Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/vernonmorningstar/business/30437074.html
Bee industry feeling sting
Updated: October 03, 2008 4:55 PM
There is a crisis in the world of honey bees.
The Canadian Honey Council is asking for $50 million for disaster relief from the government after another year of bee losses across the country.
In Canada, the average loss of hives was 33 per cent last year. Some areas, like Peace River in Alberta and Vancouver, lost 70 per cent of hives this past winter.
President of the honey council and owner of Planet Bee in Vernon, Ed Nowek, wants solutions.
?If you can imagine someone losing 70 per cent of their livelihood,? said Nowek, ?it?s not just the loss of the bees, but also the income of those bees. Then the cost of replacing them, which can be insurmountable for some people if you don?t have bees to generate the income.?
Last year Planet Bee had losses of more than 50 per cent, and this year his losses were 15 per cent.
?There has been two years now of way over average losses,? he said.
It was a similar story at Stawn?s Honey. They lost 25 per cent this year, which is better than half their population like in 2007, but the trend still leaves part-owner Kristy Anderson worried.
?We didn?t lose as much, but still have losses,? said Anderson, ?but that is normal for everyone now.?
Anderson knows a beekeeper who had 500 hives, and lost everything this year.
She has seen beekeepers selling their businesses because of losses, and it takes constant monitoring and money to keep their bees healthy.
?People are just getting discouraged, and many of the people in this business are older and it is really hard work to keep up,? she said.
Reg Kienast, a bee inspector for the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, agrees.
?Sure there is more stress on the beekeeper,? said Kienast. ?It is taking up more time. I wouldn?t be surprised to see the price of honey rise.?
The problem seems to be a mixture of pesticides, varroa and tracheal mites that attack the bees, and two new viruses: the Israeli acute paralysis and Kashmere bee virus.
The bee industry is not alone in losing money. A lack of bees pollinating leads to the bigger problem of losing crops.
?The value of honey production is very minimal compared to the value of bees to agriculture,? said Nowek. ?A third of food production in Canada needs honey bees to pollinate, and that?s enormous. The value is placed at over $1 billion a year.?
In the Okanagan, local fruit growers rent out bees to pollinate crops, but some did not have enough this year which could lead to higher food prices.
The Canadian Honey Council wants more research and have been trying to develop a plan.
?We have a project called Hive Health that we want government funding for,? said Nowek. ?We need government help bad, so in addition to our $50 million disaster relief, we are asking for $10 million over five years to fund this Hive Health initiative.?
Bee industry feeling sting
Updated: October 03, 2008 4:55 PM
There is a crisis in the world of honey bees.
The Canadian Honey Council is asking for $50 million for disaster relief from the government after another year of bee losses across the country.
In Canada, the average loss of hives was 33 per cent last year. Some areas, like Peace River in Alberta and Vancouver, lost 70 per cent of hives this past winter.
President of the honey council and owner of Planet Bee in Vernon, Ed Nowek, wants solutions.
?If you can imagine someone losing 70 per cent of their livelihood,? said Nowek, ?it?s not just the loss of the bees, but also the income of those bees. Then the cost of replacing them, which can be insurmountable for some people if you don?t have bees to generate the income.?
Last year Planet Bee had losses of more than 50 per cent, and this year his losses were 15 per cent.
?There has been two years now of way over average losses,? he said.
It was a similar story at Stawn?s Honey. They lost 25 per cent this year, which is better than half their population like in 2007, but the trend still leaves part-owner Kristy Anderson worried.
?We didn?t lose as much, but still have losses,? said Anderson, ?but that is normal for everyone now.?
Anderson knows a beekeeper who had 500 hives, and lost everything this year.
She has seen beekeepers selling their businesses because of losses, and it takes constant monitoring and money to keep their bees healthy.
?People are just getting discouraged, and many of the people in this business are older and it is really hard work to keep up,? she said.
Reg Kienast, a bee inspector for the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, agrees.
?Sure there is more stress on the beekeeper,? said Kienast. ?It is taking up more time. I wouldn?t be surprised to see the price of honey rise.?
The problem seems to be a mixture of pesticides, varroa and tracheal mites that attack the bees, and two new viruses: the Israeli acute paralysis and Kashmere bee virus.
The bee industry is not alone in losing money. A lack of bees pollinating leads to the bigger problem of losing crops.
?The value of honey production is very minimal compared to the value of bees to agriculture,? said Nowek. ?A third of food production in Canada needs honey bees to pollinate, and that?s enormous. The value is placed at over $1 billion a year.?
In the Okanagan, local fruit growers rent out bees to pollinate crops, but some did not have enough this year which could lead to higher food prices.
The Canadian Honey Council wants more research and have been trying to develop a plan.
?We have a project called Hive Health that we want government funding for,? said Nowek. ?We need government help bad, so in addition to our $50 million disaster relief, we are asking for $10 million over five years to fund this Hive Health initiative.?