Ontario bee winterlosses down

Ontario had some of the lowest bee colony winterloss numbers in the country, according to the latest data.

The annual winterloss report from the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturalists released last month showed Ontario producers averaged 19.1 per cent winterloss. That’s well below the Canada-wide average of 30.2 per cent and last year’s average in Ontario of 22.6 per cent.

Canada overall got hit harder than Ontario and numbers went up, not down. Last year overall winterlosses were 25.7 per cent. Prince Edward Island came through the best at 16.9 per cent winterloss. Alberta was the hardest hit province by far this year, with losses at 40.5 per cent. Producers there said the weather was by far the biggest factor.

Ontario beekeepers, meanwhile, blamed varroa mite, a bee parasite, and pesticides as their top bee-killers. The other provinces were evenly split between pointing the finger at the weather, starvation and weak colonies.

One change to the annual report this year was that it, at least in Ontario, targeted commercial beekeepers (apiarists) with 50 hives or more. Previously the survey didn’t distinguish between commercial and hobbyist beekeepers. Beekeepers with 50 or more hives are eligible for crop insurance.

524 beekeepers across Canada responded to the survey, representing 50 per cent of colonies. 59 respondents from Ontario represented 46 per cent of producers in the province.