Before discussing HoneyFlow, I listened to Dr. Christina Grozinger, a professor from Penn State, present her research and summarize the research of her colleagues last week. Paraphrased, of course, she discussed how honey bees in rural Pennsylvania are exposed to, on average, six different toxic chemicals (be it pesticides or fungicides). The honey bees ability to clear these toxins from its body are influenced by diet. Honey bees that are proximate to a diverse assortment of flowers have a better diet, full of complex proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, that enable the bee not only to clear toxins, but also fight off pests and viruses. Bees can detect and prefer flowers growing on high-quality soils or soils composted with worms. Honey bees start off their days going to their favorite foraging sources to deplete those sources first before going to their second or third choice meals.
Also, unrelated, but I used a feather to brush my bees during the last hive inspection and they definitely prefer this to a bristly brush! They don't get caught and panic with feathers.
So let's get down to it: HoneyFlow. This new hype for beekeeping is all the talk and has raised crazy amounts of monies (over $5.3M raised, see: HoneyFlow). Here are just some of my thoughts and the collective thoughts of others, broken down into basic pros/cons:
Also, unrelated, but I used a feather to brush my bees during the last hive inspection and they definitely prefer this to a bristly brush! They don't get caught and panic with feathers.
So let's get down to it: HoneyFlow. This new hype for beekeeping is all the talk and has raised crazy amounts of monies (over $5.3M raised, see: HoneyFlow). Here are just some of my thoughts and the collective thoughts of others, broken down into basic pros/cons:
| CONS:
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I think the biggest thing to note for non-beekeepers is that this does not eliminate the need to go into the hive on a somewhat regular basis!