Germany's largest beekeeper and honey producer, Guenter Friedmann, is not merely concerned with the practical aspects beekeeping. He considers the biological and spiritual factors in a dynamic economic system to be equally important facets of his successful business.
Friedman shared his understanding of the natural processes within bee colonies. He also addressed his understanding of an aesthetic for working well with bees.
“We consider the question, ‘what is the vital aspect for successful beekeeping?’ We cull the queens, select, and try different things. But as you can see for yourself, the work is well worth it. I now have a nice collection of bee swarms,” he says.
The Quest for a Bigger and Better Beehive
Many a researcher fiddles around with his own version of a dream to create a pig that also produces wool and gives milk. Yet no one knows where our human desire for higher production and larger yields may lead, and this quest often brings about ever more negative results.
For example, farmers complain about high veterinarian bills; a cow produces more milk in comparison to her intake of fodder; a pig looks like a walking ham. Or, how about—a bee no longer stings?
Modern beekeeping began about 100 years ago when somebody discovered how a new queen develops within the hive. Suddenly, one no longer had to rely on the vagaries of nature.
What a wonder to behold—a swarm of bees clustered on a tree limb as thousands of the bees emerge from the hive, clustered like a huge bunch of grapes on the branch, with the old queen among them, making room for her newly hatched successor!
Breeding the queens artificially presented the option of a mechanized system that was capable of producing the needed number of queens on demand.
The hypothesis seemed reasonable. Each step in the beekeeping process was optimized and seemed to be economically sound.
In both ways of beekeeping—organic and otherwise, the queens are replaced yearly. That is, one takes advantage of the new queen to guarantee the highest yield of honey. Often, the beekeeper purchases the young queen.
A beekeeper needs to have a fairly docile swarm to work with, and he can expect a fair return of honey for his labors. But statistics point to a problem.
Ever since the huge collapse of bee colonies in 2006 and 2007 that occurred among docile bees in the USA, some have questioned the viability of docile swarms. Such swarms were over-bred in the interest of producing higher yields of honey.
They point out that over-breeding can destroy the bees’ natural propensity for cleaning themselves and the hive. Consequently, this prevents them from destroying pests like the feared Varroa mite from the hives.
Guenter Friedmann of Steinheim-Kuepfendorf in Southern Germany spoke out about this problem. He asserted that any agricultural enterprise, including bee farming, that relies on pesticides is in trouble.
For example, an Asian Varroa mite was found in bee populations in the 1970s, and bees had to be treated medically to ward off infection. Friedmann remarked, “We no longer have any bees in our latitude that can survive without human intervention.” …
In his lectures, Friedman explains how he has reversed this trend by withdrawing everything artificial from his colonies. Over the past 15 years, he has managed to re-establish a natural process within the hives.
Epoch Times: You don't use artificial queen-breeding procedures; your queens emerge in the hives. You also don't buy swarms from other breeders, but enlarge your own bee populations. How did these changes affect your bees?
Friedmann: One of the biggest changes I noted was in their flight pattern: They became more location-conscious. They know where their "home" is and don't vagabond from one colony to the next. This is of great importance. The bees' organism exists in the hive and not all over in nature.
Epoch Times: Does this also affect the introduction of the Varroa mite into the colonies?
Friedmann: The larger the area a swarm covers, the stronger the dissemination of the Varroa mite. Our goal is to strengthen the bee population so it can get rid of the mite on its own. But that will take a while yet. I have practiced selection for the past 15 years and enlarge only my own colonies to keep them vital.
Epoch Times: What else has changed? What do you mean by the term "vital?"
Friedmann: The colonies are more even. I had top bee colonies in the past, but also many bad ones. In the 30 colonies I own, only one is a bad one.
Their habits change. I consider gentle behavior important, because I must be able to work with them. The neighbors also must tolerate the bees, and the farmer has to be able to drive by.
Several of my bee colonies behave in a manner previously unknown among European honeybees—they can actively defend themselves against hornets! When a hornet or wasp tries to enter a hive, the bees surround the intruder, enclosing her in a ball of bee bodies. They surround the pest with so much heat, it dies.
That was the topic of one of my talks. Professor Tautz ran toward me and exclaimed, "Guenter, incredible what you have just presented! We had always assumed this technique would only exist in Asian honey bees!"
Epoch Times: You are not after top honey production, but are happy with average yields?
Friedmann: Exactly. Top colonies that produce huge quantities one year are often a failure the next. I prefer a colony that brings average results over five years to one that yields top results, where I would have to change the queen each year. Having to renew the queen each year also does not tell me which colony would last. It would be an artificial way of doing things. Besides, buying a queen from someone else is expensive and also introduces an alien environment into the hive.
Epoch Times: How long does your queen remain with the colony?
Friedmann: That does not interest me in the least. I could not even tell you the age of the queen. As long as the queen nurtures a good hive, the swarm will remain together. But sometimes the bees are aware of it on their own.
Epoch Times: How long does a queen stay with the hive?
Friedmann: I don't really care. I also wouldn't know how old she is. As long as the queen keeps building the hive, she stays. The bees will realize when the situation changes and the beehive will dissolve. They exchange the queen themselves!
Epoch Times: Last year an Austrian woman beekeeper gave a talk at the Stuttgart Bee Research Institute in Hohenheim. She has bred queens for 40 years, ever since she was four years old.
Friedmann: Yes, she is excellent! Her name is Luftenstein-Singer. I passed my journeyman's exam in Austria, and her father was my examiner—Master Beekeeper Singer. I had learned about ancient beekeeping traditions, primarily with regard to the raising of queens. I thought I would like to buy a queen from such an enterprise, but they are really expensive compared to my own. I found that my own queens are equally as good.
Epoch Times: You breed according to your own methods.
Friedmann: It was interesting to me how those queens compare to my own. … I found that my queens are on a par with any other European top queens—demonstrating once again that natural methods produce good things. But I do cull according to the appearance of a queen—how she lays her eggs and the appearance of the cells.
The cell must be large and well constructed, meaning many worker bees have visited the queen. Artificially produced queen's cells are often smooth and lack good structure. That shows me that no one took good care of them.
Epoch Times: So, is there mass production?
Friedmann: We have class! The queen even looks classy. ... I found if the queen's proportion of head to chest to lower body was first class, the queen was "vital." …
The worker bees constantly surround the queen, feeding and grooming her, and they emit pheromones, something that does not happen with a queen introduced from the outside. I have found with "BuckFast" (1) queens that the worker bees are actually afraid, as if to say, "What is she doing here?"
Epoch Times: Our overly developed agriculture leaves less and less food for the insects.
Friedmann: That is a problem! Looking at it long-term, the bee has no future in Germany.
Epoch Times: You own a huge enterprise. Do you have difficulties selling all your honey in the marketplace?
Friedmann: I have to sell between ten and fifteen tons—a bit difficult. But I am relatively innovative—a kind of pioneer. I always try to think a few years ahead of everyone else. I still occupy this niche by myself. …
I am the only one who can sell certain quantities over a specific time frame. Wholesalers buy all year long and want to be assured of next year's supply. One of my customers is the Teegut Company. I also trade with a company named Wala. They buy a specific quantity of "Pollen Waben," in order to meet their business needs. I can guarantee them a specific quantity of colonies.
But the money I, and others like me, make is hard-earned income. I spend 30% of my time on marketing. I would love to get a good price for my honey, do more research, and leave the bees more honey. I want to work with them more intensely. My favorite method would be to let all of the colonies swarm freely and occasionally drive around and catch them. The honey price does not seem correct. I feel hampered.
Epoch Times: What role does the positioning of the bee boxes play?
Friedmann: I only place two boxes next to each other, and arrange them in semi-circles or in a snaky line. This aesthetic is important to me. On the one hand, I think the bees (in the boxes) ought to integrate into the landscape because they are part of it, and, on the other hand, one needs to consider the surroundings—the trees, plants, and other elements of nature.
Epoch Times: How do you communicate with your bees?
Friedmann: I speak with them! I don't want to say outright that they are sensing my spiritual devotion to them, and that this is the primary reason [they respond well], but the practical way of handling them does add to the equation. I could not be a beekeeper without loving my bees, without loving nature that provides me with this gift of honey, and without being grateful.
Epoch Times: Do you believe the bees know you?
Friedmann: When the official controller arrives and surveys my bees, they become more aggressive.
Last week an incident occurred that made me think my bees do know me. I had driven to visit my mother in Bamberg in whose garden I have several bee boxes. I sat in her kitchen, two kilometers distance from the garden, as the crow flies. The kitchen door was open. I had not yet sat for five minutes when a bee flew into the kitchen. My mother quipped, "What is this bee doing here? I have never had a bee visiting me!" I replied, "Mom, I think this is a bee messenger, telling me there is a swarm hanging in a tree, and they want me come and get them." I was in luck. There was indeed a swarm hanging!
(1) Buckfast: Apis mellifera; a variety of honeybees from the Western hemisphere that German monk Brother Adam had bred at the end of the 19th century at the Buckfast Benedictine Abbey in Great Britain.
This is an abridged version of an article published on the German Epoch Times Web site.
