Reading Time: 3 minutes Having bees around your canola field might be good for your yield, but the exact details of how and why are not known yet. That’s where people like Shelley Hoover, apiculture researcher with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry in Lethbridge, comes in. Hoover’s research deals with bee health, bee pollination, and the impacts bees have on […] Read more
Alberta honeybees are busy — but not well understood
Researcher says there’s a lot to learn about how honeybees could be used to further boost canola yields
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
Wild bees can boost your yields
FarmTech: There’s an estimated 300 species of wild bees in Alberta, and they can’t be beat as pollinators
Reading Time: 3 minutes Wild bees buzzing around your field can give you a bigger bang for your buck than honeybees or leafcutter bees. That’s because they actually do a better job of pollinating, said bee specialist Ralph Cartar. “Our whole world is built around managed bees and using honeybees as best we can, but in fact, the most […] 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
Beekeepers bank on biodiversity in pasture lands
Canola is a great source of pollen and nectar — but only for one month of the year
Reading Time: 2 minutes As the Alberta countryside gets eaten up by field crops, pastures are becoming a “safe haven” for field crop pollinators. “Bees spend maybe a month sitting in a canola field, and in that month, they have adequate supplies of pollen and nectar from the canola,” said Adam Ovinge, a beekeeper from Granum. “The problem is […] 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
Alberta opts for better management to reduce bee deaths
Reading Time: 2 minutes What’s Alberta Beekeepers Commission response to Ontario’s move? Our stance hasn’t changed. We are still very much in favour of working towards a scientific conclusion or solution to what has happened. In Alberta, we just aren’t seeing the same things as they’re seeing out in Ontario. We were very interested in the Pest Management Regulatory […] Read more
Three beekeeping courses offered this winter
There is one course for beginners, an intermediate course, and a one-day food safety workshop
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development is offering three apiculture extension courses for both new and seasoned apiarists. The beginner’s beekeeping course focuses on the biology and management of honeybees in Alberta. During two days of classroom work in November and a half-day in the field in May, students will learn the practical aspects of purchasing […] Read more
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