Monday, 11 June 2012

Central Beekeepers Alliance : 2011 Maritime Bee Tour – You’re Invited!

Central Beekeepers Alliance : 2011 Maritime Bee Tour – You’re Invited!


2011 Maritime Bee Tour – You’re Invited!

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 09:40 AM PDT

Every summer, beekeepers in our region look forward to the "Bee Tour" of the Maritimes Beekeepers Association. Well, it's that time again – and you're invited on the 2011 Maritime Bee Tour, hosted by the Nova Scotia Beekeepers Association!


SENB Beekeepers’ Field Day 18 June 2011

Posted: 15 Jun 2011 10:43 AM PDT

Southeast New Brunswick Beekeeper’s Association will be holding a field day on Saturday, 18 June 2011 — rain or shine. Registration and coffee will be at 9:30 a.m. at the Salisbury Baptist Church, Main Street, Salisbury, New Brunswick.  If weather permits, the afternoon session will take place at the Country Fields/ Dore Honey apiary in [...]


Four New Viruses Found in US Honey Bees

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 09:22 AM PDT

What viruses and bacteria exist in a normal honey bee colony throughout the year? A new study by UCSF researchers followed 20 colonies in a commercial beekeeping operation of more than 70,000 hives as they were transported across United States for crop pollination.


Honey Fights Bacteria in Wounds, Scientists Say

Posted: 09 May 2011 08:46 PM PDT

Some 2000 years before the discovery of the existence of bacteria, honey was used to treat infected wounds. With the advent of modern medicine, such "folk remedies" as honey for wound treatment have gone out of favour, but in recent years honey has started to get more attention. Now, another study lends further credence to [...]


Beekeeper Responds to Health Canada “Anti-Honey Campaign”

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 10:11 AM PDT

In this submitted article, New Brunswick beekeeper Richard Duplain responds to recent warnings from Health Canada about  infant botulism as an effect of toxins in honey, as well as an implied connection between honey and allergies due to pollen. Health Canada advises against using Honey Letter to the Editor or Commentary Recently Health Canada embarked [...]


From Chemicals to Air Pollution, New Report Points to Multiple Threats to Bees

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 07:49 AM PST

More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe. Scientists are warning that without profound changes to the way human-beings manage the planet, [...]


NB Agriculture Website is Updated, Better for Beekeepers

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 10:10 AM PST

The New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries has launched a major update to its website. Beyond a clean new look, the revised website makes it easier to find information published by the department, including forms and regulations. For beekeepers, there is a separate page all about bees, which serves as a “one-stop shop” [...]


Free Honey and Pollen Analysis Offered to Canadian Beekeepers

Posted: 09 Nov 2010 04:57 AM PST

A two-year research project entitled Floral identification of Canadian honey and pollen and development of a palynological reference booklet aims to develop a Canadian expertise in honey and pollen identification.  Unlike European honeys, Canadian honeys are not differentiated by their specific floral sources. The term "mixed flowers" categorizes the majority of honey sold in the [...]


Varroa Mites Blamed for Winter Bee Losses in Canada

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 07:58 AM PST

Here's a good reason for beekeepers to treat all bee colonies for mites, whether or not you've seen visible evidence of infestation: "Varroa destructor is the main culprit for the death and reduced populations of overwintered honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in Ontario, Canada," says a report from the University of Guelph and Universidad Nacional [...]


PEI Honey Product Wins Prestigious Prize

Posted: 21 Oct 2010 07:39 PM PDT

Central Beekeepers Alliance sends its hearty congratulations to Island Abbey Foods Ltd. of Prince Edward Island. The company just won the Global SIAL d'Or, one of the world's top food prizes, for its innovative Honibe Honey Drop, a dried honey product in the form of a lozenge, used to sweeten a hot beverage with honey [...]


Bees trained to give early warning of plant disease

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 06:06 PM PDT

Remember, back in school, hearing about Pavlov’s dog that learned to drool when it heard a bell ring? That method of “classical conditioning” is how Dr. Andrew Sutherland, a researcher with the University of California Davis Plant Pathology Department, is training honey bees to detect plant disease in agricultural crops. Here’s the story, straight from [...]


Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Common Pesticide Makes Honey Bees into Picky Eaters: New Study

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Common Pesticide Makes Honey Bees into Picky Eaters: New Study


Common Pesticide Makes Honey Bees into Picky Eaters: New Study

Posted: 29 May 2012 01:51 PM PDT

For years now, beekeepers around the world have been concerned about the widespread use of agricultural pesticides, and specifically imidacloprid, which has been banned from some crops in Europe in an attempt to protect honeybees. Now, a UC San Diego study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology suggests that beekeepers’ concerns are justified.

James Nieh, a professor of biology at University of California San Diego, headed the research project with graduate student Daren Eiri as first author of the report. The study was funded by the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and the National Science Foundation.

Nieh and Eiri were interested in the impact on bees of the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, as part of on-going research attempts to identify the cause of colony collapse disorder – the “disappearing bees” syndrome that has threatened the honeybees population since 2006 – and focussed their attention specifically on imidacloprid, a widely used chemical “known to affect bee learning and memory.”

The two biologists found in their experiments that honey bees treated with a small, single dose of imidacloprid, comparable to what they would receive in nectar, became "picky eaters."

“In other words, the bees preferred to only feed on sweeter nectar and refused nectars of lower sweetness that they would normally feed on and that would have provided important sustenance for the colony,” said Eiri. “In addition, bees typically recruit their nestmates to good food with waggle dances, and we discovered that the treated bees also danced less.”

In some cases, the bees stopped dancing completely.

And when bees become “picky eaters,” going for only the sweetest nectar, the total amount of stores brought into the hiveis naturally reduced – meaning, potentially, the difference between colony survival and starvation. Beekeepers know, too, that queens tend to produce more brood in times of ample food supply, so don’t you have to wonder what effect the lower stores would have on reproduction and colony build-up?

The bottom line, says Nieh, is that “exposure to amounts of pesticide formerly considered safe may negatively affect the health of honey bee colonies.”

Press release: Commonly Used Pesticide Turns Honey Bees into 'Picky Eaters'

Photo: Hives of north Alberta by l’insouciant1, on Flickr


Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Notice to New Brunswick Importers of Queen Bees

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Notice to New Brunswick Importers of Queen Bees


Notice to New Brunswick Importers of Queen Bees

Posted: 24 Apr 2012 06:40 PM PDT

Here is the latest information we have received about 2012 restrictons on importing queen bees to New Brunswick.

Notice to importers of queens from California and Australia

Any queens that are imported from Australia or California must be inspected for small hive beetle before they are released to the importing beekeeper. The inspection will be performed by approved staff from the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries. Please contact Chris Maund, Integrated Pest Management Specialist (Entomologist) and Provincial Apiarist, at 506-453-3477 if you intend to import queens from California or Australia in 2012 or if you have any questions. Please note that importation of queens from Hawaii is not permitted in 2012.

Chris Maund
Integrated Pest Management Specialist (Entomologist) and Provincial Apiarist / Spécialiste de la lutte contre les parasites (Entomologiste) et Apiculteur provincial
Crop Development / Développement des productions végétales
New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries / Ministère de l'Agriculture, de l'Aquaculture et des Pêches du Nouveau-Brunswick
850 Lincoln Road / Chemin Lincoln
P.O. Box / case postal 6000
Fredericton, NB, E3B 5H1