Ethical

Mindfulness

We’ve learned that bees are the best weather predictor. While short shower or light sprinkle of rain does not affect the bees foraging pattern, heavy rainfall and storm will make them stay in their hive. According to paper published by Southwick and Moritz on International Journal of Biometeorology, the authors found that bees are more defensive when the bad weather approach. Some beekeepers speculate that it occurred because the bees know that they must protect their food stores before the bad weather comes. The bees even work harder before the storm, according to a research published by Xu JH et al on Journal of Insect Science. The authors found that the bees spend more time foraging and even foraging overtime in the evening before a storm coming. The authors theorized that the bees predict that the food will be in short supply during the stormy weather and they work extra hard to supply their storage before the storm hits. The bees are so mindful that they can predict the weather and prepare everything prior the upcoming bad weather. In our farm, we often observe the same foraging pattern during heavy rainfall and storm. Because of this reason, we don’t harvest the honey during these times, since it can affect their survival.

Diversity

Just like human, nutrition-less diet will lead to malnutrition and weakens the immune system. A paper published by Alaux C. et al on Biology Letters, found that nutrition is a critical factor in bees immune response. The research shows that diverse diet (diet consists of different pollens) enhanced the bees immune function. In our farm, we always make sure that the bees get what they need, especially the nectar and pollen source which are their main diet. Our farm surrounded by diverse ecosystem, which is critical for their survival. We never feed our bees with nutrition-less sweeteners such as glucose syrup as it can lead to bees malnutrition. The bio-compounds in honey strongly related from the food they source. Our diverse ecosystem makes sure our bees’ honey is at its best quality.

Weary Traveler

Most of the time, bees are rent to pollinate commercial crops. The bees can be transported in long-distance for days. A research published by Ahn K. et al on Psyche: A Journal of Entomology found that the long-distance transportation negatively affect their ability to nurse the next generation of bees. The authors also found that during long-distance transport, a lot of worker bees die due to their inability to find or consume pollen like they normally did. Another research by Melicher D. et al published on Environmental Entomology also found that long-distance transportation causes temperature stress in bees. In our farm, we don’t rent our bees to pollinate commercial crops.

Harvest

In our farm, we only harvest 70% of the honey and left the rest for the bees. We also harvesting the honey in the morning so the bees still have time to forage before dark. This method ensures that the honey produced in our farm provides best quality as nature intended.

Biodynamic

Let Bees Be Bees

In biodynamic beekeeping, we don’t practice artificial insemination of queen bees. We just let the bees choose their own queen. Moreover, there are several things that is prohibited in biodynamic beekeeping, such as: no clipping queen’s wings, no regular queen replacement, and no larvae grafting. Regarding the bees diet, we don’t give them pollen substitutes, instead we plant all-year-round flowering trees in addition to the surrounding mangrove ecosystem. This way to ensure that bees survive as naturally as possible.

Home Sweet Home

Biodynamic kept beehives made of all natural and chemical free wood. The wood sterilized using natural way and not dipped in chemical antiseptic. In addition, biodynamically kept bees are given more space, extra space for them to build their comb and honey pot in their own unique way.