Warm weather in April and sufficient soil moisture led Alberta honey producers to expect excellent yields this year.
However, the promise never materialized.
“We never got the heat in August and never got the late flow that we usually (get) in the beginning of September,” said Alberta Beekeepers Association president Terry Greidanus.
The poor conditions at the end of summer dropped Greidanus’ honey production near Cayley to 150 pounds per hive, which is slightly below the average yield on his farm.
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Honey production ranged from excellent to extremely poor across the rest of the province.
He said some beekeepers between Medicine Hat and Fort Macleod had their best year ever, but many in the Peace River Valley lost money.
“The guys up north, in the Peace, didn’t even break 100 lb. (per hive). Some guys got 50 or 60 lb.. That’s not even enough to cover expenses.”
Greidanus said production across the province will likely be slightly below the provincial average of 140 lb. per hive.
Mark Knox of Nipawin, Sask., also had high hopes for honey production in the spring.
His bees came out of winter in terrific health and were primed to gather up nectar, but any chance of a record honey harvest was dashed when frequent and heavy rain prevented canola producers in northeastern Saskatchewan from planting a crop.
However, the excessive rainfall salvaged the season because grain growers couldn’t get on the land to apply herbicide. Weeds provided a source of nectar for the bees.
“We had a good run of volunteer canola … dandelions and that kind of thing,” said Knox, a director with the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Association.
“And that’s what made our crop this year. If they (farmers) would’ve been on the land to spray, we wouldn’t have had anything.”
Knox averaged 195 lb. of honey per hive, which was below his average of 225 lb. but not a total disaster considering the conditions in the region this summer.
He said honey production in the rest of the province was highly variable and 2010 will probably wind up as a below average year.
Saskatchewan beekeepers average 195 lb. per hive in a typical year.
Murray Lewis has averaged 175 lb. of honey per hive on his farm over the last decade, and this year was no different.
It was a decent year for crops around Lewis’ farm near Austin, Man., even though beekeepers north of Dauphin and in Manitoba’s Interlake coped with extremely wet fields and drowned plants.
“In Manitoba, it’s all over the map (for honey production),” Lewis said.
“Some guys did really well and some did poor.”
It’s not much comfort for producers who had a bad year, Lewis said, but white honey prices remain decent at $1.50 per lb.
