The Barefoot Beekeeper
By Phil Chandler
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Podcast Description
Phil Chandler, author of The Barefoot Beekeeper, talks about his natural approach to beekeeping, and explains why he believes we need to change the way we interact with honeybees if we want them to survive. For the last 150 years, beekeeping has been all about honey production. Now we need to learn to value bees for their own sake - for their part in nature and their role in pollinating many plant species, both wild and cultivated. The Barefoot Beekeeper is available in print or as a download from www.biobees.com
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CleanWhat can we learn from bees? Talk at Trill Farm, Dorset May 11 2012 | Back after a too-long absence! I had hoped to be able to produce a recording every month, but somehow life got in the way. Here's the first podcast for this year a talk recorded at Trill Farm, Dorset (south of England, a little left of centre, for those not familiar with our layout!) at the invitation of chef Daphne Lambert, whose restaurant at Penrhos on the Welsh border was the first in the UK to be awarded organic certification by the Soil Association. More about Daphne here - http://mamaheaven.org/blog/2011/07/daphne-lambert-nutritionist-chef/#.T7T2b3iURpg More about Trill Farm here - http://trillfarm.co.uk/ From Graham in Scotland: The attached photos - taken from my bedroom window - of the Oilseed Rape field opposite my house in Scotland- explains at a glance the challenge my bees are faced with in trying to survive on this farm. It is a beautiful landscape - but an ecologically dying landscape which is poisonous to bees, butterflies and bumblebees. If I took a photo in any of the other three directions it would not be any different; oilseed rape (canola) is one of the major crops here in the Border country. You might find these images useful for slideshows etc, I have high resolution versions available for printed media. The images are also on FLICKR and you can link them to web-pages directly with the following links: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8003/7216103764_7db308fb9c_z.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/7216104626_6d507735ef_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7103/7216102870_9d903b3de1_z.jpg NOTES Almost all of the Oilseed Rape grown in Britain and Europe is treated with neonicotinoid pesticides at the time the seed is planted. Over the last decade the main neonicotinoid used on OSR has been Imidacloprid; we suspect that it is now being superceded by Clothianidin- which is more toxic to insects and far more persistent in soil and water. The insecticide Imidacloprid is 'systemic' - it is coated onto the seeds before planting. When the seed sprouts, it absorbs the poison and distributes it to every part of the growing plant: sap, stem, leaves, flowers and fruit. The insecticide then poisons any insect which bites the plant to suck its sap. Unfortunately, the poison also emerges in the nectar and pollen, which is harvested and eaten by bees, bumblebees, butterflies - and many other species of insect. The poison - Imidacloprid - is 7,000 times more toxic to bees than DDT was - and a dose of just 3 to 5 parts per BILLION in the nectar and pollen causes bees to become disoriented, unable to forage or fly. Many beekeepers are convinced this is why 4 million colonies have died in America since 2006. Over a milion bee colonies died in France from 1994 - 1998. Millions more have died in Argentina, Germany, Italy, Australia. These neurotoxins are used on over 3 million acres of arable crops in the UK: wheat, barley, OSR, potatoes, tomatoes, fruits etc - this means that both WE and the bees are eating neurotoxic insecticides in every bite of food we consume. Neonicotinoids applied as seed dressings kill most invertebrate life UNDER the ground as well as ABOVE. these poisons eradicate earthworms, beetles and insect larvae from the soil - which means there is no food for birds which probe the soil: lapwings, curlews, starlings etc. The result is that this beautiful scene is effectively an ecological desert; the fields are empty - no insects means no birds. Even the humble sparrow - which has declined by up to 80% in most areas of the UK. MUST have insect food to feed its young. Wall to wall neonics means no insects; no insects means no young sparrows, starlings, peewits, yellowhammers, partridges, corn buntings etc. etc. In the USA, more than 240 million acres of crops are treated with Clothianidin at planting - effectively wiping all insect life from that vast area permanently. The poisons are also highly PERSISTENT - Clothianidin has a 'half life' in some soils of u | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanReal bugs as keyrings: the trivialization of life | I was looking around the Salago shop in Totnes a couple of days ago and discovered that they were selling real bugs - including spiders, scorpions, beetles, butterflies and crabs - embedded in plastic as keyrings and other trinkets. The only marking on the packaging was a web site - http://egcuk.com - which indicates that the bugs are farmed (and possibly also gathered from the wild) in China (although an address in Guatemala is also mentioned). This seems to me to be another sad example of the trivialization of life, which I feel must be confronted. Farming insects for food is one thing - not that you will catch me having a cicada sandwich - but keyrings? The extremes of this trade are documented here - http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/live-animals-being-sold-as-keyrings-in-china.html - live animals encapsulated in sealed containers for the amusement of tourists! If you see this kind of thing on sale anywhere, please talk to the manager and let's get it stopped. A polite approach is probably the best - put your point of view and allow them to respond. If a number of people do this over a few days, I think they will get the message! | 12/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanInterview with Amanda Williams: Bee Grooming, Nosema and Bee-Friendly Zones | Termites are not so different to bees in many ways: both are social insects that live in large colonies and have several castes. Both use grooming as a first-line defence against potentially damaging diseases. Bayer sells a pestide called Premise that kills termites, which they market on the strength of its ability to interfere with the termites' grooming process. The active ingredient is Imidacloprid, and yet they claim never to have tested it on bees to see if it has a similar effect. Some would say that this a a significant oversight, while others might suggest that it is evidence of Bayer's usual habit of being 'economical with the truth'. Whatever we think about this, there is no statutory requirement for Bayer to conduct such research. You can read Bayer's Premise leaflet here http://www.elitepest.com.sg/brochure/Premise_200SC.pdf See http://tinyurl.com/6a7wa9z for an article about this issue in the Independent newspaper. Amanda Williams worked in the pharmaceutical industry for a number of years, and now campaigns on behalf of bees, giving talks in schools and running an informative web site www.buzzaboutbees.net Also in this edition, we launch Bee-Friendly Zones - see www.beefriendlyzone.com | 10/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSound picture of the 2011 Natural Beekeeping Conference | I came away from the conference with several hours of audio recordings and after many more hours of editing, the result is a sort of impressionistic sound picture, which I hope you find interesting. Some of the background music was provided by Homebrewed - http://www.myspace.com/homebrood_the_band/music - with Dan on the fiddle. There are also excerpts from Lara Conley's Bee Song - hear more of her music at http://www.myspace.com/laraconleymusic - with the full version to conclude the recording. | 9/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanInterview with David Heaf at the First UK Natural Beekeeping Conference 2011 | David Heaf is well known as the translator - together with his wife, Patricia - of the Abbé Warré's book about 'The People's Hive' into English. He gave the keynote speech at the First UK Natural Beekeeping Conference, which was warmly received and which generated much friendly discussion. David's new book, 'The Bee-Friendly Beekeeper' is available form Amazon and other outlets. The music on this podcast is 'The Bee Song' by Lara Conley. | 8/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanItalian beekeepers' hunger strike over pesticides | Italian beekeepers Renato Bologna and Marisa Valente have vowed to 'eat like bees' in protest against the use of neonicotinoids. They say that they now have scientific proof that pesticides are killing their bees, and they want the Italian govenment to take action to ban neonicotinoids on all crops. At present, their use is only banned on maize. I spoke to Renato, whose English is a lot better than my Italian, and you can hear the result in today's podcast. PLEASE SUPPORT Renato and Marisa by going to their web site and signing their petition - http://www.rfb.it/bastaveleni/adesioni.htm The front page of their site is here - http://www.rfb.it/bastaveleni If you do not speak Italian, I suggest using Google Chrome to view it and click the 'translate' button at the top. | 8/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWorld exclusive: Lara Conley - The Bee Song | Lara Conley has written a song that I think you will enjoy - and you can hear it for the first time here on the Barefoot Beekeeper Podcast. Lara has a web site on MySpace - - see www.myspace.com/laraconleymusic - and I hope you will listen to and buy some of her music. I think you will agree that with a song-writing talent and a voice like hers, she deserves a wider audience. You can also see Lara on YouTube here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AvA1k4obO0 | 7/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanTop bar hive design: how we handle expansion and swarming | This podcast is based on a recording I made at Welcombe, North Devon earlier in July 2011 with a group of people on an 'Intermediate' level natural beekeeping course. We discussed the various ways to set up a top bar hive, including different entrance arrangements, top bar widths and the options for swarm management. | 7/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanInterview with Murray McGregor | There has been a good deal of controversy over the plans by the Co-Op to import up to 600 colonies of bees from New Zealand. I have myself been critical of introducing 'foreign' bees in such numbers, but I wanted to get the facts on the story, so I arranged with the Co-Op to interview Murray McGregor, the man in charge of the import. This podcast will give you an opportunity to listen to what Murray has to say and to make up your own mind as to the rights and wrongs of the issue. A reminder that if you have a question for me, or a subject you would like me to talk about, please send an email to phil@biobees.com. The voicemail number is no longer operational, as nobody was using it and it was costing me money. If you really want to be able to talk to me, please make contact on Skype, where my username is beesontoast. I do get a lot of emails and I simply don't have time to answer detailed questions, so if you have a beekeeping question, please remember the natural beekeeping forum at naturalbeekeeping.org, where you will find over 5,000 people willing to help you, some of whom may be in your area. | 7/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Sheepdrove Farm Bee Symposium Part 1 | Recorded at the Sheepdrove Farm Conference Centre, June 29th 2011. This event was organized by Samantha Roddick, and you will hear her after Peter Kindersley's introduction. Sam's talk is followed by mine, and this session finishes with Peter Melchett of the Soil Association. I will upload more audio from this event in later podcasts. | 6/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanNatural Beekeeping Conference news, a new distance learning course and feedback from Embercombe | The first UK Natural Beekeeping Conference will be held near Worcester in August, and we have decided to offer reduced rate tickets for students ad some day tickets for the Saturday. Please download a newe booking form from www.naturalbeekeepingalliance.com for details. I have been working on a distance learning course for natural beekeeping, which will be offered by MyGardenSchool starting later this month. Details here - http://www.my-garden-school.com/course/introduction-to-natural-beekeeping/ We had another successful weekend event at Embercombe (see www.embercombe.co.uk) recently and you can hear some feedback from students - including a mystery TV presenter! This episode closes with a recording I made recently of bees at the entrance to one of my hives. I hope you enjoy the mix of bee sounds and birdsong. If you wish to be a part of this podcast, you can leave me a voicemail on +44 (0)203 239 1643 or email me - phil@biobees.com | 6/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDr Joanna Brown interviews me for SoundArt Radio | This interview was recorded in December 2010. | 5/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSlow Beekeeping - Bisi's talk at the BBKA Spring Convention | Today's podcast is a recording I made of a talk by Adebisi Adekunle during the BBKA Spring Convention at Stoneleigh in April 2011. Adebisi Adekunle - Bisi is an Amateur beekeeper with 10 years experience in the UK (Temperate climate with Apis Mellifera Mellifera & hybrids) and in Nigeria (Tropical climate with Apis Mellifera Adansonni). She is a member of Romsey (Hants), Gillingham & Shaftesbury (Dorset), Twickenham & Thames Valley Beekeeping Associations. Bisi is the Honey Show Manager for the Hampshire Honey Show and a member of Slow Food International and the British Beekeepers Assoc. (BBKA). The sound quality is reasonable, although there is some background hum from a piece of equipment in the kitchen. | 4/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanModern Beekeeping Part 2: Questions and Answers | This is a recording of the Q&A session following my talk at the BBKA Spring Convention in Stoneleigh on April 15 2011. | 4/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhat Is Wrong With Modern Beekeeping? | The title of this talk - What Is Wrong With Modern Beekeeping? - begs a question: is there something wrong with modern beekeeping? My contention is that there is indeed much that is wrong with it, and that the root of the problem lies in the anthropocentric, pre-Darwinian belief that we are in charge: that humankind has a God-given right to dominion over all other forms of life, and that animals – including bees – were created purely to serve us. 'Modern' beekeeping can be said to have begun in the year 1852 – the year that Langstroth patented his hive. He did so, it should be noted, with the express purpose of making the commercial exploitation of bees a practical possibility. 1852 was also the year that Langstroth published his book, The Hive and the Honeybee, in which we find the following passage: “The Creator intended the bee for the comfort of man, as truly as he did the horse or the cow. The honey bee was... created not merely with the ability to store up its delicious nectar for its own use, but with certain properties which fitted it to be domesticated, and to labor for man, and without which, he would no more have been able to subject it to his control, than to make a useful beast of burden of a lion or a tiger.”i Which is to say that, according to this creed, not only were bees created in order to provide us with something sweet, but that they were allocated 'certain properties' that enable us to domesticate them. In those days, most people shared Langstroth's belief that 'The Creator intended the bee for the comfort of man' and that its purpose was to 'labor for man'. And yet, unbeknown to the Reverend Langstroth, some twenty years earlier, a little ship had set sail from Plymouth harbour on a five-year voyage that was to change our understanding of the world forever. That ship was The Beagle, and just seven years after Langstroth completed his book, Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. That was over 150 years ago. And yet, even today, despite Darwin's insights having been tested over and over by science; despite overwhelming evidence that all life is interdependent; despite irrefutable proof of the consequences of worldwide destruction of habitat and the poisoning of our life-giving soil by profit-driven corporations; despite all that, we see people still behaving as if they had God-given dominion over life on earth. And what of so-called 'modern beekeeping'? Has it fully embraced the post-Darwinian world? Or does it still operate from that old testament, fundamentalist paradigm? Are we – as appears to be the case - still teaching people how to 'manage' and 'control' bees, when we should be teaching them how to observe, listen to and work with the bees? The Guardian, 10th April 2011 | 4/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanChat with Dave Williams and previewing a new song by Lara Conley | Since my last podcast, I recorded a couple of webinars about natural beekeeping in top bar hives, and if you were not able to catch them at the time, you can find them by going to biobees.com/webinar I have just come back from a weekend at Embercombe - a centre in South Devon that teaches aspects of sustainability to people of all ages and backgrounds. There was a group of - I think - 15 beekeepers who wanted to learn about natural beekeeping in top bar hives, and it was great fun to work with them and with Tim and Jess and the other peope at Embercombe. The weather was warm and sunny and we were able to go through some of the hives, which had all come through a very cold winter. If you are in the UK and have done a year or more of beekeeping, and now you want to learn more about top bar hives, there is another opportunity to do an Intermediate course in North Devon later this year. The course will be over the weekend of the 8th 9th and 10th of July at Welcombe, near Barnstaple. Anyone interested should visit the Yarner Trust web site, which is yarnertrust.org I will also be doing beginners events at Embercombe and Welcombe during the summer - take a look at biobees.com/training for details. If anyone wants me to run a class in their local area, just drop me an email - phil@biobees.com - and we can discuss it. I'm going to play you the snippet of my chat with Dave Williams in a moment, followed by part of a recording of a song written for me by a delightful young singer/songwriter named Lara Conley, who I met one day in my home town when she was busking in the market square. We get a lot of buskers here, but very few who I would want to listen to for long. Lara has a lovely voice and I think you will enjoy the song she I am going to play you. This is actually part of the draft first version of the song - she will be recording the final version soon, so think of this as an exclusive preview. | 3/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPropolis: Interview with James Fearnley | Propolis is often regarded as something of a nuisance by conventional beekeepers, and most beekeeping courses spend more time telling you how to get rid of it or avoid it that what can usefully be done with it. My interview subject today, James Fearnley, has been studying this remarkable substance since the 1970s, and after listening to what he has to say, I hope you will look at propolis with a more open mind. James Fearnley initiated the first international standard for propolis and was one of the first people in the UK to commission serious scientific studies into propolis (at the Universities of Oxford and Manchester). He is recognised worldwide as an authority in the field and is the author of Bee Propolis - Natural Healing from the Hive, Souvenir Press 2001. This pioneering book is probably the most comprehensive overview of research into propolis in the English language. It explains how to use propolis as part of everyday care, with advice on preparations and dosages, as well as describing the usage of propolis throughout history and across large areas of the world. James' web site is http://www.beevitalpropolis.com | 1/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBees, Pesticides and the Corporate Mind: an interview with Tom Theobald | Tom Theobald was largely responsible for exposing the fact that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had licensed Bayer's systemic insecticide Clothianidin, against evidence that it was highly toxic to bees, and that the research used to back the application for licensing was poorly designed and executed. FInd out more here - http://www.bouldercountybeekeepers.org It turns out that Tom and I actually have a couple of things in common, and our discussion covers not only pesticides and bees, but also the corporate mind and the democratic process. A reminder that you can be a part of this podcast by leaving a message on my voicemail, if you have a question for me, or something you would just like to say on air. If you are in the UK the number is 0203 239 1643, if you are anywhere else add your outgoing international number, then country code 44 and strip the first zero - 44 203 239 1643 You can also use my Skype account to leave me a message, which is 'beesontoast'. That's bees - not beans. If you prefer to email me, by all means do so - send your message to phil@biobees.com, but please bear in mind that I get a LOT of emails and it may take me a while to get to yours. If you have a general beekeeping question, please remember the natural beekeeping forum at naturalbeekeeping.org, where you will find over 4,000 beekeepers, some of whom may even be in your area. | 1/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSystemic Insecticides: A Disaster In The Making - interview with Dr Henk Tennekes | Today I am going to be talking with Dr Henk Tennekes, who has published a book that is very relevant to our understanding of how systemic insecticides pose a real danger to bees and other insects, as well as to birds and other wild creatures. And ultimately, of course, to us, because we too are part of this picture. Those of you who listen regularly to this podcast and who read my articles will know that my obsession with bees extends deep into the wider natural environment. The lives and habits of bees are entwined with those of flowering plants, with the flora and fauna of the soil that supports them and the birds and other creatures that depend on plants and insects for food. As beekeepers, we must remind ourselves that it is neither possible nor even desirable to separate one species out from others and to claim to understand it in isolation: everything in nature is interdependent and if we interfere with one part of this intricate structure without looking at the big picture, we risk upsetting delicate and finely-tuned ecosystems that may underpin the very existence of some of the key species on earth. This is the reason that I have for many years campaigned against the genetic manipulation of crop plants such as maize, oilseed rape and rice. They are examples of plants that are being treated as it they are not a part of the wider environment, in attempts to exploit certain characteristics for profit, without proper consideration being given to the effects such interference is likely to have on other species of plants and animals that will inevitably come into contact with them - and that, of course, includes bees. This caution must also apply to the use of synthetic chemicals, especially on our food crops. The most controversial family of chemicals that has recently been introduced into agriculture, which many scientists are now blaming for causing mass die-offs of honeybees, is the neonicotinoids. You can tell from their name that they have a similar molecular structure to nicotine - the ingredient in tobacco that makes cigarettes so deadly. And these synthetic chemical forms are very toxic indeed, even in microscopic quantities - in concentrations that even the most powerful analytical equipment available to scientists struggles to detect. To illustrate just how poisonous the neonicotinoids can be, imagine - if you will - an Olympic-size swimming pool, 50 metres by 25 metres, containing two and a half million litres of water - that's 2,500 metric tonnes - or over half a million UK gallons - or about two thirds of a million US gallons. With that picture in mind, imagine taking just one tablespoon of a neonicotinoid insecticide - just one tablespoon - and adding it to that Olympic-size swimming pool. Once that tiny amount of chemical has dispersed into the water - and despite the almost unimaginably small quantity of active ingredient in any single drop, that entire swimming pool is now toxic to bees. That's all it takes - just a few parts per billion of one of these synthetic neonicotinoids - to have measurable effects on bees' ability to navigate. It may not kill them outright, but if they can't find their way home, it may as well have been instantly fatal. My subject today is Dr Henk Tennekes, who was born in The Netherlands, and after graduating from the Agricultural University of Wageningen in 1974, he performed his Ph.D. work at Shell Research Ltd in the UK. He later worked for 5 years at the Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, Germany. The culmination of Dr Tennekes' research was his recent discovery that the way the neonicotinoid insecticides work has much in common with that of chemical carcinogens - cancer-causing agents. When he realized the dire consequences of environmental pollution with these insecticides, he decided to write a book to warn the general public about an impending environmental catastrophe. The title of Dr Tennekes book is: The Systemic Insecticides - a Disaster in the Mak | 12/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHas the British Bee Keepers Association been lying to us for 10 years? Interview with Dr Bernie Doeser | This episode will be of particular interest to British beekeepers - especially those who are - or have been - or may one day be members of the British Bee Keepers Association - the BBKA. Wherever you are, I think you will find something of interest, though, as I will be interviewing a man who has looked very carefully at the whole issue of pesticides and their potential impact on bees, with particular reference to the BBKA's decade-long policy of taking money from the pesticide industry in return for the use of the BBKA logo on certain products, and the endorsement of such products as being somehow 'bee-friendly'. Many people - when told that a bee keepers association endorses insecticides at all - are shocked and surprised, as was Dr Bernie Doeser, who has recently produced an independent report that is highly critical of the way the BBKA have managed - or failed to manage - their policy. Bernie Doeser's report reveals barely believable levels of negligence and incompetence in this whole episode, starting with the fact that the BBKA actually endorsed some of the pesticides that - far from being bee-friendly - are actually among the top five most lethal pesticides in their class. I had to record the interview with Bernie Doeser in the rather echo-y cafe of the Tate gallery in the seaside town of St Ives in Cornwall, and although we managed to arrange coats and hats to absorb much of the background noise, you can still tell that it is a cafe. And for those of you outside the UK, Cornwall is in the bottom left hand corner of England, and England is part of that little island off the coast of Europe called Great Britain, the United Kingdom or just the UK. Bernie Doeser's report can be downloaded from here - http://tinyurl.com/bbkapesticides The BBKA's announcement is here - http://www.britishbee.org.uk/news/statements/bbka-strategic-review-the-plant-protection-industr.shtml Why has the BBKA failed to support other European bee keeping organizations and oppose the use of neonicotinoids? Is it because they are the only ones in the pay of Bayer? http://www.cbgnetwork.org/1736.html | 11/23/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanCan GM Food Really Feed The World? Or is it all a techno con-trick? | You will hear very little from me today, and quite a lot from some people who have spent a great deal of time looking very carefully at the issue of genetically engineered farm crops. I recorded these short interviews and a panel discussion at a conference I attended recently, where some well-informed speakers talked about their work and their conclusions about the potential dangers of growing GM crops in the UK and elsewhere. Whether or not you have paid attention to the GM food and crops story since their introduction about 15 years ago, I urge you to find time to listen to these speakers - these are serious people and very far from being a bunch of wild-eyed hippies - which is how the press love to characterize people who speak out on this subject. What does this have to do with beekeeping? Well, everything. GM pollen has been implicated in several studies of the 'colony collapse' phenomenon, and many GM plants have insecticides built into them, rendering them deliberately toxic to bees and all other insects. First, you will hear from Michael Hart, a British farmer and carpenter, who has travelled to the USA recently to talk to American farmers who have been growing GM crops and who have found that they are not all that Monsanto promised them to be. He has made a film of his journey, which will be available soon and I will provide a link to it in due course. Other speakers will introduce themselves. After that, you will hear part of the panel discussion that concluded the conference, followed by a short piece from Lawrence Woodward, which was taken from the panel discussion, as I did not get the chance to interview him personally. If you are not up to speed with GM issues, I recommend you watch this short video featuring Vandana Shiva talking about the future of food - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi1FTCzDSck If you value what I do and you can afford it, I would be very grateful if you would 'buy me a coffee' to help me provide you with more free stuff next year. There will be more podcasts, more videos and more DIY plans, for starters. As a 'thank you' I will send you a free copy of 'The Barefoot Beekeeper's Guide to Swarming and Swarm Management' (usually US$4.99). And just a reminder that you can call and leave a message on my voicemail, if you have a question or comment for me to use in this podcast. The number is 0203 239 1643 if you are in the UK, or - +44 203 239 1643 if you are outside the UK. You can also use my Skype name to leave me a message, which is 'beesontoast'. That's bees - not beans. | 10/31/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLondon, North Devon, essential oils and robbing | This is another outside podcast, directly from one of my apiaries, to the accompaniment of bees, birds and nearby horses. I talk about my recent visits to Neil and Carol Klein's North Devon, where I installed a top bar hive earlier this year, and to London, where I gave a talk and met some interesting people at The Hub, Kings Cross. I have used grease patties containing tea tree oil for the first time, and I talk about the pros and cons of treating for Varroa mites. You can find the recipe for grease patties here - http://www.honeybeesuite.com/?p=1841 Robbing has been a problem recently, and it is especially galling when the robbers are coming from someone else's apiary. I discuss a couple of deterrent tactics. Please leave me comments on iTunes and do post reviews with lots of stars if you like my efforts! Questions and ideas for future podcasts - please use the voicemail number: 020 32 39 16 43 (UK) or +4420 3239 1643 elsewhere. | 10/23/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanFeeding Bees - why and when | I get asked a lot about when, how and with what to feed bees, so here are some of the answers. It is a big subject, of course, and one that I may well have to deal with in more detail one day, but this is a start! In this episode, I also apologize for messing up on the voicemails. I failed to record them onto my hard drive before Skype wiped the messages, so PLEASE try again! Leave your messages/questions/comments on: 020 32 39 16 43 (UK) or +4420 3239 1643 elsewhere. | 9/24/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanInterview with Christy Hemenway of Gold Star Honeybees | Christy Hemenway talks about how she started in beekeeping, how she met the White House beekeeper, and how an Irish penny caused her to cross the Atlantic. Christy is a great ambassador for bees and top bar beekeeping. Look out for her beekeeping courses if you are anywhere near Maine and wherever you are, check out her web site at http://www.goldstarhoneybees.com | 8/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanInspiration, questions and throwing away the rulebooks | It is natural for beginners to ask questions - I encourage it and this is why we have a thriving Natural Beekeeping Forum with over 3,500 members around the world. Often, when I give a talk, I spend as much time answering questions as I do speaking, and that is how I like it - it's always more interesting to be responding to genuine interest in people than to be just talking at them. And when I don't know the answer, I say so. As we accumulate experience, I think one of the most common things I hear is not so much that all our questions are answered, but that we find ourselves asking more and more of them - not necessarily of others, but of ourselves. Questions like, 'why do I do it this way?' and 'is there a better way to do this?' and, best of all, 'what would happen if I did this?'. For me, it is vital that I go on questioning everything I do with bees, to make sure I don't get stuck in doing things only one way 'just because that's the way it's done'. Whenever I see someone doing something mechanically, I am likely to ask them why they do it, and if they can't come up with a better answer than 'because that is the way I have always done it', then I'm liable to ask a lot more questions! And that's what I like to do to myself. And this is why I like the way we can discuss new ideas on the forum, and why we generally don't go in for 'laying down the law' of 'natural beekeeping'. We are a broad church, and we welcome people with no experience (even those who ask 'what does a honeybee look like?') as well as those who have been looking after bees for decades. By and large, we like to encourage the attitude of 'have you tried this' rather than 'you need to do it this way'. Every month or so I receive an (un-asked for) email from a woman who claims some sort of hot-line to the mind of Rudolf Steiner, and on this basis makes largely unintelligible pronouncements about the way we should be keeping bees. She has convinced herself that 'there is only one way'. As a lifelong dissenter from all things religious, I have an abiding dislike of dogma. I can see the damage that has been done in the world by the blind following of rules, and the last thing I want is to be making more rules. So I encourage everyone participating in the great experiment of 'natural beekeeping' to ask more questions, use your senses to seek answers from the bees themselves, and don't get bogged down in the pronouncements of people with axes to grind or 'gurus' to follow. Think for yourself. Ask questions of yourself and other people. Take nothing for granted. | 8/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBumblebees, apps and feedback from students | Are honeybees native to Britain? And do they compete with other native bees? That's one of the questions I will be dealing with in this espsode, along with announcing a new voicelmail number for you to leave messages and questions on for the podcast - +44 203 239 1643 I also announce the new 'app' that will run alongside this podcast, making it easy for owners of iPhones, iPods and iPads to get episodes and some extra content not available elsewhere, in return for a small subscription that will go towards helping to make it possible for me to produce these podcasts on a regular basis. It can take up to a full day to record, edit and process one of these episodes, so I hope you will support me in doing this if you have the appropriate technology. A large chunk of this episode consists of feedback from people who attended my last weekend event at Welcombe in North Devon, organized by the Yarner Trust. They talk about their experiences and what they learned, as well as giving some suggestions for further enhancing the experience. | 7/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhen Things Go Wrong - dealing with cross-combing in a top bar hive | Cross-combing is probably the most-reported issue with top bar hives, and it can be tricky to resolve. In this podcast, I talk about how you can most effectively prevent cross-combing, and what you can do about it if it happens despite your best endeavours. I also describe a method of dealing with really serious cross-combing, that is similar to my method for transferring bees from a framed hive to a top bar hive by making use of their natural tendency to build comb downwards. You will also hear some feedback from participants in a recent Natural Beekeeping event at Embercombe. | 7/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGetting Bees Into Top Bar Hives | One of the first problems encountered by beginners to top bar beekeeping is how to get some bees into those boxes. This podcast will help you with some ideas and techniques that can be applied to most of the circumstances you are likely to find yourself in. A detailed article on this subject with the title 'The Barefoot Beekeeper's Guide to Starting a Top Bar Hive' will be available soon from www.offthebookshelf.com | 7/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSlow Beekeeping: Adebisi Aderkunle on top bar beekeeping in Nigeria | Following the last podcast about swarming, a number of people asked me to write this subject up, so you will find a downloadable file that is now available called 'The Barefoot Beekeeper's Guide to Swarming and Swarm Management' on my web site at biobees.com. This edition is rather different to anything you have heard before - mainly because I will not be doing much of the talking. Instead, I would like to introduce you to a remarkable woman who I met for the first time just a couple of days ago at a meeting of the Southern Counties Joint Consultative Council of the British Bee Keepers Association, where we had both been invited to speak about our use of top bar hives. Those of you who know my history with the BBKA will understand that I went to this event expecting - how shall we say - a certain amount of resistance. There were no fewer that five BBKA ex-presidents in the room, together with a number of very experienced beekeepers who represented their membership right across the south of England, particularly the south west. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the willingness of the committee members to listen to what must have sounded to some of them to be rather radical ideas, and we had a very constructive and productive meeting. Two - actually three - things of particular note came out of the meeting: first, it was confirmed that the BBKA does indeed plan to phase out its policy of endorsing pesticides as current contracts expire. I know many people will be pleased to hear that. Secondly - and at least as exciting - two people present at that meeting, who between them pretty much control beekeeper education in the UK, agreed that it was time to include top bar hives in the BBKA training programme and have promised to do something about it - a major step in the right direction, I think you will agree. The third good thing to come out of the meeting was that I had the opportunity to meet a remarkable woman called Adebisi Aderkunle, who gave an insightful and fascinating presentation about top bar beekeeping in Nigeria and about the Slow Food movement. Bisi reached beyond the points of disagreement there would inevitably have been around the table had I been the first to speak, and offered a thoughtful and disarming summary of her practices and her approach to natural beekeeping. Bisi's presentation is the subject of this podcast, and I think you will enjoy it. | 6/10/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSwarming: why bees do it, and what you can do about it | Swarming is is an expansive, optimistic act, by which honeybees reproduce their colonies. When they feel prosperous, and the weather is set fair, and plentiful food is coming in, that is when the colony divides and half of it moves away to a new location. The laying queen, the mother of the colony - takes off with about half of the mature, flying bees, and they go off in search of a new home, usually a mile or two away from their current location, leaving behind them some special cells containing new queens, one of which will become the new mother of the old colony. Swarming is driven by the all-powerful urge to reproduce, present in all species. Swarming is the honeybees' most important survival strategy, and without it, I doubt they would have survived for the last 50 million years. It has enabled them to move quickly to avoid local disasters and climate change, and to cover promising, new territory quickly and efficiently. You can really feel the bees' excitement building up as swarming day approaches - and when they leave the hive, they stream out and whirl around in a cloud, like a bee tornado, and in a few minutes, settle on a nearby branch, gathered around their queen to protect her. Often, in an apiary with a number of hives, when one swarm emerges, another will come out from a nearby hive very soon after the first - as if the excitement has spread from one hive to the next. Swarming is far from being a spontaneous event, however. Preparations begin several weeks before it actually takes place, and there are several indicators to look out for that will tell you whether and approximately when your bees are going to swarm. | 5/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLocal groups, books and volcanic ash | One of the most important things we are doing on the forum is putting people in touch with others in their local area. We really want to develop a support network for beekeepers who want to work in a more natural and sustainable way with bees, and this depends on people being willing to get together in twos, threes or more to share experiences and to learn from each other. You don't need to have a formal membership structure and there doesn't need to be any money involved - just meet up and chat and show each other your bees and your hives and how you do things. If you get a lot of people involved, then you can start thinking about renting a meeting place and inviting speakers if you choose to, or split into special interest groups, and then all meet up together from time to time to compare notes. | 4/15/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanTen Tips to Help Save the Bees | Bees are in trouble, and it is mostly because of us. We have destroyed much of their natural habitat, we have poisoned their food and in the case of honeybees, we have used and abused them for our own purposes while not giving enough attention to their needs and welfare. Honeybees have been evolving for a very long time – the fossil record goes back at least 100 million years – and they became remarkably successful due to their adaptability to different climates, varied flora and their tolerance of many shapes and sizes of living accommodation. They became attractive to humans because of their unique ability to produce useful things, apparently out of thin air: honey, wax and propolis. Until the nineteenth century, they were kept in pots, skeps, baskets and a variety of wooden boxes intended more-or-less to imitate their natural habitat of choice, the hollow tree. With the invention of the 'movable frame' hive, the second half of that century saw an exponential growth in commercial-scale beekeeping, and by the time motor vehicles became widely available, beekeeping on a widespread and industrial scale became a practical possibility. Since then, bees have been treated in rather the same way as battery hens: routinely dosed with antibiotics and miticides in an effort to keep them producing, despite the growing problems of diseases and parasites and insecticide-treated plants that have led to the emergence of so-called 'Colony Collapse Disorder', especially in the massive bee- farming operations in the USA. It doesn't have to be like this. Some beekeepers have realized that, if bees are to become healthy enough to develop resistance to disease and the ability to adapt to pests, then they have to be treated differently – and not just by beekeepers. Here are some things you can do to help the bees: 1. Stop using insecticides - especially for 'cosmetic' gardening. There are better ways of dealing with pests - especially biological controls. Modern pesticides are extremely powerful and many are long-lasting and very toxic to bees and other insects. Removing all unnecessary pesticides from the environment is probably the single most important thing we can do to help save the bees. 2. Avoid seeds coated with systemic insecticides. Beware - many farm seeds are now coated with Clothianidin and related systemic insecticides, which cause the entire plant to become toxic to bees and all other insects that may feed on it. The same coatings may soon appear on garden seeds. Check your seed packets carefully - and if in doubt, ask the manufacturer for full information. 3. Read the labels on garden compost - beware hidden killers! Some garden and potting composts are on sale that contain Imidacloprid - a deadly insecticide manufactured by Bayer. It is often disguised as 'vine weevil protection' or similar, but it is highly toxic to all insects and all soil life, including beneficial earthworms. The insecticide is taken up by plants, and if you use this compost in hanging baskets, bees seeking water from the moist compost may be killed. 4. Create natural habitat. If you have space in your garden, let some of it go wild to create a safe haven for bees and other insects and small mammals. Gardens that are too tidy are not so wildlife- friendly. 5. Plant bee-friendly flowers. You can buy wildflower seeds from many seed merchants, and they can be sown in any spare patch of ground - even on waste ground that is not being cultivated. Some 'guerilla gardeners' even plant them in public parks and waste ground. 6. Provide a site for beehives. If you have some space to spare, you could offer a corner of your garden to a local beekeeper as a place to keep a hive or two. They will need to have regular access, so bear this in mind when considering a site. 7. Make a wild bee house. Providing a simple box as a place for feral bees to set up home is one step short of taking up beekeeping, but may appe | 4/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanStupid Beekeepers - a real cause of bee decline? | A provocative podcast this time - looking at some of the ways that stupid, greedy and irresponsible beekeepers may be damaging our bees and risking importing exotic pests and diseases that will make things even more difficult for our indigenous bees. If you are new to beekeeping and are about to buy a 'nuc' to get you started, you need to listen to this episode. | 3/5/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 34 | CleanVideoQuick and Easy Winter Feeding with Fondant | As winter fades, our bees must rely on whatever is left of their stores before the first nectar flow begins. If the winter has been long and hard, as this one has been in many places, we may need to top up their stores, but we don't necessarily want to stimulate the queen to start laying in earnest just yet. The answer is to feed fondant - a semi-solid mix of sugar and water - that can be fed at any time of year, but is particularly useful now, as the bees will use it but it will not start the queen laying in earnest. Here is a quick and easy way to feed fondant in top bar hives, with minimal disturbance to the bees. | 2/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Barefoot Beekeeper - Episode 2 | Continuing the theme of 'natural beekeeping for beginners', this time I take a look at the various types of hive you can choose from, including the pros and cons of each. Also some thoughts about so-called 'stimulative feeding', and some words about women! | 2/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Barefoot Beekeeper - Episode 1 | This podcast series is intended as an introduction to 'natural bee-keeping' for people who want to keep bees mainly for their own sake, rather than for maximum honey production. If you have no idea who I am or what I am talking about, you will find more information on my web site at www.biobees.com and on the Natural Beekeeping Forum at www.naturalbeekeeping.org. You can download for free my Introduction to Natural Beekeeping in a number of different formats. If you have questions that you would like me to address in future podcasts, please leave messages here (and please tell me what you thought of this one), or on my FaceBook page - search for BarefootBeekeeper - and follow me on Twitter, where I am BarefootBee. Happy beekeeping! Phil Chandler | 2/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 36 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Love it!
Barefoot Beekeeper has all the elements I love in a good podcast: fascinating topic, conveyed in an entertaining way by a knowledgeable and passionate host, with quality production ("listenability") value. The focus on sustainable, natural practices has got to become more mainstream with time. It is encouraging to know that there are people like Phil out there who not only practice them, but take the time to educate and share them with others. I haven't kept bees yet, but I will. I am so glad that Phil's instruction and wisdom will form the foundation of my practice when I do. Great, great job - hope there are many more episodes to come.
Getting back into bees after 20 year hiatus.
Before moving to Florida, I had a couple of hives in rural Virginia. I am looking forward to getting back into having a hive in my backyard with a more natural approach and "Top Bar Hive". The nuclear hive is due to arrive in about 10 days. These podcasts are an excellent way to explain and teach this new "old" method of coexisting with bees without the commercial equipment. My interest is to try to assist in the reversal of the decline of the honeybee - one backyard at a time. Thanks Phil Chandler for your straightforward and very helpful approach.
Great stuff
As an new beekeeper, it is great hearing information from someone who has been around the block a few times, especially if you live in an area that does not have a lot of "natural" beekeepers around. I hope this podcast will be longer in the future, and have some practical guides for treatments of bees using natural products such as essential oils. Looking forward to the next podcast, and future episodes!
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