In the Spring of 2008, I finally brought home some honeybees—after building them a home, of course. I began by doing some research, attending a beginner beekeeper's course, and buying a small fortune of equipment and quickly jumped head-long into beekeeping.

But I soon discovered that much conventional beekeeping wisdom relied upon medications and treatments, so I spent more time researching and unlearning some of what I'd already been told. Organic methods of beekeeping attempt to work with the bees rather than against them, eschewing chemical interventions and artificial feeds, but there are other tools that can be useful.

I began by ordering a special size beeswax comb called "small cell foundation," designed to help resize bees down to their more natural sizes according to older beekeeping texts, to put into the frames in the bees new home. There is anecdotal evidence that smaller bees are better equipped to defend the hive from Varroa mites, one of the primary causes of medication in modern beekeeping.

I still have much to learn, but I'm hoping also to shift over to foundationless frames and even to top bar hives, a less expensive and more natural way of keeping bees, depending upon how my bees over-winter.

I'm committed to keeping bees without chemical intervention regardless of how difficult it may be. Colony Collapse Disorder is sending the message that something is drastically wrong with our conventional model of beekeeping, and propping colonies up through medications and artificial feeds will likely breed weaker rather than stronger bees. I'm hopeful that through patience and perseverance natural beekeeping can prevail, and I intend to be at least a small part of that process.

The bees will, of course, perform the valuable function of pollinating our plants here on the farm as well providing the occasional honey. Check back late summer 2009 to see if we have any raw honey for sale.