Beekeepers in Quebec are worried about significant deaths of bees in their hives after a winter with chaotic weather and fear the strong return of varroa, a destructive parasite.
“We have noted an increase of 5% to 10% in mortalities in our hives in Quebec compared to a normal year,” mentions Noémie Turcotte, marketing manager at Alvéole, an organization which brings together beekeepers in 60 cities in South America. North and Europe. In Quebec, the organization has 500 hives in 300 locations, including around a hundred schools.
Raphael Vacher, president of Apiculteurs et Apicultrices du Québec, in his operation in Alma, in Lac-Saint-Jean.
Raphaël Farm
“Several beekeepers in Quebec are reporting significant mortalities, but it is still too early to say that the honey season will be affected,” says Raphaël Vacher, president of Apiculteurs et apicultrices du Québec, which brings together 150 honey producers.
2022, catastrophic year
We will have to wait until April before we have a clear picture of the situation. The year 2022 was particularly catastrophic when 50% of the hives in Quebec were decimated. In 2023, the massacre was avoided with 18% losses.
On social networks, many Quebecers are lamenting the loss of their bee colonies: a beekeeper from La Malbaie had the unpleasant surprise of discovering thousands of corpses this spring in his hives. None of his 16 colonies survived the winter, he wrote on the Facebook page of Apiculture amateur au Québec.
Same observation for a beekeeper from Quebec who lost her 12 hives. In L’Ascension, in the Laurentians, only 7 of another beekeeper’s 52 colonies made it through the winter.
Beekeepers at work in the summer of 2023 in Outaouais.
M.R.S.
A destructive parasite
For Mr. Vacher, the mild spells that we have observed in Quebec in recent months have not directly affected the bees “which have a lot of resilience in the face of temperature variations.” But the heat creates ideal conditions for the bee’s sworn enemy, capable of decimating a colony in a few weeks: the varroa destructor. No region of Quebec escapes this mite of Asian origin observed since the 1990s.
“There seem to be waves of contamination. We thought it had been in decline since 2010, but has regained strength,” mentions Mr. Vacher.
The vigor of varroa is one of the challenges of global warming, confirms Mme Turcotte. “By promoting its growth, the milder temperature causes the varroa to wreak more havoc,” she says.
The varroa destructor parasite can contaminate a hive at the end of winter and cause its destruction.
M.R.S.
Worse to come?
Raphaël Vacher has not systematically toured his 2,500 hives in Alma, in Lac-Saint-Jean, but he hopes that his success rate will be good. “When I went to look, there was movement,” he summarizes. Bees do not sleep in winter, but limit their activities and group together to conserve heat.
We are also monitoring the situation at Polliflora, a Montreal organization that promotes beekeeping as a means of protecting biodiversity. “We are monitoring the situation closely, because even if the hives are active they may not survive the next few weeks,” explains beekeeper Cyprien Grandchamp, responsible for partnerships.