Last week the Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture spent a few days on Prince Edward Island visiting apiaries and connecting with beekeepers. The ATTTA team met with various beekeepers to discuss their season progress, and conducted honey bee health testing to help support island beekeepers. Read this week’s blog for a summary of the work ATTTA conducted on the island.
Review of PEI Beekeeper Meetings
During the first week of June ATTTA spent a few days
visiting PEI beekeepers, and conducted honey bee health testing in a number of
apiaries. The team covered a large geographic area of the island by visiting
apiaries in the west, east and north ends of the province. The focus of each
visit was on honey bee health, and the ATTTA team offered a variety of testing
for beekeepers. ATTTA worked with each individual beekeeper and collected
samples for the testing they desired on a case-by-case basis.
Varroa mite management continues to be a top priority for
honey bee health, and, therefore, most beekeepers ATTTA visited wanted an
assessment of Varroa mite levels within a yard. ATTTA conducted alcohol washes
on a portion of colonies within an apiary, and across the island mite levels
were found to be low (less than 1% across all colonies sampled). Some PEI
beekeepers are involved in ATTTA’s Varroa mite regional survey, and these
beekeepers provide samples of bees throughout the beekeeping season to help assess
regional trends.
Nosema levels was another honey bee health test that many
beekeepers were keen to have assessed. ATTTA collected samples of bees from a
portion of colonies within an apiary and is currently assessing nosema levels
in the lab. The ATTTA team will contact each beekeeper who provided samples for
nosema testing and will inform them of their levels and advise on management
steps.
Virus levels within a colony have a large impact on honey
bee health. For a number of beekeepers ATTTA visited, the team swabbed colonies
with the intention of assessing viral load. These samples were collected as
part of a longer-term project and all swabs will be stored until testing can
occur.
ATTTA also collected a limited number of samples for testing
Lotmaria passim, a honey bee gut parasite, with a partnered lab. The
team has collected a limited number of samples from around the region with the
aim of determining the prevalence of Lotmaria passim in the
Maritimes. There will be further information shared in future blogs about this
little know parasite including these initial results.
Finally, with each colony ATTTA collected samples from, the
team provided feedback to the beekeeper on colony strength and discussed a wide
range of management topics to help support beekeepers.
The ATTTA team plans to visit with PEI beekeepers a couple
more times this beekeeping season, and will continue to assess honey bee health
during those visit. Our team will reach out to island beekeepers about future
visits, and we also encourage beekeepers to contact us if they would like an
apiary visit or have honey bee health and/or management questions.
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