15 Historical Beekeeping Statistics in Alberta

Historical Beekeeping Statistics in Alberta

By Dr. Shelley Hoover, University of Lethbridge

It is July as I write this, and the nectar is flowing. I am hearing about canola plants missing flowers due to early season environmental stress, hopefully the recent rains allow the plants to recover and bloom profusely. With the high colony mortality experienced across the province this spring, and the heavy splitting beekeepers did as a result, I hope it is a good crop, and we get high prices. But what is a good crop? A good price? I took advantage of a rainy day to delve into the Statistics Canada data (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/ tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3210035301) on honey production and beekeeping in Alberta, which extends as far back as 1924. Similar to trends in other sectors of agriculture, we have seen consolidation, with fewer beekeepers now operating more colonies than in the past. There are clear “blips” of interest, for example in Figure 1 you can see the increase in the number of beekeepers during and shortly after World War II, with the peak number of beekeepers in the province occurring in 1946, when we had 11,000 beekeepers. You can also see a decline in both the number of beekeepers and colonies in the late 1980’s with the closure of the border to US packages and the introduction of Varroa.

The peak number of colonies in contrast, occurred recently, in 2021, with 317,500 colonies in operation in the province. Interestingly, despite the increase in the number of colonies, the average honey production per colony has not shown a decline (Figure 2). If anything, the production has become more consistent, with no production years averaging below 100 lbs since 1975. Although peak production was in 1930 (223 lbs per colony), the mean per colony production over the past 98 years is 128 lbs, with 122 lbs per colony the mean per colony honey production in Alberta for the past 10 years. The peak production for the province was achieved in 2006, with 46,736,000 lbs honey produced that year. If we index historical honey prices to 2022 (Figure 3), we can see trends in honey prices, and a couple notable periods can be seen. The first is the high prices from 1940-48, which reflect the consequences of World War II. The second is soaring honey prices in 1971-73, after President Nixon ended the convertibility of the US dollar to gold in August 1971. “Nixon shock” as it was termed, dramatically altered international financial exchange, and resulted in the current system of floating exchange rates. The 98-year average is $1.87 per lb in 2022 dollars. Stats Canada has reported high prices so far in 2022 (YTD to Japan $3.08, USA $3.07). My fingers are crossed for a good year, both in production and price.

) N C D 2 2 0 2 ( $ e c r i P H o n e y Honey Price ($2022, indexed by inflation)

4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 Year

Figure 3. Price of honey, per lb, indexed to inflation to $2022 CDN (total value / total production). Mean price for the period 1925-2021 was $1.87 (dots in green space are at or above this price, dots in red space are below this price).

Alberta Open Farm Days 2022: It Takes a Hive

August 13 & 14, 2022

By Alberta Open Farm Days For Alberta Open Farm Days 10th anniversary this year, we wanted to recognize that farming is dependent on many things, such as community, family, and on other farm products. What better way to symbolize that than with one of our favourite pollinators, the honey bee. The bee and its hive demonstrates how much farming is interdependent. Bees pollinate the fruits, the vegetables, legumes, and without bees, much of what we eat wouldn’t be here.

This year we are delighted to share our artisan product – Honey Fluff! A celebration of our highly valued Alberta local honey found dotted across the province combined with local sugar beet sugar, grown and processed in southern Alberta. This sweet little throwback treat is a unique product with a fun new twist.

WE’LL PROTECT THE FUTURE TOGETHER.

AFSC has your back with a personalized portfolio of crop insurance, farm income stabilization, and lending products to protect you from the unexpected … and provide a future on the farm.

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