Soil Blocks and the Bee
"Human beings are the only animals who have to work... Other animals make their livings by living." - Mansanobu Fukuoka I have attended two talks given by Ross Conrad in the past year on the subject of organic beekeeping for beginners. Conrad has published seminal texts on beekeeping: its history in Vermont, how to do it without Big Ag's chemicals, and the importance of continual improvement in how we live in relationship with our pollinators. At both talks he returned to a central question: how can we emulate the bee? A honeybee takes only what is freely given: pollen, nectar, resins, air, and water and it leaves each of its benefactors better for the interaction. Bees pollinate our plants, provide humans and other animals with honey, beeswax, and propolis, and their venom is even used in immune-boosting therapies. How can we take less from the planet and leave it better? On the farmstead we are preparing for spring. We have been reading furiously, gobbling up any inf...
