Urban beekeeping is a growing trend and there are many successful backyard beekeepers in Prince George.
To find out more about beekeeping and how important pollinators are to sustaining the planet, the B.C. Honey Producers Association is hosting its 2019 conference and trade show Saturday and Sunday in Prince George at the Coast Inn of the North.
"We're all on the same mission and that is to improve the bee colonies in the province to produce good pollinators, to make sure they're healthy and to educate beekeepers in good beekeeping methods," Dave DeLeenheer, a member of Prince George beekeepers club, said. "During the conference, we are bringing in nine speakers from Canada and the United States, people who are top in their field, including scientists, researchers, and beekeepers who have large apiaries and they will be speaking at different times and on Sunday there will be workshops - breakout sessions where people can gather in smaller groups."
All over the world, bee populations are declining. Causes include pesticide overuse, loss of habitat, disease and climate change. Bees need humans to help recover and throughout the conference there will be workshops and speakers who will share important information with those in attendance.
Karen Pedersen, who is part of a five-generation Saskatchewan apiary, will share information about how to overwinter bees. This information applies to hobbyists as well as commercial operators.
Sara Red-Laird's talk is called Adventures in Dirt and Honey. She is the founder of the Bee Girl organization and she'll talk about her work to inspire ways for communities to conserve bees and proliferate flower cultivation.
Ian Steppler will offer a look at a single box commercial operation. Steppler comes from a 35,000-acre third-generation farm in Manitoba and has built up decades of experience with his hives. He is willing to share both his successes and failures with beekeepers.
Kristen Traynor will speak about the effect of fungicides on queen fertility. Traynor is both a writer and researcher, and former editor of the American Bee Journal and Bee World. She studies how pesticides affect honey bees. She has written the book Two Million Blossoms: Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey.
Stephen Pernal will speak about apimondia and beekeeping research in Canada. Pernal is a research scientist who studies how bees resist disease in Alberta and leads Canada's federal agricultural research program. He knows about how to detect and control bee diseases.
Kathleen Suddes will talk about beekeeping on the Sunshine Coast. Suddes will offer insight on commercial beekeeping while talking about making mead and how she is helping grow the industry of mead production in B.C.
Medhat Nasr will talk about what's hot and what's not after 50+ years of beekeeping. Nasr is the former provincial agriculturist for Alberta. His expertise includes bee breeding, nutrition and management of bee diseases and pests.
Amina Harris will offer insight into tasting and evaluating honey while matching flowers to flavours. Harris is a professor at the University of California at Davis who teaches courses about characteristics of honey and mead. Her specialty is discerning descriptive flavours in honey.
The public is welcome to attend the conference and can register at bchpaconference.ca.
