President's Report

Since this is my first report following the 2020 AGM, I want to thank everyone who participated. As with many other organizations, moving to a virtual event had its challenges, but overall, we felt the AGM went well. Seven new resolutions were passed, one of which was to pilot a digital Bee News every second month. This is our first edition of the Bee News in a digital format, and we hope that you find the magazine easy to navigate across different devices. For details on all the 2020 AGM resolutions, please visit: www.albertabeekeepers.ca/about/annualreport/

The ABC office staff and Tech Team are currently working on putting together three spring Integrated Pest Management (IPM) workshops for early March 2021. These events will feature a limited number of in-person attendees and will be in accordance with all mandatory Alberta Health restrictions and protocols. Events will be held in Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Peace River, and attendees will have the option to either register for the in-person option or the 100% online option. If we’re unable to host this event in person, we will switch to a 100% virtual online Zoom webinar. For more information and to register, please visit our website at: www.albertabeekeepers.ca/events/

The board is currently working on a number of things including reviewing changes to both Agri-stability proposed by the federal ag minister and a possible new program proposed by the provincial ag minister. In addition to providing input to AgriStability changes, the Commission continues to lobby the provincial government on obtaining Alberta Health Care cards for seasonal workers and establishing a bear depredation program.

A review of the current Commission regulations is also underway. Completion had been targeted for May 2021, but due to workloads in government, the completion date has been pushed back to May 2022. If anyone is interested in participating on the working group, please let Connie know.

For interest sake and for those who are unaware there are currently two class action lawsuits underway involving Canadian beekeepers. One is filed against CFIA pertaining to losses stemming from the US border closure. The trial should begin by the end of 2021 or early 2022. The other lawsuit is against BAYER/Syngenta by beekeepers in Ontario and Quebec over losses due to neonicotinoids, no update on when it will go to trial.

In terms of research projects, there were four bee research related proposals submitted to RDAR. The Commission has recently learned that Dr Shelley Hoover's project was successful in receiving funding from RDAR. The Commission has committed financial support to this project.

Jeremy Olthof