Bees Need Diverse Landscape To Thrive

If you’ve ever complained about there being too many bees around, consider yourself lucky. Pollinators – such as bees, butterflies and bats – are responsible for the continued existence of more than 70 per cent of the world’s flowering plant population. But they are significantly decreasing in number. By carrying pollen from the male to

Bee Sensitive To Helpful Insects, Urbanites Urged

What do Mount Everest and honeybees have in common? Check out May 29. That was the day in 1953 when Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to successfully climb the world’s highest mountain. Hillary was a beekeeper from New Zealand. This year, May 29 was the day proclaimed by Ottawa,


Short Winter Eases Manitoba Bee Losses

“Weather is a big part of the losses in Canada.” – RHEAL LAFRENIERE, MAFRI Ashort winter may have moderated the loss of Mani toba honeybee colonies this year, following three years of abnormally high losses. Winter colony losses appear closer to traditional levels of 20 to 25 per cent, compared to annual losses of around

Study Finds Chemicals Threaten Honeybee Health

“It’s one more arrow in the quiver.” – HEATHER CLAY, CHC Anew U. S. study has detected a number of pesticides in North American honeybee colonies at far higher levels than previously known. Scientists have found “unprecedented levels of miticides and agricultural pesticides in honeybee colonies from across the U. S. and one Canadian province,”


Hawaiian Queen Bee Imports To Resume

Canada and the United States have reached an agreement allowing imports of queen bees from Hawaii to resume, at least for 2010. But Canada may have to change federal legislation if it wants those imports to continue next year and beyond. Canada stopped issuing import permits for Hawaiian queen bees in October 2009 after the

Solution To Bee Colony Deaths Found

Long the scourge of beehives, the varroa mite has emerged as the leading suspect in the mysterious decline of honeybee colonies across Canada, says a University of Guelph researcher. In an article in the online scientific publication Apidologie, which is devoted to bees, Ernesto Guzman and his research team say that 85 per cent of


Race On To Restore Bee Imports

Canadian and U. S. officials scheduled a conference call this week to try to restore queen bee imports from Hawaii, Canada’s largest market for queens, despite the presence of varroa mites. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U. S. Department of Agriculture were expected to discuss ways to revise an import protocol to allow

Beekeepers Edge Toward Lifting Bee Embargo

“The varroa mite is completely widespread.” – TODD YAKIMISHEN, MBA Manitoba honey producers have inched a step closer toward calling for the elimination of a 22-year-old ban on imported bees from the U. S. The Manitoba Beekeepers Association is asking for an industry summit meeting on allowing greater access to packaged bees from the continental


Honey Crop Beats Expectations

“Until I crunched the numbers, I never thought we had that much.” – RHEAL LAFRENIERE, MAFRI Manitoba beekeepers had a surprisingly good honey crop this summer, despite unfavourable weather conditions. A preliminary Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives survey shows producers averaged 177 pounds of honey per colony, above the long-term provincial average of 165

Genetic Condition May Cause Bee Colony Collapse

“It won’t get into bees unless IAPV is integrated into them.” – ILAN SELA An Israeli researcher is claiming a possible breakthrough in the hunt for the cause of a mysterious die-off of honeybees in different parts of the world. A genetic predisposition to an obscure virus may make bees vulnerable to another as-yet-unknown agent