It has long been known that successful beekeeping is a combination of an ART and SCIENCE.
Now, in this new 21st century, many of these men are dead, retired, quit beekeeping, still fighting the losing battle against all the new problems beginning with the arrival of the tracheal mite in 1984, the more deadly bee pest, the Varroa mite in 1987, and the Small Hive Beetle in 1998. Finally, a few of us, who “saw the light” back in 1984, changed with the times, and paid intense attention to the findings of bee scientists and bee research. Of course, some say that I had an advantage in that I was a highly trained scientist. That is a bunch of “bull”!
Varroa was found in Fiji on the 30 October 2018. To date there is no tracheal mites or small hive beetles. JL
You don’t have to be a scientist yourself to be a fine beekeeper; but you have to LISTEN to what the findings of scientists are, ignore what the “good old guys” tell you, and be willing to change your management to fit. I want to mention some things that you will NOT find in a book, or from the lips of most speakers, but of great importance.
JL – Some of the specific information presented below may not apply to Fiji but the wisdom and incite applied to all beekeeping. Lessons learned overseas can be applied to Fiji conditions with a little for thought and common sense.
JL – What follows are mostly Georges own words but heavily edited for Fiji. I encourage you to read the original.
- You are going to be STUNG 😉
- What do you do about stings?
- Does Smoke Have Some Control Over Bees?
- What Is The Best Smoker Fuel?
- Forget Honey!
- Feeding your new bees
- Almost nobody understands the presence of a Nectar Flow
- What is honey?
- There are 3500 bees to the pound (10,000 bees per kg. JL)
- American Foul Brood
- Thinking Like A Bee
- Are all honey bees the same?
- Lastly, don’t be cheap about buying quality bees
LEARN to walk WELL, before trying to run a marathon race!
I hope that I have helped you, because it is what I have dedicated myself to do.
George Imirie
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper
Short Course 2004 by George Imirie’s Beekeeping Short Course 2004 – A Fiji Rewrite, by John Lewis