This is National Pollinator Week

Here in Canada the vast majority of honey bee colonies (about 67 percent) are located in the prairies where 80 percent of the country's honey is produced.

Dr  Stephen Pernal, the National Lead for Apiculture Research program at AAFC's Honeybee research centre at Beaver Lodge (Alberta) says bees play an important role in agriculture.

"We have many crops that require pollination to set fruit. So many of our tree fruits, for example, many of the high-value crops we like to grow and eat like apples or berries. Blueberries, for example, or cranberries are very highly dependent on having managed pollinators like honey bees on them. So we would have very small volumes of those crops if we didn't have honey bees, but the big one people forget in Canada is we have millions of acres of canola grown. This is a huge, huge economic boost to the country and to agriculture in Canada. To produce the seed that farmers grow annually, honey bees and leafcutter bees are really critically important."

Pernal says a key concern and major cause of loss over the winter for the bees is Varroa mites.

"The parasite actually live and feed on both the immature larvae and pupal honeybees, but also on the adult honeybees. So they weaken them.  They shorten their lifespan and they also have learned to transmit a number of honey bee viruses that are becoming increasingly harder in terms of the health of bees."

Stats show that up until the last few years when the Varroa mite population seems to have increased normal winter losses would range from 10 to 15 percent,  but now it seems the new normal loss range is at 30 to 40 percent nationally.

Alberta produces more honey than any other province, accounting for nearly 41 per cent of Canada's 2022 total. .

The province says over the winter of 2021-22 Alberta beekeepers experienced high losses due to extreme cold weather and varroa mite infestations with some individual losses reported to be as high as 50 per cent. 

Stats show that winter losses in 2022 were 49.9 per cent, well above Alberta’s average winter losses of about 27 per cent.

The Canada-Alberta Bee Colony Replacement Assistance Initiative, an AgriRecovery program delivered by Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), will compensate eligible commercial beekeepers that purchased replacement colonies, bee packages or queens between Jan. 1, 2022, and May 1, 2023.

The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation R.J. Sigurdson says bees are key to Alberta’s agriculture industry. 

"Crop producers rely on them as pollinators, and they produce millions of pounds of honey every year. This program will help our beekeepers mitigate some of their costs after a tough couple of winters and continue to produce the honey in demand across the world."

In Alberta, completed application forms and all supporting documents are due by July 31. An AFSC identification number is required. Applicants may submit their applications through AFSC Connect online, in person at a branch office, or by fax.

Manitoba has also had a couple of bad years with losses.

This year's losses are still coming in, however, stats show that over the winter of 2021-22 Manitoba's winter mortality rate for bees is estimated to be as high as 57 per cent.

The federal and provincial governments are helping Manitoba beekeepers rebuild their colonies with $7.5 million in support.

Commercial beekeepers with 50 or more colonies who are registered with the Manitoba government can apply to purchase replacement stock like colonies, packages and queens.

Saskatchewan's Apiculturalist Geoff Wilson says they are just finishing off the winter mortality survey.

"Right now we're coming in at just under 30 per cent winter mortality for this winter that we just got through. The previous winter we were at about 35% and the one before we were down around 13 to 14%."

He says some beekeepers had very high mortality rates of up to 70 percent, adding that mortality rates seemed to increase in the drier areas of the province.

The province has about 100,000 colonies with a strong commercial beekeeper base with the focus being honey production.

He notes with more hybrid canola production in the province we are seeing more colonies going into the pollination business.

Wilson says there are more and more issues related to controlling the Varroa mites as some of the pesticide products aren't working as well.

Dr. Pernal says one of the projects they are currently working on is alternative control options for Varroa mites.