Natural beekeeping

There is currently a lot of attention for a direction within beekeeping called ‘Darwinian beekeeping’, or also ‘natural’ or ‘apicentric’ beekeeping. What does this actually mean? It comes down to keeping colonies in a way that closely matches how bee colonies live in the wild, and in which the needs of the bee colony are placed before those of the beekeeper. As a result, it is claimed, the colonies lead a less stressful and healthier existence. Whether this always comes true in practice remains to be seen.