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Hive management
Hive management should emphasize preventive health care, with a goal of building strong colonies naturally resistant to disease and pest organisms. To suppress tracheal mites, organic beekeepers use vegetable shortening, lactic acid, and essential oils such as menthol, cinnamon, eucalyptus, spearmint, wintergreen, thyme and camphor. Some progress has been reported in selecting queens for resistance to varroa and tracheal mites.
Other organic management practices include basic good beekeeping strategies, such as maintaining hives in good order with no cracks or holes, placing hives so they have access to plentiful forage through the seasons and being careful not to let hives become overcrowded. Individual hives in a bee yard should be three to four feet apart. Providing good protection from the cold in winter also helps colonies stay healthy.
For organic honey production, beekeepers must follow organic handling and processing regulations as outlined in the NOP Standards. They should keep bees and provide bee forage on organically managed land, and they should adhere to the materials restrictions contained in the National List of approved and prohibited materials.
In terms of using bees for pollination, the decline in honeybee populations resulting from disease and other pressures has led agronomists and entomologists to think about ways to protect and promote native bee populations as alternate pollinators. Such recommendations fit well with organic farming, which seeks to encourage beneficial insects for a wide range of ecosystem services.
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