The travelling researchers collect samples from hives, analyze them and provide guidance to farmers to address any issues. In 2019, the commission launched a team that visits honey bee farms three times a year. 'This past year has been one of the worst for colony losses in Alberta,' Phillips said.

Danny ParadisĬonnie Phillips, executive director of the Alberta Beekeepers Commission, said the commission is working with farmers to help manage mites. It's very hard to see light at the end of the tunnel. While monitoring is the best way to know when to treat, Wolf Veiga said it's sometimes not feasible for beekeepers who have many hives.

'This is the time of the year where they populate very rapidly in the colonies,' Paradis said. Meanwhile, Paradis is trying to keep his 3,000 colonies healthy this fall to avoid another large loss.

She says the mites and associated viruses were the main cause of mass colony losses during last winter.īeekeeper Danny Paradis inspects on one of 3,000 bee colonies at Paradis Valley Honey in Watino, Alta. Wolf Veiga tests bee and honey samples from farms across Canada and even other countries. Patricia Wolf Veiga manages Northwestern Polytechnic's National Bee Diagnostic Centre in Beaverlodge, Alta. 'I think our controls are not as effective as what they used to be.' 'The challenge this year is industry wide,' said Paradis. The same beekeepers listed poor queens and weak colonies in the fall – which may be caused by factors ranging from exposure to pesticides, weather or poor nutrition – as the second and third possible causes of bee mortality in the province. 'We are in the sense of a drought, I would say, because we did everything we can to maintain all of our production, our colonies, our equipment and now we're just having a small honey crop,' Paradis said.Īccording to an annual report from the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, 82 Alberta beekeepers who responded to a survey said that ineffective control of varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that feeds on and weakens bees making them more susceptible to viruses, was the top possible cause of bee mortality in the province during the winter of 2021-22. Seventh-generation beekeeper Danny Paradis said that as a result, this year's honey crop is down 80 per cent while hives rebuild. Sixty-five per cent of the colonies at Paradis Valley Honey Farm in Watino, Alta., 140 kilometres northeast of Grande Prairie, were lost over the winter months. Honey bee farms across Alberta are keeping a close eye on their hives this fall following large colony losses last winter.

Golden prairie honey farm