'The bees are starving': Sask. honey producers struggling due to hot, dry conditions

REGINA -

Saskatchewan honey producers are seeing lower yields this year due to the hot, dry weather.

Andrew Hamilton bee keeps just north of Regina and said his honey production usually runs from July to the end of August, but right now it looks like there won’t be any more honey by the end of the month.

“There’s just no rain so there’s no flowers and the bees are starting to starve,” Hamilton said. “Normally we feed [the bees] sugar water in the fall just so they can get over the winter, have enough food for the winter, and I normally don’t get a load of that delivered until September and it’s arriving [Wednesday].”

He has a few hives in farmer fields in the area and one on his own property that he weighs every day.He is seeing the bee production dwindle.

“In the last three days they’ve only brought in [one] pound [of honey] and normally it’s about five pounds per day,” Hamilton said.

The hot summer weather has also severely affected crops in Saskatchewan. Geoff Wilson, a provincial specialist in apiculture, said the poor crop conditions can have a ripple effect on bees.

“When the crops suffer, the things that rely on the crops suffer as well. So if the canola isn’t healthy, the things that eat the nectar from the plants, they don’t get as much nutrition as well,” Geoff Wilson, provincial specialist in apiculture, said.

While crop producers are starting to look for more dry weather as they start to harvest, Hamilton said honey producers are hoping for steady rain.

“If we get some rain, there might be some flowers that come back,” he said.

Hamilton added that the smaller yields could result in higher prices on the shelves for consumers, due to a lack of supply.

DARKER HONEY

If the conditions remain dry, consumers could notice a difference in the colour of the honey on store shelves.

Wilson said in Saskatchewan, producers typically pull a light golden coloured honey, but dry crops and flowers can change that colour.

“When it’s so dry, sometimes the nectar is really dry so the plants aren’t producing as quite as much but it’s actually thicker,” Wilson said.

Hamilton said right now he is pulling darker coloured honey with a stronger taste. He added that it may shock consumers, but the honey is still perfectly fine to eat.