Luisa Gonzalez is an ex-WWOOF UK host based in Scotland and she has a message that she feels needs to be heard by us all.
In her own words: “I become a professional beekeeper 4 years ago as I was told this will help the bees. I had a shock when I found that the way the honey business operates is to remove all the honey from the bees, replacing it with sugar syrup. It was common sense it couldn’t be good for them.
Sugar syrup is unnourishing; lacks vitamins, minerals, enzymes, aminoacids, antioxidants. The sugar is produced from plants that may carry pesticides. It doesn’t have the medicinal properties that bees need. It increases the moisture in the hive and the change on the PH to 6 is detrimental on the micro flora of the comb and is ideal for bee diseases to thrive.
Honey farming can also introduce new diseases with the transportation and trading of bees, although this has now been reduced by demand since the crisis of the bees has increased the number of people wanting to come to beekeeping. Honey farmers load their bees on lorries to bring them to oilseed rape (OSR) that has 22 pesticides plus neobicotinoids. They could chosoe not to bring them there to gather the large volumes of OSR honey.
I promised my self I’d become an organic beekeeper but with very low yields if I wanted to leave enough honey for the bees to Winter, I would have a major challenge ahead of me. I tried without succes to market my honey as sustainable honey. The shops would find it expensive, even thought the price bees pay for cheap honey is very high. I am closing the apiary, finding homes for my bees where they are not farmed, just cared for.
I want to start campaigning for the animal rights of the bees.
If you or your organisation can support finding homes, passing of information about bees’ rights and opening peoples eyes to the fact beekeeping is farming and bees are wild animals, your help is much appreciated.”
Luisa is offering to give training to anybody who is seriously interested in caring for bees:
Luisa has made a Youtube video – watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBMixwW8ssk&authuser=0
Contact Luisa Gonzalez: handinhandwithnature@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/wwoofuk
