Sooo.... Your BEES want to do MUSHROOMS? Advice for Bee Keepers from the EcoKnowme
Click Baity enough for you? But believe it or not, it's true. While completing a course in Mycoremediation with Paul Stamets a few years back, I got to hear the latest revelations regarding Bee Colony health and measures that could be taken to reduce disease vectors and increase the overall immunity of the hive.
Trees, Bears and Bees
Paul basically had a 'Eureka' moment when he connected various little observations over 30 years and developed a theory that could actually be implemented by people keeping Bees. Years ago, he had been visiting a Park in Washington and heard about the hunting of Bears which was meant to reduce the damage to trees from Bears marking their territory and sharpening their claws on the Bark of large trees. What wasn't understood was the role this activity has on the overall ecosystem. By opening up the protective layer of the tree, fungi are able to infect the wood and start the process of trying to breakdown or live symbiotically with its host. Shoot the Bears, Save the Trees, Stop Nature's Cycles...Oops
Bees and Woodchips
Change Scene. One day he sees a bunch of bees taking great interest in some woodchips that were being used to grow various strains of fungi at his facility in Oregon. The bees seemed to be flipping over the white fuzzy chunks of mycelium and were happily feasting on it, like bread. Knowing about the nutritional and medicinal properties of many strains of Fungi, Paul then concluded that the bees must also be searching for things to add to their diet and fungi from his place was just as delightful, if not easier to find, than in the wild. Hmmm, Interesting.
Fung-ey Hon-i
So where did this lead? Once the relationship between fungi and bees was established, Paul got to work on devising a way to make the medicinal and nutritional components of fungi more easily accessible to bees. Apparently, you can grow the mycelium of a particular strain of fungi, then heat up the mycelium until it liquefies and becomes something that looks, tastes and acts, just like honey! Except loaded with special goodies not found in other bee foods. This 'honey' can then be diluted and left out for bees to find and drink at their leisure, which they seem to do happily.
So many flowers, not much to Eat.
Bees are in a crisis. Environmental pollution, Unhealthy Electromagnetic frequencies, GMO crops, monocultures and sugar water in place of their own honey all combine to make life pretty tough for bee colonies. How well would you perform at work if all you could eat for the rest of your life, was Almond milk? Sure, you'd survive, but how happy would you be? and how healthy would your immune system or children be after a few generations of that kind of diet? What about the impact of living in a community of people who all only live on Almond Milk? Now pretend you and everyone you know is forced to move around the country on trucks to work at various Almond Milk factories. How would that stress affect you and your community? It is probably even worse for bees. Almonds account for much of the diet of many bee colonies that are brought in seasonally to pollinate Almond Farms and for extended periods of time, the Bees work tirelessly and get either almond nectar or sugar water. That's it.
I also wrote another article that perhaps would have been read by more if it was titled: MONSTERSANTO CAUSES ZOMBIE BEE APOCOLYPSE! HOW TO SAVE YOUR FAMILY!
Here are some other resources you can use to explore this topic further:
An Elegant Solution to Save the Bees
Mushroom Beehives Could Save Bees From Colony Collapse
Can A Mushroom Save Honey Bees?
How Fungi Could Help Save the Honeybee
Paul Stamets - Report from the Underground | Bioneers
My overall advice to anyone reading this, especially if they have Bees, is to do your own research and seriously consider adding fungi to your operation. Planting more wildflowers, adding drinking spots and trying to provide a safe, non-toxic environment is great, but if you knew you could GROW medicine to keep YOURSELF and your BEES healthy, why wouldn't you?
This is one technique that works especially well for Garden Giant/Wine Cap (stropharia rugosso annulata)
It's also good to acquaint yourself with other growing techniques for the various species that might be of use to you and your bees, but the easiest ones to start out with are: Turkey Tail, Oyster and Garden Giant.
The Garden Giant & "Mycototes"
Hope this helps gets the ball rolling. This post is dedicated to @pennsif with apologies for the delay in getting it out there. I wish you all healthy hives, radiant lives and Music that jives...
Now you know what all the Buzz was about. ;)
I stumbled onto Pauls work a couple of years ago and have been making my yard and gardens mycofriendly deep mulching and keeping things moist which is hard to do in Eastern Washington and have been rewarded with couple of different speices but nothing that has attracted the attention of my bees at least that I have noticed.
I think that is why he developed the myco-honey to simplify access. I'm guessing they can only really have a nibble in the wild, or perhaps they also cultivate fungi like how ants do. But if you are in Eastern Washington, maybe some shade cloth or under thick vegetation could help prevent evaporation..... I got excited when I saw Washington, but then the Eastern part reminded me of roadtrips looking for Sagebrush. Totally doable, but it sounds like you have some un-ignorable factors. Hope summer is treating you well @jetjockey . Did you plant Fungi species or simply create a great environment that will allow the mulch to become fungally dominant soil, naturally?
The ones popping up now are wild varietys I have done a few topsoil/duff transplants and some spore slurries to get them started. I did grow some oysters and burry the spent blocks they pushed up a few this spring but the bugs had a feast before they reached maturity.
Spore slurries are Brilliant! They are especially good/easy with Shaggy Mane which you might find in a place where the environment is less than ideal... you can just take the mushrooms and use them for slurry on your piles. I even got Oysters to grow on an old stump, just by taking less than ideal fruit bodies and laying them all over the stump and wedging them into the bark. I think you have a great strategy and by focusing on easy, simple techniques you can help the lil guys spread for both YOU and your bees. Bugs are sooo annoying with outdoor Oysters,,, i find I prefer to harvest a little earlier these days to reduce the chances of the gills being full of eggs. :p more protein perhaps, but I like vegetarian stir fry usually!
Whod have thought! Bees n fungi!
Makes sense now u talk about it!
Enlightened!
I have heard about the possible benefits mycelium, I had seen one of Paul Stamets ted talk and just recently his talk at the underground conference? Your comment to @daddykirbs caused me to have a recall of the ted talk so I clicked on your link you left for @daddykirbs. Thank you for posting that link and your article on the subject. Beekeepers need to fine this type of info. Thank you! up voted, followed and resteemed
Thanks SO much @carpenterbee I really appreciate the RESTEEM, one thing I find odd about being on here is how the blogging and crypto side of things sometimes blinds people to the opportunity to simply share good information and resolve real problems. Getting the good info to those that need it is what is mosr important I would think. Cryptos buy honey but can't pollinate trees. :/ cheers @ecoknowme
I agree. Seems to me some people here can sometimes get offended with one line comments too easily and go off on a tangent. The cryptocurrencies I am still having problems getting my head around.
I spent the afternoon after reading your post learning how to grow and propagate mushrooms. I plan to grow them around my hive. I am going to see if I can talk my wife into planting different perennials around the yard for the bees to pollinate also. No bees yet still trying to lure a swarm in. If you have not figured it out yet "Carpenter + Beekeeper = @carpenterbee :P and $0.00 cost hive equipment :)
Have a wonderful day! looking forward to more of your posts.
Thanks for this @ecoknowme. Very interesting as I am about to launch into beekeeping.
We commonly have piles of woodchips around the place that often have various fungi growing on them. I wonder if that generally would be useful.
Most welcome, @pennsif ! Generally yes, but you are LUCKY to have woodchips at hand. If they aren't too old, or you get new material, you can use that to grow specific strains... but in the meantime, they might just be something they like already! Slow and steady wins the race, if you need anything, I'm here. Cheers @ecoknowme
Thank you.
This is all really awesome! I am a really big fan of mushrooms and bees
Glad the post was sweet enough to lure you here, @wholesomeroots thanks for the comment! @ecoknowme
My bees love the glop that collects in the rain gutters. All of the leaves collect in there and ferment in the low spots that never quite dry out. Who knows what kinds of fungi are growing in there.
Does it have any white growth in the leaves? Or is it smelly and anaerobic? Wonder if they like alcohol?
It is probably not anaerobic because it is shallow and not too dense. Bees tend to prefer sources of moisture that are full of both minerals and tannins. A salt block sitting on top of wet mulch would probably be the most attractive non-sugar nutrient source you could offer a bee hive. The also like the compost pile and urine soaked sawdust, both of which are pretty gross. On the other hand, the distilled water dripping off the A/C coil is also a favorite moisture source.
Very cool observations. It makes me wonder how much we are missing out on by not making time to see what they are actually up to. most commercial bee 'contractors' either don't have time, patience, desire or perhaps freedom to care enough to look, listen and learn. I particularly like the salt idea! :)
Excelente iniciativa!!
@ecoknowme
Cheers @tuehanh ! Quick shooter!
Wow, this is exceptionally well written. My Aunt keeps bees. I wonder if she knows about this. Your analogy between almond milk and the bees predicament was perfect. Resteeming!
Thank you so much @chelsea88 I really appreciate ! :)
Your welcome! Keep up the good work