The winter of 2017-2018 at times wasn't fit for man nor beast.  Nor, apparently, was it fit for insects.

Beekeepers in Alberta are reporting losses of between 30 and 50 percent of their hives mostly due to the cold, harsh winter.

Kim McLean is a hobby beekeeper and has Yankee Valley Honey in Airdrie.  He says his losses were small in comparison to commercial producers but devastating to his colonies nonetheless.

"Commercial beekeepers have lost 40 to 50 percent of their hives, and I experienced the same thing.  I'm a hobby beekeeper and I started the fall with 12 beehives and I lost five of them.  The bees just couldn't make it with it being such a long winter with not as many chinooks as normal."

McLean explains the population of bees naturally dwindles over the winter and when they lose the critical mass needed to keep the hives warm the rest of the bees will perish.   He says part of the problem is the bathroom habits of bees.

"Bees don't defecate inside their hives.  They keep it hygienic.  What bees do on warm days in the wintertime, they'll actually go out and fly.  Its called a cleansing flight and they'll go and take care of their body functions.  Bees don't sleep.  They actual shudder, sort of shiver and they generate heat by vibrating inside the hive.  Beekeepers call that a cluster.   They'll keep that movement inside the hive, that vibration, to generate heat and on warm days, when it's not windy and it's warm, they'll go and fly and cleanse themselves and fly back to the hives.  If they can't do that they'll start to get sick inside the hive because their bodies can't handle not being able to cleanse themselves."

McLean can't say if the decrease in bee numbers will lead to an increase in the price of honey.  He says the hives can come back by a process called "splitting" the hives.

"Beekeepers are building up their colonies right now and introducing queens, we call that a split.  We'll take a strong colony coming out of winter, we'll introduce a new queen to them and that colony will build up.  Commercial beekeepers are probably very busy right now replacing lost hives, and then it's up to nature.  We'll have to see what happens with the crops and the weather this spring and summer to see how successful we are.  I would imagine it's been quite costly to some of those larger operators losing 40 to 50 percent of their hives just because of the long winter."  

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