Over the past few weeks the Canadian Bee Tech Transfer Programs and the Canadian Honey Council organized and facilitated two excellent honey bee health webinars for the Canadian beekeeping industry with the support of Véto-pharma. These webinars consisted of various talks regarding the management of Varroa mites and both the surveillance and action response plans for the threat of Tropilaelaps mites. Read this week’s blog for the highlights of the two webinars.

Review of National Honey Bee Health Webinars

The first webinar of the 2026 series “Adaptive Management to Keep Honey Bees Healthy” presented by the Canadian Bee Tech Transfer Programs and the Canadian Honey Council, with the support of Véto-pharma took place on March 18^th, and consisted of 243 virtual participants from across the globe. The focus of this webinar was on Varroa mite management and discussing new products that have recently been approved in North America.

The first talk was from Rémi Padé (Véto-pharma) who discussed Apivar 2.0®, Amiflex® and Bactobee®. Only Apivar 2.0® and Amiflex® are registered in Canada both of which have the active ingredient amitraz. Recently ATTTA has written two blogs to discuss the formulation and usage of both Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency registered products “What Beekeeper's Should Know about Apivar 2.0®” published on December 4, 2025 and “What Beekeepers Should Know about Amiflex®” published on January 15, 2026.

Paulo Mielgo (Vita Bee Health) discussed the product VarroxSan^TM which has the active ingredient oxalic acid, and has also recently been approved by the PMRA to manage Varroa mites (see past blog “New Varroa Mite Treatment Product: VarroxSan^TM” published on November 13, 2025 for details of the PMRA label). Paulo discussed the efficacy of the product which was tested in multiple independent laboratories and apiaries.

Finally, Adam Pachl (GreenLight Bioscience) presented on the product Narroa^TM, which is not yet registered for use in Canada, but there is a registration application submitted to PMRA. The product known as Narroa^TM has the active ingredient vadescana, which provides a unique mode of action from other Varroa mite control products. Vadescana relies on an RNA formulation which targets a gene sequence in Varroa mites and interferes with mite reproduction. To learn more about this production formulation read ATTTA’s past blog “Varroa Control: A new class of miticide!” published on September 11, 2025.

Canadian Honey Bee Health webinars taking place on March 18^th and March 25^th which were organized by the Canadian Honey Council and the Canadian Bee Tech Transfer Programs.

The second webinar, which took place on March 25^th, had 235 participants once again representing beekeepers from across the globe. The first presentation of the second webinar was from Manuel Hempel (Norce - Norwegian Research Centre) who discussed how to adapt beekeeping practice to changing climate conditions. Manuel discussed how the length and variability in the beekeeping season is having an impact on beekeeping management practices, including Varroa mite management and feeding practices. Manuel also discussed predicted climate trends and what this could mean for the beekeeping industry.

The final presentation of this webinar series was from Geoff Wilson (Saskatchewan Provincial Apiculturist) who discussed the biology of the Tropilaelaps mite, and the threat the pest presents to the Canadian beekeeping industry. Geoff is one of few Canadian beekeepers who has had first-hand experience learning about Tropilaelaps mites in both Thailand and the country of Georgia where the mite is prevalent in honey bee colonies. Geoff discussed potential routes of introduction of the Tropilaelaps mite to North America, potential monitoring methods and potential treatment methods. Geoff also gave an overview of Canada’s Tropilaelaps mite response plan which includes the Canadian Honey Council, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Provincial governments, Canadian Border Service Agency, Bee health suppliers and researchers. Overall, there is still a lot of unknowns around the risk and management of Tropilaelaps mites to the North American beekeeping industry. ATTTA will be publishing a blog and factsheet on Tropilaelaps mites in the near future to share current knowledge of the biology of the mites and current research regarding monitoring and management of this pest which is happening globally.

These webinars provided an excellent learning opportunity for beekeepers across Canada and internationally. The hope is that this webinar series will continue on an annual basis discussing important and current topics of the beekeeping industry. For those who registered, but could not attend the live webinar, we encourage you to access the recording sent to you for a full understanding of the information presented.

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 attta@perennia.ca