Nearly 2M bees imported to Vancouver Island from New Zealand
Some 1.75 million bees from New Zealand are acclimatizing to Canada's climate on a farm in North Oyster, Vancouver Island.
The imported bees have been added to a range of domestic hives in the Cowichan Valley, bringing the total to number of bees in the region to 3.5 million.
A team of apiarists from Nanaimo and Saskatchewan are caring for the bees before they are taken to Saskatchewan to begin pollinating canola and other crops.
"With a lot of seasonal variation, that’ll probably be end of April early May-ish, when hopefully the rest of Western Canada is thawed out a little bit more," said apiary technician Ryan Oman as he stood among the buzzing bees that he's helping care for.
The warmer temperatures on the island are ideal, but the lack of blooming flowers requires the bees to be fed a sugar-water syrup and artificial pollen.
Oman said New Zealand is considered a safe place to import bees from as it only exports bees and does not import them.
The need to import bees is due to a continued die-off in Canada caused most likely by mites.
"Varroa destructor, it causes havoc on the hive," said Oman.
"It’s a tricky one to deal with too. We’re starting to see resistance to a lot of common place treatments. You have to be smart to deal with the mite."
Oman says importing will continue until Canadian beekeepers are able to produce enough bees to share with others in the business.
As challenging as keeping bees can be, Oman says it is rewarding.
"If you like working with your hands, if you like biology, if you like science, if you like nature, it’s cool that way," he said.
"Anyone who tells you they know everything about beekeeping, they’re lying to you, because there’s always something to learn," he added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.