Is Flow™ Hive Paleo?

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There’s A Buzz of Revolution In The Air. A Beekeeping Revolution!

bee-hive.jpgCan you imagine walking out to your backyard or up to your urban rooftop and literally pouring yourself some fresh honey from a spout attached to your own personal beehive? Can you imagine doing this without wearing any protective clothing and without worrying about getting stung because the bees never even know you’re there, pouring yourself a bit of honey for your Paleo pancake breakfast? Well, two Australian entrepreneurs are making this a reality and the public appears to be very excited about it. During the first day and a half of their funding campaign on Indiegogo, the father and son inventors raised almost $2.5 million, exceeding their original goal by almost 3,500% and the campaign doesn’t close until April 5th. At this rate, Cedar and Stuart Anderson are going to be able to supply a great many of their innovative beehives to people all over the world, sooner than later.   All this public interest generates a lot of buzz but it also begs some questions. Is Flow™ Hive good for bees? Is it good for beekeepers? Is it good for people? And ultimately, is it Paleo?

Where Have All the Bees Gone?

“If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.” – Albert Einstein

A world without honeybees would definitely be a changed place. According to the USDA, “…about one mouthful in three (or a third of all food and beverages) in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination.” It’s extremely concerning then, that the European and US honeybee populations have been under tremendous stress from colony collapse disorder (CCD), a blight that researchers believe is the result of a confluence of natural and humanly derived factors. CCD has been decimating US and European honeybee hives for decades but has been particularly destructive since the mid-2000s. The total number of managed honeybee colonies in the US has declined from 5.9 million in the 1940s to 4.3 million in 1985 and 2.5 million today. Pathogens such as pathogenic fungi and viruses; parasites including deadly mites; management stressors such as the transport of hives over long distances to multiple locations, and environmental stressors such as limited access to water, the scarcity and lack of diversity of pollen and nectar sources, and lethal and sublethal exposure to pesticides such as neonicotinoids are all suspected of contributing to CCD.

bee-catastrophic-events-241x300.jpgAlthough humans would survive in a world without bees, it’s been argued that the result would be catastrophic for agriculture with extensive consequences for animals and people. The following are just a few of the predicted ramifications of honeybee extinction since interconnectedness is the way of the far-reaching ecosystem of life:

  • Many of the fruits, vegetables and nuts we love such as apples, blueberries, avocado, broccoli, many leafy greens and almonds – yes almonds, would disappear from store shelves.
  • Plants such as cotton would die off affecting the clothing industry and the production of other items made from cotton fiber.
  • Alfalfa and other forage plants would die affecting livestock production.

To be fair, for some, this view is unnecessarily alarmist. In an article for Forbes.com, science news contributor Paul Rodgers reassures the reader that although the disappearance of bees would have tragic consequences, it may not be as catastrophic as predicted. He notes that honeybees aren’t the only pollinators and that Hover flies, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats and humans also play a significant role in the process.

Is Flow™ Hive Good For Bees?

Whether or not Flow™ Hive will help curtail the CCD epidemic remains to be seen but it does appear to minimize some problematic stressors for bees. Normally, harvesting is disruptive and bees have to be sedated with smoke and brushed or blown off honeycombs after they’re pulled from the hive. In their Indiegogo video, the Andersons demonstrate how Flow™ Hive allows beekeepers to harvest honey without disturbing the bees at all. The Andersons claim that the relative ease of use and maintenance of Flow™ Hive “…will encourage thousands more people to become passionate carers and advocates of bees…” and as demonstrated by the tremendous financial support they’re receiving, they might be right.

Is Flow™ Hive Good For Beekeepers and the Public?

bee-flow-hive-300x200.jpgIf Flow™ Hive works like it says it does, bee keeping for the established beekeeper should be an easier process that involves less steps and hazards during honey procurement. Furthermore, the inventors claim that efficiency of honey extraction will result in higher production yields. Judging from the positive comments on a recent Flow™ Hive Facebook post, beekeepers and the public alike are more than excited about this. Beekeepers are excited about adding Flow frames to their existing hives and individuals are excited about buying their first hive and joining the beekeeping community.

Is Flow™ Hive Paleo?

The Paleo diet is part of a larger revolution in food and nutrition that emphasizes the sourcing and consumption of local foods that remain as close to their original form as possible on their journey from farm to table. Honeybees were making honey as far back as the Paleolithic and honey in our modern era is the Paleo sweetener du jour. What could be more Paleo than to “grow” your own honey in your backyard or on your rooftop? In the larger scheme of things, more beekeepers around the globe means more hives, greater diversity of pollen and nectar sources and more bees. Supporting the life of bees supports the lives of humans and this mutually beneficial relationship that is expected to be enhanced by Flow™ Hive is most certainly Paleo.

If you’re interested in supporting honeybees but becoming a beekeeper isn’t practical for you, planting pollinator-friendy plants is another great way to support the cause.  To find a list of these plants by region in the US and Canada, check out http://pollinator.org/guides.htm#plants.

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