Through my visual engagement for different institutions like bienen.ch, pronatura.ch and wwf.ch I stumbled over a book of the german scientist Torben Schiffer. His studies polarize and point to the fact, that human beekeeping is nothing more than factory farming with one goal: get as much honey as possible. The traditional apiarist is not a friend of insects („but we have always done that this way“) the treatment with formic acid tells a lot. His writing changed my point of view a lot.
I ordered a Schiffertree for my own natural habitat up in the appenzell mountains and get prepared for a start in spring 2022. There are a lot of bad and animal cruel copies (sadly swiss made!) of the scientifically proven design from Torben, so if you are located in Switzerland, order the original here: Schreinerei Plus in Oey-Diemtigen.
And – because life seems to let you remeet your subjects again and again – I realized that a very interesting personality from around my neighbourhood is listed on Torbens website as his scientific advisor: Dr Emanuel Hörler, Rehetobel. I met Emanuel in 2009, for an interview for a local magazine.
