Posts Tagged ‘colony collapse disorder’

The HoneyBee, Varroa, Vibration, and CCD

Note that this is not a paid promotion for John Harding, but since we have posted several times in the past regarding the apparent HoneyBee die-off , Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), John had emailed directly regarding the subject. Being a career beekeeper, we thought it would be an interesting point of view to present John’s opinion into the mix with his permission. It’s a long read, but may be of interest to some of you, especially knowing that we can’t live life as we know it, without Bee pollination.

My name is John Harding and I have found the answer and solution to stop honeybees dying. It is nothing to do with any man-made product. Honeybees were dying before any pesticides, mobile phones, G M crops or whatever you care to mention was manufactured.

Below, in two parts are the reasons why.

The First part is an extract from my book.

The second  part is from a proof copy leaflet that was presented by myself to all delegates of the International Bee Research Association (IBRA) Conference held in the UK on the 29th January 2011.

Please enjoy reading and realise honeybees have been dying for centuries.

Part I

I am sure you are aware of the plight of the Honeybee worldwide. Beekeepers need an answer. Initially Apiarist worldwide was putting the blame for the Honeybee demise on the doorstep of the Chemical and Mobile Phone Industries.

Honeybees are dying out at an alarming rate with no one knowing why. Pesticides, CCD, GM crops, Climate change, Mobiles, Global warming or perhaps someone or something to blame would be acceptable to everyone.

There are many possibilities being put forward but as yet, no answers. The parasitic mite called Varroa is not helping matters with its contribution.

However there are two common denominators why Honeybees are dying worldwide.

A short explanation first.

Chemical companies are investing millions worldwide in Universities, Scientists, Professors, Doctors, Institutes, Beekeeping Organisations and whoever, so they just might find a chemical or bacterial answer for the parasitic mite called Varroa that is sweeping the continents devastating Honeybees. Mobile Phone Companies are in denial not wanting the blame.

Chemical companies need an answer whether it is one or the other so they may recoup their investment and profit from beekeepers worldwide in selling their product.

Was Albert Einstein right in his alleged statement? “If Honeybees die out then mankind will follow 4 years later” the chances are that it won’t be 4 years due to other foods such as rice being available but it will happen eventually as honeybees do pollinate 35% of what we eat.

Once Honeybees are gone, Honeybees are gone for good!

I am a beekeeper of 30 years` experience, keeping up to 300 beehives, until 6 years ago. I have invented beekeeping equipment in that time that I am proud to say, does bare my name, “The Harding Queen Rearing System using Two Queens” and “The Harding Mini Nucleus Complete System” (as seen on the internet website for BIBBA). These are an inclusion of this book, Chapter Three & Five.

During my life’s work things happen and you wonder at nature, how perfect is the Honeybee micro-world, why would you want to change it and yet mankind unknowingly has changed the Honeybees perfect 200 million year existence to what mankind wants.

My beekeeping puzzle is based on observation and logic over the past 30 years with each piece complimenting the next, eventually creating a picture and discovering;

“The answer and solution to the Holy Grail of beekeeping”.

I have always thought there was a natural way to treat the parasitic mite Varroa. After 18 years without treatment of any chemicals or sugar in my hives I have found the answer and it is a “World Exclusive!“

It didn’t start with the Varroa mite 20 years ago, what the Varroa mite did was escalate the problem to what beekeepers had done worldwide, but it did bring it to the attention of the media and mainstream public in the last few years causing an over re-action due to Albert Einstein’s alleged quote.

Honeybees started dying out when man found honey, tens of thousands of years ago when man wanted to domesticate Honeybees to harvest honey, putting them into logs, boxes, skeps eventually beehives but taking them away from their natural source of survival and requirements, which keeps their delicate micro-environment alive.

The first common denominator for the demise of Honeybees is……… Mankind! Well, Beekeepers now and in the past!

So what is the second common denominator?

“I have found a natural phenomenon, the bees need it to survive to complete their micro-existent world, and is free. I am the first person in the world to combine Honeybees with this phenomenon, so you can imagine how the chemical companies are going to react after spending millions around the globe. I have approached Universities and Beekeeping Organisations here, in the UK, and abroad with my hypothesis but due to the infiltration of funding from chemical companies or others, University Scientist, Professors or Scholars are unable to take my hypothesis due to inevitably losing their precious funding or being biased to a chemical or bacterial answer”.

Yes! It is topical, political and controversial! One single person taking on the might of a billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry and the Hierarchy of the Beekeeping World with every beekeeper past and present being the reason for their demise and the answer being a natural phenomenon which is free.

CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) in the USA is also down to Mankind for the demise of their Honeybees having the same problems as us but with one extra reason that is only in the USA.

Whatever you think after you have read my book, I will not be popular with any beekeeper, scientist, professor or anyone looking for a chemical or bacterial answer, but may, just may, stop Honeybees dying out worldwide.

That will be pleasing in itself. I am just a passionate beekeeper that has found an answer and solution. This book is a small part of the invisible world of the mysterious Honeybee that is disappearing too quickly.

“Albert Einstein did not say that famous quote about mankind dying out. It was a misquote from Albert “N” Stein an American beekeeper of the same era as Albert Einstein. However with accent, dialect and poor communication at that time it was misunderstood”.

Part II

“An HOLISTIC Way in Saving The Honeybee”
Available from
Books Illustrated (Lower High St Stourbridge)
Northern Bee Books UK
“http://www.groovycart/beebooks”

For discussion at the International Bee Research Association (IBRA) Conference
held at the University Of Worcester on the 29th January 2011.
Varroa-still a problem in the 21st century?
Introduction

My name is John Harding, I have kept, researched, experimented, observed and used logic and common sense in trying to keep as much to nature as possible while keeping Honeybees. During the last 30 years I have invented bee equipment that does bare my name. I have not used sugar or chemicals for the past 18 years, due to the first approved licensed treatments killing a percentage of my queens.

I hoped that one day I would find a natural remedy for the parasitic mite Varroa.

This, I have now done.

Explanation
We know that Honeybees have been on this planet for 100 to 200 million years depending which book you read, so bees have evolved with planet earth. This has brought with it changing climates, polarity change, a change in continents with moving earth plates and a change in flora. In all that time dealing with disease, mites, intruders and any other alien insect or animal, even man.

Habitat
During this time, their home has been in hollow trees, caves or covered protected position so they may get away from draughts, rain or severe weather to build their amazing honeycomb nest that is kept to an accurate temperature +_ 1 degree to raise the numbers required for survival both in summer and winter.

Mankind
Thousands of years ago man found honey. Due to the Honeybees perilous home positions being high in a cave or high up in a tree, man decided to re-home the Honeybee into logs, boxes, skeps and then beehives so as to make it easier to harvest honey. A form of domestication.

Has Man made a difference?
No, except for realising a unique space (Langstroth) that Honeybees respect meaning we as beekeepers can inspect our colonies with frames rather than killing off the bees that were in a skep over a sulphur pit. This observation only happened 150 years ago. Queen excluders were also invented.

Are there any other major discoveries?
Yes, Eddie Woods (a BBC sound engineer) discovered 60 years ago inside the Honeybee nest that vibration levels was measured between 190hertz and 250hertz during normal conditions however when swarming this vibration went up to 300hertz.

Was any scientific work carried out at the time or later?
No! If it had we could be further along the path of understanding the Honeybee better. Beekeeping today is much the same as it was in the beginning except of course the Langstroth frame space and Queen excluder.

Have Beekeeping books changed?
No, not really except for the amount of knowledge that we have now gained about the mysterious Honeybee, it always seems to be repetition but more in depth, more of a scientific language.

Can we still learn from the Honeybee?
Yes!

How?
Using observation and logic and asking “What do Honeybees really want?”.

They did not ask to be put into a box or beehive.

However, while in our care, we, as beekeepers, should give them and treat them as if they were in a wild state of nature.

We know they want and use vibration.(Woods)

We know they will respect a unique space.(Langstroth)

We know they use electromagnetic north/south in honeycomb building and in flight.

We know with a strong colony, disease and varroa can be kept to a minimum.

We also know with a colony of strength our rewards of honey is greater.

So! What do Honeybees really want?
Vibration

How is it generated?
At the moment by the Honeybees themselves to ward off predators, for communication and to keep their micro existent climate to a perfect temperature for brood rearing, but is that sufficient? Unfortunately NO!

Can it be found elsewhere?
YES! Planet Earth (NASA)

Planet earth has evolved, so trees, animals, plants, fish, birds and insects has evolved with it and so too, Honeybees, evolving with the planet. Which is why Honeybees not only need a high vibration of 250hertz to sustain their microenvironment but actively look for it by swarming.

How could man know this?
You cannot see, feel, touch or sense it.

Planet earth vibrates constantly at 7.83hertz (NASA) unless disturbed.

Honeybees vibrate at between 190htz and 250htz (Woods)

Honeybees are placed by man in a beehive where man wants it, if this is on 7.83htz the bees have to work 31.9 times greater just to stand still. I have reason to believe this weakens their immune system and defence mechanism becoming an easy target for any alien predators like Varroa. Now, not being able to cope, over-stressed, disorder with eventual collapse, dying or disappearance is inevitable.

Does planet earth vibrate at this higher level of 250htz?
Yes, transmitted upwards through underground rivers.

These rivers are everywhere around the planet, like i.e.; blood vessels in our own body. Remember it has taken 4 billion years to get to where we are today. Everything has evolved together to be where it is and why it is there for a reason. The climate, planet earth and logic has dictated that.

Where does the higher earth vibration come from and how?
Planet earths normal vibration of 7.83htz gets interrupted by hollow chambers of running water/fluid creating friction allowing oscillation to resonate to become an Electromagnetic Wave Vibration which will increase it up to and above 250htz.

Sound familiar?
The rivers/lines of fluid are normally very close to each other varying in depth and only being up to 4 feet wide, like a cobweb, zig zagging their way across the planet at depths of 200 feet or 300 feet creating vibration and rising upwards to the surface and skywards, creating an electromagnetic curtain that reaches to approximately 30,000 feet. (Birds use this curtain to migrate thousands of miles).

I.e. There are 8 rivers/lines in my 3 bed detached house and 80 foot garden, so they are not miles apart.

What is the connection of Honeybee vibration 250hertz and Earth vibration 250hertz?
We know that Honeybees maintain this vibration within their nests (Woods) It is just too much of a coincidence, using logic, that bees are drawn to it when they swarm. They have evolved together over millions of years. Honeybees, Wasps, Bumble bees, Ants, Cats and much more are all being attracted to and found above earths higher vibration.

The honeybees need this higher vibration so they work 31.9 times less. Then are able to deal with any unwelcome intruders, like the Varroa mite.
All organism are attracted to or repelled from these lines.

Are Honeybees drawn to Planet Earth higher vibration?
YES! In various ways.

Swarms
Yes, every time they swarm. Honeybees always settle above a 250htz line. This has been checked on every swarm collected, about 30, in the past 3 years.

Bait hives
All bait hives placed above a line attracted a swarm.

Abandoned hives
Whenever I was called out to inspect abandoned hives there was always one beehive above a line. This was the only hive with bees in and thriving. The others had died.

Self selection
Apiaries were left for 4 years to ascertain for self selection. After this time the only hives that survived were above a line, all the others had died out.

Varroa resistant strain
In my early days of queen rearing I too thought I had a resistant strain only to find out every one that showed these qualities was above a line. I could not understand why they were so poor when moved to a new site, having shown perfect qualities when in the original site.(This was before I knew about the lines). Any beekeeper that thinks he/she has a Varroa resistant strain. I can guarantee will always be above a line.

Feral Colonies
They have not been killed off by Varroa, it was an assumption, not scientific. Beekeepers are to blame due to putting hives in the wrong place where they die out with Varroa, so no swarms or feral colonies. Feral colonies are still out there surviving. Reduced in numbers, yes, but they are always found above a line.

Sheffield University
I was invited by Ricarda Kather to explain my hypothesis, while there I checked their apiary without any prior knowledge not knowing which was the best or worst beehive as all looked identical. These I believe were used for Varroa hygiene. I found the two best beehives that gave the best hygienic results. These were above a line.

Observations
Hygienic behaviour
My apiaries have not changed during my beekeeping so observations have been made pre-lines. During all these years Cleanliness, Hygiene and Grooming have always been noticed to be far better than others within the same apiary not realising at that time they were on a line. Honeybees can deal with Varroa when above a line.

Honey yield
When above a line the honey yield is always 2 or 3 times greater.

Queens
The colonies has tended to supersede rather than swarm. Clearly they are in the right place so why swarm?
This does beg the question “Is swarming induced by man?” being put in the wrong place by man. How long have they been trying to tell us?

Case studies
Case study 1 (within the same apiary)

Take 2 hives of similar size and queen (“A/B“), both infested with Varroa, place “A” above a line, place “B” away from the line.

Hive A; within 6 to 8 weeks this hive will have very little Varroa or none at all and thriving requiring supers.

Hive B; after 6 to 8 weeks will still be heavily ridden with Varroa and much weaker.

Next season reverse these same two hives (if B is still alive) You will observe B becomes Varroa free and A is infested with Varroa.
If you wish using 2 apiaries in the same year the above exchange can be done after 3 months.

“I have used this on countless occasions, with many hives, and the results always being the same”

Case study 2 (within the same apiary)

Take 2 hives of similar size and queen (“C/D”), both infested with Varroa, place “C” above a line, place “D” away from the line.

Hive C; within 6 to 8 weeks this hive will have very little or no Varroa (above as A).

Hive D will be as B, heavily ridden with Varroa.

After 3 months change over the queens from C and D, becoming CD and DC.
CD; You would imagine CD would improve D to be Varroa free, not so, it carries on being ridden with Varroa.

DC; Is still Varroa free.

Conclusion for both case studies……….It is not strain or queen quality but position to where and what the beehive is placed above, i.e.; an Electromagnetic Geopathic Stress Line that vibrates at 250hertz.

Is it the honeybees dealing with Varroa or Varroa not liking the higher vibration?
There will always be questions, especially to a way forward. (I have the answer for that to).
This is just one question answered to stop honeybees dying.
Thank you for reading my hypothesis which is in my book and available.
“An HOLISTIC Way in Saving The Honeybee”"

VARROA-STILL A PROBLEM IN THE 21ST CENTURY? NOT ANY MORE!

Honey Bees – Cell Phones – and our Survival

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Honey bees play a vital cross-pollination role in world agriculture. They account for 80 percent of all insect pollination and are reportedly dieing off from a phenomenon labeled, colony collapse disorder. It is believed that a combination of cell phone, cell phone tower signals, and diseases from insecticides are causing the collapse of the honey bee population.

Without honey bee pollination, the world would suffer a significant reduction of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Food would become scarce and entire ecosystems and economies would be thrown into turmoil. Reportedly, Albert Einstein once said that man would only have four years of life left if the bees disappeared.

New evidence suggest that radiation from electronic devices like mobile phones and mobile phone towers might be interfering with the navigation systems of honey bees such that they cannot find their way back home. Research was performed at the Punjab University in India where over a three month period they observed a dramatic reduction in hive population while purposely using cell phone signals which were powered up only twice per day for 15 minutes at the hive.

Colony collapse disorder has been occurring for a number of years now in North America, and now evidently spreading in Europe while 30 to as much as 50 percent of hives are being lost year after year.

In a world of ever increasing invisible wireless signals in an environment of expanding population and globalization, this could be a death blow to our own survival. This threat is yet another example of why we should take some measures to prepare ourselves. Although it may appear so, we do not live in a safe cocoon where our needs will always be met. We go through our daily lives in a routine that is performed over and over – often without a thought of ‘what if’. Well, the ‘what if’ is real. We really do live on a razor edge of civilization, especially today as most systems have been modified and leveraged to extremes in order to provide for the enormous number of humans living on this planet.



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Colony Collapse Disorder threatens HoneyBees

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As world population grows, increased demands have been placed on agriculture to provide enough food to keep up with population growth. A side effect has been the increased use of pesticides in an attempt to maximize crop yields. A side effect of the increased usage of pesticides may be a contributing factor to the alarming colony collapse disorder of bee pollinators.

I believe that the colony collapse disorder phenomenon may be a sleeper story that continues to go under the radar of the main stream media, and could be one that contributes to future food shortages and higher food prices.

This potential threat is yet another motivating reason to store food, learn how to grow some of your own food, and to increase your preparedness as we continue in these uncertain times.

Bee Population Declines Further

The Bees are Still Disappearing

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Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, has not gone away. In the US, bee colonies are still dyeing off at the rate of about 30% per year and scientists still do not know why. Honey Bee pollination accounts for one third of the food that we eat.

And here’s the really bad news: This is the fourth year surveying honey bee losses across the U.S. In 2007, beekeepers lost 32 percent of their colonies. In 2008 they lost 36 percent. In 2009, 29 percent.  Pettis suspects the 2010 numbers will be as bad or worse than these previous surveys.

In a normal year, about 15 to 20 percent of bee colonies will die off. With CCD increasing, those numbers rise by a third or more. Beekeepers are spending most of their time splitting healthy colonies in half and nursing those colonies back to strength in order to meet the nation’s pollination needs.

Honey Bees are Still Disappearing

The Bees are Disappearing!

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Another reason to store food

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is yet another reason why we should store adequate food supplies and remain vigilant in our efforts to learn as much as we can to become more self sufficient. Learn how to garden, learn self pollination techniques, and most of all be aware of the threats that could disrupt the delicate balance of supplying food to the millions of people who have no idea how to feed themselves if they had to.

Food Supply Disruption

The disappearance of more than one third of the population of honey bee colonies in North America and Europe  is largely going unreported by the main stream media, and is an alarming example of a single point of failure which could severely disrupt the food supply chain that hundreds of millions of us depend upon.

Colony Collapse Disorder

First noticed during 2006, the US has lost 35% of its bees, and is losing more every year. The cost of hives that farmers use for pollination has increased 300% in just a few years. The cause of the collapse is still not fully known, however current findings and opinions include that it may be from drought, viruses, pesticides, parasites, chemicals, and even cell phone towers or transmissions.

If the bees disappear, we only have four years left

Most people do not realize the significance of this threat. These bees are responsible for pollination of most of our crops.  I read that Albert Einstein once said, “if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

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