In the 1980s the Varroa mite was inadvertently introduced to Britain. All bee colonies are affected by this parasite, which kills it’s honeybee hosts leading to the death of the entire colony within 2 years. Most bee keepers respond to this threat by treating the hive with toxic chemical  miticides. Apart from the fact that the bees do not like these miticides, the use of chemicals is unsustainable and has a damaging effect on feral and wild bee populations. But some bees have a natural resistance to the mite so it is possible to achieve mite free bee populations using the sound Darwinian principles of natural selection and local adaptation.

I use treatment free beekeeping principles in my hives in which are scattered around the southern part of the forest in domestic garden settings

My range of lip balms are made with organic sweet almond oil, chemical free beeswax and propolis from my bees and pure essentials oils.