Sask. beekeepers in good shape despite COVID-19

While other provinces in Canada face shortages of imported bees, Saskatchewan beekeepers are self-sufficient

Some provinces in Canada were looking forward to their regular shipments of bees from out of the country that help replace pollinators or expand numbers. But, due to COVID-19, these shipments have stopped.

However, beekeepers in Saskatchewan are unaffected by this disruption as they are largely self-sufficient, said Nathan Wendell. He’s the president of the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission.

“Most commercial beekeepers produce their own nucleus hives. And they use those hives within their operations as small hives that are primary used to raise queens and then those nucleus hives are used to replace winter losses or weak hives or expand numbers,” Wendell told Farms.com.

While some Saskatchewan beekeepers import packages of bees, those individuals should be able to source them from other beekeepers in the province, said Wendell.

The big issue affecting Saskatchewan beekeepers is the struggle to get temporary foreign workers, said Wendell.

“Almost every commercial beekeeping operation uses at least some level of temporary foreign workers. With the border restrictions, it's been a real struggle to get our people here,” he said. “We worked in conjunction with the Canadian Honey Council and other provincial beekeeping associations to charter a plane to bring some of the foreign workers from Nicaragua into the country and that just landed on Monday. But we're still well short of our complement of temporary foreign workers.”

The temporary foreign workers are very important in the province’s bee industry as many have worked in the sector for multiple years.

“Beekeeping, particularly in the spring, is a very skilled job. You have to know bees. You have to know what to look for in a hive, assess for disease and strength, be able to identify a queen bee and look for disease and health,” said Wendell.

Wendell acknowledged the opportunity to hire Canadians who may have lost their jobs recently, but some of the skills are learned over time. The foreign workers who work for commercial beekeeping operations have these skills.

As for the shortage of bees in other provinces, the Canadian Honey Council reached out to the provincial bodies to see if any bees could be sent across the country. The conversation is just beginning, but it may provide a good opportunity for Saskatchewan beekeepers, said Wendell.

“If beekeepers are finding they don’t have the workers they need, they may be thinking they can't sufficiently manage all their nucleus hives. So, it may benefit them to get some cash flow in selling those to Eastern Canada and not have to worry with trying to manage properly with short staff,” said Wendell.

The Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission recently surveyed its members, but it’s a good chance the leadership will receive a positive response, said Wendell.

“Beekeeping in Saskatchewan is a relatively small community and beekeeping in Canada is a relatively small community too. No one wants to see someone struggle to get through a season,” said Wendell.

“Agricultural workers are working hard. It's a tough job and we don’t need any more problems than nature throws at us on a regular basis. As an industry, and as a community, we're happy to help – whether it's in province or within the country – trying to make sure that everybody gets what he or she needs.”

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