Bulletins

Food Safety Funding for Manitoba Beekeepers Growing Forward Food Safety Program, For Farms has recently launch a program for beekeepers. Given that the Canadian Beekeeping Industry’s Safety Quality and Traceability Program (CBISQT) is soon expected to be recognized by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as the national, Canadian, on-farm food safety program for honey, the Growing Forward Food Safety Program, for Farms has approved an interim project that supports Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the area of Food Safety, Traceability and Biosecurity. While the CBISQT’s safety program is still in the approval process, eligible beekeepers can apply for up to $1,000 for equipment replacement. All Manitoba producers registered as active beekeepers with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) are eligible for this program. The only exceptions are MAFRI staff and immediate family member (e.g. spouse, husband and children) or relatives that are in partnership with a MAFRI staff person. Applicants to the Food Safety Program, for Farms are eligible for up to 90 per cent of the total cost of eligible equipment. Currently, the program is available for such things as replacing non-food grade honey processing equipment and for replacing brood combs. For example: • Up to $1,000 is available to buy new food-grade honey processing equipment (on a 90:10 cost-share basis, with the beekeeper paying 10 per cent). The new equipment must replace similar, old non-food grade equipment and the old equipment must be turned in, to a designated site. It must be obvious that the old equipment has been used recently – old, unused equipment is not eligible. • Up to $1,000 is available for exchange of up to 500 dark, undamaged brood combs. Frames with foundation for honey bees can be dropped off at the registered rendering site. A $2 rebate per comb is available for purchasing new wax or plastic foundation or new frames with foundation. How to apply for Food Safety Program, for Farms 1. Complete an application. Application forms for this program are available at your local GO Centre or online at the Manitoba Government Growing Forward website: http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/growingforward/ 2. Submit your application to your local GO Centre or mail it to the address on the back of the application form. A Food Safety Program, for Farms approval package, will be sent to you. It includes a checklist of tasks that must be completed before you can make a claim for funds. 3. Drop off the old equipment or the old brood combs to the designated drop off site. Note: You must contact MacGregor Wax Works at 204-685-3080 to make an appointment. Equipment must be clean and free of all honey and wax. Producers without an appointment for drop off may be turned away. 4. MacGregor Wax Works will provide a receipt for the brood combs. For equipment rebates, receipts will be sent to you, once the equipment has been verified as eligible by the program co-ordinator. 5. Once you have the receipts, you can submit them for payment at your local GO Centre, or send them to: Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives CVO/Food Safety Knowledge Centre Food Safety Program, for Farms 545 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5S6 Phone: 204-945-5435 E-mail: farmFDsfty@gov.mb.ca Program Timing Beekeepers’ interest/use of the current program will determine the length of time it is available (up to 2013). The Food Safety Program, for Farms’ goal is for all Manitoba farmers and producers to have approved, up-to-date food safety systems. Once the CBISQT program passes CFIA’s lead technical review, this current comb exchange and equipment rebate program will be replaced with the approved CBISQT program. At that time, up to $2,000 will be available to beekeepers enrolled in CBISQT for program implementation and an additional $5,000 may be available for future food safety equipment upgrades. For more details on these programs and your eligibility, contact: Dana Gardiner -- On-Farm Food Safety Specialist at 204-391-6616 in Winnipeg e-mail Dana.Gardiner@gov.mb.ca Peter Veldhuis -- Program Co-ordinator, Food Safety Program, for Farms at 204-945-5435 in Winnipeg e-mail Peter.Veldhuis@gov.mb.ca Rheal Lafreniere -- Business Development Specialist/Provincial Apiarist at 204-945-4825 in Winnipeg e-mail Rheal.Lafreniere@gov.mb.ca Click here for the Growing Forward Food Safety, for Farms - Beekeeper Factsheet Posted by Rheal, Tuesday, March 9, 2010

MBA Membership 2010 January 01 to December 31 of 2010 MEMBER – A resident Manitoba Honey Producer with 50 or more colonies, and who is a sole proprietor, or is the designated representative of a partnership, corporation or Hutterite colony. $200.00 BASIC FEE, PLUS $0.40/COLONY LEVY; MAXIMUM OF 1,000 COLONIES (i.e. max $400 levy) ASSOCIATE MEMBER – A Volunteer, non voting person, who can be a Manitoba beekeeper, an out-of-province beekeeper, or industry supporter $60.00 BASIC FEE; NO COLONY LEVY NOTE: ALL MEMBERS receive the MBA newsletter “The Manitoba Beekeeper”, whereas only MANITOBA RESIDENTS also receive the Canadian Honey Council’s newsletter “Hive Lights”. For more information on membership please contact Hilary Stewart, MBA Treasurer, , P.O. Box 192 Baldur, MB, R0K 0B0; 204-535-2167; manitobabeekeepers@mts.net Click here to download the 2010 membership form (22k file) Posted by Rheal, Monday, February 1, 2010

104th MBA CONVENTION 2010 MANITOBA BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION CONVENTION CANAD INNS BRANDON – KEYSTONE CENTRE (Salon A) BRANDON MANITOBA MARCH 5 & 6, 2010 Friday, March 5, 2010 8:00 a.m. Registration CHAIRPERSON – Murray Lewis 8:50 a.m. Opening Remarks – Murray Lewis, MBA Vice-President, Austin, MB 9:00 a.m. Canadian Honey Council: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Heather Clay, Canadian Honey Council, Calgary, AB 9:30 a.m. What’s New With the CFIA - Sam Barlin, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Winnipeg, MB 10:00 a.m. COFFEE 10:30 a.m. Successful Beekeeping or Beekeeping for Success – Doug McRory, Retired Ontario Provincial Apiarist, Guelph, ON 11:15 a.m. New Paradigms for Successful Beekeeping – Randy Oliver, ScientificBeekeeping.com, Grass Valley, CA, USA 12:00 noon LUNCH – MBA Q & A CHAIRPERSON – Chris Rempel 1:30 p.m. Foreign Worker Program: Federal & Provincial Changes – Donald Meilleur, Service Canada – Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB 2:15 p.m. National IPM Strategy – Dr. Medhat Nasr, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Edmonton, AB 3:00 p.m. COFFEE 3:30 p.m. On Farm Food Safety: C-BISQT Program for Beekeepers – Heather Clay, Canadian Honey Council, Calgary, AB 4:00 p.m. Beekeeping & Rabies – Dr. Wayne Clayton, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Veterinarian), Brandon, MB 4:45 p.m. Saskatraz Breeding Program – Dr. Albert Robertson, Meadow Ridge Enterprises, Saskatoon, SK 5:30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT 6:15 p.m. Banquet: Awards Ceremony, Research Auction and “Story Telling” with Randy Oliver – Cash Bar (open @ 5:30 pm) Saturday, March 6th, 2010 8:00 a.m. Registration CHAIRPERSON – Earl Dueck 9:00 a.m. Colony Development – Lloyd Harris, Agview International Inc, Regina, SK 9:30 a.m. Mite-Away Quick Strip and Thymol as Varroa Mite Treatment Options – Alison Van Alten, Tuckamore Bee Company, Guelph, ON 10:00 a.m. COFFEE 10:30 a.m. Queen Breeding and The logic of Nature - Randy Oliver, ScientificBeekeeping.com, Grass Valley, CA, USA 12:00 noon LUNCH CHAIRPERSON – Bill Lockhart 1:00 p.m. U of M Research Update - Dr. Robert Currie, Rasoul Bahreini and Jaclyn Deonarine, University of Manitoba Department of Entomology, Winnipeg, MB 2:30 p.m. Screening Trials for Varroa Mite Control – Dr. Medhat Nasr, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Edmonton, AB 3:15 p.m. COFFEE 3:30 p.m. Producer Panel: Making Nucs – Murray Lewis, Bill Lockhart, Allan Campbell, TBA 4:30 p.m. Taking Care of Beesness: The Canada Agriculture Museum's New Beekeeping Exhibit – Franz Klingender, Canada Agriculture Museum, Ottawa, ON 5:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Click here to download the 2010 MBA Convention Registration form (44k file) Click here to download the 2010 MBA Convention agenda (50k file) Click here to download the Convention Sponsor Package (59k file) Accommodations: Canad Inns Central Booking for reservations toll-free 1-888-332-2623 or 1-204-727-1422 Guest room rate for king leisure rooms (1 king sized bed) or queen deluxe rooms (2 queen sized beds) $109 plus taxes. Please refer to “Manitoba Beekeeper Convention" when making reservations Posted by Rheal, Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Resolutions - 2009 MBA Annual General Meeting Click to download the resolutions.pdf file (16KB) Posted by David Ostermann, Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Revised - 2009 Recommendations for Administering Antibiotics and Acaricides to Honey Bees Click here for a revised copy of the 2009 Recommendations for Administering Antibiotics and Acaricides to Honey Bees (106k file) Posted by David Ostermann, Thursday, August 13, 2009

Apiculture Symposium: Bee-Virus Interactions The Entomological Society Canada (ESC) meeting is the premier opportunity to invite researchers from across Canada and all over the world to present their research in the field of Entomology. This year the Entomological Society of Manitoba (ESM) hosted the 2009 ESC-ESM meeting at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba October 18-21, 2009. In addition to a variety of symposia topics, this year's meeting included an apiculture symposium on "Bee-Virus Interactions". With the financial assistance from Manitoba Conservation's Sustainable Development Initiative Fund (SDIF) and Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council's New and Emerging Issues Speaker Program (NEISP), we were able to pull together a phenomenal collection of speakers in the field of virus host interactions. In addition to Suresh Desai presentation on “Inhibition of deformed wing virus (DWV) replication in honey bees by RNA interference”, the symposium included the leading bee virologists from the Middle East, Europe and North America. For example, Dr. Ilan Sela, Professor Emeritus at the Virus Laboratory at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Rehovot, Israel was one of the principle authors in the discovery of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). Dr. Sela’s presentation “Association Of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) With Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV): RNAi Approach To Control IAPV And A Possible Role For Viral Integration” explored the association between IAPV and CCD and the recent breakthroughs in RNAi-silencing of IAPV infection by feeding bees with double-stranded RNA. Dr. Joachim Rodrigues de Miranda, research scientist with the Department of Entomology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden has over 15 published articles in referred journals and 10 addition citations in various books on virology. His presentation on “Current State Of Honey Bee Virus Research In Europe” looked the effects of different transmission routes on bee virus variability, virulence and evolution through Europe. He reported on the advances in sequencing new viruses, constructing synthetic full-length infectious virus DNA, developing in-vitro cultivation-purification of bee viruses, developing qualitative and quantitative virus assays, surveying for viruses, developing virological assays for genetic screening, investigating virus variability, determining virus transmission routes and rates, and constructing epidemiologically validated models for virus-induced colony collapse. Dr. Diana Cox-Foster, professor in the Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University in University Park Pennsylvania, USA. Dr. Cox-Foster is interested in the co-evolution of insects with their pathogens and parasites and the role the insect immune system plays in this interaction. Her interests in honey bee pathology involve investigating the interactions of a parasitic mite, RNA-viruses (picorna and discistronidae viruses), and other microbes. Dr. Cox-Foster and her colleagues have growing evidence that the parasitic mites are immunosuppressing the bees and causing activation of the viruses. Dr. Cox-Foster’s presentation on “Unraveling The Pathogens In Honey Bees Undergoing Colony Collapse Disorder” revealed new information on the transmission routes of the picorna-like viruses in bees, the persistence of these viruses in the bees, and the immune system of the honey bee. Her team is beginning to determine what proteins are present in the mite saliva, in order to determine how the mites are suppressing the immune reactions. Mr. Eyal Ben-Chanoch, CEO of Beeologics Inc in Miami, Florida is the co-founder of Beeologics Inc, which is looking to develop and market solutions to control infectious disease including viral disease in honey bees. Mr. Ben-Chanoch’s presentation on “RNAi At Work In Real Life Application: Targeting Invertebrate Pests And Beneficial Organisms’ Diseases” discussed a simple and relatively inexpensive procedure to produce large quantities of dsRNA homologous to control specific diseases. “Remebee” is the product they are currently developing to control IAPV infections in honey bees. The product works by mimicing the dsRNA involved in viral replication, thereby shutting down replication within the honeybee. In field trials, the gene silencing mechanism induced by Remebee that was fed to the bees was shown to be highly effective in preventing honey bee mortality from the Israel Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). Dr. Martin Erlandson, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Saskatoon Research Centre is interest in molecular markers for identification and detection of insect biological control agents and is currently studying the development of insect-specific viruses as microbial pesticides for control of insect pests of greenhouse and field crops. Dr. Erlandson’s presentation on “Viruses As Biological Control Agents For Insect Pest Control” explored the use of viruses as control agents against insect pests to reduce agricultural dependency on chemical insecticides. All in all, this was an excellent symposium and in addition to thanking the sponsors, I would also like to thank the Entomological Society of Canada and Manitoba (ESC-ESM). Although the ESC-ESM meeting is primarily an academic meeting, they fully embraced the idea of inviting beekeepers to attend the symposium and a greatly reduced registration fee (i.e. $35 vs $365 for the entire meeting). The goal of the symposium was to bring scientists and beekeepers together and hopefully start to work together toward “practical” solution to this problem. We may not have achieved all of our goals but I think it was a good start! Click here to download copies of all the presentations Special thanks to our sponsors: Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council & Sustainable Development Initiative Fund Posted by Rheal, Tuesday, June 16, 2009

THE RETAIL SALES TAX ACT - BEEKEEPERS This bulletin below outlines the Retail Sales Tax (RST) exemptions on farm implements, machinery and other items used “principally for farming” that are purchased by persons engaged in beekeeping. Sales Tax Bulletin - Beekeeper (PDF document) Posted by Rheal, Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Recent Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) News for Beekeepers Click to download WCB Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (33k file) Posted by David Ostermann, Thursday, November 20, 2008

Regis Application Form MBA 2009.rtf

Registration Instructions 2009.rtf

Designated Rep for MBA 2009.rtf