It’s Thursday, so you know what that means — it’s time for a Farmer Rapid Fire! On today’s RealAg Radio, you’ll hear from: Steve Twynstra of Ailsa Craig, Ont.; Jennifer Doelman of Douglas, Ont.; Simon Ellis of Wawanesa, Man.; Corey Loessin of Radisson, Sask.; and, Kevin Serfas of Turin, Alta. Thoughts on something we talked… Read More

Contrary to what some headlines and marketing campaigns would lead us to believe, honey bee numbers in Canada are at record highs and trending higher. At the end of 2016, there were a record 750 thousand colonies in the country, according to Statistics Canada. “The state of the bee industry is quite strong right now,”… Read More

“The world’s bee population is in crisis and Honey Nut Cheerios is coming to the rescue, minus its perky mascot.” — Toronto Star, March 15, 2016 Move over Kathleen Wynne and Glen Murray. There’s a new saviour of bees in town. General Mills Canada announced last week “Buzz” the honeybee will disappear from its Honey… Read More

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has tallied up the in-season bee death numbers for both 2014 and 2015 (planting only), and the numbers are nothing short of staggering. The PMRA recently reported to the federal bee health roundtable that during the planting period there was roughly a 70% decrease in the number of reported… Read More

Want a quick summary of what’s happening in the dynamic and diverse world of Canadian agriculture? The TWORA podcast is produced and posted on RealAgriculture.com every Thursday. From farm safety to bee health to Gerry Ritz’s trade mission to Asia, Lyndsey Smith joins host Kelvin Heppner on this week’s news update: Subscribe: iTunes | Android… Read More

“Neonicotinoids,” “Colony Collapse Disorder,” “Varroa,” “Nosema”… Defining those colloquialisms (and others) was just one of the goals the Canola Council of Canada’s Gregory Sekulic had in mind when he presented “Buzzwords about Bees” at the Farming Smarter Conference in Medicine Hat. Sekulic wanted to clear the air on jargon that so often exacerbates misunderstanding “We really lose… Read More

From 2013 to 2014, Canada has seen increases in beekeepers, colonies, honey production and value, according to Statistics Canada data. This has the country in a very good position in the industry, says Lee Townsend. Townsend is a commercial beekeeper from Stony Plain, Alberta, and a speaker at the upcoming FarmTech Conference in Edmonton. His talk will… Read More

Pollinators, including honeybees, are essential to food production all over the world. It’s why farmers are always encouraged to chose insecticides that are as pest-specific as possible and to avoid applying them when pollinators are flying. Pollinators are not just good for bumping yields, they are necessary for some crops to even set seed. Recent… Read More

If you are aggravated by puns or organisms belonging to the family Apidae, a warning: this article may bug you. But honey, I’ll try not to drone, if you promise to bee open-minded. There has been a lot of media coverage on the recent and very controversial propesed two-year suspension of neonicotinoids in the European… Read More

 

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