The hidden cost of honeybee colony losses: Insights from a Canadian beekeeper
A deeper look into the impacts of North America's potential pollination crisis
Bee beards might be going away for some places in North America, but more importantly, the price of groceries could be under pressure as bee colony losses over the winter in the US are far higher than average.
Honeybees are critical to agriculture for their pollination services, even though they’re probably better known for honey production. Many crops require pollination to produce the food we eat—apples, cucumbers, and strawberries are examples. Losing the bees that provide pollination is a serious problem.
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I’d heard that US beekeepers were finding far higher overwinter losses than usual, and I wanted to see if Canada was having the same issues. We’d had a cold, almost never-ending winter in southern Ontario, and I assumed that we’d have high losses as well.
To find out, I headed down to Clovermead Farm in Aylmer, Ont., to talk to owner and third-generation beekeeper Chris Hiemstra.
“Everyone is aware that this has been a real Canadian winter, and our losses are slightly higher than normal," Chris told me when I met him in the Clovermead farm store, a small, cozy spot filled with hundreds of jars of honey and smelling of a mix of flowers, maple, and, of course, honey.
"Our beekeeper, Albert, has said we’re at about a 17 per cent loss. Average losses for us are around 15 per cent, but most beekeepers are happy with anywhere between 10 and 15 per cent.”
Mark Robinson (right) pictured with Chris Hiemstra, owner of Clovermead Farm in Aylmer, Ont. (The Weather Network)
Bee colony losses are to be expected every winter thanks to a variety of factors, including the destructive Varroa mite, viruses and bacteria introduced to a hive thanks to the mite, and poor winter nutrition. These factors vary across both the US and Canada, but the difference between the losses in the two countries is stark. According to Washington State University, some regions in the US have seen 60-70 per cent losses over this winter.
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I asked Chris about this discrepancy, and his answer intrigued me: “My interpretation is that there’s something in the environment that’s affecting the bees. I know that Canadian farmers have stricter regulations around pesticides, and in the States it is a bit more like the Wild West. However, these losses can be cyclical, so there’s no definitive answer at this point.”
I asked him how our Canadian hives are used and what happens if we did have a major loss like we’ve seen in the States.
“There’s a bit of a knock-on effect," he explained. "Bees go from Ontario to New Brunswick to pollinate blueberries, and when they can’t get enough hives out to the East Coast, they might not get good yields, and when the yields are low, the supply drops and the prices go up.”
According to Hiemstra, there's no definitive answer regarding the difference between honeybee losses in Canada and those in the U.S. (The Weather Network)
Honey prices can also go up, but the situation is more complicated given that it’s produced all over the world and markets for it are also similarly spread.
“There are multiple things that play into markets, and Canada generally produces a lot of honey, so we’ll export around the world, especially to the States," Chris said. "Now that the United States is … 'changing the rules' …, we have to export to other countries. The western regions, especially Alberta and Saskatchewan, produce huge amounts of honey thanks to limited urban areas and huge fields, so we end up exporting more than we consume. Japan is a big buyer, for example.”
I laughed and suggested that at this point it’s more of a market thing than a bee loss thing, for now at least.
Chris cautioned me about being too optimistic, though.
“In general, the insect populations are going down, and that includes native bees. This winter we had a lot of snow in Ontario, and that often protects overwintering bees. However, overall, the loss of insects seems to be because of habitat loss, and we can do something about it.”
He continued, “If we set aside 10 percent of our yards to be ‘natural,’ that will go a long way to helping out native species. By natural, I don’t mean that you have to go out and buy ten thousand dollars of plants to dig into your yard; just don’t mow or touch a small strip of land in your yard. It might look messy, especially in the winter, but it’s super helpful for our insects.”
Chris underlined the overall issue with one line: “Bees help us get affordable food to our tables.” He’s exactly correct, and losing large numbers of these critical pollinators will have major effects across the agriculture sector and eventually at our grocery stores.