Bees play a vital role in British Columbia’s environment and to B.C.’s agriculture sector.

• Crops and flowering plants cannot live and reproduce without the help of bees and pollinators. 
• Honeybees play a major role in agriculture as pollinators of crops, contributing an estimated $538 million to the B.C. economy and over $3.2 billion across Canada.
• The Province has committed $150,000 to Bee BC, a fund that supports bee health projects in B.C. communities.
• The B.C. government is supporting research to improve the resilience and health of honeybee colonies used to pollinate commercial crops.

Background:

• There are almost 2,700 beekeepers throughout B.C., operating as a hobby, or part-time or full-time business, with more than 52,000 colonies.
• The ministry has one of Canada’s foremost apiary specialists on staff, and as well as 10 assigned bee inspectors in 10 regions, who provide free support services to B.C.’s beekeepers.
• If there are any indications of a disease outbreak anywhere in B.C., services are offered to the beekeeper through inspectors or the provincial apiculturalist.
• In May 2018, Bee BC received $100,000 in funding to support community-based projects on bee health to research, as well as to explore, field-test and share information about best management practices associated with bee health.
• In October 2018, Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, announced an additional $50,000 in funding through Bee BC to help support even more community-based projects.
• Information about all facets of beekeeping management is available online: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/animals-and-crops/animal-production/bees/beekeeping-bulletins

Bee health and neonicotinoids:

• The B.C. government and provincial bee inspectors work with counterparts, in federal, provincial and territorial governments, to share the latest science and information regarding bee health.
• The registration of pesticides falls under federal authority and is administered by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).
• In 2012, the federal government announced it would re-evaluate three of the most commonly used neonicotinoids in Canada.
• In late 2016, the PMRA published a decision, calling for a phase-out of all commercial agricultural uses of imidacloprid (one of the neonicotinoids under review) based on risks to aquatic organisms.
• The PMRA launched a special review of two additional widely used neonicotinoids, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, to assess their potential impact on aquatic organisms.
• The Province is interested in the final evaluations that will result from the federal review, and will rely on their scientists and expertise.

Learn More:

More information about bees, apiculture and support services offered to British Columbian beekeepers is available online:
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/animals-and-crops/animal-production/bees

The Ministry of Agriculture introduced a new Bee Regulation in 2015, as part of the Animal Health Act. A summary of the regulation is online:
http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/3_2015