Varroa Destructor: A different view | Paul Cleaver | TEDxDorking

Paul Cleaver believes that the decimation of the honey bee population is a complex three dimensional problem, and as well as mites the bees have to deal with pesticides, herbicides, and all sorts of farming practices, as well as environmental changes, which are taking place increasingly quickly in the 21st century. He says: “Beekeeping is all about supporting the environment. With wild honey bee populations almost non-existent, beekeepers’ role in preserving the species is now vital. Bees find it very difficult to survive in the wild. The more beekeepers there are, the more wild ones there will be because keepers are very good at losing their bees.”
Paul Cleaver is the chair of the Reigate Beekeepers Association, and has kept his own bees for decades.
His talk is a response to a TED Talk by Anand Varma called 'The first 21 days of a bee’s life' www.ted.com/tal...
in which Anand films the first 21 days of a bees life, and captures the destruction to the hive wrought by the Varroa Destructor mite.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@cloudbuster8819]

Sorry Paul Cleaver, but you got a bunch wrong here: (1) There was no honey bee mite native to America (or "always here"): honey bees were introduced to America only by the European settlers. Your "cleaning" mite may have been here associated with other, native bees, but not associated with honey bees as natural niche. Also, being not native to the Americas, free-living honey bees are rather feral than "wild", and the "environment" in America does not need honey bees: Amercia has its own species. Humans need bees (and some of their crops), humans keep bees. (2) Formic acid is as much as chemical as vinegar acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid. It is found naturally in insects (formic = of the ant) and plants, perfectly biodegardable; so is oxalic acid (e.g. in sorrel and rhubarb). Such natural compounds are not equivalent to synthetic insecticides, and if my the varroa in my bees get resistant against formic acid, I am happy to send you a postcard.

[@flahertyniall]

Absolutely fascinating, well done!

[@VictorFursov]

Thank you for video! Good luck in beekeeping!

[@VictorFursov]

Thank you for interesting and funny video. Best wishes and good luck! If you have some bees or inesccts pests in your garden, you can show it to me too.

[@watchmanwatcher]

Langstroth discovered the bee space. He didn't invent it. LOL
Very good information on the harm chemicals are doing to our bees and us.

[@krasenjekov9362]

As far as I know, frames utilising the bee space were used 1-2 centuries before Langstroth`s findings.

[@davidhorsley4657]

Please fix the sound.

[@DEVUNK88]

my bees havent died from farming or pesticides yet, its always mites

[@DEVUNK88]

I heard Varrora mites came from Japan, and that Japanese honeybees are not affected by them, if that is true, why dont we just raise Japanese honeybees?

[@danielweston9188]

beside the fact they only produce 5% of the Honey that EHB do?

[@loganv0410]

This "expert" doesn't know the difference between the trachea and the esophagus; between breathing and ingesting
TED at its finest!

[@tonyjetton8352]

Another TED talk. Always misleading. Using a grain of truth to make the his incorrect presentation on honeybees sound legitimate.

[@msmyk2]

Bees can bite off the comb as well.

[@privatebubba8876]

They usually just abscond when the brood comb has reach it's serviceable life. That's one reason why it's recommended to replace 3 year old brood frames and 3 to 5 year old honey frames.

[@eco-beehive]

I make the only honey bee habitat called "gardeners beehive and gardeners beehive system"

[@danielweston9188]

Did anyone fact check this before putting the TEDx on it?

[@eco-beehive]

bad idea!! you cant have a bug killer with bugs..

[@mschroed99]

Spoken like a true globalist.