Frequently Moderated Topics

We generally aim for a “light touch” approach to moderating the treatment free beekeepers group on Facebook, and where possible will usually let posts sink in the feed rather than intervene. However, we have some recurring topic themes that cause problems each time they appear in the group. 

Postings along the following lines are likely to be moderated in some way. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, just an indication of how we make some moderation decisions. This document supplements the Group Guidelines.

Rules Lawyering

• The rules are the domain of the moderators. 
• Enforcement is the domain of the moderators.  
• Pointing out the rules is the domain of the moderators.  
• The definition of treatment and list of treatments is the domain of the moderators.
• Any quibbling about the rules, application of the rules, or question about the rules SHALL BE addressed to a moderator in direct messages and SHALL NOT BE aired in public forums.  Any such post will be deleted immediately and the poster may be booted from the group.

Questioning a moderator's action

• All public posts pertaining in any way to moderation shall be deleted.
• The appropriate way to raise a concern about moderation is in a private message to a member of the moderation team, or Michael Cox as group admin. Your post will be given all due consideration and taken seriously.
• The moderators are all volunteers, and all human. Mistakes do very occasionally get made, but please trust that they are always doing their best, and afford them the respect their efforts deserve.

“I’ve heard that “X” repels mites. Can I plant it around my hive to help them?” (and all variations on that theme)

• Planting plants is gardening.  This group is about beekeeping.
• This starts from a position that is effectively a treatment in disguise. “Rhubarb has oxalic acid in it so I can plant it to give them oxalic acid to treat without treating”. This is in direct conflict with the aims of the group. Specifically: “Anything done in the hive, or introduced by the beekeeper into the hive with the intent of killing, repelling, or inhibiting a pest or disease afflicting the bees, or in any way "helping" the bees to survive when they ought to be surviving on their own.”
• It is based on a serious misunderstanding about how essential oils and oxalic acid treatments work. To be effective the active ingredients are chemically concentrated into a pure form then applied to the interior of the hive in high doses and high concentrations - these strengths of doses are simply not available to the bees from plants directly. There is no evidence at all that bees collect and concentrate medicinal compounds (with the exception of propolis) from plants, despite it being asserted frequently across the internet.
• The position of the moderators on this board is that anyone is welcome to plant what they like around their apiaries - this is simply gardening which is not on topic for the forums.
• There are other planting topics which are absolutely fine for a beekeeping forum such as: “What should I plant to provide forage in my summer dearth?”, “I have a few acres of meadow to plant, what would be good for my bees?”. The distinction is that these do not claim to be treating for an ailment of the hive, or repeating unfounded suppositions about bees self-medicating.

“Your definition of treatment free is too strong, it means I can’t do anything!” (or too weak, or just plain wrong)

• We have settled on these rules after many years of adjustment because they work and they are clear cut. You may not fully agree with them but while you participate in this group these are the rules you agree to uphold in conversation (if not in practice in your own apiary).
• We are all beekeepers here, and these rules are not intended to restrict the routine practices of beekeeping. We make splits, inspect our hives, use conventional boxes, take honey harvests and rear queens.  Treatment-free does not mean hands free.
• The only place we diverge is in how we manage diseases. As a treatment free beekeeper we allow diseases to run their course without interference, knowing that a hive that dies out is removing weak combinations of genes from the local genepool. These are exactly the same practices that were used by our predecessors 100+ years ago.
• As a corollary to that, we regularly see comments like “but putting bees in a box is already a treatment”. According to the definition we use here it is not - the equipment we use is just part of our beekeeping, as it has been for centuries before treatments were even dreamed of. This is not a point for debate in this group - it just leads to frustrating circular arguments.  If you post something like this, it will be deleted and you will be booted from the group.

“Is feeding a treatment?”

• Feeding could be considered a “treatment against starvation”. Colonies that are poorly adapted to their local conditions may build up too early in spring, try to raise huge amounts of brood through a ferocious summer dearth, or not pack away enough stores for winter. Feeding colonies can mask these genetic deficiencies. 
• Sometimes, through no fault of their own, colonies can end up short of food. For example if the beekeeper makes a lot of summer splits while there is no nectar flow it would be appropriate to feed the splits.
• In general, therefore, it would be good to avoid feeding bees where possible, but it is sometimes necessary and desirable to do so.
• The beekeeper can take steps to reduce the need to feed, such as making splits during a nectar flow and leaving adequate winter stores on the hives.
• Ultimately the goal should be bees that feed themselves and require no intervention from humans to survive and reproduce.
• For the purposes of discussion in the group, treatment is considered to be undesirable, but a necessary evil.

“Have you heard about….?” (Flow hives, honey from cannabis, a lorry crash containing bees, etc… )

• Generally the answer is yes we have. There are 30,000 members in the group now, all keen to share their interesting discoveries. Sometimes a topic becomes suddenly popular and it seems like every second post is on the same thing. In general it is good to keep the same material in a single thread so the group doesn’t get too cluttered. Before posting it is considerate to check and see if it has been posted recently. You can scroll through the list or search the group for keywords.
• If we have multiple postings of the same material we will usually close some of them to comments,while leaving a popular thread open. This is just to stop the group getting too cluttered.
• Some of these topics consistently cause problems. The “honey from cannabis” posts are a good example. He isn’t really making honey from cannabis plants - he is spraying sugar water onto the plants which the bees then feed from. It is basically a deceptive gimmick that the “inventor” uses to self promote. We tend to delete three or four of these per week.

Contentious topics, conspiracy theories, etc… outside the realm of beekeeping.

• In this group we try to focus on the concrete steps we can do within our own apiaries to improve the health of our bees. Many people consider this an open invitation to discuss any hot environmental or political topic, no matter how tenuous the connection to beekeeping.
• For example, we quite regularly get general anti-Monsanto meme type posts. You may personally believe that Bayer and Monsanto are to blame for all the problems in the world and that may be, however threads of this type are generally considered off topic for this forum.
• Obvious exceptions might be cases of pesticide usage directly linked to problems with bees - but even then connections can be very tenuous, and don’t help anyone make progress in their own bee yard.
• Similarly we don’t want to hear about how cannabis cured your depression, chemtrails made you impotent, or how vaccinations (in humans) are causing illnesses. Regardless of whether or not these things are factual, they are off topic for this group and will be deleted. There are plenty of other places where discussions of that form are appropriate - please take them there.

“By your definition, small cell foundation is a treatment.”

• The stated purpose of foundation for the first hundred years of the existence of foundation was to get the bees to build straight comb on frames so the beekeeper need not expend energy straightening free-form comb.  We see no need to adjust that view.
• Over time, the size of cells on foundation has grown larger than it originally was.  Small cell foundation is simply a return to something more like the original size, a “more natural” size for bees.  True “natural” size is not a single size but a variation.
• No scientific study of small cell foundation has found it to be an effective treatment against varroa mites.  It is neither a treatment chemical nor a method for treating a disease.  Furthermore, experts in small cell beekeeping do not claim that small cell foundation will eliminate or even reduce mite numbers.
• Rather than quibble over it, we default to the orthodox position that foundation is as it has always been, a tool to help us force the bees make straight combs so we can manage them on removable frames. Foundation of any size is considered part of the hive, like a frame, a box, or a lid, and not a treatment.  It is as optional as any other piece of equipment and affects the hive just like other pieces of equipment do.

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