Buzzing into winter

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Planet Bee honey farm is putting its bees to bed for the winter – all 12 million of them.

“They actually go semi-dormant and lower their cluster temperature down to about 45 degrees F (7.2 C),” says Ed Nowek, owner of the Vernon operation.

Nowek says it wasn't a great year with production down almost 20 percent. He blames that on the region's early spring.

“Everything was too early. We got caught, we couldn't catch up with the season,” he admits. “When the honey flow was normally starting in another year, this year it was already finishing.”

The below average crop was typical of what happened around the province and opposite to a great honey production year in 2014, Nowek says.

He doesn't appear to be too worried about another warm winter. “For bees, overwintering should be easier on them.”

As far as threats to his bees, Nowek says staff constantly monitor for the varroa mite, a pest that attaches itself to a bee and weakens it. The mites can destroy a bee colony.

“We had treatments that worked well but there was always a small percentage getting tougher and hardier and now it's those tough mites that are the dominant ones,” he explains.

“The treatments that we used to kill the mites may have had a prolonged effects on the bees too that may have weakened their immune systems and so now they've become a little more vulnerable to some of the viruses that have always been evident in the hives.”

Nowek has yet to see signs of a so-called `zombie' bee syndrome caused by another parasite or the small hive beetle that has been found in Abbottsford and southern Ontario.

“If they get established inside (the hive), they eat the honey, the brood and the pollen and turn it to slime,” he says.

“It's one of these things that I believe if you manage your hives properly, keep the area around your honey houses clean and organized, that you're not providing a breeding ground for these things."

"You can't get lazy, you can't just put your bees in the hive in the fall and then expect them to be full of honey and healthy if you're not watching for stuff like this.”

Part of getting his bees ready for winter means ensuring the bees have plenty of food reserves and that varroa mite levels are under control.

When asked about the long-term future of the yellow and black creatures that pollinate the Okanagan's fruit trees, Nowek admits he doesn't know.

“I don't think we've reversed the damage that's being done, just the way we're not taking good care of our planet,” he says. “The natural environment for bees is just being pushed back further and further with urbanization, the sprays and insecticides that people are using are not very bee-friendly a lot of times.”

“It's just a combinations of things that are making it tougher than ever for the bees to survive.”