direction of sunbeams.'
Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862
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| 'The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.' Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 |
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ABOUT US | CONTACT US | ||
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| MALFROY'S GOLD - NATURAL BEEKEEPING |
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| What is Natural Beekeeping? | |||||||||||||||||
| Natural Beekeeping aims to provide for the needs of the bee colony above that of the beekeeper. It is a holistic approach based on respect and love for the bee colony. Of course, the term Natural Beekeeping itself is somewhat problematic, as the keeping of bees is never truly natural; bees exist and thrive naturally, and have done for millions of years without the aid of a keeper, often living high up in a tree hollow. |
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| The primary reason for the long-lived success of Honeybees around the world is their incredibly complex and vast array of behavioural and social abilities. In recent years the term ‘superorganism’ has been used to describe the bee colony, most memorably in ‘The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism’ by Jürgen Tautz. Natural Beekeepers embrace this way of thinking, and tend to regard each bee as part of the greater whole, rather than merely an individual insect. Using this new understanding and knowledge of the bee colony, Natural Beekeeping attempts to mimic the natural nest structure of the wild bee colony and give every opportunity for the superorganism to thrive, communicate effectively, and become resilient to disease and changing environmental conditions, whilst still retaining an element of the ‘keeping’ of bees – that of human involvement. |
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| Natural Beekeeping often leads to a complete re-thinking of conventional beekeeping management and hive design. Two popular hive designs for aspiring Natural Beekeepers are the Warré hive and the Kenyan Top Bar Hive, although hundreds of different types of bee friendly hives are used throughout the world from different cultures and using a wide variety of materials. In these hives, bees are allowed to construct natural comb, thereby determining their own cell size, population mix, colony size, and rear their own queens. A less intrusive style of beekeeping is also practiced in the knowledge that bees are creatures of solitude, and great harm may be done to the colony by frequently inspecting the hive. Various key components of this new, holistic approach to keeping bees are already supported by scientific research into colony life, not to mention the fact that it is a far more gentle, enjoyable way to keep bees. |
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How to Help the Bees | |||||
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   If the bee is, as the French say, ‘the sentinel of the environment’ then the fact that large numbers of bee colonies are perishing around the world is an alarming sign that we must change our beekeeping and farming practices and attempt to reconnect with a Nature that is rapidly disappearing. If you would like to help the plight of our honeybees, native bees and pollinators, and guarantee our future health and food security, please consider: ~ Becoming a beekeeper |
 'Natural beekeeping aims to raise awareness that we need to re-establish our connection with bees on the widest basis – a connection we have lost in the wake of our growing disregard for the integrity of nature.' Natural Beekeeping Trust UK www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org 0 |
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 0 Malfroy's Gold adheres to Demeter's International Bee Standards (click to download standards) |
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| Natural Beekeeping Courses | ||||||
 0 Kirsten - Milkwood Permaculture |
I teach several courses a year in Natural Beekeeping. The courses are held over 2 days, and are run in partnership with the amazing folks at Milkwood Permaculture. The courses are focused on bee-friendly, natural, organic, biodynamic, small-scale beekeeping, and are the only courses of their kind currently being run in Australia. Please visit here for more information. All bookings to be made through: Milkwood Permaculture Ph. 02 6373 7763 Website: www.milkwoodpermaculture.com.au/courses |
 0 Setting up Warré hive - Milkwood |
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| See what others think about Malfroy's Gold Courses: TESTIMONIALS | ||||||
| NATURAL BEEKEEPING RESOURCES | |||||
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| Links | |||||
| Tim Malfroy | Tim Malfroy, Malfroy’s Gold Honey (Australia): www.malfroysgold.com.au www.naturalbeekeeping.com.au |
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| Milkwood Permaculture | With whom we run our Natural Beekeeping Courses. (Australia): www.milkwoodpermaculture.com.au 0 Milkwood’s excellent Blog site with occasional updates and photos from Natural Beekeeping Courses: www.milkwood.net |
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| David Heaf | David Heaf, author of ‘The Bee-friendly Beekeeper’, translator of ‘The People’s Hive’ by Warré (Wales) and featured in the Queen of the Sun documentary: www.bee-friendly.co.uk |
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| Biobees | Biobees was founded by Phil Chandler (author of ‘The Barefoot Beekeeper’), and is the primary online source of information for Top-Bar, Warré, and Natural Beekeeping: www.warre.biobees.com www.biobees.com 0 An Intro to Natural Beekeeping free e-book: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9693 |
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| The Natural Beekeeping Trust |
This trust aims to promote awareness of sustainable beekeeping (UK) www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org |
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| The Melissa Garden | A great example of a purpose planted honeybee and pollinator garden sanctuary with biodynamic beehives (US): www.themelissagarden.com www.gaiabees.com |
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| Jérôme Alphonse | One of the leading commercial Warré beekeepers and educators in France (France) our good friend Jérôme: www.mielleriealphonse.com |
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| Dennis Murrell | The musings of natural beekeeper Dennis Murrell, with plenty of fantastic archived experiments of
Top Bar Hives and Natural Beekeeping (US): beenatural.wordpress.com |
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| Bees for Development | A UK based charity working to promote sustainable beekeeping in developing countries: www.beesfordevelopment.org |
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| IBRA | The International Bee Research Association: www.ibra.org.uk |
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| The Australian Native Bee Research Centre | An incredible source of information on the 1600+ native bees species in Australia: www.aussiebee.com |
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| Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation |
Australian Government and industry funded research on honeybees and pollination - free to download: www.rirdc.gov.au |
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| Éric Tourneret The Bee Photographer |
Éric Tourneret, the bee photographer. Of particular interest are his photo galleries of Cameroon, Nepal, and Russia which document traditional honey hunting culture: www.thehoneygatherers.com thebeephotographer.photoshelter.com |
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Literary Publications | |||||
| Bee Biology | The Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Super-organism, Jürgen Tautz |
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Honeybee Democracy, Thomas Seeley |
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| The Wisdom of the Hive, Thomas Seeley |
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The Dancing Bees, Karl Von Frisch |
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| Form and Function in the Honeybee, Lesley Goodman |
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| Natural Beekeeping | The Bee-friendly Beekeeper, David Heaf Available here: Towards Sustainable Beekeeping (article by D .Heaf) |
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The Barefoot Beekeeper, Phil Chandler |
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| Beekeeping for All, Abbé Warré Available here as a PDF: Beekeeping for All |
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Wisdom of the Bees, Erik Berrevoets |
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| Pollination Crisis | Fruitless Fall: the Collapse of the Honeybee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis, Rowan Jacobsen |
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| History | The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore, Hilda Ransome |
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The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting, Eva Crane |
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| A Book of Honey, Eva Crane |
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| Native Bees | Australian Stingless Bees: A Guide to Sugarbag Beekeeping, John Klump |
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| ABN 79 921 638 711© MALFROY'S GOLD 2011 | ||||||
