'll find queen cups, later
you'll find eggs or larvae in these cups. Now you can be sure that the process has
started. The organism can stop this process at any time. The point of no return is when
the prime swarm leaves the hive.

We remove any unneeded frames in autumn - maybe 2 or 3 if the brood box is big
enough and put in dummy boards. Then in spring when the bees need more space we
add empty frames so that on inspection we just need to check the new frame. We can
learn to read the form of the newly built combs to see if the swarm process has started.
If there are worker cells and a smooth line, all is OK. If it is wavy or there are a lot of
drone cells or queen cups then something is going on and you will need to check further.
If we wish to prevent the swarm from flying away or settling in a tree top, the following
procedure can be used to hold back the swarming drive. Shortly before the swarm
prepares to leave the hive (up to two days before if necessary) we open up the hive,
look for the queen and take her out. Then we carefully sweep the bees off the comb in
the brood chamber via a funnel into a swarm box until we have at least 1 .5Kg of bees.
Then we let the queen join them and place the box in a quiet, dark and cool place (like
a cellar) for up to three days. The bees must be fed well during this time otherwise they
will starve. After about three days the swarm is placed in a new hive with empty frames.

About 30% of colonies will swarm each year on average which is just enough for natural
regeneration.

22. When hiving swarms on frames with only starter strips do you need to put a queen
excluder beneath the brood chamber to prevent them from absconding?

I've never had this problem. No, we don't do that.

23. If you allow the bees to build their own comb without any foundation don't you get
too much drone comb and too many drones and consequently more Varroa?

If the bees build their own comb after swarming they will only build worker cells for the



first 10 to 14 days. If you support this first building period with feeding, the new colony
will build up 4 to 6 large combs with worker cells. That is all you and the colony need.
After this the colony may do what it likes. Sometimes you will find 2 or more drone cell
combs and a lot of drone brood; we do not have the experience though, that we have
more Varroa because of this.

24. What do you recommend for the treatment of Varroa

We find that through our method of working with the swarm process and by using only
natural comb the vitality of the colony is strengthened. In our experience however this
is not enough in itself. Besides this we use organic acids (lactic, formic, oxalic) to
control and regulate the mites. We do not use natural thymol since it leaves a residue in
the wax. Within the bee colony it has an aroma which brings its own problems to the
hive. I don't like to use organic acids and I hope that we will need them less and less.
We must however remember that it has taken a long time to weaken the bees to a point
where they don't have the vitality to heal themselves and it will also take a long time
and need our assistance for them to have that vitality again.

25. Apart from it's possible effect on bees people advise against the use of formic acid
because of its extreme unpleasantness for humans using it and because of its corrosive
effect on all metal hive parts including nails. What is your experience of this?

As I said, I don't like to use these acids - but so far we don't find any other helpful
medicines - and sometimes, medicines are bitter. Using cold water to get stronger is not
always enjoyable - but you will only use it, if you are warm.

26. What about open mesh floors?

I don't use them myself, but some biodynamic bee keepers do.

27. What about drone removal?

To take out one full, capped drone comb in early summer helps to slow the increase in
the number of Varroa Mites and delays the peak of the development of the population in
summer time. But we only do this once and this method on it's own is not enough.

28. Is it not a waste of honey producing energy if bees have to produce all their own
wax?

Nobody knows exactly how much energy a bee needs to produce wax. One natural
Dadant size comb has a weight of about 50 g. This is not very much. If you weigh a comb
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