Pollinator shortage persists


Blueberry acreage in the province far exceeds the estimated supply of available honeybees.


By Judie Steeves T


he good news is that Fraser Valley bees overwintered well this year. The bad news is that there are still not enough available to pollinate the


growing amount of blueberry acreage in the Lower Mainland. Provincial apiculture specialist Paul van Westendorp admits there are not enough honeybees available to pollinate the blueberry crop adequately. He says in the entire province there are only 45,000 to 50,000 colonies of honeybees, and if the estimate of three hives needed per acre of blueberries is accurate, and there are about 20,000 producing acres of blueberries, at least 60,000 hives would be needed for proper pollination. There are an estimated 4.5 million to five million flowers


per acre of blueberries and perhaps 15,000 bees in a hive at this time of year, so it’s a massive job for the little bee. And, it’s a job that’s being made much more difficult by growers who don’t consider the difficulties of pollination when they purchase new varieties of blueberries, says van Westendorp. Those with flowers that have either long or narrow corollas are more difficult for bees to access for good pollination, so more pollinators are needed, he explains. Pollination biologist Elizabeth Elle of Simon Fraser University says the flowers of Duke blueberries are attractive to honeybees because they produce big, fat, round flowers they can get into. However, the Bluecrop variety is a different matter. As well, the earlier varieties of berries come with a greater risk of flowering during poor weather when fewer bees will be flying. honeybees like warm, dry weather. Wild bumble bees are more likely to fly during cooler, poor weather, but there are only about 30 in a nest at this


time of year, and perhaps 15 would fly, van Westendorp figures, so as pollinators they’re inadequate to do a good job pollinating blueberries. Good growers all bring in hives of honeybees during flowering, so for three or four weeks, there’s a shortage of hives in the Fraser Valley, he says. Beekeeper Peter Awram of Honeyview Farm in Rosedale


is one of the largest in the province, and he estimates there are a quarter of the honeybees available that are needed to pollinate the blueberry acreage that currently exists. So, he agrees that more beekeepers and bees are needed,


and he believes reopening the Canadian border to the importation of packages of bees is the answer. (See separate story on pages 8 and 9). Honeyview Farm was started by Peter’s father in 1958


and it was incorporated in 1973 under that name and a store built on the property. Now people can learn all about bees there and all the products they produce, including honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly and propolis. A demonstration hive in the store illustrates how bees


go about their business, separated from interested eyes by glass panels. It shows where the term “busy as a bee” came from. They try to overwinter 4,000 hives of bees, but they


always lose some, and the number changes constantly. The whole hive depends on the queen, Awram explains. At the first sign of warm weather, things get moving


again. The hive requires two weeks of 25 C weather in May for the queen to get mated, but often they don’t get that kind of weather in May, he notes. A good, warm fall really helps the hive to overwinter


well because there is lots of forage to get them through winter. In summer, Awram estimates they have 100,000 bees in


a hive, while 15,000 to 20,000 overwinter in a hive. Awram says bees are their livelihood, although they also


have seven acres of blueberries. But growing blueberries is a hobby for them, just as beekeeping is a hobby for some growers.


British Columbia Berry Grower • Summer 2013 7


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