Some Nova Scotia beekeepers say the province’s recently announced increase in financial support for the industry is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough to address the huge losses they faced last year.
The USDA announced last week that its Beekeeping Sustainable Growth and Health Program will provide eligible beekeepers with up to $50,000, up from a maximum of $27,000 in 2023.
The program focuses on beekeepers who want to expand their operations to pollinate more commercial crops, offering $200 for each additional hive for pollination — double last year’s amount.
But the president of the Nova Scotia Beekeepers Association said beekeepers are now in the recovery phase after historic flooding last summer caused mass losses of hives.
“If 2023 isn’t too bad, the program will be in pretty good shape,” Duncan Wetzel said. “But we’re not dealing with losses at all.”
Wetzel said Nova Scotia beekeepers typically lose only about 15 percent of their bees over the winter, but that number has risen to more than 30 percent in recent days. Wetzel said he’s lost about 40 percent of his own hives.
“Someone pointed this out to me, [association] Tell your members that there is no point in adding a few hives if the losses are much higher,” he added.
Wetzel said last year was especially tough for the state’s larger farms, some of which had up to 2,500 colonies.
The pollination expansion portion of the program will provide funding of up to $30,000 at $200 per hive (equivalent to 150 hives) to eligible beekeepers who used more than 500 hives for pollination in 2023. Meanwhile, funding for the purchase of packaged bees and queens will be capped at $7,500, equivalent to 30 to 38 additional hives depending on cost.
The association is now looking to work with the government to create a restoration program to help breeders replenish bee colonies, but a statewide honeybee shortage is a challenge, Wetzel said.
“We don’t want to be constantly reliant on imports,” he says. “The problem is we don’t have enough product in Nova Scotia to meet the demand. We don’t have enough hives to pollinate. We don’t have enough nuclei to sell to beekeepers who want to expand. So we’re in a bind.”
David Cameron, co-owner of Sunny Cove Honey in Little Harbour, Nova Scotia, echoed the sentiment, saying some large commercial beekeeping operations lost more than 40 per cent of their colonies last year, resulting in a shift in priorities.
“A lot of commercial beekeepers are in rebuilding mode, not expansion mode,” Cameron said. “If you have fewer beekeepers than you had last year, you can’t expand.”
Cameron said his company is also short on hives and can’t rent out as many as usual to blueberry growers, who rely on honeybees to pollinate their crops.
He added that pollination contracts are a key part of beekeepers’ business and that financial assistance is helpful, but not enough to restore lost colonies.
Agriculture ministry worked with industry on programme, minister says
The state’s Agriculture Minister, Greg Morrow, said in an interview that his department worked with industry stakeholders to create the program.
“Obviously, we know it’s been a tough year for agriculture in general, and beekeepers have been no exception. We know they’ve been affected by the flooding and that wintering has been especially difficult,” Morrow said.
“[The program] The aim is to increase the number of hives, so in that sense it will increase support.”
The province welcomes feedback on the program and will continue to work with the industry to improve support, he added.
Wetzel said the association plans to meet in September to discuss the current state of the industry and the impact of the program.
