Another exciting day of industry politics!
Actually the meeting I thought went quite well. I always enjoy numbers and thought I'd share some.
BC Producers make up for close to 40 000 colonies of honeybees.
almost 20 000 nucleus colonies were produced in 2011
almost 30 000 queens " " " "
bees in the province earned upward of $6 000 000 of pollination income.
One thing I have known to be true is the fact that BC could produce 5 times the amount of stock mentioned above and still sell it without much effort. The demand within our country is huge and I'd love to see our industry grow in this area. It has had the opportunity for this growth for the last 25 years and to date not much has happened. The Q was raised how do we change that knowing the last 25 years hasn't made much difference in our production figures. How do we grow in the next 25? I am not sure if the Q was really answered.
I think a lot of it falls into education. Beekeepers need to be given the management skills to increase their outfits and step up to the plate and work together to meet the demand for stock in our country. Maybe this is oversimplified. I have dealt with some large losses over the last 10 years and my heart aches for those going through dead hive after dead hive in the spring. The losses this past winter have been the lowest in several years. Could it possibly be that the beekeepers are doing a better job? Or will next year will we again lose 30%? I know dead bees don't make the beekeeper any money.
Tomorrow I have a presentation on 'Winter and Spring Management' at the education day. I will be following Geoff Wilson, Saskatchewan's Provincial Apiculturalist. It'll be fun. I always get very nervous speaking in front of that many people. I do actually very much enjoy it and tell myself that being nervous is par for the course!
Actually the meeting I thought went quite well. I always enjoy numbers and thought I'd share some.
BC Producers make up for close to 40 000 colonies of honeybees.
almost 20 000 nucleus colonies were produced in 2011
almost 30 000 queens " " " "
bees in the province earned upward of $6 000 000 of pollination income.
One thing I have known to be true is the fact that BC could produce 5 times the amount of stock mentioned above and still sell it without much effort. The demand within our country is huge and I'd love to see our industry grow in this area. It has had the opportunity for this growth for the last 25 years and to date not much has happened. The Q was raised how do we change that knowing the last 25 years hasn't made much difference in our production figures. How do we grow in the next 25? I am not sure if the Q was really answered.
I think a lot of it falls into education. Beekeepers need to be given the management skills to increase their outfits and step up to the plate and work together to meet the demand for stock in our country. Maybe this is oversimplified. I have dealt with some large losses over the last 10 years and my heart aches for those going through dead hive after dead hive in the spring. The losses this past winter have been the lowest in several years. Could it possibly be that the beekeepers are doing a better job? Or will next year will we again lose 30%? I know dead bees don't make the beekeeper any money.
Tomorrow I have a presentation on 'Winter and Spring Management' at the education day. I will be following Geoff Wilson, Saskatchewan's Provincial Apiculturalist. It'll be fun. I always get very nervous speaking in front of that many people. I do actually very much enjoy it and tell myself that being nervous is par for the course!
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