By Denese Meeks
On May 29, communities across Canada will be celebrating some of their most productive residents because it’s National Honey Bee Day.
A concerned Saskatchewan beekeeper organized the first proclamation in Saskatoon in 2010 to raise awareness about the worldwide decline in honey bee numbers and its effect on our food supply and the environment. It is now celebrated worldwide.
There have been huge losses of honey bees globally due to disease and increased pesticide use. In 2010, Vancouver Island beekeepers lost 90 per cent of their hives.
A phenomenon, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), is happening in certain parts of the world where the queen, food, and capped brood are still present in the hives, but the adult worker bees have disappeared. With one-third of our diet and 70 per cent of our crops requiring pollination, bees are working overtime to meet our demand for fruits, vegetables, nuts, and herbs.
Rural and urban beekeeping is increasing in many areas and the Cariboo is no exception. The recently established beekeeping support group in 100 Mile House has noticed an increase in people at its monthly meetings.
Club members Kate Adams and Jane Peters are mentoring the new beekeepers to ensure good management practices. Dan and Rhonda Dobson have provided hands-on experience by inviting one new beekeeper to help work their hives at Horse Lake.
It builds confidence for when your first nucs (queen and workers) arrive in late May. Jenn Frizzi has encouraged her four-year old son, Preston, to help with the family bees at Forest Grove.
Beekeeping does not come cheap. An initial cost for equipment and two starter hives is about $500, including suits, tools, smokers, supers, frames, foundation, and honey bees.
The bees must be overwintered by insulating around the hives. They need to be fed sugar water and pollen patties during the cooler months.
Even with these precautions, there is no guarantee the hive will survive. Beekeepers must register with the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands so the bee inspector can check for varroa mites and other diseases that can wipe out a hive.
In addition to local clubs, many beekeepers join the B.C. Honey Bee Producers’ Association, which holds annual meetings with education sessions. Beekeeping for Dummies and Beekeeping in Western Canada are good reference books for beginner beekeepers.
Courses and workshops are often available throughout the province. On May 26, the local gardening club, which meets at the hospital multipurpose room, is having a speaker address beekeeping and its benefits.
Fears and misconceptions about honey bees often give them a bad name. They aren’t aggressive. They don’t intend to harm people. You don’t see them buzzing around your food.
This type of behaviour is usually from wasps, yellow jackets, or hornets, which can sting multiple times. Honey bees frequent flowers and plants and are only capable of stinging a single time (they die after) and usually only if they think their hive is threatened.
The residents of the Cariboo and the Communities in Bloom Committee are doing a great job putting out the “bee welcome” mat.
Large groups of non-hybrid flowers and native plants are blooming in the area throughout spring and summer. Blue, white, purple, orange and yellow flowers with strong fragrances make up “bee-friendly” gardens.
Local greenhouses are supplying hollyhocks, sunflowers, herbs, raspberries and other bee-attracting plants and flowers. Mother Nature is providing no-cost fields of appetizing dandelions.
The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) has zoning bylaws, which allow people to keep honey bees on only specific properties. There are no bylaws in 100 Mile House and Williams Lake that either allow or disallow honey bees within municipal boundaries.
With an increased interest in food sustainability and security, there is a request for the CRD to join other communities in becoming “bee friendly” by revising the existing bylaws. Many local organizations and individuals are contacting their area directors in support of this initiative.
So no matter what you can do – start a bee hive, plant a “bee-friendly” garden, attract native bees, provide a home for mason bees, lobby the CRD and the municipality for bylaw changes – the rewards are amazing and the bees will thank you.
Denese Meeks is a honey bee enthusiast.
