Beekeeping has been practiced for thousands of years, with evidence of ancient beekeeping found in rock inscriptions and hieroglyphs dating back to 7000 BCE. Initially, beekeepers harvested honey and beeswax from wild bee colonies in trees, rocks, and other natural habitats.
As civilizations evolved, beekeeping became more organized and advanced. Ancient Egyptians kept bees in hives made of clay and straw, and it is believed that they were the first to construct man-made beehives around 2400 BCE. The Greeks and Romans used wooden beehives and made significant advancements in beekeeping, including using swarms to establish new colonies and introducing honeybees to new regions.
During the Middle Ages, beekeeping continued to evolve, with the introduction of new hive designs and the development of techniques for managing bee colonies. Honey was a valuable commodity during this time, and beekeepers often paid taxes on their hives.
Modern beekeeping industry began to emerge in the mid-19th century with the invention of the movable frame beehive by American beekeeper Lorenzo L. Langstroth. This hive design allowed beekeepers to examine each frame individually and manage the colonies more effectively, leading to increased honey production.
However, we must always remember that beekeeping is much more than just a commercial activity, and there are many factors to consider before achieving higher honey production. Sustainability is of utmost importance.
Modern industrial beehives primarily serve the interests of beekeepers, while often neglecting the well-being and safety of the bees themselves.
So, let’s start by acknowledging that modern industrial beehives have one main interest, which is the benefit of beekeepers. In contrast, they often disregard the interests and safety of the bees themselves.
The Impact of Modern Artificial Beehives on Bee Communities
Modern artificial beehives have negative effects on bees by weakening their immunity and reducing their ability to combat viruses and diseases prevalent in their colonies. Here are the reasons behind these negative impacts:
- Greater Heat Loss: The heat loss in artificial hives is much greater than that in natural ones which bees make themselves. In nature, bees usually build natural wax cells for their colony for different purposes. Some cells are built to store honey, others to store pollen, some are built to rest in, and some are built to lay eggs and raise larvae to produce new bees. The sizes of the wax comb and the hexagonal eyes in natural hive vary according to what the bees decide and their needs require. As for the artificial hives, they are all built in standardized dimensions, and the size of the hexagonal eyes is uniform, leading to greater heat loss compared to natural hives, and this requires additional effort from the bees to restore the desired thermal balance in the hive. This results in the death of bees and the weakening of their colonies.
- Humidity levels: the humidity levels in most types of artificial beehives are very low, which is the environment preferred by destructive Varroa mites. This problem is certainly not faced by bees when they choose to build their colony in their natural habitats such as tree trunks or mountain caves, or in other words those in the wild, simply because humidity levels are at a natural level suitable for bees, which prevents these destructive mites from multiplying. Varroa was first reported early in the 20th century in Southeast Asia on Indonesian island (Java). And was recognized as a major threat to bees by the 1960s. Given that Indonesia, at the time the discovery of these devastating parasites was announced, was then a Dutch colony, the Dutch are known to have been transporting bees from the west to their colonies in the east, which strengthens the hypothesis that the Varroa parasite was originally transported to the island of Java from Western bee! This is also reinforced by the fact that Langstroth hives were invented fifty years before the time of the announcement of the discovery of Varroa! There is also no evidence that this type of problem was facing bees before Langstroth’s invention! However, we cannot be 100% certain that this hypothesis is correct, but we are certain that modern artificial cells are among the factors causing the accelerating phenomenon of the devastating Varroa parasite outbreak.
- Complex Nest Site Selection: Bees meticulously choose the size, location, and characteristics of their nest sites, which are crucial for their well-being. When beekeeping is in non-natural hives, many of these essential features are overlooked, leading to the death of numerous bee colonies.
- Pollen Storage and Nutrition: In natural hives, bees store pollen in the hexagonal eyes after mixing it with nectar, honey, and secreting a group of enzyme-rich substances to turn it into what is known as (Bee Bread). Bee Bread is the main and vital food for the growth of bees and provides them with energy to carry out all tasks. The availability of pollen is essential to maintaining the health of bee colonies. Its loss leads to malnutrition among bees, which weakens them, makes them more vulnerable to diseases and pests, and harms their immune system, which may lead to a decrease in the number of bees in the colony or even the collapse of the colony. Modern artificial hives deliberately place traps at the entry of the hive to drop the pollen from the bees’ legs when they return to the hive, so that beekeepers can sell the pollen as an independent commercial product.
- Artificial Wax Composition: Wax is one of the main differences that we also need to highlight. Most artificial beehives contain synthetic wax. Despite the fact that this wax is usually composed of materials that are classified as food grade, it does not serve the bees in the same way as natural beeswax. In addition, it misses many of the benefits of natural organic beeswax.
Most artificial beehives are made of synthetic wax, which is made from a mixture between beeswax (20%) and paraffin (80%).
Natural beeswax is a substance secreted by the worker bee from special glands located on the underside of its abdomen in order to form the walls of the beehive. It is a product consisting of more than 300 compounds. It is characterized by its white color, before it turns yellow as a result of contact with honey.
Natural beeswax is used in the formulation and preparation of many cosmetics and skin care products, and it has many benefits and advantages. It is also rich in antioxidants, carbohydrates, and honey residue, and contains enzymes that the bee secretes when building the hive, and it also contains some important nutritional elements such as minerals and vitamins.
Natural beeswax is characterized by its floral scent, which is sometimes fragrant. Some professional beekeepers distinguish the purity of beeswax from its smell and color.
- Beekeeper Intervention: Despite some good practices by beekeepers in preserving lives of bees, they interfere in bees’ decisions in a way that does not serve the bees themselves! For example, when a queen bee decides to lay eggs at a certain time, beekeeper intervenes by placing what is called a (Queen Excluder) to prevent her from laying eggs in order to divert the bees’ focus on producing honey instead of laying eggs and increasing the members of the colony according to the needs of the bees themselves.
These are just a few examples of the negatives of modern artificial beehives. There may be more issues and impacts yet to be fully understood.
We at BARARI highly recommend that it is essential to strike a balance between beekeeping practices and the well-being of bee communities to ensure their safety and sustainability.