MAY 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


23 Apiarists want pollination income to count


Property assessment appeals have supported apiarists’ position


by TOM WALKER KAMLOOPS – Attendance


was strong at the BC Honey Producers Association (BCHPA) semi-annual meeting and education day in Kamloops, March 10. “Participation is growing


every year,” says BCHPA president Kerry Clark. “Our strategy of providing top quality educational experiences is paying off.” BCHPA represents some 800 beekeepers across the province, many of them hobbyists, Clark notes. Approximately 130 attended the semi-annual education session, with a good number participating in the business meeting, too. Clark says bees, like other


livestock, were affected by the 2017 wildfires. While honey producers who had hives destroyed were able to make claims under AgriRecovery, indirect impacts are harder to quantify. “If the countryside around


a yard is burned, the bees are not going to get any yield, so the beekeeper may incur expenses moving the bees and still see a lower honey yield,” Clark explains. “Those losses are harder for the risk management people to assess, so they are not included in insurance claims at this time.”


A recent Health Canada ruling against requiring a label warning that honey is high in sugar is positive for producers, notes Clark. He expressed concern that a “high on sugar” warning on a honey product may imply honey has added sugar. “This is an incorrect message and we are pleased to see that Health Canada has exempted honey from that requirement,” he says. While BCHPA has been


working with BC Assessment for nearly a year to have pollination service income considered as farm income for farm status, it has yet to receive official confirmation of what several assessment appeals have upheld. “We would like to see an


interpretation document giving more details of how this works,” says Clark. “We would like this to align with and respect the findings from various appeals.” Clark says there are two


BCHPA research initiatives underway.


One of the projects,


co-ordinated by the National Bee Diagnostic Centre, involves three provinces and will use cutting-edge technology to revisit foulbrood diseases. BCHPA is contributing $40,000 to the $500,000 project. BCHPA is also launching a


Hive health is critical for beekeepers and the educational component of the BC Honey Producers Association semi-annual meeting was well attended. FELIX MROWKA / SWEETACRE APIARIES FILE PHOTO


$120,000 project to study and try to mitigate bee health issues in blueberry pollination. BCHPA is also undertaking


a rebranding initiative with the aim of having a new logo ready for its 100th anniversary in 2020.


Disease identification and


treatment was discussed at the education day, but several presenters focused on apiary management to optimize bee


health, including reproducing local bees to sustain an operation and year-round care.


Andony Melathopoulos, a


BC bee researcher working as an extension specialist at the


University of Oregon, delivered the keynote presentation on identification and practical management of “unsung but destructive


See BEE on next page o 


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