Beaverlodge Field Day (Bee Day) 2023 Overview

By TTP Summer Technicians – Heather Anderson and Kayla deJong

After a three-year hiatus due to a certain worldwide pandemic, the Beaverlodge Field Day has returned for its 67th at the Beaverlodge AAFC Research Farm. This year’s Bee Day was a great event that hosted everyone from beginner beekeepers to long haulers, or those just generally interested in bees. This was the Tech Transfer Program’s (TTP) first time attending this event and we greatly enjoyed what turned out to be a very fun and educational day! If you were not fortunate enough to make it out to Beaverlodge yourself, don’t worry, we summer technicians have compiled a summary for you here!

Bee Day started off on a sunny Friday morning dedicated to a variety of displays and hands-on demonstrations, with visitors travelling in circuit to view all the booths. We, the TTP team, set up a table with a colony sampling demonstration and our store items (as well as some free goodies). We spent the morning demonstrating the process we use in the field to sample for Varroa mites and viruses, while also giving advice on IPM practices. The TTP store was a hit as many people gravitated to our information booklets on bee diseases and our queen rearing resources. Around us were other demonstrations on leafcutter bees, the new UBO (Unhealthy Brood Odour) test, and vaporizer usage for oxalic acid application, as well as a honey tasting station and a Hobbyist Corner. Various vendors, such as Bee Maid and Vita Bee Health, also set up stands, and the Government Bee Health Assurance Team ran a booth handing out free information books, which we made sure to visit before they were all gone! Altogether, it was a fantastic morning of watching demonstrations, learning about a variety of beekeeping topics, tasting honey, and ended with a delicious barbeque sitting in the afternoon sun.

In the afternoon we enjoyed a variety of presentations focused on current bee research in and around Alberta, and updates from various organizations. Dr. Steve Pernal opened with a description of a few of the projects in progress at the AAFC (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) lab in Beaverlodge, including the research done by PhD student Courtney MacInnis on the effects of both Nosema ceranae and the less familiar Lotmaria passim. Co-infections of these organisms were demonstrated to have colony-level implications –bees age much faster, both physiologically and in their task allocation. Additionally, Dr. Pernal gave an overview of the field trails lead by MSc student Robert Lu testing a new chemical against varroa. Dr. Marta Guarna, also of AAFC Beaverlodge, then spoke on more projects at the research farm, including the development of hive strips for pesticide absorption and the potential use of honey bees for plant virus surveillance.

Dr. Olav Rueppell from the University of Alberta presented next, detailing research results for the UBO (Unhealthy Brood Odour) assay demonstrated in the morning, in which a chemical compound mimicking Varroa-infected brood is sprayed over select patch of normal capped brood. Dr. Rueppell explained that uncapping and brood removal increase two-fold following UBO application, as the smell attracts specialist hygienist bees. This technique allows for quantification of a colony’s hygienic behaviour, and colonies with high responses to the UBO also demonstrated greater overwintering success Dr. Rueppell briefly touched on other research associated with his lab, such as the ongoing miticide development led by Dr. Rassol Bahreini, and the work done by Robert Lu to examine viruses known to attack mites of the Gaeolaelaps genus for potential Varroa biocontrol use.

Patricia Wolf-Veiga from the National Bee Diagnostic Centre (NDBC) gave an update on the diagnostic center’s current activities, which include using the environmental DNA (eDNA) present in honey and pollen stores to identify regional floral resources and evaluate their quality, as well as the study of the genetics of varroa mutations and Amitraz resistance. Unfortunately, Dr. Gail MacInnis was unavailable, but Patricia spoke on her behalf about the wild bee population surveys occurring in the Peace Region and the issues, such as chalkbrood, facing the alfalfa leaf-cutting bee industry.

The later afternoon saw transition from research-focused talks to industry-oriented presentations and updates on current issues. The Alberta Provincial Apiculturist, Samantha Muirhead, provided an update on what the Bee Health Assurance Team (BHAT) has seen so far this season, with a 39% winter loss (including non-viable hives) reported. Although not ideal, this is an improvement from the nearly 50% winter loss last year. Overall, beekeepers across Canada most frequently attributed high varroa levels, weather, and poor queens for colony losses.

Following the Alberta update, we heard from our neighbouring Provincial Apiculturist, Paul van Westendorp, on the current state of beekeeping in British Columbia. Paul emphasized the importance of Albertan and British Columbian beekeepers to remain informed of each other's situation due to the regular movement of colonies between the provinces. Currently there is an issue of greater need for pollinating bees in BC. Although many Western Canadian Beekeepers migrate their hives to lower mainland BC for fruit pollination, this does not meet the demand from fruit crop producers. A great thing we also heard in this presentation was that Asian Giant Hornets appear to be eradicated, although monitoring will occur for another year. In general, Paul expressed excitement about the amount of fantastic beekeeping research being done in Canada and its future benefit to the industry.

Up next was our very own, Connie Phillips, Executive Director of the Alberta Beekeepers Commission. Topics of discussion included the Commission’s goals for developing sustainable apiculture in Alberta by promoting environmental farm planning, pollinator friendly roadsides, and better social support (e.g., the foreign worker transfer program). Other topics included the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program being piloted in Alberta to aid beekeepers whose apiaries have experienced bear depredation, and the opportunity that Commission board members recently had to speak to the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food on honey bee mortality, the lack of honey bee expertise within CFIA, the need for a review of CAPA's consultative relationship with CFIA, and options for stock replacement.

The final presentation of the day was delivered by Rod Scarlett, Executive Director of the Canadian Honey Council (CHC), who started off with the good news that honey prices remain high and that 2022 saw the highest honey production in Canada since 2008! One issue discussed during this presentation is the Japanese decision to lower the maximum residue limit for glyphosate (a common herbicide) in honey products to an extremely low concentration of 0.01 ppm, which may have implications for Canadian honey exports to the country. Rod also spoke about the CHC’s efforts to standardize honey labelling and combat fraudulent use of the term “honey” on packaging, and a new online training course for apiary workers available on CHC’s website.

The day ended off with the final prize pack draw for attendees, and with that another successful Beaverlodge Field Day drew to a close! Overall, Bee Day offered a great mix of industry and research content, where groups on both sides came together to better inform each other and beekeepers in Alberta. We had a lot of fun and hope to see some of you again next year!

Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists

Preliminary report on Honey Bee Wintering Losses in Canada (2023)

Prepared by CAPA National Survey Committee and Provincial Apiarists: Gabrielle Claing (chair), Julie Ferland, Melanie Kempers, Paul Kozak, Derek Micholson, Chris Maund, Cameron Menzies, Colette Mesher, Nuria Morfin, Samantha Muirhead, Medhat Nasr, Steve Pernal, Jason Sproule, Paul van Westendorp and Geoff Wilson

This report presents the preliminary data collected by the provinces of Canada regarding honey bee losses for the winter of 2022-2023. The final data will be published in the annual Statement on honey bee wintering losses in Canada. There may be discrepancies between results in the preliminary and final reports.

Methodology

Beekeepers that owned and operated a specified minimum number of colonies (Table 1) were included in the survey. The survey reported data from full-sized producing honey bee colonies that were wintered in Canada, but not nucleus (partial) colonies. Thus, the information gathered provides a valid assessment of honey bee losses and commercial management practices.

The common definitions of a honey bee colony and a commercially viable honey bee colony in spring that were used in the survey were as the following:

 Honey Bee Colony: A full-sized honey bee colony either in a single or double brood chamber, not including nucleus colonies (splits).

 Viable Honey Bee Colony in Spring: A honey bee colony that survived winter, with a minimum of 4 frames with 75% of the comb area covered with bees on both sides on May 1 st (British Columbia), May 15th (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince-Edward-Island and Quebec) or May 21st (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador).

The questionnaire of colony loss and management was provided to producers using various methods of delivery including mail, email, an online and a telephone survey; the method of delivery varied by jurisdiction (Table 1). In each province, data were collected and analyzed by the Provincial Apiarist. All reported provincial results were then analyzed and summarized at the national level. The national percent winter loss was calculated as follows:

Percentage Winter Loss

Sum of the estimated total colony losses per province in spring 2023

Sum of total colonies in operation in each province for 2022 � x 100

Preliminary results

The survey delivery methods, size of beekeeping operations and response rate of beekeepers for each province are presented in Table 1. It is important to note that the total number of colonies operated in a province reported by this survey may vary slightly from Statistics Canada official numbers. In some provinces, the data collection periods for the provincial database and the Statistics Canada report are done at different times of year. This can result in minor discrepancies between the official Statistics Canada total number of colonies and this survey’s total reported colonies per province.

By Province

Table