There are two kinds of "treating" most folks associate with beekeeping. "Treating" such as a "treatment" for an issue or concern such as using Apistan or something to deal with a colony health or pest issue. Then there is "treating" as in, "I treat my bees like ranchers treat cattle".
I want to touch on the second type of treating here.
I hear the approach of treating and thinking of bees as a domesticated animal like cattle, sheep, pigs, etc... a lot. A domesticated animal cannot survive on it's own or is dramatically reduced in it's ability to survive on it's own outside of human care and management. The example often given is that if a domesticated animal were to "run away" from it's managed care and wander into a place where it had to survive on it's own, The odds are it would soon perish due to not being adapted to foraging, hunting, defending, for itself.
The equivalent of bees "running away" is what is called "absconding" where the colony decides that something is wrong or insufficient in the current hive and decide to relocate to another location to start over.
Everything they need to know how and be able to do, they can do. They do not need humans for food or shelter. They are not limited in continuing their existing away from us. The only things that limit them would limit them no matter where they made a home and those are primarily genetic traits that exited before they got to us.
Randy Oliver recently had an article in American Bee Journal talking about how bees bred by man for specific traits can be or should be considered domesticated. On one hand, I can see what he means by thinking of these bees bred to show very specific traits of docility, high brood and honey production as domesticated.
I think he is correct in thinking that bees specifically bred to such traits can use all the help they can get from beekeepers, they aren't exactly unable to swarm or abscond and potentially survive in feral conditions either. The odds of success are lowered but they are there enough to give them a higher chance than a cow or a sheep or another "domesticated" animal might ever have.
What I think is a problem is that many beekeepers only or primarily see bees as a commodity. Something to be bought or sold for profit. If they (the bees) aren't performing the way the beekeeper expects, the bees are seen as as liability and sold or even exterminated to reduce losses.
The primary view of these types of beekeepers is that the value of the bees is tied to those bees ability to produce and the investment the beekeeper has in them. These beekeepers seem more often to be willing to use chemical treatments inside a hive even if all the potential effects are unknown or possibly hazardous in order to preserve their investment.
A counter perspective would be to look at the bees as independent creatures who have certain needs in which a trade agreement is arragned.
I provide these creatures a hive to build their nest in and because I know they will over-produce with more space available, I take rent in the form of honey and wax. Never taking so much that I should leave them without enough for their needs. Maybe it could be better seen as working with a neighbor cooperatively in a garden. I have plenty of space available and they are the experienced honey maker who does the lions share of the labor to grow the garden. I step in to help with the harvest, taking some for me and making sure not to take from their stockpile.
We can look at bees as neighbors and like any human neighbor, most beekeepers have a "good neighbor" outlook that encourages us to help out our neighbors in times of need. We are more than glad to provide some sugar if they need it. Often we help our neighbors who have fallen on hard times or are afflicted by circumstances beyond their control such as dearth and drought, storms and disability.
The point is to be ready to help out these buzzing little neighbors without intruding or stepping on their integrity and self sufficiency. They know what they need and want, If they are of good stock, they will withstand most problems on their own with minimal assistance from their neighborly beekeeper.
How do we treat our bees? Do we treat them like property, having no independence beyond our intentions or do we see them as capable living creatures that we can share a cooperative existence with?
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