Why I'm Going Treatment-Free

Most beekeepers treat their hives for mites with chemicals. I have decided not to. Here is why… and what it means for the honey and wax that carry the Bloom-N-Hive name.

This is probably the post in this series that other beekeepers will argue with, and that is fine. Mite control is one of the most debated topics in the hobby, and people hold strong, sincere positions on all sides.

What follows is my choice for my hives, not a claim that everyone else is doing it wrong….

The conventional approach

Varroa mites are a real and serious threat to honey bee colonies, and the mainstream response is to treat for them. This is done by placing miticides and other chemical products inside the hive on a schedule to knock the mite population down. It is effective, it is well established, and for a lot of beekeepers it is simply part of responsible keeping.

I understand the reasoning. I am not dismissing it.

Why I am choosing not to treat

I have decided to go treatment-free and practice natural beekeeping instead. A few reasons drive that.

I do not want to be dependent on chemical intervention. Treating is a cycle, monitor, treat, monitor, treat, and I do not want my beekeeping to revolve around managing chemicals in the hive.

I want clean honey. When I hand someone a jar, I want to know there is nothing in it but what the bees made. No residue, no miticide, nothing I put there.

I want clean wax. This matters more than people realize. My beeswax does not just get discarded. It goes into soap and lip balm, products that go directly on your skin or even in your mouth. Wax absorbs and holds onto what it is exposed to. If I am putting chemical treatments in my hives, I cannot in good conscience call that wax clean. Going treatment-free is what lets me stand behind the whole line of products, not just the honey.

Put simply: I want it all to be as natural as possible.

An honest caveat

I am not naive about the word "natural." I know my bees fly out into a world full of man-made chemicals, fertilizers, weed killers, and lawn and garden treatments from yards, farms, and public parks all around my apiaries. I cannot control where my bees forage, and I will not pretend the results are perfectly pure in some absolute sense.

But I believe there is a real difference between the chemicals a colony might encounter out in the wider world and the chemicals I would choose to place directly inside the hive. The first is largely out of my hands. The second is entirely within my control. And where it is within my control, I am choosing to keep things as clean and “natural” as I possibly can.

The bet I am making

Treatment-free beekeeping is not the easy road. It puts more pressure on genetics, on hive health, and on giving colonies the conditions to manage mites themselves, which ties directly back to the natural, hands-off philosophy behind everything I am doing this year. Some of my colonies may struggle or even collapse because of it. I have accepted that as part of the experiment.

But the goal is worth it to me: honey and wax I can hand to my family, my friends, and my customers knowing exactly what is in them. That is the standard I want Bloom-N-Hive to stand for.

— Craig, Bloom-N-Hive