Weather is often a significant issue for beekeepers as it can have a direct impact on colony survival. But this past January’s freeze event will also have an indirect effect, killing off a major source of revenue for Interior beekeepers as well as a source of spring foraging for their bees. The freeze event January …
bees
Bee losses significant but not extreme
For the second year in a row, nearly a third of honey bee colonies in BC did not make it through the winter. Each spring, provincial apiculture specialist Paul van Westendorp surveys beekeepers to assess winter mortality and identify the causes. He was putting the finishing touches on the 2022 overwintering survey on June 10 …
BC watches Stateside hornets
This week will see Washington State Department of Agriculture staff destroy a third nest of Asian Giant Hornets, making this year the most active yet for hornet hunters. The invasive insect, which can measure up to five cm in length, is at the most active stage of its lifecycle right now, seeking out animal proteins …
Canada holds off Asian giant hornet restrictions
ABBOTSFORD – Canada has yet to follow the lead of Washington State and move to declare Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) a quarantine pest. On April 7, Washington officials filed for all species in the genus Vespa to be placed on the list of quarantined pests for the state. The hornets were first reported in …
Beekeepers suffer colony losses
High winter colony losses were among the issues discussed at the semi-annual meeting of the BC Honey Producers Association in late March. “I personally lost between 80% to 90% of my own colonies this winter and I have talked to others who have had the same results and some who have had no losses at …
Hornet surveillance plans outlined
Surveillance plans are in place to keep tabs on the Asian Giant Hornet this year, in the hope of preventing it from gaining a foothold in the Fraser Valley and elsewhere. Nicknamed the “murder hornet” by the media, the Vespa mandarinia can be up to 5 cm in length. A swarm can destroy a bee …