Canada’s Bees
Are Thriving Public Needs Facts Not Fear
originally printed in We
Grow for the World on April 8 2014
This week’s guest commentary comes from Lee Townsend, a commercial
beekeeper from Stony Plain, Alta. He has represented the beekeeping industry at
both the national and provincial level over the past eight years.
News outlets throughout Canada are filled with stories about the
imminent decline of honeybees and the calls by some beekeepers to ban the pesticides
— called neonicotinoids — which they blame for their problems.
As a commercial beekeeper, I have a couple of points to make that may
surprise some readers. First, the Canadian honeybee industry is far from
collapsing — in fact, it’s thriving. The numbers don’t lie. Both the total
number of honeybee colonies and beekeepers in Canada has risen dramatically
since 2008.
My second point is that while the honeybee industry is stressed by many
factors, there is one emerging threat that is becoming our biggest challenge.
That isn’t the many natural infections that plague bees, ranging from varroa
mites to nosema to the emergence of the small hive beetle in Ontario and
Quebec. The rising numbers of bee colonies and flourishing honey and
pollination industries demonstrate that beekeepers can contend with those
problems.
No, the newest and most preventable threat comes from the mistaken
alliance some beekeepers are forming with environmental activist groups who
would turn farmers into enemies and drive a wedge between the farming and
beekeeping communities that depend on each other for their livelihoods.
So why are we consistently hearing reports of the demise of our
industry, while the numbers clearly show this is not true? Simply put, the
neonicotinoid debate in eastern Canada.
In 2012, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency reported that
43 beekeepers in Ontario and Quebec had exposure to these products. In 2013,
the number of beekeepers affected (including Manitoba) increased to 82,
impacting some 7,115 colonies. For these beekeepers, this is a very serious
problem that threatens their livelihoods. But, put in perspective, this
represents only slightly more than one per cent of Canada’s colonies over the
past two years..
Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to work together to find out what is
really happening, in part due to the insertion of special interest groups like
the Sierra Club. There is no denying that neonics, like any other pesticide,
can be toxic to honeybees if misapplied. But these special interest groups have
scared beekeepers, the public, and the media into believing these products are
far worse than actual scientific data indicates. If it was the epidemic they
claim, why is it only affecting one per cent of Canada’s colonies? And out of
that one per cent, we have yet to see data indicating exactly how many of those
hives’ sole problem was neonic exposure.
In addition, these special interest groups fail to acknowledge there are
colonies in Ontario and Quebec that are exposed to neonics on both corn and
soy, with zero problems. And look at Western Canada. On the Prairies, 70 per
cent of Canada’s colonies forage canola without issue. We are even exposed to
corn and soy, and except for four beekeepers in Manitoba in 2013, there have
been no issues there either.
Clearly there is need for further research, including the health status
of these colonies prior to neonic exposure and clear records of the management
practices of beekeepers. Most non-beekeepers don’t realize that just as farmers
use pesticides to keep pests off their crops, beekeepers use pesticides inside
the hive to control for infestations such as varroa mites. There is nothing
wrong with this, if it is done properly. But beekeepers should keep this in
mind when they link arms with activist groups with a larger anti-pesticide
agenda.
Both weak and unhealthy mismanaged colonies are more susceptible to
neonic exposure, just as they are to any other stress. But up until now, little
information regarding either of these items has been shared by the affected
beekeepers.
The only way a solution will be found is if beekeepers, growers and
manufacturers of these products come together to work for a common solution.
Since the first problems were reported, both the growers and seed manufacturers
have demonstrated a willingness to work with beekeepers. In addition, Canada’s
national bee organization, the Canadian Honey Council, has been working with
all the involved parties on a solution.
Unfortunately, because of the antagonistic approach taken by some
beekeepers — as well as the environmental groups for whom conflict is their
bread and butter — this willingness to work with the honeybee industry is
diminishing.
We depend on the growers for the land and forage
our colonies rely on. The relationship between beekeepers, growers and the seed
manufacturers is symbiotic. To let short-sighted agendas ruin that would be a
tragedy. Emotional responses rarely solve problems
