The Alberta Beekeepers Commission represent 170 commercial beekeepers located throughout the province who manage 300,000 colonies of bees.

Alberta’s beekeeping industry is the largest beekeeping industry in Canada as well as the largest producer of honey in Canada. The combined economic contribution to Alberta’s economy from bees and honey totals $67M. In addition, both contracted and incidental pollination of field crops, forage and small fruits by honey bees contributes an additional $2B to Alberta’s economy.

Beekeeping has changed significantly in Alberta over the past 15 years. Keeping honey bee colonies healthy and alive has become increasingly difficult due to a complex array of stress factors.

There are numerous treatment methods or practices currently used which are failing to curb bacterial diseases, viruses, manage parasites and pests.

There is pressure on the beekeeping industry to find alternative treatments to currently approved antibiotics, parasite and pesticide treatments and other microbials. The drivers behind this include developing antibiotic resistance in some diseases, concern for the health and safety of beekeepers when they apply the treatment, residual chemicals remaining in the honey as well as environmental impacts.

In Alberta and most of North American the primary hive used to house colonies of bees is the Langstroth hive.

Due to the significant cost of replacing hives, and the need to keep operational costs down, beekeepers will often use hives and frames over multiple seasons. This practice creates a very great risk and likelihood of transmitting disease from one generation of bees to the next. Irradiation of older equipment is a potential solution to prevent the spread of disease.

Used beekeeping equipment can carry harmful microorganisms to new bee colonies. The use of irradiation is becoming an attractive option to prevent the spread of disease as well as reduce the need to antibiotics, antimicrobials and other treatments. Irradiation has also been shown to be a solution for killing/preventing those diseases for which there is no known antimicrobial or other treatment.

Irradiation provides additional benefits to the beekeeper through reducing their exposure to chemicals, antibiotics and other microbials, to the environment by reducing the needs for the same chemicals and other treatments out in bee yards, and finally ensures there no risk of chemical/microbial contamination of honey.

In addition to reducing the spread of disease, irradiation improves overall colony health, improved productivity, savings on antibiotic and other treatment costs as well as comb and equipment replacement costs.

Widespread, routine use of irradiation has the potential to increase health of the industry as a whole.

There are irradiation facilities in Canada, however none in Alberta that are available to beekeepers for sterilizing beekeeping equipment. The facility located in Port Coquitlam; Iotron Industries is the place where beekeepers who can afford to ship their equipment for sterilization.

The cost of shipping in semi loads to Iotron is prohibitive. Combined with the increasing pressure to find alternative methods to improve hive health, reduce operating costs, reduce environmental impacts, safety of beekeepers and to ensure high quality safe honey, the Alberta Beekeepers Commission is interested in conducting a feasibility study & business case to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of establishing an irradiation facility in the province of Alberta