The bee numbers for Manitoba are in, and results show that this year was up more than normal.
Provincial Apiarist of Manitoba, Rheal Lafreniere says they sent out a survey to the bee keepers in the province to see what the loss was.
"Approximately 50% of the bee keepers we mailed out the survey to replied. Our average loss this year is going to be 24.5%, which is kind of along the high side of normal."
The survey showed that the Parkland was the hardest hit says Lafreniere .
"Typically the response was poor varroa mite control and weak colonies in the fall was listed as the top two reported causes of morality."
But, co-owner of Durston Honey Farms here in Dauphin, Allan Campbell says, they aren't affected by the loss as much because they don't keep their bees here in the winter months.
"We had seen those kind of issues before, and since then we started moving all of our bees to the Okanagan Valley in BC to avoid winter loss."
Before they sent the bees out to BC, Campbell says they would see losses as high as 80%, but now they have only had a 5% winter loss.
Durston Honey Farm sends their bees out in October and then they come back in June.
By: Keanna Nelson
