Reading Time: < 1 minute In response to the recent challenges faced by Alberta’s beekeepers, the provincial Agriculture Ministry is introducing a new Canadian Agricultural Partnership program. The program will include up to $1 million to help beekeepers offset the costs of increased colony replacements due to COVID-19. The program, available this summer, will be retroactive to cover issues faced […] Read more
Beekeepers to get $1 million for replacement colonies
Decision on temporary foreign workers a boost for Alberta beekeepers
Beekeepers rely heavily on seasonal agricultural workers and would have had to downsize without them
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government’s decision to allow seasonal agricultural workers into the country is good news for Alberta’s beekeepers. The ag sector had feared border closures would keep out these workers and devastate sectors such as fruit and vegetable production. But Canadian beekeepers also rely on temporary foreign workers — about 1,500 are hired each year […] Read more
A close call averted for Alberta beekeepers
A decade ago, winterkill was up to 40 per cent annually — a rate that could have ravaged the beekeeping sector
Reading Time: 2 minutes The good news is Alberta’s bee populations are currently strong and healthy. The deeper story is just how close the province came to losing this priceless resource. Medhat Nasr, provincial apiculturist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, has been closely involved in the challenges and comeback of the province’s bees in recent years. “Over the past […] Read more
Alberta beekeeping workshops set to begin
Reading Time: < 1 minute The province is putting on four beginner beekeeping workshops, two intermediate ones, and two on farm food safety and biosecurity workshops. “These workshops are designed for new entrants as well as experienced beekeepers by providing up-to-date information on better management practices from start to setup,” he says. Workshop speakers include provincial apiculturist Medhat Nasr, apiculture […] Read more
Medhat Nasr receives honours
Reading Time: < 1 minute Provincial apiculturist Medhat Nasr was recently given the Roger A. Morse Outstanding Teaching/Extension Service/Regulatory Award. The award committee cited Medhat’s two decades of research, teaching and extension work with the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, Rutgers University, and, for the past 13 years, in Alberta. “I would personally like to thank you for sharing your work with […] Read more
App offers instant link to bee disease info
The free app will be enhanced to allow picture uploads, and that will boost the bee pest surveillance database
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta beekeepers will have better access to bee disease and treatment information through a new mobile app developed by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. The free app for iPhone and Android is an easy-to-use tool that will link beekeepers to pictures and current information about pests, diseases and recommended management practices. “Our province has one of […] Read more
More heat than light in neonicotinoid controversy
Reading Time: < 1 minute Neonics have become one of those issues that creates deep divides. Are neonicotinoid pesticides silently poisoning our world, with bees serving as the canaries in a toxic coal mine? Or is the whole thing just the latest cause célèbre promoted by radical environmentalists who have a hate on for “industrial” farming? The already rancorous debate […] Read more
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