The ABC, in collaboration with Crystal Clear Communications, recently held a webinar on ‘What You Need to Know: Webinar for Agricultural Employers.‘

The webinar covered work permit supports from IRCC, the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot (AFIP), and What’s NEW, Express Entry for Ag +
Recognized Employer Program details.

• Download the PowerPoint presentation HERE.
• View the recording of the webinar here:

As we celebrate Pollinator Week 2024, we reflect on this year’s theme, “Vision 2040: Thriving ecosystems, economies, and agriculture.” It serves as a reminder of the integral role pollinators play in our world. Both the Honey Bee Health Coalition and Farmers for Monarchs, facilitated by the Keystone Policy Center, are committed to fostering environments where pollinators can flourish.

Honey Bee Health Coalition: A Decade of Dedication

This year is especially significant for the Honey Bee Health Coalition as it commemorates its tenth anniversary, marking a decade of dedication to honey bee health and sustainable agricultural practices. Since its inception in 2014, the Honey Bee Health Coalition has been a leading force in addressing the challenges faced by honey bees. Its mission is to improve the health and productivity of honey bees through a collaborative approach involving diverse stakeholders. In line with this year’s Pollinator Week theme, HBHC is presenting a comprehensive Pollinator Toolkit, designed to support beekeepers and farmers in creating a thriving environment for honey bees.

Honey Bee Pollinator Toolkit Resources

• Varroa Management: Effective hive management strategies to combat the varroa destructor, a significant threat to honey bee colonies. Explore HBHC’s Varroa Management page for detailed guidance.
• Corn Best Management Practices (BMP): Learn about the best practices for managing corn crops in a way that protects and supports pollinator health. Visit the Corn BMP page.
• Soybean Best Management Practices: Discover strategies to manage soybean cultivation while promoting pollinator well-being. Check out the Soy BMP page.
• Canola Best Management Practices: Find out how to protect pollinators within productive canola fields. Access the Canola BMP page.
• Apple Best Management Practices: Understand the best practices for apple orchard management that benefit pollinators. Visit the Apple BMP page.
• Protecting Honey Bees in Production Agriculture: This training resource provides essential knowledge for safeguarding honey bees in agricultural settings. Learn more on the Protecting Honey Bees in Agriculture page.
• Varroacide Resistance and Testing Team (VRTT): Stay informed about varroacide resistance and testing methods to ensure effective Varroa control. Learn more about the VRTT.
• Honey Bee Nutrition Guide: Access insights into honey bee nutrition supplements, based on beekeeper feedback, to enhance colony health. Download the Honey Bee Nutrition Guide.

As the Honey Bee Health Coalition looks forward to the next decade, its vision is to continue fostering a collaborative environment where honey bees can thrive alongside sustainable agricultural practices.

Farmers for Monarchs: Promoting Monarch and Pollinator Habitat

Farmers for Monarchs is dedicated to supporting the establishment and maintenance of pollinator habitats on agricultural lands. It’s Pollinator Habitat Toolkit is an invaluable resource for landowners and farmers, offering practical advice and information to enhance pollinator-friendly practices.

The toolkit, available on the Farmers for Monarchs website, answers critical questions about installing and maintaining pollinator habitats. It provides information on:

• Planting for Pollinators: High-level overview recommendations for planting for pollinators, courtesy of the Pollinator Habitat Establishment and Management Guide.
• Pesticide Stewardship: Minimizing impact on non-target species should be a goal for every operation. Farmers have to evaluate their situation and set a pest management strategy that best serves their operations.
• Mowing Best Practices: Among the most simple and effective measures farmers and landowners can take to conserve monarch butterfly populations is to follow a few simple best practices for mowing.
• Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality.

Vision 2040: Our Commitment to Thriving Ecosystems

As we envision the future, we are committed to the continued health of pollinators, which are essential to thriving ecosystems, robust economies, and sustainable agriculture. The Honey Bee Health Coalition and Farmers for Monarchs are proud to be at the forefront of this vital mission. Together, we can ensure that by 2040, our ecosystems will be flourishing, our agricultural practices will be sustainable, and our economies will benefit from the essential work of pollinators.

Join us in celebrating Pollinator Week 2024 and be part of the movement towards a future where pollinators, and the environments they support, can thrive.

Common honey bee diseases and pests pose a significant challenge to beekeepers due to their ability to swiftly spread within a beekeeping operation. Transmission can occur through various means such as drifting bees, shared feeding barrels, contaminated equipment, and insufficient biosecurity measures. One effective strategy to mitigate this risk is the implementation of hospital yards. These yards involve removing sick or infected colonies from healthy apiaries and isolating them in designated areas. By establishing hospital yards at least 2-3 kilometers away from other apiaries, beekeepers can effectively contain the spread of disease. This approach not only helps streamline disease monitoring and treatment efforts but also underscores the importance of proactive management practices in beekeeping. This article explores the critical role of hospital yards in beekeeping management and offers insights into establishing and maintaining them effectively.  

Understanding the Importance of Hospital Yards 

Many honey bee diseases spread easily from colony to colony via drifting bees. Drifting is inevitable when colonies are close together as bees from an infected colony can easily enter a healthy one and spread a disease and/or pest. Beekeeping equipment can also be a vector of transmission. Often beekeepers will only sanitize equipment between yards so diseases can easily spread throughout an apiary on infected equipment such as hive tools and gloves.  

Once a disease is detected in a colony, it is important to act quickly to minimize the risk of it spreading throughout the apiary. Removing infected colonies from the yard and placing them in an isolated area (hospital yard) is an effective strategy in disease management. Implementing this measure will decrease the likelihood of disease spread, resulting in healthier and more productive colonies in the original yard. Establishing a hospital yard can also increase the efficiency of an operation’s disease management. By consolidating all diseased colonies in one location, beekeepers can save time that would otherwise be spent visiting multiple sites. Less disease expertise is needed among crew members as a dedicated crew leader with the necessary knowledge can monitor and treat the hospital yards as needed. This will make it easier to keep track of treatments applied and their effectiveness due to the higher frequency of monitoring. By using hospital yards beekeepers can be proactive in the prevention of disease outbreaks, reducing the likelihood of economic repercussions such as reduced honey production, decreased pollination services and increased hive replacement costs.    

Establishing and Managing Hospital Apiaries 

When choosing a site for a hospital yard, there are several important considerations. Firstly, the yard must be a good distance from surrounding apiaries. We recommend at least 2-3 km from

 any honey bee yard. The site must also have abundant and diverse pollen and nectar sources within foraging distance. Look for areas with a variety of flowering plants that bloom throughout the season to provide continuous nutrition. Ensure there is an adequate water source nearby as bees require water for essential activities within the hive, including cooling in the hot summer months. Choose a location with good sun exposure and natural or artificial windbreaks, such as trees, shrubs, or buildings, to provide protection from strong winds. The site should also have good drainage as moisture build up can exacerbate diseases such as chalkbrood and European Foulbrood. Lastly, the location should be easily accessible as frequent monitoring of these colonies is recommended.  

Once the location of your hospital yard has been selected, establish a protocol for identifying, moving, and monitoring diseased colonies. Upon finding a diseased colony, decide if it needs to be removed from the yard based on the pathogen and infection level. A colony with a low infection (only a few cells) contained on a single frame may not need to be moved. Rather, the infected frame could be removed and destroyed instead. On the other hand, if the colony is highly infected and you see no chance of recovery, it might be better to destroy the colony immediately. If the infection is high but the colony is strong enough to recover, the hive should be moved as soon as possible. It is best to move the hive at night or early in the morning to avoid bees being left behind and drifting to other colonies. Establish a recognizable way to later identify that colony (number colonies, flip the lid, place a rock on top, use coloured duct tape). If you are unable to come back to retrieve the hive, it is better to remove it immediately than leave it. Carry a notebook with you to write down the number of diseased colonies and the location.  

 Strategies for monitoring and maintaining the health of colonies in the hospital yard include: 

• Implementing strict biosecurity measures.
  • Regular sanitization of equipment such as sterilizing hive tools, wearing disposable gloves, or washing gloves and keeping the yard free of unused equipment, colony debris (scraped off wax and propolis) are all important measures to take. 
• Record keeping is a very important part of disease management.
  • Detailed records include information on how many colonies are diseased, their location, when each colony was diagnosed and moved into the hospital yard, intensity of infection, the type and timing of treatments administered and their effectiveness. 
• Using the appropriate treatment
  • Follow the label to ensure the treatment is targeted to the disease and appropriate for the time of year. For example, some treatments are not able to be used during the honey flow. For more information on specific miticide treatment types, see our Varroa Mite Treatments factsheet.
• Regular surveillance
  • Check your colonies often (ideally every 2 weeks) to monitor the progress of the hive, effectiveness of the treatments applied, and allow for detection of any new symptoms that may arise. 
  • Early intervention can prevent diseases from escalating and monitoring often will allow you to see if alternative measures are needed.

In summary, regular surveillance and early intervention are essential components of responsible beekeeping practices. By prioritizing these activities, beekeepers can protect colony health, minimize economic losses, and contribute to the sustainability of honey bee populations.

References

Honey Bee Health Coalition. (2019, January 1). Best management Practices for Hive Health. Retrieved from https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HBHC_Hive_BMPs_v1.0_reduced.pdf

Borum, A. E. (2022). Biosecurity and good beekeeping practices in beekeeping. Uludağ Arıcılık Dergisi, 22(2), 246-276. https://doi.org/10.31467/uluaricilik.1175874

Rivera-Gomis, J., Bubnic, J., Ribarits, A., Moosbeckhofer, R., Alber, O., Kozmus, P., … & Formato, G. (2019). Good farming practices in apiculture. Scientific and Technical Review, 38(3), 1-27. https://dx.doi.org/10.20506/rst.38.3.3032

University of Delaware. (n.d.). Apiary location. Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://canr.udel.edu/maarec/apiary-location/

Summer 2022 CFIA invited the submission of new/current scientific information in regard to the health of and management of honey bee diseases and pests in the United States and Canada.

The Commission in collaboration with US beekeeping organizations and the Canadian Beekeepers Federation prepared and submitted 16 peer reviewed scientific papers in regard to the 4 risks identified in 2014 as well as control program and surveillance information in the US.

Mid August 2023 CFIA announced they would be undertaking a new risk assessment to evaluate the risks associated with the importation of honey bee packages from the United States.

With this announcement CFIA also invited the submission of any new/existing scientific information related to the health of honey bees or control programs in place to control disease agents and pests in Canada or in the United States.

Alberta Beekeepers Commission in collaboration with the American Beekeeping Federation, California State Beekeepers Association, American Honey Producers Association and the Canadian Beekeepers Federation prepared and submitted the following 22 documents to CFIA: