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Media Contacts

Jill Milne

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Agriculture
778 676-4460

Backgrounders

Bee BC supported projects

Green Bee Honey, Darwyn Moffaatt-Mallett, Bowen Island:

$5,000 to purchase insemination equipment to help the Bowen Island breeding project, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia. Local beekeepers will be trained to use the equipment. The objective is to test the performance of instrumentally inseminated queens in different wintering configurations including regular, nucleus and ‘bank’ colonies. The most successful queens will be made available to local beekeepers.

Smithers Beekeeping Association, Smithers:

$5,000 to research pollen sources and consult with the District Agriculturalist, Pollinator Partnership Canada, Xeres and other beekeeping associations to determine appropriate and varied forage sources for honeybees and other pollinators. The project includes planting flowering trees and ground cover or other suitable plants to widen the variety and feeding season in the area.

Cariboo Apiaries, Lillooet:

$4,110 to study bee health. Pollen traps will be set and monitored from the beginning of June until August to indicate when pollen forage is most abundant and which pollen bees prefer to collect. The pollen will be dried and prepared to be fed back to hives in early October. A control group will be fed regular pollen substitutes, and pathogen levels between the two hives will be monitored.

Elizabeth Huxter, Grand Forks-Boundary:

$4,770 to plant a variety of sunflower and buckwheat to enhance nectar and pollen sources for bees at critical times of the year to enhance winter survival and bee performance.

Chilliwack Beekeepers Community:

$3,285 to provide educational and awareness opportunities in the community, including elementary and secondary schools in the district. This includes school field days and city-endorsed educational events.

Peace River Beekeepers Association, Dawson Creek:

$4,727 to demonstrate how beekeepers in the region could more accurately adjust their existing management to take better advantage of the forage available and achieve healthier colonies, resulting in better survival and higher yield. This includes the purchase of bee health monitoring equipment.