Greatest Lesson Realized So Far
By: David Burns

I’ve been maintaining bees for twenty-eight years and you’d assume I’d have it found out and at my age, in all probability be effectively previous studying something new. Nonetheless, final 12 months was in all probability the 12 months that I discovered crucial lesson in beekeeping, and it in all probability isn’t what you assume.

Once I began beekeeping, totally different opinions, merchandise and strategies weren’t readily accessible as they’re now. With out platforms like YouTube and on-line boards, my studying was restricted to studying from solely a single particular person. That single supply of studying, pretty much as good because it was, stands in stark distinction to the varied views that are simply accessible as we speak. Having discovered beekeeping from this single mentor, I respectfully wished to remain true to his opinions and types towards beekeeping. Additionally, as a result of I used to be so new and knew so little, I used to be too afraid to veer off beam and take a look at something past what he had taught me.

By means of the years as I gained extra data and expertise, I started to experiment and take a look at a number of barely totally different approaches. It took me eternally, although, to strive a screened backside board or a elaborate J-Hook hive instrument. Let’s simply say I had been fairly closed minded.

In 2023, I made a decision to change into far more open-minded in beekeeping. In spite of everything, most of us don’t take pleasure in closed-minded beekeepers who virtually change into bullies when you veer away from their opinions.

One space I’ve been so reluctant to alter is in making an attempt several types of hives. Out of respect for Rev. Langstroth and the truth that the Langstroth hive is all I’ve ever recognized, I simply might by no means deliver myself to strive one of many many several types of hives which might be flooding the trade.

Lastly, I made a decision I’d add 4 new kinds of hives into my apiary and take a look at them out, experiment and decide if I appreciated them or not. These three hives have been simply slight variations of a Langstroth hive, however one among these hives has been a ton of enjoyable. It’s a horizontal hive. My horizontal hive holds thirty plus conventional Langstroth frames. I like this as a result of these are the identical frames I take advantage of all through my operation. What I take pleasure in most about my horizontal hive is that I would not have to carry heavy hive containers (sure, I’m getting older) and the peak of the hive is so nice to work and examine.

Once we are open to totally different views, as I selected to change into, we expose ourselves to so many alternative experiences and data past what we already know. Beekeeping includes science, artwork and talent which is continually altering and bettering. Once we are open to new concepts and strategies, it advantages our private expertise in beekeeping. It permits us to rethink our personal, maybe close-minded viewpoints and make extra knowledgeable choices. Beekeeping requires adaptability and creativity. New concepts, merchandise and beekeeping strategies can encourage much more innovation and result in fixing points and issues from angles we could not have beforehand thought-about.

Being extra open-minded can also be about flexibility. Too many bee golf equipment are crammed with obstinate rigidity and sometimes, these very golf equipment stagnate and lose members. Being extra versatile and approachable doesn’t imply we will’t nonetheless have our convictions; fairly, it means we’re capable of query our beliefs within the mild of latest research, science and arguments. It’s understanding that no single particular person holds all of the solutions and that our personal perspective is only one view amongst many beekeepers.

Beekeeping is a journey, and a lifelong studying course of. We’ll by no means cease studying extra about beekeeping. Selecting to be extra open-minded permits us to have helpful communication with others. Once we strategy these beekeeping conversations overtly, we hear extra attentively and take into account the opposite particular person’s viewpoint, resulting in extra constructive collaboration, fairly than fights and arguments.

When the Langstroth hive started to switch the earlier kinds of hives, consider it or not, it was not readily acquired. There have been many beekeepers that resisted this new sort of hive. Rethinking change, nevertheless, doesn’t come with out its challenges. It requires a sure stage of vulnerability and the braveness to confess that we could also be fallacious. As a content material creator on YouTube, I do know firsthand that we dwell in a world brimming with misinformation. As we change into extra discerning in regards to the validity of the content material we’re consuming, we will start recognizing what’s credible, taking all the pieces with a grain of salt.

Studying this new lesson in beekeeping—and in life—has taught me that change just isn’t solely inevitable but in addition needed for progress. In 2023, by integrating new hive varieties and strategies into my observe, I not solely improved my beekeeping expertise but in addition enriched my private improvement. I discovered that within the delicate steadiness between custom and innovation lies some actually good progress. Maybe, most significantly, we study to mannequin the habits of the bees we have a tendency—we adapt, we overcome and we flourish. Possibly this may also be your New Yr’s decision: an open thoughts, a prepared coronary heart and a hive thriving with risk.

Should you’d like to look at my movies on Winter ideas go to: https://honeybeesonline.com/davids-youtube-channel.