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Farmers In The Lower Mainland May Have To Wait Months Before Returning

There are many farmers in the Fraser Valley between the cities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack who believe it will be months before they can set foot on their farms again.

Many were flooded by more than a metre of water as a result of a huge storm on the west coast about a week ago. Although some farmers managed to get horses and cows to higher ground, it's believed at least a thousand animals died in the flooding. There are also many chicken farms in the area and some of those farmers were forced to abandon them. Several that weren't flooded were quickly running out of feed because of washed out highways.

This past weekend, the situation was beginning to improve. The Fraser River started receding and some traffic was moving again between Hope and the Okanagan.

Alberta is helping out our neighbors to the west. Late last week, Premier Jason Kenney said he had a phone call with his BC counterpart, John Horgan and they discussed various ways our province could help producers in the Fraser Valley, including setting up veterinary lab services.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.