While there were prairie beekeepers stung by drought this year,most
were euphoric due to record honey prices.
The overall honey harvest in Alberta this year was below average
because of drought. Saskatchewan also had areas of drought, but overall
yields will come in close to average as will Manitoba.
Beekeepers are excited that honey prices are more than double last
year’s. Last week, prices on the open market ranged up to $2.50 a
pound, which shatters previous records.
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“I think everything’s going along quite nicely,” said Don Dixon,
Manitoba’s provincial apiarist. “Sales have been very brisk with these
higher prices.”
Part of the reason for the dramatic price rise is concern among
importing countries about the quality of Chinese honey. That honey is
being shunned because of discoveries of adulterants, such as
antibiotics that are illegal for use in beekeeping.
The European Union has an embargo on Chinese honey and Canada imposed
tight restrictions earlier this year because of concerns about
contaminated Chinese honey.
The United States, which is an important producer and importer of
honey, has had import tariffs on Chinese honey for a couple of years.
This summer, U.S. officials discovered that at least some of the honey
imported from Australia and Thailand was Chinese, even though it had
been labelled otherwise.
As a result, 50 container loads of honey were seized. The honey in
those containers was tested and found to contain traces of illegal
antibiotics.
“That put a real chill on people buying Australian honey in the U.S.,”
Dixon said.
It also made major honey packers more leery about buying Chinese honey.
Instead, they turned more of their attention to North America, where
production standards are higher.
That helped trigger a buying frenzy among packers, who also recognized
that drought in important honey producing areas such as Alberta would
mean a below-average harvest in Canada and the U.S.
“They tried to get their hands on honey as quickly as possible after
the harvest to get their inventories up,” said Dixon.
Also adding to the demand for Canadian honey are U.S. tariffs on honey
from Argentina, following allegations that it was being sold at below
cost of production on the American market.
“All these things came together and pushed the price of honey to
astronomical levels,” Dixon said.
A lot of the honey produced on the Prairies this year will already have
been bought or spoken for. Producers who still have product should have
no problem selling it, although they may be holding some of it back
wondering whether the prices could go higher.
Alberta
Alberta is Canada’s leading producer of honey. Medhat Nasr, the
province’s apiculturist, expects the overall yield there to be about 80
percent of the 10-year average.
“We are short,” said Nasr, noting the average Alberta hive production
this year was 130 lb. He estimated the total provincial harvest this
year will be 18 million lb., compared with 23 million last year.
“Some guys got a normal crop. Other guys got nothing.”
Saskatchewan
In Saskatchewan, yields were all over the map this year, according to
John Gruszka, provincial apiculturist.
The honey outlook in drought areas of the province was grim in August,
Gruszka said. However, rains reached the affected region later in
summer, helping to spur the development and blossoming of crops such as
canola, which are a source of nectar for bees.
The result was a late flow of honey across the northern part of the
province, which helped push up yields.
Gruszka estimated overall yields came in at close to the 10-year
average of 185 lb. per hive. There are about 100,000 hives in
Saskatchewan, which means the total provincial yield will be about 19
million lb.
Manitoba
In Manitoba, preliminary estimates suggest the province’s beekeepers
produced 13.5 million lb. of honey this year. The yields per hive were
about average, said Dixon, although the number of colonies was 90,000
compared to 92,000 last year.
One of the concerns for the Canadian beekeeping industry is that with
record prices, major food manufacturers may look at alternative
ingredients for the food products they make using honey. Consumers
buying packaged honey off store shelves might also be leery of paying
the higher prices. Both factors could influence future demand for honey.
