Bee report raises questions and shows mitigation measures worked, says Health Canada spokesman

by SUSAN MANN

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency is unclear why there was an increase in poorly performing hives later in the growing season for both 2013 and 2014, a spokesman says.

New numbers for Ontario released this week, show an 80 per cent decrease in the number of unique bee yard incidents this year associated with neonicotinoid corn and soybean planting compared to 2013. This year’s number of unique bee yard incidents was 42 as of June 11, while in 2013 there were 259. In 2014 there were 67 while in 2012 there were 241. The 2014 number of reported unique bee yard incidents is 70 per cent lower than the 2013 number.

André Gagnon, Health Canada media relations officer, says by email unique bee yards are ones that have reported at least one incident.

Incidents are defined as bee deaths, the queen acting erratically or other unusual bee behaviours in the hive.

In 2014, the number of incidents after planting of 274 yards was much higher than the 67 reported during planting. That’s the reverse of what happened in both 2012 and 2013, when the numbers reported during planting were much higher than the after planting numbers. In 2012, there were 241 yards reporting incidents during planting and three after planting. In 2013, there were 259 yards during planting reporting incidents and 160 after planting. The after planting numbers for this year aren’t available yet as the post planting season hasn’t started.

“At this time it is unclear what factors may be responsible for these variations in reporting,” Gagnon says. “It may be that beekeepers have become more vigilant in reporting unusual symptoms observed in their colonies and more aware of the process of reporting these issues” to Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

As for the reduction in incidents this year compared to 2013, Gagnon says several factors contributed to that. “The mitigation measures (Health Canada) put in place in 2013 played a positive role in the reduction of incidents,” he says. Other contributing factors include a decreased number of beekeepers reporting and an overall improvement in bee health.

Health Canada “is closely monitoring bee incidents and will have more completed results in the fall,” he says. BF