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Badger and the Bees:
Introducing Wild Hive, a "Healthy Honeybee Project" from Badger
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 Check Out Badger in Body + Soul! |
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Greetings!
Here at Badger we have become very interested
in bees, inspired by founder and CEO, Badger Bill who has an avid interest in
wild hiving with the use of top bar hives. Over the past few years,
honeybees have been dying off at an alarming rate. There are many theories
about the reasons for the bee die-off (known as colony collapse disorder) but
it
continues to be a critical and challenging issue to solve.
When Badger
Bill heard about the plight of the honeybees, he set out (in typical fashion)
to try and solve the problem and to help the world in the
process. Bill found a possible solution in Top Bar Hives and in a system
of respectful "wild hive" beekeeping. Thus the Healthy
Honey Bee Project, Wild Hive, was formed here at Badger.
Read on to learn
more about Badger's Healthy Honeybee Project and Top Bar Hives.
Warmly,
Jentri
(for the Badgers!)
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Wild Hive Healthy Honeybee
Project
The goal of the Healthy Honeybee Project is
to encourage top bar "wild hive" beekeeping as a means of strengthening the bee population.
Wild hiving allows you to care for your
honeybees in a manner that approximates the way honeybees care for themselves
in the wild. And honeybees have 60,000,000 years of evolutionary experience we
can learn to trust. In most cases, the less you do, the better off the bees
will be.
How does Wild Hive connect to Badger?
We use beeswax -
a very healing ingredient - in most of our products.
Bees also play an important role in
pollinating the plants that then turn into botanicals and essential oils used
in our balms. But it's more than that, bees are responsible for pollinating many of the
fruits and vegetables we all eat every day. We have a lot of love and respect for this amazing gift from the honey bees! Without the bees
there would be no Badger!
Badger Bill has thriving hives of his own
and has designed a Top Bar Hive that we are now producing and selling through the W.S. Badger Company. We
hope to see these hives and Wild Hive beekeeping principles spread throughout the region and the country, and play a
part in growing a strong and healthy bee population.
One of the most important elements of wild hiving is allowing and encouraging your honeybees to swarm, and produce their own queens. Wild hive also encourages "foundationless" beekeeping
- allowing the bees to produce natural comb which greatly enhances the health
of the hive.
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A Swarm in the Wild
Every few years, in the spring of the year, when a hive is at its
peak of perfection, the impulse to swarm arrives.
At a strange and miraculous moment, the reigning queen and perhaps
15,000-20,000 of the most experienced bees pour out from the openings, swirl in
an expanding tornado of activity and depart the hive, never to return. In a
short while, they land upon a nearby tree, gather together in a concentrated
ball and hang from the branch like a ripe plum. Immediately, scout bees begin searching the
countryside looking for a suitable new home. In a few hours, the scouts from
this swarm return and all the bees in the plum-like swarm take off in
unison, form a buzzing cloud of bees, and when they arrive at their new home,
funnel in through its tiny opening and begin the process of assembling their
new hive. They hang from the ceiling and from each other, surrounding their
queen. They secrete wax and begin to construct and drape comb from the ceiling
according to the ancient formula.
Back at the original hive, a new queen emerges, mates and begins laying
eggs. This brings a completely new set of genetics into the hive.
Swarming is the honeybees basic reproductive strategy for
survival!
Yet, one hundred years ago or so, modern beekeepers devised a new system of
beekeeping that depended upon suppressing the swarm impulse in order to
increase honey yield. From the point of view of saving the honeybees, we
must encourage, promote and rejoice in the swarm that renews and strengthens
the bee colony each year. We must examine the way honeybees function in the
wild and do our best to emulate that environment.
Top Bar Hives seek to return balance to beekeeping by allowing humans to reap
the benefits without disturbing the bees' instinct.
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Badger Top Bar Hives
In the ancient days, top bar style hives were used across cultures, climates
and continents. They are still used in the traditional manner in many
parts of the world. This hive provides a home for your bees that allows them
to build honeycomb to behave much as they do naturally in the wild.  Badgers Iris, Bill, James and Mike examine a new honeycomb
For more information about our Top Bar Hives
give us a call! (800) 603-6100 Or you can send us an email at: wildhive@badgerbalm.comFor more information, please visit Wild Hive Top Bar Beehives. |
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All items are in-stock, and web orders ship the next business day.
Unfortunately, we cannot ship internationally, but please visit our website to find an international distributor near you.
As always, Live Badgers are available 9-5 ET, M-F,
to answer your questions, take your order, or otherwise make your day.
800-603-6100 * www.badgerbalm.com * custserv@badgerbalm.com
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