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Day of the Honeybee

Celebrate the bee and support agri-tourism in the Okotoks area in recognition of the Day of the Honey Bee on May 29th, 2012!

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 has been proclaimed by Okotoks Town Council as the DAY OF THE HONEY BEE.

Over the next month celebrate the Day of the Honey Bee by visiting Chinook Honey Company and Kayben Farms to see the Bee's place of importance in the food we eat.

Chinook Honey Company
Okotoks is fortunate to have an exceptional apiary right on our doorstep at Chinook Honey Company, 5 minutes West of Okotoks in the Municipal District of Foothills. Chinook Honey Company would like to welcome you to celebrate ‘The Day of the Honeybee' at their apiary. Come and learn about all the wonderful things honey bees do that benefit mankind. Saturday tours 11 am & 1 pm, Sunday tours 1 pm. RSVP http://www.chinookhoney.com/

Kayben Farms
Kayben Farms is a vibrant member of the local agri-tourism and local food scene. The farm grows black currants and strawberries for U-pick and creates a variety of condiments, jellies and jams with their farm grown produce. At JoJo's Café everything the chefs serve up is fresh and made from scratch. Kayben's Sunshine Adventure Park is a 12-acre wonderland of outdoor fun and adventure for the whole family. http://www.kayben.com/

Did you know?

Bees perform at least two essential services in Alberta; making honey and pollinating plants (crops). Alberta is home to a least 700 beekeepers and 250,000 hives, which accounts for about 40% of Canada's bee population. In 2006, the economic value of the province's honey production was $46 million, or about 40% of the total of Canada's honey production. Bees also enable the production of 30,000 acres of hybrid canola seed in a region connecting Brooks, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. The direct and indirect annual economic impact of hybrid varieties of canola in Canada is $13.8 billion, most of this seed coming from southern Alberta. (Information from the Canola Council of Canada).

A U.S. study estimated the annual economic value of pollination at $15 billion which in Canada's equates to $1 billion to $1.5 billion, with an Albertan share is at least $300 million to $400 million.

Tough Times for Alberta Bees

Bees have been fighting the following factors over the past several years: Severe winters Severe attacks of the varroa mite parasite Conventional chemical controls (known as miticides) have lost much of their effectiveness over the years. Attacks of a fungal parasitic disease known as nosema. The impact of winter kill of honey bee colonies has been devastating. In Alberta; 30% of bees died during the winter of 2007 to 2008 Another 15% survived but were in no shape to work, which resulted in some 45% of Alberta's bees dead or debilitated in 2008. Alberta beekeepers once again found high winterkill losses in wintered bee colonies in the Spring of 2009 Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Survey results showed that 28% of Alberta bees were killed in the 2008/2009 winter Of the surviving colonies, 13% were weak Throughout the entire province, 54% of the beekeepers reported losing one-third or more of their productive colonies in 2009 due to winter kill and weak colonies.

Additional Information and Sites:

http://www.saskatoonfarm.com

http://www.honeycouncil.ca/index.php

http://www.albertabeekeepers.org/

http://slowfoodcalgary.ca/directory/