Edward Podolski credits favourable weather, abundant alfalfa and “the good Lord” for an abundant honey harvest this year.
The commercial beekeeper at Ethelbert, Man., said the average honey yields from his bee colonies were the best he has ever experienced. With prices for honey still good, he was able to pay down his mortgage and start thinking about repairs to his production buildings.
“We’re thankful for what we got, very thankful.”
Drought and grasshoppers challenged honey production in some parts of the Prairies this year, limiting the sources of nectar for bees. However, those types of setbacks did not prevent overall honey production from coming in at slightly above average.
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In Alberta, the average yield this year was 130 pounds per hive, said Alberta provincial apiculturist Medhat Nasr, putting the province’s total honey production at 31 million lb.
Dry weather worked against producers in the Peace River region and northeastern Alberta, where limited moisture hampered crops such as clover and canola.
Grasshoppers were an enormous problem in some regions, particularly central and northeastern Alberta, Nasr said. That meant fewer clover and canola blossoms for the bees to harvest and increased bee losses due to heightened pesticide use to counter the grasshoppers.
Southern Alberta was one of the province’s brighter spots. Hybrid canola seed production is a significant enterprise there, and bees play an important role as pollinators of those canola plants.
Nasr said honey production related to hybrid canola doubled in southern Alberta because of favourable conditions.
In Saskatchewan, provincial apiculturist John Gruszka said the average honey yield per colony was 190 lb., a little better than the 10-year average. As a result, the province’s 100,000 honeybee colonies produced a total of 19 million lb. of honey.
A nice spring led to a good flow of honey in July. That was offset somewhat by a dry August, which affected alfalfa growth.
“The second cut just wasn’t there,” Gruszka said.
Average production in Manitoba this year was 182 lb. per colony for a provincial total of 14.5 million lb., said Manitoba Agriculture apiarist Rheal Lafreniere.
He attributed the good year to favourable weather and an abundance of canola.
Honey prices this fall generally hovered between $1.75 and $2 per lb., although some producers were paid slightly more for premium quality honey.
While prices are not at record highs, they are still at levels that make beekeeping profitable.
Good prices are expected to continue into 2004, especially with reports that U.S. honey production was below average this year.
Meanwhile, China is still having problems regaining access to markets in North America and Europe because of concerns that its honey was tainted with an antibiotic that could pose human health risks.
Canada is among the countries to insist that Chinese honey imports be tested for the antibiotic chloramphenicol. The honey is turned away if the antibiotic is detected.
“Beekeepers here are really enjoying that,” said Wink Howland, a Saskatchewan beekeeper and president of the Canadian Honey Council.
“It’s a real windfall for them.”
Although honey prices have been good in the past couple of years, beekeepers struggled in the past under depressed prices.
