Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: beehives

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

At RoseWind Cohousing, in the Pacific Northwest, for many years we had a couple 
of beehives. But now we are switching to native bees, for pollination but not 
honey. Our honey bees fell prey to predatory insects and that mite and whatever 
else causes hive death. We have knowledgeable beekeepers, but eventually it 
didn't make sense to keep trying again with all the things working against 
success with honey bees. Even when we had them, it came down to either leaving 
their honey for them to eat, or feeding them a less healthy diet of sugar water 
to get them through the winter. After ten years or so, our beekeepers are 
switching strategies. The native bees live in something more like a birdhouse 
in appearance, with removable trays for the critters.  I'm not knowledgeable 
about bees, so this is about all I know. 

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau
Port Townsend WA 70 degrees yesterday