THE BEE-FRIENDLY BEEKEEPER
A sustainable approach
Author David Heaf
This is a highly readable glossy colour illustrated text of 150 pages
well supported by references.
The author David Heaf argues that conventional methods may not be
sustainable for the bee.
He progressively discusses :
– warmth and shelter for the colony
– comb and whether bees should be allowed to form their own comb and
cell sizes
– sustenance forage and hive placement
– diseases and pests
– breeding and making increase
and then considers in depth the bee keeping work of Abbe Warre (1867 –
1951) a French priest.
NZ readers should be aware that Abbe Warre’s methods of top bar comb (contrasted with Langstroth movable square frames) is controversial. MAF has stated that they conflict with clause 11 of the 1998 American Foulbrood Pest Management Strategy Order under the Biosecurity Act requiring moveable frames to facilitate inspection for diseased bee brood.
However it is an established principle of statutory interpretation that such “black letter” provision should not always be strictly read, but should be considered in the context of the legislation, here the
eradication of AFB (S5 Interpretation Act 1999…”a purposive interpretation”).
I personally think that all discussion is useful and the book contains many gems of good advice. An example is the emphasis on keeping the hive warm at a tropical temperature of 35 deg at all times
by specialised hive design. Some leading beekeepers in NZ now achieve this by building bee hive bases permanently inclined downhill toward the entrance and narrowing the entrance to 100mm
throughout the year.
Dan Riddiford
