Each summer, a select group of Alberta beekeepers play a vital role in one of Canada’s most important agricultural partnerships — the pollination of hybrid canola seed in southern Alberta. These beekeepers form the Alberta Pollination Group (APG), a group of 18 commercial beekeepers that transport their honey bee colonies into southern Alberta’s hybrid canola seed fields, where the bees provide a critical pollination service that ensures the successful production of hybrid canola varieties. This partnership with the hybrid canola production seed industry (including growers Alberta-British Columbia Seed Growers (ABSCG) and seed companies), is not only essential to crop productivity, but it also supports the health and sustainability of Alberta’s beekeeping industry.
Alberta is home to over 300 commercial beekeepers who collectively manage more than 315,000 honey bee colonies. Each year, the APG sends more than 20% of these colonies to southern Alberta to provide essential pollination services for hybrid canola seed production.
Beekeepers work diligently to ensure their colonies are healthy and strong before pollination, with hives often travelling long distances by truck to reach the hybrid canola seed fields. Their efforts are vital to the success of hybrid canola seed crops and also providing their bees with access to valuable forage during the season.
In addition, colonies in hybrid canola seed pollination receive additional health monitoring support through the Alberta Beekeepers Commission’s Tech Transfer Program (ABC TTP). Through the delivery of colony health monitoring and diagnostic services, the ABC TTP provides beekeepers with expert consultation and data-driven insights to help guide them in best practice management strategies and informed decision-making during pollination activities.
The APG partners with five canola seed companies in Alberta including BASF, Bayer CropScience Inc., Corteva, Hytech Seed Production, and Nutrien Ag Solutions.
To produce hybrid canola seed, these companies depend on managed pollination to facilitate the transfer of pollen between distinct parent lines—a process that requires precise timing and strong, healthy honey bee colonies. Each year, the APG supply thousands of colonies to meet this need, forming a mutually beneficial partnership.
In 2011, to support this essential relationship, the hybrid canola seed companies and the APG beekeepers created the a pollination levy. This levy is collected by the Alberta Beekeepers Commission (ABC) and directly reinvested into honey bee health research and industry sustainability initiatives.
Funds from the levy help advance:
This investment benefits both the beekeeping and canola industries by helping maintain robust, resilient honey bee populations capable of supporting consistent and effective pollination services.
The collaboration between APG beekeepers and the hybrid canola seed industry is a model of mutual benefit and sustainability. While bees provide the pollination necessary for successful canola seed production, the industry’s support through levy-funded research strengthens the long-term health of honey bees and the future of pollination services in Alberta.
Through this partnership, Alberta is helping to ensure both food security and ecological resilience — demonstrating how cooperation across sectors can support a thriving and sustainable agricultural future.
The economic contribution to the hybrid canola seed industry of honey bee pollination through direct additional harvest value is estimated at $4B which the canola industry amplifies to $44B through its value chains.*
Here’s more on the connection between honey bees and canola:
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* https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/sector/horticulture/reports/statistical-overview-canadian-honey-and-bee-industry-2024 and Canola Council of Canada