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Why The Bees Are Dying Copyright © 2007, Josef Graf. All Rights Reserved. From the perspective of spiritual ecology, four main categories stand in the foreground of the disappearing honeybee issue: EMF radiation; GM crops; diseases and pests; and artificial incursions of modern bee-keeping on overall hive ecology. At this juncture in time, the first two factors can be summed up in short order: the EMF radiation of wireless technology appears to have an influence, but so far is inconclusive. GM crops are strongly suspect, but more research is needed. In this report, the varroa mite has been used as the principle example of the third factor, the disease/pest element, and because artificial interference appears to be an overall common denominator in the eco-scenario of the honeybee, even including the other three factors, it has served as a summary for this article. Varroa, an old story retold Witness the decidedly hale condition of the bison alongside the debilitated circumstance of cattle. In a word, predation strengthens a species, and interference with that predation leads to debilitation. The finest shepherd ever invented, in terms of a keeper for the bison herds, was Canis lupus, the common wolf. There are times, and this includes livestock, bees, and any other biological form, when a producer has to “take in on the chin” and let the species evolve by allowing the surviving, adaptable members of the population reproduce. The result will be an enviable level of wholesomeness in both species and product.This leads on to the heart of the matter, the fourth element - too much interference. For example, in a bid to avoid having to work with a species that can become what humankind deems as overly aggressive, we have been cultivating a more “docile” temperament in the bee, therefore, unlike its more combative relatives in other parts of the world, who are able to bite at, mutilate, and dispose of the varroa mite, our more passive breeds are not equipped to handle these intruders. Time will heal the varroa situation, if we let the honeybee “duke it out” in its own way, under its own terms. As with most predation, the strongest, most fit, will survive to carry forth its capable seed into future stocks. Excessive interference and the foresight of Rudolf Steiner In capsule, Steiner warned against both meddling with the natural process of hive society and artificially manipulation of queen bees.The following list of ways humanity is known to interfere with the natural process of bee life, while substantial, is no doubt incomplete:
The foregoing list delineates some of the many strategies used to manipulate production. Clearly, mankind is capable of invention. In fact, we are able to wax clever, even to the point of genius. However, it appears that when we fail to perceive the whole picture, we fall short of the masterful way that a naturally developing hive proceeds. Perhaps there are effective ways to work in harmony with the bees, even using a certain degree of creative intervention. But just which particular intercessions will time prove to be both wise and productive, in terms of a win-win for both bee and human? Who can know, but those who gain utmost understanding of the synergy and multi-dimension of the bee kingdom?One of the things a researcher quickly discovers when approaching the subject of honeybees is an abundance of material. Volumes have been written about these creatures and their intricate society. The community of bees comprises a mysterious membership in the ecosystem. Hives are workplaces of rarefied intent. The scientific perspective states that no microbes can grow in honey because it is too acidic, has a high osmotic pressure (therefore microbe cells lose their water and die), and enzymes. And this is true. Yet, another way to look at it is that honey is immune to earthly forces of decomposition because it is gathered from resplendent aspects of plants (flower blossoms are composed more of rarefied (etheric and astral) energy, than physical substance). And this is also true. Leo Tolstoy, after his own lengthy study of bees, had this to say: “The higher the human intellect rises in the discovery [of the bees’ aim], the more obvious it becomes that the final aim is beyond its reach.”The most essential thing we learn from reviewing the Steiner material is that beekeepers would do well to acquire a metaphysical understanding of bees and the complex masterpiece of the hive. Mystery lives in the hive, and within the golden elixir that is honey, mystery we have yet to, or may never, discover. Spiritual ecology holds that the first step in addressing an issue pertaining to the realm of nature is to deepen our understanding of the overall synergy of the particular eco-community in question.
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