Bee Health

The South Vancouver Island region is a unique mix of urban and semi-urban environments. The area is home to several small-scale beekeeping operations within a small land area. As a result, pollinator forage areas are often shared.  The Capital Region Beekeepers’ Association (CRBA) has noticed an increase in honeybee diseases like American Foulbrood likely [...]

Varroa mites continue to plague beekeepers in BC resulting in colony losses, but groups like the Comox Valley Beekeepers Association continue to look for methods to reduce the mites. Previously effective methods like using chemicals such as Apivar are becoming less effective as the Varroa mites grow resistance. As part of their 2023/24 Bee [...]

Many recognize the honey bee as a pollinator in British Columbia, however; the province is home to nearly 600 species of bees. The Native Bee Society of BC (NBSBC) is striving to collect more knowledge about the nearly 600 species of bees found in BC. With the success of their 2022/23 Bee BC project, [...]

The BC Honey Producers Association (BCHPA) is helping smaller bee keeping operations address Varroa mites as part of their 2023/24 Bee BC project. For their project, the BCHPA created Oxalic Vaporizer supply kits to enable the borrowing of treatment equipment. The Oxalic Vaporizer treatment method has proven to be effective but comes at a [...]

Viewcrest Farms is a family-owned farm located in Mission, BC. In 2022, they began a Bee BC project that focused on monitoring for Varrora Mites and Nosema Spores and supplementing honey bees with sugar syrup infused with a herbal tea. Olena Zagoskina, co-owner of Viewcrest Farms, tested for Varrora Mites using the typical sugar [...]

The Native Bee Society of BC (NBSBC) completed a 2022/23 Bee BC project that focused on training master melittologists in identifying and recording bee forage information. This included researching bee forage and creating reference collections. The goal is to share those reference collections at community outreach events to encourage people to plant bee forage [...]

Canadian beekeepers in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario have recently reported major colony losses, with varroa mites and other factors blamed. In BC, varroa mites are also a problem. Varroa mites are a virus-carrying parasitic arachnids that feed on honey bees, attack bee colonies, and can cause mass devastation. The heat dome that occurred this [...]

In 2019, Honey Bee Zen Apiary in Creston BC tackled two Bee BC projects, Iotron Sterilization Transport and Mycological Extracts as A Treatment for Viruses in Honey Bees. Here's a summary of those projects: Iotron Sterilization Transport Summary The project involved organizing and collection beekeeping equipment in need of irradiation from beekeepers throughout [...]

In 2019, Elk Root Conservation Farm undertook a project to build a Bee Barn. Below you will find a few details about the project and a video.About the ProjectThe bee health issue addressed by this project is winter bee mortality and spring bee forage optimization. Our objective was to design and construct a ‘Bee Barn’.The [...]

Content by: Liz Huxter and Cooperators: Deane Farms, Kettle River Farms and Morbella Farms Introduction The Boundary area of BC presently has little honey bee forage in late summer. The area is typically hot and arid in late July and August. In the past we have experienced the benefits [...]