All too often, bees are killed in the production of honey. Many beekeepers leave sugar water in place of the honey they take, assuming the bees can do well enough on that. The whole hive may be destroyed if the keeper doesn't wish to leave any honey with which they might winter over until spring. Perhaps worse, artificial insemination involving death of the male is now also the norm for generations of new queens. Our increasing knowledge of bee genetics, mating designs, and practical field selection methods, combined with the improvements in equipment design and technique, offers an exciting future in honey bee stock improvement.
Instrumental insemination is an essential skill.
The ability to control your breeding stock will open new opportunities to develop and maintain selected lines. Perhaps the best solution for buying harmless honey is to support small beekeepers at your local farmstand, or get in touch with the companies who sell the brand names you like. While you're at it, ask the companies who package bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly how they harvest these products, whether and how they might protect the health and vitality of the colony. In this way you can be a conscious consumer, and perhaps change the tide of harmful consumption. Reitveld's Farm Stand is located on Larry Power Road in Bourbonnais, three miles east of Illinois Highway 50.