With COVID-19, challenges came to almost all industries across Alberta including the beekeeping industry. This year, keepers are having difficulties purchasing packages of honey bees which often come overseas from New Zealand.

“Basically, what we saw was a disruption in the supply chain for packaged bees which a lot of commercial and even hobbyists purchase at the beginning of the season,” explained James Morton President of the Red Deer Bee Association. 

Morton says hosting association gatherings with any sort of frequency has been difficult over the past couple of months. There have also been some difficulties with hosting beekeeping courses which tend to have a lot of hands-on learning. Additionally, bee packages, that are often used to start a hive come at a high cost. New beekeepers may not want to take a gamble on bee packages without having hands-on learning. 

“It’s hard because it’s expensive. The other part of having packages of bees is that they are $400 a piece. Not only are you having to buy your hive equipment, but you’re also having to buy that package of bees if they’re available,” added Morton. 

Fortunately for beekeepers, some resources have been prepared to connect beekeepers with local sources of bees. 

“We’re trying to really get local sources for bees available for people. The Alberta Bee Keepers Commission and the Alberta Honey Council have both started to compile lists of people who have what we call nucleus colonies for sale. That would be your local producers who take part of a hive and put into almost a mini-hive that has like five frames in it. You’re able to sell that as sort of your starter hive for people to purchase,” explained Morton. 

The bees that come from packages overseas contain only honeybees. Alberta can rely on other native species for pollination, but unfortunately, this year’s rainy spring adds an additional challenge to beekeeping. 

“It’s certainly been a rainy spring. We had a very rainy spring last season. It certainly does affect production. Obviously, if the bees can’t get out to collect nectars then you’re going to have less of it as a result. The last spring was difficult overwintering this year there were some significant losses as well. This spring has been fairly rainy. It does have an impact on both how much nectar is being collected by the bees and also in terms of how quickly they can cure that nectar as well,” explained Morton. 

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The President says honeybee populations have remained relatively stable over the past couple of years. Where keepers are seeing a decline in populations, is with Alberta’s native bee populations. 

“Honey bee populations because they are sort of managed populations, have actually been on the incline over the last 10 or 15 years. The populations that we see on the decline are the native bee populations and that typically comes about as a result of a loss of habitat lack of forage. It’s the native pollinator populations that are on the decrease and are the most worrisome because they do provide most of the pollination,” said Morton. 

On a commercial level, beekeepers are struggling in other ways being unable to hire foreign temporary workers. 

“Overall, the number of temporary foreign workers has decreased by 20 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2019. In Alberta, it was actually even more. It was reduced to about 30 per cent. These commercial producers rely on this workmanship to help them get them through this very busy season,” explained Morton. 

Canada’s biggest producer of honey is Alberta but depending on how long the effects of the pandemic last, Morton fears there may be long term changes to the province’s beekeeping. 

“Our province alone produces 41 million pounds of honey annually and contributes 67 million dollars to our economy. We need the workers. We need the supplies of bees in order to keep our operations going to keep everything sustainable. It’s been very difficult especially for commercial producers,” said Morton. 

However, not all is lost. There are a couple of easy ways the average person can help our bees such as not spraying pesticides on weeds and planting flowers which helps both honeybee and native bee populations. You can also check your local bee keeper’s association and pay for an introductory beekeeping course.