Celebrating and Exploring 100 Years of Biodynamic Beekeeping

ONLINE LECTURE BY ALEX TUCHMAN

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One hundred years ago, on February 3, 1923, a group of workers engaged in building the Goetheanum asked Rudolf Steiner about the difference between bees and wasps. Steiner’s answer to this seemingly simple question led to a magnificent series of lectures called Bees, concluding in December of 1923, and running concurrently with another very important series of lectures called Man As Symphony of the Creative Word, which provides essential context for understanding the nature spirits and forces at work in the natural world.

In 1923, modern beekeeping was about 50 years old, dating from the invention of artificial queen rearing, which has become standard conventional practice. Beekeepers were modernizing and adopting new technologies quickly, using Langstroth hives, wired and stamped foundation, and feeding sugar. In his lectures on bees, Steiner warned of the short-sightedness of these new methods and predicted the collapse of honeybees if these extractive practices were to continue, which has since proven true.

This presentation will start with an exploration of the spiritual foundations of biodynamic beekeeping through anthroposophy, lectures on Bees, and Man As Symphony of the Creative Word, and bring us up to the present day application of this wisdom with an in-depth sharing of the life-giving beekeeping methods that are taught and practiced in partnership with the bees at Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary in Floyd, Virginia.

Alex Tuchman is a beekeeper, educator, farmer, author, and student of nature. As the Director of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary, Alex carries a wide variety of responsibilities on the farm, with the bees, in the classroom, and in administration. Alex arrived at Spikenard Farm in March of 2014 after three years as the Farm Manager of Loyola University Chicago’s Student Farm in Woodstock, Illinois, his home-state. Alex is an active member of the Agriculture Section of the School for Spiritual Science and a consistent contributor to the biodynamic agriculture and natural beekeeping movements, and regularly teaches at conferences in the U.S., around the world, and online. Alex’s book, A Lively Hive, was published in 2021, outlining the basic biodynamic beekeeping methods that are practiced and taught at Spikenard Farm.