Paul Gregory, vice-president of the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, raises bees in Manitoba’s Interlake. He said beekeepers have noticed that bees forage less on smoky days. This can cause a reduction in honey production.

Wildfire smoke threatens to turn down honey tap for Manitoba beekeepers

Honeybees hunker down when there’s too much smoke in the air, slicing at a beekeeper’s honey flow —In Manitoba, there’s been a lot of wildfire smoke lately to contend with

Honeybees hunker down when there’s too much smoke in the air, slicing at a beekeeper’s honey flow —With so many fires raging in Manitoba, there’s been a lot of smoke to contend with.


A beekeeper lifts a frame out of a beehive box. Beekeepers in Canada have been fighting a hard fight against pests and bee mortality in the last few years.

A Canadian idea to save the bees

ApiSave could reduce bee death and act as a new pesticide against foulbrood and varroa mites, the company says, but it has to pass registration in Canada first.

Canada’s beekeepers are losing hives to issues like foulbrood and varroa mites. A B.C. company hopes their product, ApiSave, will help turn the tide for Canadian honeybees.

Canadian beekeepers have posted poor winter survival in several recent years.

B.C. company pitches bee health tool

ApiSave says product will boost bee immunity to overcome health challenges

Honeybee hive loss has been a problem for Canadian beekeepers. B.C. company ApiSave thinks their bee health product could help make more robust, resilient bees.



A tiny sweat bee feeds off a milkweed blossom.

The wild side of pollination 

More is better when it comes to bee diversity: researcher 

Flowering plants have developed a few ways to move their pollen around, and thus protect their genetic diversity. Many grasses are wind-pollinated and, as a backup for their long-shot pollination method, can self-pollinate to bring about the next generation.  If you’re a broadleaf plant, you’re likely putting animals to work, whether that’s birds, insects or

'Think of a down jacket: it’s the air between the feathers that helps keep the wearer warm. Honeybee clusters are similar to the action of compressing a down jacket, whereby the thermal conductivity eventually increases to that of a dense solid of feathers...'

Comment: Bee clustering knowledge based on faulty guidance

Honeybees cluster together when it’s cold but we’ve been completely wrong about why

Honeybees in human-made hives may have suffered the cold unnecessarily for over a century because commercial hive designs are based on erroneous science. For 119 years, a belief that the way honeybees cluster together provides a kind of evolutionary insulation has been fundamental for beekeeping practice, hive design and honeybee study. In the modern day,

“It can sit dormant [on] equipment for years and years until hive stressors and hive conditions are right for it to infect the colony.” – Osee Podolsky, Canadian Honey Council.

American foulbrood vaccine gets Canadian green light

Producers will be able to get the vaccine in spring 2024

Canadian beekeepers are about to have the first vaccine for their stock. “It’s very exciting,” said Canadian Honey Council hive health specialist Osee Podolsky. The new vaccine targets American foulbrood, a spore-producing bacterial disease that gets its name from the unpleasant smell in infected hives. The disease is serious enough that standard industry practice for most symptomatic colonies is


The McDougall Creek wildfire burns outside West Kelowna, B.C. on Aug. 18, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

AgriRecovery feed, freight, breeding herd aid set for Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C.

Feds, provinces announce combined $365 million in aid programs

The federal and Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia governments are jointly putting up $365 million to support ranchers and farmers up against this summer’s drought and wildfire damage. The feds on Friday announced their 60 per cent, or $219 million, share of AgriRecovery program funding for the three westernmost provinces. “I’ve had the opportunity to

Chile’s bees devastated by floods after fires 

Chile’s bees devastated by floods after fires 

Reuters – Extreme weather events in Chile, including major recent floods and wildfires earlier this year, are devastating colonies of the humble bee, a key pollinator for crops of avocados and almonds in one of the global South’s key food-producing countries.  Heavy rainfall has caused floods that have blocked roads and prompted evacuations in the