Max Menchaca

Mike Haasl wrote:

Max Menchaca wrote:The Midwest growing capabilities are supposed to increase, but culturally I'm not sure if it an optimal place.

The Midwest is a pretty big place with lots of different spots within it.  I'd encourage you to not just assume the whole region is one culture.

As a native of Illinois I am aware of that!

I've been thinking about this question a lot lately, especially with the unprecedented acreage burned and bountiful smoke up here in the PacNW this year. I expect periods of smoke to be more prevalent as time goes.

Not just considering conditions here-and-now, but with climate change, there is a big drawback to just about everywhere in the country. The Southeast is humid already and is going to get worse. The Northwest is going to have snowpack issues as more precip falls as rain in the winter (and wildfires are expected to get worse, as I mentioned above).  California and the East Coast are dense.  The Southwest is a irrigation black hole already. The Midwest growing capabilities are supposed to increase, but culturally I'm not sure if it an optimal place.


Really curious if others factored in not just how a place agreed with them now but how it fit with them in the future? It's a huge question to navigate.

What I've learned regarding not feeding honey to bees is that it could have viruses or spores of pathogens that are harmless to humans (so are left in the honey), but NOT to the bees. Unless you know the source of the honey and can confirm its quality, you are not "supposed" to feed honey to the bees.

I would of course like to explore this more, because I would love to also avoid sugar to the bees.

Jessa Hunt wrote:I'm going to be trying the Small Cell foundation method. Bees have been bred bigger than nature intended, and kept that way by commercial frame foundation making brood cells about 5.4mm. Small Cell is 4.9mm, and I've seen people post success with handmade foundation of 4.8.  The idea is that varroa has a harder time in the smaller brood cells than in the big ones. Part of why a lot of people put in a sacrifice frame of drone sized foundation to pull out and freeze after its capped, because the varroa still prefer the bigger drone brood. They are so destructive because they CAN use regular worker brood to multiply. But in theory, the smaller, more natural sized bees and cells cut down on the varroa populations.

I've seen arguments for and against small cell, but I figure its worth a shot.

I love your idea on bees bred to be larger, and have so many new questions that spring to mind!

For one, Africanized bees are smaller than  commercial honeybees nowadays. They are also much more resilient to the mites.

I've been taught Varroa prefer drones because they are brood for longer, which gives the mites longer to breed. I've always wondered if the "preference" is manifesting as a mite going for the larger cell size, or triggering off of drone phermones.

Do the bees really go for the smaller cell size? That is really fascinating.

tel jetson wrote:

Max Menchaca wrote:I've found some previous discussion here, which praises catching a swarm. It sounds like a good idea, but you also have no guarantee where the bees are coming from (what their toxic load or mite load might be). What do all of you think?

swarms are helpful for varroa because they cause a break in the brood cycle. varroa mites need brood to reproduce. if there's no brood for a while, as is the case for a newly hived swarm, varroa reproduction is interrupted and the population drops. conveniently, this is the case for both the swarm and the colony that issued the swarm.

That is very true, and thanks for pointing it out! I wonder what that means for any phoretic mites that are hitching a ride with any bees on the swarm, though?

I've found some previous discussion here, which praises catching a swarm. It sounds like a good idea, but you also have no guarantee where the bees are coming from (what their toxic load or mite load might be). What do all of you think?

Hi everyone! I've been thrilled to learn about keeping bees in the past few months as I prep for having bees of my own. Currently, I'm an apprentice in the OSU Master Beekeeping Program. It's a big, fascinating world. I've been working to combine my "alternative" views with some of the modern practices of beekeeping.

I'm especially curious about mite control. Varroa mites are basically an unavoidable problem in bee colonies nowadays, and a nasty pest. Some of the methods I've been learning about for dealing with mites sound absolutely terrifying! Some of the people I've chatted with in the Program have discussed various chemicals, some of which require wearing full-blown respirators. I've chatted with some ladies in the Preservation Bee Council in Camas, WA who suggest keeping smaller hives so the bees have time to clean up mites. Of course, the big difference here is the members of the PBC aren't necessarily trying to harvest anything out of their hives like some more "conventional" beekeepers would. And in a world with an off-kilter ecosystem, are desperate, chemical-dependent measures acceptable as we try to heal it?

So, permies - I'd love to hear your perspective on handling Varroa destructor, especially if you've hit on any techniques that you feel align with a permaculture mindset.


Be well everybody. It's weird times right now. Being an apartment dweller I'm really jonesing to get some access to some land.

Hello all! If there is still interest in a meetup, I am newly arrived in the Portland area and would be thrilled to learn more about all aspects of permaculture. I am just starting my journey and would like to absorb as much as I can with like-minded people!