Prince Edward Island

Blueberries are the number one exported Canadian fruit crop and they contributed $270 million to our economy in 2019.  Wild blueberries only grow in our region of eastern North America, with commercial production in four provinces combining to make Canada the largest producer in the world.  The wild blueberry industry and the honey bee industry are inseparable with the Maritime region demanding upwards of 60 thousand hives for pollination annually!  Now that the dust is settling on this year’s blueberry season, we have asked our provincial experts for an update.

Prince Edward Island

The 2020 yield for wild blueberries on PEI was 18,564,976 pounds. With an estimated 6,500 acres having been harvested this year.  The average yield per acre was approximately 2,860 lbs.  Prices to producers are currently as high as $0.70/ lb which is a positive improvement over last season.  In order to achieve pollination for the 2020 crop, PEI imported 5,237 hives, largely from Ontario, with local PEI beekeepers suppling an estimated 4,750 hives. This would indicate an average stocking density across the Island of approximately 1.5 hives per acre. This is up from both 2018 and 2019, whose average stocking densities were 1.0 and 1.2 hives/ acre, respectively.  This has meant an almost doubling in the number of imported hives each year since 2018.  The number of local hives has not changed significantly during the same time period.  Cameron Menzies, Berry Crop Development Officer and Provincial Apiarist, stated that he expects that with the higher blueberry price and the trend of increasing imports we've seen the last few years, demand for hive importation in 2021 will be strong, matching 2020's demand or exceeding it.  That would mean perhaps 6,000 imported hives or more.

Cameron Menzies, Berry Crop Development Officer / Provincial Apiarist

Agriculture and Land Agriculture Industry Development

Nova Scotia

Hugh Lyu, Nova Scotia wild blueberry specialist base at Perennia Food and Agriculture, stated that this has been a challenging year in terms of the impact of Covid 19 and he hoped everyone is able to finish their fall spraying before we head into the holiday season.  He continued by stating that spring weather was good and disease pressure was low in both Molinia blight and Botrytis. Pollination appeared to be successful in wild blueberries and this year, Nova Scotia had about 32.5 million lbs of wild blueberry production.  This was lower than expected due to drought/dry weather in July and August.  This year’s production was 18.75% lower than 2019, which was 40 million lbs.  Some areas were hit harder by the drought, especially the Cumberland county area. This year’s price increased to $0.70/lb and this was a high not seen since 2013. The demand for wild blueberries is increasing, and this year’s production will not meet the current demand.

Hugh Lyu, Nova Scotia Wild Blueberry Specialist

Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc.

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/

Email abyers@perennia.ca


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