Bees are back in the news, just as anticipation mounts in Ottawa for the release of a major Senate report that looked at the state of apiary health in Canada.
The Senate’s agriculture and forestry committee expects to table its two-year investigation and subsequent recommendations by May 31.
No details have been made public about the report, which included an in-depth look at Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency and the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, but the report’s timing could not be more critical.
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Ontario continues to move ahead with its efforts to limit the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides, a common seed coating used on corn, soybean and canola seeds to mitigate pests.
The chemicals have been widely blamed for bee deaths, and the PMRA has linked contaminated dust exposure to bee deaths in Ontario and Quebec.
After that finding, the PMRA imposed new planting recommendations, which were designed to mitigate contaminated dust. They have now been in place for two planting seasons.
Ontario agriculture minister Jeff Leal has said he wants to reduce the chemical’s use on treated corn and soybean seeds by 80 percent by 2017, which has triggered significant anger from Ontario farmers, who insist the insecticide is essential to their operations and livelihoods.
Grain Farmers of Ontario has accused the province of deliberately scheduling its consultation process on the proposed regulations in the middle of planting season, when farmers are preoccupied with seeding this year’s crops. The comment period ended May 7.
The ministry told the Guelph Mercury that the May 7 deadline marked the end of the second phase of consultation, noting the province will still hold technical briefings and had previously discussed the matter with farmers over winter.
Tensions between Grain Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario government have been exceptionally strained since the organization walked out of a meeting with provincial officials in December.
The farmer-led industry group isn’t the only agriculture stakeholder frustrated by the province’s actions.
In a new report released May 11, CropLife Canada said Ontario’s plan to limit neonicotinoid use would cost Ontario taxpayers $660 million.
The analysis, which was compiled by RIAS Inc, determined that the proposed regulations would have a direct impact on industries beyond the province’s grain farmers, such as food processors, the transportation sector and exporters. Â
“The cost burden of this plan is tremendous,” CropLife president Ted Menzies said in a news release.
Menzies, a former federal cabinet minister and grain farmer, said agrologists have warned that the province’s planned method for limiting the use of neonicotinoids is “naive and unworkable.”
Under the proposed regulations, the province says farmers who can show need will have access to neonicotinoid pesticides. That commitment has been disputed by grain farmers, who insist the process to secure neonicotinoid approval is too rigid.
The ongoing battle around bee health in Canada comes as winter bee death numbers start to trickle in from beekeepers and apiculturalists across North America.
Two out of every five hives, or 42 percent, have died in the United States since April 2014, a federal survey found, with most of the bee deaths occurring in the summer.
The Environmental Protection Agency is now reviewing neonicotinoid pesticides. The review is expected to be completed in several stages, with findings released intermittently between 2016 and 2019.
Here in Canada, mortality rates have dropped. In Ontario, only 30 percent of hives did not survive the winter in 2014, down from 58 percent the year before.
However, it’s still double the 15 percent mortality rate beekeepers say is sustainable.
Meanwhile, on the Prairies, where debate around neonicotinoid pesticides has not been as heated, The Western Producer found early reports of bee deaths to be around 10 percent.
The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturalists typically releases its final winter bee death report in July.
The PMRA is currently reviewing its approvals of neonicotinoid pesticides. A final report is expected sometime this year.
