Loose Leaf Notes

The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on September 11, 2014. 

They must be doing something right at Floyd’s Spikenard Farm & Honeybee Sanctuary.  “We had zero percent losses last winter,” said the sanctuary’s director and beekeeper, Gunther Hauk. “Everybody’s losing 40 – 60 – 80% around here. One beekeeper near Blacksburg emailed me that he had 52 hives and has only 3 or 4 left after the winter.”

Hauk, an internationally renowned teacher, speaker and author of Toward Saving the Honey Bee, explained that the disappearance of honeybees, referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder, is a serious global problem because pollination is the foundation of our food supply and honeybees pollinate about 40 – 70% of the food we eat.  The honeybees have become an indicator species of what is happening to our environment and the losses show the scope of the ecological crisis, a Spikenard brochure reads.

The massive loss of bees in recent decades is believed to be caused by a combination of factors, including the use of poisonous pesticides and herbicides in agriculture and lawn care, Hauk said.  The loss of food diversity through monoculture has resulted in the loss of native bees, aHawhile the industrialization of beekeeping contributes to the decline of European bee colonies by leaving them stressed and vulnerable to disease.
“It involves artificial queen breeding, sugar feeding and trucking bees around 100s and thousands of miles a year to pollinate crops. It’s a big business,” Hauk said about the industry.

Hauk, who heads up Spikenard with his wife Vivian, is not a commercial beekeeper and the production of honey is not the Spikenard mission. Although they do sell some honey in the sanctuary’s yurt shop, they leave much of it for the bees to feed on over winter.  Forage seed packets, organic cotton Spikenard t-shirts and cards featuring the flower and bee photography of Vivian are also stocked in the shop.
Spikenard is a non-profit that is supported by private foundations, individual donations and the proceeds of Hauk’s workshops and lectures.  There are 35 hives on the 25 acre farm sanctuary and they don’t plan to increase the hive count, wanting to be assured that they can feed the bees they already have, Hauk said. With a sanctuary staff that includes a caretaker and two interns, the goal is to save the honeybee as an integral part of a complex living eco-system, rather than to only benefit from its labor.

Creating a healthy habitat for the bees through small scale sustainable beekeeping and gardening is part of the Spikenard mission, and the sanctuary land has blossomed and thrived in the 4 ½ years that Spikenard has been there.  Against a backdrop of
mountain views, the property is landscaped with a stunning variety of perennial and annual flowers, along with wild plants and herbs that Hauk refers to as “medicine to boost the bee’s immune system.”  He shares the names of plants and happily points out saddle bags of pollen on the legs of bees busy feeding. “They feed on different plants at different times of the day,” he said.

Education is a primary component of the work at Spikenard, and it has taken Hauk all over the world.  Most recently, he and Vivian taught part of a two year, four session Sustainable Biodynamic Beekeeping Training at the sanctuary.  About 24 beekeepers from all over the country attended the certification class and received hands-on

experience and immersion into biodynamic beekeeping, a holistic approach that was first put forth in the early 1920s by anthroposophist Rudolph Steiner.  Along with practical information on non-invasive mite reduction and natural methods for recovering the health of bees, class attendees also participated in activities designed to deepen their sense perceptions, said Vivian Hauk, adding that the class is “like a retreat” and a form of community building.

A Spikenard class intensive on Biodynamic Agriculture is scheduled at the sanctuary the weekend of September 19 – 21.   It will give “a solid basis for understanding the major ideas and principles of Biodynamic Agriculture,” including biodynamic pest
management, composting from start to finish, practical applications for the rhythms of life and making natural preparations for enlivening and invigorating soil, plants, animals and humans.  With the completion of the Spikenard bath house, attendees can now camponsite.

School tours are part of Spikenard’s educational outreach, and they give Hauk an
opportunity to spread his infectious passion for bees and the natural world to the next generation.  He suggested turning fear of bees into love for what they do, and he
demonstrated one of his favorite teaching techniques. Placing a honeybee into the

hands of a sanctuary visitor, he promised that it would not sting.  As the visitor’s fear subsided, he explained that honeybee drones can’t sting. It was a lesson that brought shared laughter and a new perspective on bees.  – Colleen Redman

Photo Note:  Bonnie Young took the above photo of me and Gunther.  She (pictured two photos above) said she has been following Hauk’s work for about six years. She was one of about 24 beekeepers attending the biodynamic beekeeping class and will be among the third graduating class of the course.  She is originally from Virginia and now lives in Georgia. Young says she’ll be back for the Biodynamic Agriculture weekend class, titled Comprehensive Introduction to Biodynamic Principles and Practice (which is taking place this weekend).

Note: Check the Spikenard website (spikenardfarm.org) for upcoming fall workshops, including one a beeswax candle making (via dipping) and visit them on Facebook.

_____Our World Tuesday