Over the past month the ATTTA blog series highlighted the unique successes and challenges of the Maritime beekeeping industries for the 2024 season. Continuing with the series of Atlantic industry updates, this week’s blog will provide an overview of the 2024 beekeeping season in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

NL Beekeeping Industry Update 2024

Newfoundland and Labrador has a unique beekeeping industry, with few commercial beekeepers, a short beekeeping season, and it is one of the last locations globally that does not have Varroa mites. Therefore, each year NL experiences differences in honey crop, climate, demand and supply for pollination units, winter loss, and prevalence of pests and diseases, compared to other Maritime provinces.

This past winter NL beekeepers experienced the lowest winter loss of any province in 2024 with an average winter loss at 9.8% of colonies. The percent loss of colonies was reported by the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists in their preliminary report on honey bee wintering losses in Canada. Newfoundland has consistently low winter loss which can partly be contributed to the fact the province is Varroa mite free (see graph below).

Comparison of honey bee (Apis mellifera) winter loss in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last 9 years based on the Canadian Association for Professional Apiculturists honey bee winter loss reports.

The number of colony inspections completed by provincial inspectors was approximately doubled from the number completed in 2023. There were no signs of any diseases or pests to report, and the province remains free of Varroa mites, Small Hive beetle, Greater Wax moth, Tracheal mites, and American foulbrood. As mentioned, the lack of diseases and pests within the province helps keep the amount of winter loss low.

So far reports from NL are that the honey crop is similar to that of 2023. Preliminary reports indicate that the province had variation in honey crop between regions and beekeepers for the 2024 season. There are reports of a good honey crop in the central region of Newfoundland. There are also reports that western Newfoundland had a dry summer season which can impact the honey crop. Across the province the fall season was favorable for weather and honey flow. More information and insights are needed to report on the NL honey crop overall.

Unlike other Maritime provinces, the main crop requiring pollination in NL is cranberries. There are reports that multiple NL beekeepers sent their hives to pollinate cranberries this past season, and the cranberry crop was good. Cranberry pollination can be hard on the health and strength of honey bee colonies, but so far NL reports sending bees into winter seemingly strong and healthy.

Overall, beekeepers in NL are finishing up their season nicely. Beekeepers are working towards getting their bees wrapped and are anticipating good overwintering success. In preparing this report, ATTTA contacted the NL Provincial Apiarist, and talked with members of the NL beekeeping association, which allowed the ATTTA team to draw some preliminary conclusions on the past season.

A reminder to all Atlantic beekeepers that it is illegal to import bees and used equipment into NL without a permit from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a main goal of the NL beekeeping industry to keep Varroa out of their province. Currently, NL is one of the last locations globally that does not have Varroa mites present within their industry. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all beekeepers to help NL remain Varroa free. 

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

References

Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists. Statement on honey bee wintering losses in Canada 2016 - 2024.

News from Newfoundland

 

This weekend, the Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture (ATTTA) visited Newfoundland to attend and participate in the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeepers Association (NLBKA) annual general meeting and Growing Together workshop! It was a wonderful opportunity to engage with the beekeeping community and hear updates from the apiculture industry. Read on to learn about what is going on with our beekeepers in Newfoundland!

News from Newfoundland

The beekeeping community in Newfoundland is growing. Every year there are more commercial keepers as well as hobbyists, playing an important role in the industry. Both groups contribute to the growth of apiculture in the province.  Increasingly, Newfoundland’s beekeepers are engaged with the sale of queens and nucleus colonies to other beekeepers, as well as mentoring new entrants. One of the most unique considerations about Newfoundland beekeeping is that there is extremely limited importation of bees to the island. Within a typical beekeeping operation, commercial or otherwise, there is effectively no opportunity to purchase new bees, including queens, from outside of the province. As such, growth is restricted to activities within the province. They are rising to the challenge! For example, commercial overwintering losses have been dropping every year since they began reporting to CAPA in 2018, with only 18.1% losses in 2021.

NLBKA President Rodney Reid speaking at the NLBKA Growing Together meeting.

The reason for strict important legislation is because Newfoundland remains one of the only regions on earth whose honey bees are free of varroa mites. The industry is working hard to keep Newfoundland this way! Despite having no varroa mites, the NLBKA is diligently working to educate beekeepers about varroa mites and to be prepared, should mites arrive. Provincial Apiarist Karen Kennedy announced new legislation which has been developed to protect the industry against a varroa mite infestation. For example, mandatory hive inspections before bee sales and increased penalties for illegal importation activities are proposed. She also announced exciting news that signage has been approved to be placed in high traffic areas to increase awareness that honey bee importation to the province is illegal. It is important for those outside of Newfoundland to know this as well. We can all do our part to help maintain the varroa free status of Newfoundland by not bringing or selling any honey bees to the province.

More exciting news from the meeting was the launch of the new NLBKA brand. Branding is a way to unify an industry and help to get your common message to the public. Check out the NLBKA website to see the new look! Agriculture in the Classroom was highlighted at the meeting as well, with representatives of the NL Federation of Agriculture speaking to the success of this program and displaying contest winning nuc boxes painted by students.

Jars of Newfoundland honey for a honey swap! See a nuc box from Agriculture in the Classroom in the background. 

The beekeepers of Newfoundland and Labrador are a very engaged community, and there is no doubt that the industry will continue to grow. During the visit, ATTTA stopped in at Tuck’s Better Bee Farm in Grand Falls-Windsor for a glimpse into the exciting agrotourism project being developed. This expanding business is just one great example of the growing and dynamic beekeeping industry in Newfoundland.  Continue to follow the ATTTA Buzz Blog to hear more news about NL and the entire regions beekeeping industry.

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

This week we are delighted to announce the release of a new honey bee book written by Atlantic beekeeper, Catherine Dempsey! Read on to learn more about this lovely book and the unique context in which it was written. We have also prepared a new factsheet to help beginning beekeepers understand basic beekeeping equipment. This will soon be made available on the ATTTA website alongside our additional factsheets and extension materials! 

Daphne’s Bees

Catherine Dempsey keeps bees in Flatrock, Newfoundland, by the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. On the island of Newfoundland, beekeeping comes with distinct challenges and advantages. To start, the island is infamous for unpredictable weather patterns and has a shortened beekeeping season, even when compared to the relatively short season of the Maritime provinces. Nonetheless, the industry is growing steadily and in 2020 Provincial Apiarist Karen Kennedy estimated there was around 100 Newfoundland beekeepers including both hobbyist and commercial operators. 

Most unique about Newfoundland beekeeping is that the island remains free of many pests which are common worldwide including Varroa mites, small hive beetle, honey bee tracheal mite, and greater wax moth! This is an advantage that comes with challenge and responsibility. To maintain this status, the government passed legislation in 1985 to limit the importation of honey bees into the province, granting exceptions extremely rarely and under strict protocols. As such, all growth in the Newfoundland beekeeping industry must come from within. Luckily, the island has highly motivated beekeepers including Catherine. Daphne’s Bee’s is a beautiful narrative alongside vibrant artwork to tell the story of a grandmother and granddaughter on a beekeeping journey. It is both youthful and educational to start budding beekeepers on the right path! 

https://runningthegoat.com/daphnes-bees/

Nouvelle Vidéo YouTube! - Évaluer la vigueur de la ruche - Compter le nombre d’abeilles qui retournent à la ruche

L’industrie de la pollinisation au Canada atlantique est en grande partie une collaboration entre les apiculteurs et les producteurs de bleuets sauvages. Les services de pollinisation sont les plus efficaces lorsque la vigueur des ruches est optimale pour la pollinisation, c’est ce que l’ETTACA présente dans sa série de vidéos sur l’éducation à la pollinisation. Il existe des standards de vigueur établis pour les ruches au Canada atlantique et les environs, et ceux-ci sont présentés dans notre vidéo intitulée Les abeilles et les bleuets sauvages au Canada atlantique – les standards de vigueur des ruches pour la pollinisation. La vigueur de la ruche peut être mesurée de plusieurs façon et il n’y a pas de protocole établi pour l’ensemble de l’industrie de la pollinisation au Canada atlantique. Dans cette vidéo, nous présentons une méthode de mesure de vigueur de la ruche, qui consiste à compter le nombre d’abeilles en vol qui retournent à la ruche. Dans notre évaluation de cette méthode, nous soulignons qu’elle est fiable seulement lorsque les conditions de vol des abeilles domestiques sont optimales. L’inspection de l’intérieur des ruches demeure une méthode d’évaluation plus précise de la vigueur des ruches au Canada atlantique. 

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

Fall Feeding: Preparations to Survive Winter & Newfoundland Hopes to Remain Varroa Free!

Imagine beekeeping without Varroa mites!  What you are imagining is real and exists in Newfoundland.  The NL beekeeping association has just released a Varroa Action Plan and this week we learn about their strategies to remain Varroa free!

This is one of the most important times in the beekeeping calendar when we are preparing our hives for winter.  Especially after a difficult drought season, we need to ensure our colonies have the resources to survive winter.  Read on as we consider feeding and the importance of getting calories into our hives.  

Fall Feeding: Preparations to Survive Winter

Now, while the temperatures are still relatively warm, we should all be feeding in preparation for winter.  Have a look at ATTTA’s Fall Honey Bee Management Guide as an excellent source of information on getting your bees ready for the cold season.  

When it comes to fall feeding, beekeepers often ask, “How much feed do bees need?”.  This is like asking, “How long is a piece of string?”  Let us look at a couple of facts which can help beekeepers better understand the feeding process.  

Firstly, focus on the hive weight and begin feeding up from this point towards an expected winter-ready poundage.  This fall, in certain areas of our region, bee hives are starting out light and therefore will need more feeding!  To overwinter in our Atlantic Canadian climate, each colony requires 27-36 kgs (60- 80 lbs) of honey.  An experienced beekeeper can do the “heft-test” by lifting the back of the hive and judge the stores available in individual colonies.  Thirty-five kgs of honey is a good guideline weight for winter preparation.  To achieve this weight, the bees need to have access to either nectar or sugar solution.  As there is little nectar available after honey harvest, a substitute must be supplied!

We have a relatively short window of time to replace the “energy” we have taken when harvesting honey.  Nutritive energy is delivered as a solution of water (H₂O) and, most commonly, sucrose (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) in the form of white crystalized table sugar.  Sugar is dissolved in water at a ratio of 2:1 by weight.  The resulting solution is around 67% sugar (with 33% H₂O).  This is referred to as percentage by weight and is a simple way to describe concentration.

When sugar, as the solute, is mixed into the water, as the solvent, the volume does not increase linearly during dissolution.  Intuitively you may expect two kilograms of sugar mixed with one litre of water to make near 3 litres total volume.  This assumption does not account for the large amount of space water has between its molecules.  This space allows the sugar to mix in without initially increasing volume.  Once the sugar has filled this molecular space, only then will additional sugar increase the volume.  When mixing 2 kg of sugar with 1 kg water (1 litre H₂0 = 1 kg) we get a total volume of around 2.25 litres of 67% sugar solution.  The saturation point of a solvent is the point at which no more of a solute can be added and at room temperature we are very near saturation point with our 2:1 sugar solution.  The saturation point increases with temperature which is one reason why warm water will more easily allow sugar to dissolve to a higher concentration.

Let us consider some hypothetical numbers!  We need to realize that each litre of our 67% sugar solution has approximately 150 ml of excess water.  The bees must remove this additional water during the conversion and storage process to achieve the 17 – 18% moisture content of honey.  So, one litre of sugar solution makes 850 grams of honey.  This weight of honey will contain 2550 kilocalories.  An average hive will need around 100 000 kilocalories for our Canadian winter.  This means that if your hive’s only source of winter stores is from fall feeding, it would need around 40 litres of sugar solution (i.e. 40 litres sugar solution = 34 kg honey).  Our theoretical 40 litres of sugar solution will contain 6 litres of water which the bees must remove.  This takes a great deal of energy as well as favorable ambient temperature and humidity.  An average top feeder is 15 litres capacity so this would need to be filled 2.6 times.  When considering the above information, do not forget that in practice there is some honey in the hive already?

Remember hive weight is the ultimate test of how much we need to feed.  Sugar syrup can only be converted to winter stores during relatively warm weather.  The initial hive weight indicates the amount of honey in the hive and this specifies the amount needed to achieve our goal of 35 kg honey.  

Further information on fall feeding:

Feeding Honey Bees

Fall Honey Bee Management Guide

Newfoundland Hopes to Remain Varroa Free!

“Getting Varroa would be a disaster for beekeepers and our industry,” said Newfoundland Beekeeping Association president, Rodney Reid. “Unless we’re well prepared for it, the parasite could wipe out 90% or more of our stock. The management of our bees would become much more complex and expensive in terms of time and money. It would discourage new beekeepers and possibly bankrupt our established and new commercial operators.  These are some of the consequences we’ve seen elsewhere in the world.”

This statement comes with this week’s release of a “Varroa Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador.”  This is a plan to deal with the arrival of the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor.  As the rest of the Atlantic provinces’ beekeepers battle Varroa, Newfoundland is one of the few remaining Varroa free zones in the world and the NL beekeepers association is working hard to keep this status.

Figure 1 Images of Varroa Destructor from Varroa Mite Biology and Diagnosis, Ontario Beekeepers Association

If Varroa does come to Newfoundland, the association suggests that the most likely way that this would occur is through illegal importation of honey bees.  Knowledge of the devastating effects that the Varroa mite will have on Newfoundland’s beekeeping industry is the main deterrent to prevent this route of infestation.  The Newfoundland industry, through its beekeeping association, intends to inform beekeepers of the dangers of Varroa and actions to prevent its spread.  They aim to provide this information to beekeepers and the general public through training and workshops.  The first of these training sessions are scheduled around the island between October 3 and 11.  Training will be provided by experienced beekeepers from New Brunswick where Varroa has been established since the early 1980s.

For more details on the action plan and information on how to register for the Varroa workshops, visit the NL Beekeepers Association website: https://www.nlbeekeeping.com/

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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