From the President’s Desk – July 2008

I trust that this issue will find you in good spirits as we are on the verge over the several months of producing some of the world’s best honey. 

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has released preliminary results from the 2008 Bee Winter Kill Survey.  At the end of the day the results are very similar to the 2007 winter.  The provincial average mortality is 30%, ranging between 22% in the South and up to 36% in the Peace.  It also indicated an additional 14% of the colonies across the province are too small of a population or weak to be a viable producing colony.  We are currently working with government officials on presenting these numbers to see what can be done to assist our industry.

Congratulations to Art and Cherie Andrews on the grand opening of the first meadery in the province.  Many guests and government officials from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development and Alberta Tourism attended this successful event, including Hon. Minister George Groeneveld.  When driving South do take the time to drop in and visit Chinook Arch Meadery located in Okotoks, you won’t be disappointed.  All the best in your new business venture, Art and Cherie, from Alberta Beekeepers. 

This is your last opportunity to send in your photos for the anniversary calendar.  If we do not have enough pictures come in before July 10, we will have to shelve this project for now.  If you have some good photos (old and new), please forward them to the office.

Wishing you all a great summer and a fantastic honey crop!

 

From the President’s Desk – June 2008

June already. It hardly seems like we have had enough of spring for summer to be right around the corner. Once again there have been reports of very high losses clear across the province, and just like last year the further North you go the worse they get. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development have initiated another survey that started on May 1. The survey was done via e-mail, fax, and telephone. I have been told the results are not scheduled to be released until June 20. I think this is totally unacceptable and they should be able to compile just the death rate faster than this. I am hoping for a change of plans on their part. I guess we will wait and see if they respond.

I would also like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that our Canadian Honey Council delegate, Ron Greidanus resigned his seat.  This position requires a lot of work as you are basically sitting on two Boards at once. Ron has put a lot of work and effort in the past couple years especially during their restructuring. Ron was also very involved in Labour issues, importation issues and representing Alberta’s opinion in general at the decision table. Thanks Ron for all your hard work. As all of our positions on this Board are volunteer, there comes a time when you have to put the important things first and this is one of those years for many of us where we have to focus a lot of time and effort on our businesses. This position is currently vacant and I will be the interim delegate until we can bribe or pay someone else to fill the position.

I have had a lot of phone calls and comments from people regarding the need for alternative treatments for all pests and diseases we deal with. Varroa seems to be the main issue, but we need to think ahead. What are we going to do when tylosin stops working? What about if Fumagillin stops working? So, what I have done is set-up an Alternative Treatment Committee. This committee is made up of Jerry Poelman, Folkert Miedema, and possibly one or two more whom I won’t mention yet until they feel they are not being bribed into this job. This Committee will make contacts to find out what alternatives are out there and the amount of work or research that needs to be done to try and work towards having something in place when the time comes. We feel this would be a very proactive thing for industry to do. If you have some comments or suggestions, I think you can feel free to send these guys an e-mail or call. It seems like this should be more of a national issue and could be worked on by CHC because all provinces and beekeepers at large will benefit from this, but it seemed somebody needed to pick up the ball and go, and it may as well be Alberta. Possibly in the future some work could be combined efforts so work is not duplicated.

Honey prices seem to be maintaining themselves. I have had many reports that South America has been in a severe drought this past season especially the last two months. Apparently, this May, which of course is their fall season, there have been wasps and the like robbing out of their nucs when they have been feeding them to prepare for their winter season. Once again, I take all reports with a grain of salt but I am continuing to hear their production was down.  This may be an indication that honey will come up more.

Have you checked out our new Website? You should. It is up and running and looks really good. There will be some more improvements and additions as time goes on. If you have any suggestions of things you would like to see on the website, send the office an e-mail and we will consider getting it on there. Thanks to Lee Townsend and Gertie for doing a great job getting this going.

Hopefully I can provide an update with the response from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development for the next issue.

From the President’s Desk – May 2008

Well, maybe Spring is here to stay. It sounds like the pollen flow was off to a later start than normal in most areas across the province, which in turn may have set the bees back a little or delayed them from building up. I have not had a lot of reports from beekeepers on losses, but from what I am hearing, it may not be a good situation. We may once again need to survey beekeepers and find out how severe the losses are.

We recently met with our new Deputy Minister, Mr. John Knapp at his office in Edmonton. It was great to sit down with him and discuss some major issues we have with the handling of the Apiculture Program. As this is a new position for him, and with other issues also taking place, he told us up front it would be May before we hear a response back from him, so we are looking forward to meeting with him again.

A big concern, which is being worked on right now, is that it seems queen suppliers in California have had some new ‘rules’ imposed on them. We are not sure if these came from a request by Canadian Food Inspection Agency or Canada Customs, or another place. As I write this, queen bees are expected to start coming in the next couple weeks, so we hope this will be resolved in a timely manner.

Well, it’s playoff season so I got to go. All you guys out there going for the “next year” team, ya know, the boys in blue, happy golf season.

From the President’s Desk – April 2008

It feels like spring is may be here, however we had similar temperatures and weather the first part of January as I recall, so I won’t make any guarantees. As I write this, I have not heard of many reports of wintered bees here in Alberta, so we are still hopeful this year will be a better start than our devastating losses we experienced last year.  Once again we have a very strong majority conservative government. Our congratulations to Premier Ed Stelmach and the PC Party on this significant win. We look forward to working with you all in the future to help make keeping bees in Alberta a sustainable industry.

I was invited to go to Ottawa by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture in February and gave a presentation at their Annual General Meeting.  I was asked to give an update of what has been going on in the beekeeping industry and to make suggestions as to how the Federation may be able to assist us.  Representatives from numerous agricultural commodities attended this meeting.  It was very interesting and noteworthy how many main issues that all commodity groups have in common, no matter whether one farms cattle, pigs, chickens, ornamental flowers or bees.  Some examples are trade issues, currency, pest and disease management, labour and the list goes on.  Of course, we have differences in more specific areas, but many of these have a common interest.  From what I learned, this is a great organization and represents a significant number of Canadian farmers; it has many full time staff dedicated to issues and they have a budget, which allows them to get things accomplished. Of course, while I was there I was able to make contact and visit my MP, Bob Mills at the Parliament.  I took this opportunity to bring some of our main concerns up with him there.

The Import Committee has requested from Canadian Food Inspection Agency the documentation behind the rulings made on the previous Risk Assessment for package bees from the U.S. This request was made at the end of January. At this point, we still have had no response to this request other than they were short staffed and and that we should expect some delay. I would think this document would be readily available and sitting in a computer somewhere, so I don’t fully understand why this request should take so long.  

The first queen bees from Chile have arrived here in Alberta. As there are a few importers as well as many suppliers from Chile, it will be very interesting to see if these queens work out for beekeepers here and if they are able to withstand a cold Alberta winter. I guess time will tell.  

I have also learned the price of honey is still on the rise. Well of course it is. Once I sell my honey the price has nowhere to go but up. Oh well, you can’t win every battle. The question of course is, will these prices hold out until fall? Your guess is as good as mine.  

Also, for those who have not heard, Billy Bee Honey Products Ltd. was sold to McCormick, which is a very large spice maker company based in the U.S. and is involved in many different food type products. Congratulations to the Grossmans and family on the sale. Billy Bee has always been a huge part of the beekeeping industry in Canada. We hope that this change will be beneficial for our industry here in Canada and look forward to continuing doing business together.  

Until next month…All the best

From the President’s Desk – March 2008

The following letter was sent to the Canadian Honey Council expressing the concerns of the Alberta Beekeepers in regards to its reorganization of the CHC.

February 19, 2008

Ed Nowek, President
Heather Clay, National Coordinator
Canadian Honey Council
234-5149 Country Hills Blvd NW , Suite 236
Calgary AB  T3A 5K8

Dear Ed and Heather:

The Board of ALBERTA BEEKEEPERS would like to voice some concerns regarding the Canadian Honey Council and its reorganization.  In agreeing to support the Canadian Honey Council, the membership of ALBERTA BEEKEEPERS expects a new and vibrant organization that vigorously addresses the concerns of the Canadian beekeeping industry.  We would like to dispel the perception that Alberta does not have the best interests of the entire Canadian beekeeping industry in mind.  Through the years Alberta has not hindered but has supported the aspirations of other regions in pursuing their objectives.

When presenting Canadian Honey Council's reorganization plan it was indicated there would be room for additional memberships. ALBERTA BEEKEEPERS feel that more members would lend additional strength and commitment to bettering our industry. There are groups willing to make a financial and time commitment to help Canadian Honey Council improve our industry. But it appears there is some hesitancy in accepting additional members. We urge Canadian Honey Council to seriously pursue and accept new members. Their application and financial commitment indicates their desire to better our industry. The acceptance of new members is essential to our continued support and to the success of the Canadian Honey Council.

Alberta represents a substantial portion of commercial beekeeping in Canada.  Considering this and the financial support ALBERTA BEEKEEPERS has committed to the newly reorganized Canadian Honey Council, we expect the concerns of Alberta to be addressed. In voting to support Canadian Honey Council, the members of ALBERTA BEEKEEPERS  indicated their desire to making Canadian Honey Council work. But our commitment is conditional on Canadian Honey Council's ability to diligently represent the concerns of our industry in Alberta.

Yours truly,

ALBERTA BEEKEEPERS
Kevin Nixon, President

From the President’s Desk – February 2008

Unbelievable!  February already! I would like to thank all those who sent cards and e-mails to my wife and I on the birth of our baby boy. They are both doing well, however there have been a lot of sleepless nights. For my wife, mostly, anyway.

I have recently come back from the American meetings in Sacramento. This was a very good convention and it was very well attended too. For pretty well all the sessions, one had to be present at least 10 minutes early to get a chair or else it was standing room only - and that was if there was enough space to stand in the doorway.  In one of the meeting rooms there were even people sitting on the floor.  I have heard of numbers of well over 1,200 to 1,300 were in attendance. It was very interesting too that there was a great representation from all across Canada, as far away as folks from Nova Scotia.

There is a lot of concern in the US about a number of different topics. Of course, mite control is huge, as well as how to deal with the Nosema Ceranae. Still at the top of the list is Colony Collaspse Disorder. There is a new instrument, which is going to be delivered to UC Davis very soon, which will be available for beekeepers to send samples to be checked for all kinds of pathogens and viruses. There does seem to be some honey being sold in the US, and some of the carryover stock is getting used up. The thoughts from beekeepers in the US are very similar to those of Canadian beekeepers. Most of the Argentine honey is going to Europe and there should be no reason for honey prices not to come up. Of course a big factor for us is still the weakening of the US dollar compared to ours.

Another big day was the First International Symposium on Honey and Human Health which Alberta was participated in. We hope to have an update on this at our IPM Workshop, February 14-15, 2008 in Edmonton. Maybe we will get some direction on where we can take our current research project here at home.

There were many queen producers and packers in attendance as well. US beekeepers were being offered $1.00/lb.US. (freight in). I spoke to a packer about this. It really bugs me that we get offered the same price per pound but because of this line drawn on a map, a Canadian beekeeper has to pay delivery, which could be anywhere from 5 to 10 cents per pound, depending on where the honey is going and how far north one is located. I did hear however that a couple packers have realized this and are beginning to treat Canadian beekeepers the same as those in the US. I hope this would become a normal practice for all packers in the future.

I have also recently learned of two significant findings. This is "hot off the press" but I'm sure by the time you read this there will be new information out since I am writing this before the Canadian Honey Council meetings. The Small Hive Beetle was recently found in Western Australia. We are not sure at this time if it is an isolated case or if there will be any actions taken by Canadian Food Inspection Agency. As our bee supply seems to be getting more restricted as time goes on, we hope that this source will remain open and, at the same time, that we get healthy bees. 

The second concern is there was another find of contaminated honey found in the US which has been quarantined. The early details are that it is possibly used Chinese juice concentrate drums. The reports on this are very preliminary and we will need to wait to get the exact information. Again, this will be addressed at the Canadian Honey Council meetings. 

I would also like to invite everyone to come to our annual IPM Workshop, February 14 -15 at the Royal Executive Inn, West Edmonton. This meeting has been a great success over the past years and is a valuable tool for many beekeepers. There will also be a short business meeting for the membership. Hope to see you there.