Frequently Asked Questions
THE HONEYBEE
Q. Why are Honeybees important?
A. Honeybees and their relatives, the stinging insects are the very sustainers of healthy plants by virtue of creating formic acid, one of the most important acids essential in life processes. In addition, honeybees are the very best pollinators and responsible for pollinating 40-70% of what we eat.
THE SANCTUARY
Q. What is a Honeybee Sanctuary, and how does that differ from an apiary or bee farm? (Bees for profit vs. bees not-for-profit)
A. A honeybee sanctuary is an apiary where the needs and well-being of the honeybees are number one on the priority list. It should be a safe place, quiet and protected, with ample forage for the bees grown with organic/biodynamic methods and free of GMO crops and pesticides in the vicinity. Only the true surplus honey is taken from the hives.
Q. Why does Spikenard Farm and Honeybee Sanctuary only focus on the honeybee vs. other native bees?
A. In addition to the environmental degeneration and poisoning (cide = death, as in pesticide, insecticide, herbicide, fungicide etc.) which affect all pollinators, and certainly all living beings, the honeybee is being weakened and made ill by a host of invasive beekeeping methods, all of which aim at optimizing the bottom line of getting the most out of the honeybee (honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly). Non of these methods really benefit the bees themselves whereas the impact of our aggressive, poison laded agriculture will, unfortunately, take time to lesson (96% of our agriculture is still conventional), beekeeping method can be changed almost instantly by hobby and small professional beekeepers.
A big variety of native bees, wasps live in our place and profit from a great diversity of flowers. They share nectar and pollen, some go here and others there. In the catnip you can see a real symphony of different bees; in the Korean mint there are only native bees and no honeybees. We serve all!
Q. Why is your sanctuary called Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary? A. The Spikenard plant (nardostachys jatamansi) originates in the Himalayan Mountains and belongs to the Valerian family. Also known as 'nard', it is a source of rich essential oils with an equally rich history. Horace once promised Virgil a whole barrel of his best wine in exchange for a tiny phial of nard, which was a common ingredient in ancient Japanese incense recipes. It stood for centuries as an evocation of the perfume of the lost Garden of Eden, and was the costly ointment with which Mary Magdalena anointed Jesus. Nard oil has strong, warm, musky notes, similar to the aroma of healthy humus. For us, this oil inspires deeds that harmonize the relationship of heaven and earth. A blessing, if this can be achieved for the honeybees!
Q. What is the difference between standard beekeeping, natural beekeeping and sanctuary beekeeping?
A. 1) Standard beekeeping accepts all the "progressive", modern inventions for beekeeping practices and aims at maximizing ease of handling and financial revenues. Mechanization of many of the bees' life processes (foundations, queen breeding, swarm prevention, sugar/corn syrup feeding) are welcomed without taking the natural instinct into consideration.
2) Natural beekeeping attempts to stay close to the natural instincts and inherent wisdom of the colony.
3) Sanctuary beekeeping, in addition to natural beekeeping practices, attempts to strengthen the run-down immune system with medicinal teas and growing bee forage with medicinal qualities in mind. And be as far away as possible from Monsanto and -cides.
Q. How does the honeybee sanctuary get its bees? Packages?
A. The sanctuary relies on expanding its colonies through swarming--catching most of the swarms - and subsequently splitting the remaining in two, each keeping a number of naturally raised queen cells. The ones we miss to catch find good homes in the woods around us. Neighbors report to us that they are seeing honeybees in trees again. This is our contribution to the feral population.
Q. What types of beehives does the sanctuary use?
A. Langstroth, Warre, horizontal hexagonal and vertical hexagonal Venus Hive. We will be developing the round hive further in the winter months.
Q. Do you sell plans to any of your hives?
Q. Does the sanctuary sell honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly or propolis?
A. We sell limited amount of honey locally. We sell beeswax for medicinal purposes. The pollen we leave for the bees, but some propolis we use for our own salves. But never will we take or sell Royal Jelly, because this would mean killing queens.
Q. Do you use smokers?
A. Yes, it is a door bell for us. We like to let them know that we are entering their space. Our smoker fuel is fragrant with lots of dried medicinal plant material growing in our gardens. It is like smudging the bees and they don't feel threatened by it.
Q. When and what does the sanctuary feed their bees?
A. We feed a honey/tea mixture (our special healing recipe) for swarming and splits to guarantee a good start building up new comb and supplies. A mild honey/tea mixture is given occasionally to strengthen bees immune system. If needed, the winter stores may be supplemented with the honey/tea.
Q. What kind of bees does the sanctuary have?
A. Mostly Italian - Carnolian, - Russian mixtures.
Q. Do you breed queens?
A. No. The conventional breeding of queens out of worker bee larvae is one of the major reasons the immune system of the honeybee is compromised, letting them be more susceptible to viruses, bacteria and fungi. At this time the life expectancy of queens is less than half of what it used to be 20-30 years ago.
Q. Where do you place your hives?
A. Some hives are in a bee shelter (bear proof) and others are in different locations in the sanctuary. All are facing SE. Seven colonies are placed in a 7-star formation. This is a research project for at least 2 years, after which we will be able to share results.
Q. Do you use plastic foundations?
A. This is the worst invention and the bees don't like them! The comb is where they raise their brood, it's their womb. Basically one can say that foundation is not good for the bees. They draw their strength from the comb as we draw strength from our bones. Foundation is re-cycled, de-natured wax! We wouldn't want re-cycled bones, would we?
Q. What do you do about a)varroa mites, b)nosema, c) small hive beetle, d)wax moths?
A. a) Against varroa mites we have good results using a screen board, medicinal teas and essential oils. We have a number of colonies that get no treatment at all. When a colony has high numbers of mites in the fall (usually this does not happen in the first year, but in subsequent years of life), we use formic and oxalic acid treatments sparingly. These acids are normally present in the colony, but not in a high concentration, and are part of the bees' life. Both treatments are based on a rigorous, 10-year study in Germany which showed that there is absolutely no accumulation in wax or wood. All other chemicals accumulate in the wax and let the mites become resistant to the treatment. The use of Thymol, although very effective, for treatment does not have enough research for us to recommend. Our ultimate goal is to strengthen the bees to the extent that they can take care of the mites themselves.
b) Against nosema we work with the teas and biodynamic silica spray.
c) We saw a few dead ones last year for the first time, none this year. Strong colonies will take care of them.
d) Wax moths are not a problem in healthy hives. Their job is to clean up what is not occupied. Let them do it.
Q. What do you do about a) bacterial disease(foulbrood) b)chalk-brood, stone-brood?
A. a) Natural queen raising, comb building, no sugar or corn syrup feeding. I never had a case of foulbrood in 37 years.
b) same
Have you ever had Colony Collapse Disorder?
A. No, we never had it so far. Of course, all we do goes into strengthening the honeybees' immune system.
Q. What do you do against pesticide exposure?
A. Best thing is to be pre-emptive (a mode of action not to be recommended in other fields of endeavor!). A few years back we threatened the health department with a law-suit if they sprayed our garden against West-Nile Virus. They stayed 1 mile away from our location. But if you know that there will be spraying and can't avoid it, close your hive tight and give shade. The bees will suffer, but at least not die.
BIODYNAMIC
Q. What is Biodynamically invigorated landscape mean?
A. With biodynamic preparations we enliven the soil, the plants photosynthesis and the compost process. On the basis of sound organic practices, the biodynamic treatments raise the level of health and vitality of plant and animals, the resulting in superb nutritional quality of food and forage for the bees.
Q. What is Biodynamic Beekeeping?
A. A deep, spiritual understanding of the animal - here the honeybee - and its intrinsic needs for health and vitality guides all of our beekeeping practices. The "bottom line" is not one of our goals and consideration. In addition, a deep, spiritual understanding of the animal-in this case the honeybee- and respecting its intrinsic needs that alone guarantee health and vitality guides all of our beekeeping practices.
EDUCATION
Q. If I wanted to learn how to be a Biodynamic Sanctuary style Beekeeper how would I begin?
A. Enroll in the Sustainable / Biodynamic Beekeeping Training 2012-2013. Follow this link for the details.
Q. Is Gunther Hauk available to give one-on-one instruction by phone or in person?
Yes, consultations can be arranged at $50.00 for 30 min.
Q. Does Gunther Hauk travel to give presentations or workshops?
A. A limited amount of workshops, lectures or presentations can be offered out of town.
Q. Where can I buy Gunther Hauks book, Towards Saving the Honeybees?
Q. How can I buy or see Queen of the Sun or The Vanishing of the Bees?
SUPPORT
Q. If I wanted to volunteer as an individual or group at the farm how would I do it?
Q. If I wanted to make a donation to Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary?
A. As a not-for-profit (501c3) organization, focusing on education and research, we depend largely on individual and foundation support in order to fulfill our vision and mission to work towards helping the honeybees regain their health and vitality. Amounts in all ranges are welcome and there is no upper limit. Checks should be made out to Spikenard Farm. We also have a Pay Pal account an can except donations in stock. For stock please contact us. All donations are tax-deductible.
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