Some guiding principles for us

One of our guiding principles we look at is the disease triangle;

In the honey bee we look at different pathogens whether it be the varroa mite, any number of funguses, or other pests. At zeekes bees we have accepted that pathogens will always be present so we have decided to focus on the other 2 points of the triangle. 

First the susceptible host point;

 We focus on this point choosing the best queens to use for future genetic line we look for genetic traits to deal with the numerous pathogens in the environment and keep basing those traits down the genetic line. Second, we are focused on keeping the bees as healthy as possible. The healthier the bee the better they can handle a pathogen. We believe that the bee is subject to pesticides and that their food quality that is around is substandard with all the mono culture and GMO’s and pesticide use. So, we select areas for our yards that have a good food source not around mono culture and away from areas of pesticide use. We also have been supplying them with a year-round patty that is all organic and has a base protein from algae. Since we have been using this patty the bees use it as needed when they are short what they can get naturally through normal food sources. We have seen a big improvement in overall health of the colonies with this process.

Second the Environment point;

Some of this was covered above by selection of areas we select for the bees. We also believe the bees know what they are doing. They use propolis in their hives like an antibiotic to themselves. So, we have taken a more hands-off approach to handling the bees. When we first started everybody tole you check your bee every 7 days. We have come to believe that the more you are in the hives you are breaking up their environment and causing a detriment to the colony. Know we only go in the hives with a specific purpose. Allowing to maintain their environment.

This is just a quick synopsis of our way of doing things always reading and investigating other options to improve our bees.