Honey Bee Nutritional Requirements

Our Changing Landscape

What is Going on out there on the Prairies !?

• Brush up a bit on Bee Nutrition –Healthy Bees - Strictly from a Beekeepers Perspective

• Speak on our changing prairie landscape and its effect on bee nutrition – Healthy Environment

-Strictly from a Beekeeper/Farmer Perspective

• Initiatives working to address the loss of biodiversity

• What can we do as Beekeepers to address the issue

Feel Free to Comment or ask Questions!!

Healthy Bees

Why does it Matter?

HEALTHY BEES = MORE HONEY MORE HONEY = MORE MONEY

Bottom Line

Balanced Diet

Pollen is our bees Primary Source of Nutrients Protein, lipids (fats), vitamins, sterols, minerals, and micronutrients Every Pollen Source Provides different Nutritional Value

deGroot’s Ratio of Essential Amino Acid

deGroot’s Randy Oliver’s Amino Acid Ideal Ratio Adjusted Ratio Threonine 3 2 Valine 4 2.5 Methionine 1.5 1 Leucine 4.5 3 Iso-leucine 4 2 Phenylalanine 2.5 2 Lysine 3 2.5 Histidine 1.5 1 Arginine 3 2 Tryptophan 1 0.5

Pollen Analysis

Balanced AA Profiles Poplar, Willow, Apple Clover, Canola, Alfalfa Unbalanced AA Profiles Sunflower, Dandelion, Buckwheat, Blueberry

Diversity Is KEY

To a Balanced Diet

DANDELION

Poplar

Willow

Saskatoon

WILD PLUM

APPLE PEAR

Choke Cherry

Maple

Hawthorn ALFALFA

CLOVER CANOLA

ALFALFA GOLDEN

ROD

SUN FLOWER

THISTLE

Beekeepers need a Healthy

Environment

Why does it Matter?

HEALTHY ENV. = LOTS OF FLOWERS LOTS OF FLOWERS = HEALTHY BEES HEALTHY BEES = MORE HONEY MORE HONEY = MORE MONEY Bottom Line

Lloyd Harris

The Glitch Towards Achieving Proper Colony Buildup

Our Changing Agricultural Landscape

Agriculture Is Changing

RnD Invested into Agriculture Technology Available-efficiencies Bigger Better Farm Machinery Allow Farmers to Farm Better

It Has Changed the Landscape

GM Technology

RR Technology

GPS Precision Chemical Farming

More HP, Larger Equipment,

Ability to clear, flatten and Drain Land

A Landscape Completely Dedicated to Crops Our Honey bees Have been Forgotten

Poplar

Willow

WILD PLUM

Maple

DANDELION

Saskatoon APPLE

Choke Cherry

ALFALFA CLOVER CANOLA

ALFALFA

GOLDEN ROD

SUN FLOWER

THISTLE

Malnourished Animals =Sickly Animals

Parasite

Pesticide Exposure Beekeeper Applied Farmer Applied

Weather Winter

Viral Infections

Malnourishment =Sickly Bees Unable to cope with stress factors

Fungal Infections

We are Creating an Imbalance across our

landscape

Farmers are DOING OUR JOB

We are FEEDING THE WORLD

$$$

Society Has Driven That Direction

Cheap Abundant

High Quality Food

Dilemma…Farmer/Beekeeper

My bees need space and the diversity of flowering plants (weeds)

My bees need Nature to exist to sustain colony maint. and growth

My bees need reprieve from continuous chemical exposure

My bees need farmers to make money on flowering crops = more flowers

My farm needs to adopt the latest tech to glean efficiencies (RR Tech)

My farm needs to control all weeds, diseases and insect populations

My farm needs to manage noxious weeds around the edges

My farm needs to utilize the land, improve the soils (drainage) to increase revenues per acre (cost of land, cost of land taxes)

Dilemma…Farmer/Beekeeper

We need to work to find BALANCE

Beekeepers need to understand the need to farm

Farmers need to understand that nature must exist

What is being done?? to address

Monoculture and the loss of biodiversity

Manitoba Forage and Beef Initiatives

MFBI is a collaboration between Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) Pollinator Habitat Preservation and Rehabilitation Projects Syngenta Pollinator seed mix General Mills/Cheerios, Xerces Society and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Sponsoring projects to determine how to establish pollinator habitat within tame pasture SOD

ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services)

ALUS Canada’s mission is to enable Canadians to provide direct support to a national network of farmers and ranchers delivering ecosystem services in their communities, including clean air, clean water, carbon sequestration, erosion control, flood mitigation, pollinator support and wildlife habitat.

The flag ship of sustainable land development

ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services)

• ALUS is farmer-delivered

• ALUS is community-developed and Intergraded: • Collaboration of farmers, municipalities, conservation groups, farm associations and

government agencies (we are all stakeholders of our environment stewardship)

• ALUS is targeted: • -focuses on marginal and ecologically sensitive parcels of land

• Focus around the edges, not to interfere with farmers farming their land

• ALUS is market-driven: • Through ALUS Canada, citizens, corporations and philanthropists can invest directly in

Canadian environmental stewardship, one acre at a time

ALUS PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Prince Edward Island is the first province in Canada to have a provincially supported, province-wide ALUS program.

PEI’s Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) program was launched in 2008 and today has more than 415 clients.

PEI Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the PEI Department of Communities, Land and Environment

Industry Investment

• Bayer Bee Care North America • Internal testing of chemicals

• Monsanto Honey Bee Health • Varroa mite RNA Interference

• Syngenta Canada • Pollinator seed mixes

Farmer Profitability/beekeeper profitability

What am I Doing about it?

Feeding My Bees

Maintain colony growth throughout pollen dearth

Focus on 2 important times of colony growth and development

Focus on the 2 most important times of the year Spring -winter - summer Fall Summer-winter These two time of the year just so happens to be the most inconsistent times of the year in regards to conditions and forage availability

#1 Spring time growth

May 10 th Spring nests establish a 4-5 frame nest, Fresh pollen coming in, reserves, We are making a 2 lbs patty round, Bees are not taking the patty because the fresh pollen coming in….until Heather Mattila

May 18 2015 1 ½ week of cold wet windy weather sets in and those 4-5 frames of brood nest put the colony into instant protein stress Just about to make the split I cant have the nest fall backwards Hives devoured the 2 lbs on those hives within that week. The brood nest carried forward

May 18 2015 1 ½ week of cold wet windy weather 5-8 frames of brood, on the verge of staring our split round… 2 lbs of patty devoured within that week of confinement.

Feeding Protein Patties

Many MANY different Brands of protein patties available at BeeMaid Home made patties: 10 Brewers Yeast 10 Soy flour 5 dried egg 5 irradiated pollen 1/2 Cup of lemon Juice 1/2 Cup of canola oil 20 HFCS or mixed until desired consistency

Use the Supplement to complement naturally available pollen

#2 Development of the Winter Nest

My focus on fall supplemental feeding is to ensure my winter stock have adequate fat reserves to hold onto into spring

Thank You for your time! Questions? Comment?