What's the Buzz with ATTTA # 5 All about Support Local Queens, Ticks

 

Local Vs Offshore Queens

The Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture has worked with beekeepers during the last three seasons to support the production of local queens. There is now a small, but growing, number of beekeepers from the Atlantic regions producing and using locally reared queens. The hope is to reduce the reliance on offshore queens, financially support our own industry and improve successes with locally adapted queens. Through ongoing applied research, ATTTA aims to compare Californian queens with queens grafted from local colonies. Both a local and offshore group of queens will be followed through this season and into next spring, comparing colony build up, overwintering success, brood pattern and temperament. It is intended that this work will help more beekeepers in our region move toward becoming self-sufficient in queen production.

Beekeepers are at risk for tick-born illness!

Figure: The numbers of probable, confirmed and incidence of reported Lyme disease cases by province of residence in Canada, 2016 (Statistics Canada).

As beekeepers, we work in locations where ticks are present and we must manage and mitigate this risk. The latest data from Statistics Canada, shown in the figure, indicates the number of cases of Lyme disease across the country. It shows the need for vigilance in our regions with a particularly high incidence rate in Nova Scotia. In order to help beekeepers understand more about ticks and the dangers of Lyme disease, ATTTA has prepared a fact sheet entitled, ‘Tick Safety in the Bee Yard’. Have a look for this fact sheet which will soon be available on our website. https://www.perennia.ca/portfolio-items/honey-bees/

Connecting with ATTTA Specialists

If you’d like to connect with ATTTA specialists or learn more about our program, you can:

·       Visit our website at https://www.perennia.ca/portfolio-items/honey-bees/

·       Read The Root newsletter through Perennia at https://us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=642ec925a6b70139cd668d4b0&id=0e9b713521

·       Call our Truro office at (902) 896-0277

·       Email abyers@perennia.ca

 

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