DECEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Disease control worries honey producers


Prevention options get the floor at annual convention in Kelowna


Stories by MYRNA STARK LEADER KELOWNA – There was no


shortage of topics at the 98th annual general meeting of the BC Honey Producers’ Association (BCHPA) in Kelowna on October 27. The business meeting preceded the association’s annual conference and attracted 80 people representing the range of ages, backgrounds and farm types engaged in the sector. Vancouver Island producer Stan Reist, who represents BC on the Canadian Honey Council, updated BCHPA members on the council’s work.


Reist said there’s more


research underway to try to determine the cause of snot brood, a condition that looks like European Foulbrood in some hives. Both result in the decay and putrefaction of bee larvae. Symptoms show up for different reasons and may include chemicals used in blueberry fields. “We’re including blueberry


fields,” says BCHPA president Kerry Clark. “Some beekeepers don’t want to go near blueberry fields, which is a serious thing. It’s a problem for beekeepers because they don’t get the pollination, but it’s a much bigger problem for growers because if the beekeepers stay away from the $200 million a year industry, that could really make agriculture decrease.” Reist strongly encouraged


producers to be proactive in checking hives and reporting any irregularities. “In typical beekeeper


fashion,” he told the audience,


“if I’ve got a problem, I’ll tell my neighbours but not send in a sample for testing.” Beekeepers may think


they’re on top of the problem but by not submitting samples for testing, they may be opening the door to industry-wide problems.


Colony movements


The movement of colonies with small hive beetle and foulbrood also hit the agenda. Provincial apiculturist Paul


van Westendorp said there hasn’t been a significant rise in brood diseases, but he also noted that random surveys of colonies haven’t occurred. Beekeepers simply report incidents and send in samples for testing. Van Westendorp also sought to clarify information surrounding small hive beetle.


The beetle was first


discovered in Canada in Manitoba in 2002. It has since been reported in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, as well as Alberta and BC. Van Westendorp explained that an apiarist who winters hives in BC is alleged to have introduced the beetle from Alberta. BC producers have since expressed concern about its impact here. Van Westendorp said the


province looked closely at the data and met with legal folks to determine risks associated with the beetle’s spread. “We believe there is no health risk to bees or the bee industry in BC,” he assured producers. “We have conditions on [the beekeeper] including where he can put the hives.”


Property tax relief possible


There’s a ray of light on a long-standing bone of contention for BC honey producers. BC Honey Producers’ Association president Kerry Clark told the association’s annual meeting that BC agriculture minister Lana Popham is open to recognizing income from pollination services as agricultural income. Right now, pollination services aren’t considered an


agricultural product and income it generates doesn’t count towards the $2,500 in income producers require to have their properties qualify for farm status with the BC Assessment Authority. Popham agreed that that’s a problem. This is the most positive reaction the association has


had in years, Clark told BCHPA members. BCHPA hopes the response will lead to greater consistency in the application of assessment regulations, which have appeared to change from case to case. “BCHPA is not looking for a decision that every piece of land that has a bee on it is considered a farm,” Clark said. “We are looking for a kind of interpretation guide that respects the legal principles that have been established. … It seems there are decisions being made without due regard for the legal principles that have been recognized.”


BC honey producers used their paddles to weigh in on a number of motions put before them at their annual meeting in Kelowna in late October. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO


The response satisfied some but, in the end, the meeting considered a motion from the floor calling on BCHPA to strike a committee to draft a policy regarding hive movement. Clark expressed concerns with the motion.


He said the association has


typically focused on dialogue and building consensus


rather than establishing restrictive policies for members. He thinks there may be some


misunderstanding or misinformation among members with respect to the beekeeper in question. “There’s a disagreement about facts and I would like to get at the facts, but we didn’t have the time or


people in the room to do that so we’ll go through the process,” Clark told Country Life in BC. “The mandate for establishing policies on the movement of bees, that’s a regulatory mandate, so an association establishing a position on that at a committee level is problematic, but we can do that and see where it goes.”


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