1 AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
WHEREAS some producers may not be aware of differences in Canada and USA registration legalities for uses of pesticides, and
WHEREAS producers could mistakenly believe a pesticide sold in the USA is available for use in Canada, and
WHEREAS producers may be unaware of the significance of personal and/or industry consequences associated with inappropriately importing products into Canada that do not have a registration for the intend use,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that MBA conduct an awareness campaign warning honey producers about consequences of acquiring and using products unapproved in Canada.
1a. Assigned to Newsletter Committee Jan 8, 2013.
1b Health Canada to prepare article for June Newsletter per request April 2013
1b. Health Canada requested to prepare article for March issue of Manitoba Beekeeper.
1c. Health Canada preparing article for July 2013 issue of Manitoba Beekeeper
2 TREATMENT RESPONSES
WHEREAS the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has recently provided Conditional Registration of Apivar as of July 2012, and
WHEREAS Manitoba Producers appreciate having the treatment option that Apivar provides in our climate,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that MBA send a letter of appreciation to PMRA for their responding to the needs of the beekeeping industry.
2a. Assigned to Executive Committee 8 Jan 2013 to prepare letter.
3 DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVES
WHEREAS the amount of producers eligible for the MBA board is not changing significantly and,
WHEREAS there are producers who have not finalized their registration requirements,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that MBA consider a more aggressive encouragement approach to increase the number of designated representatives.
3a. Assigned to Fee/Levy Committee 8 Jan 2013.
3b. Mail and E-Mail Designated Rep application forms to all Registered Non Voting members on 3 May 2013
3c. Treasurer awaiting responses. Two responses received by 15 May 2013.
4. APPRECIATION
WHEREAS: Beekeepers appreciate the inspection program and its assessment of both hobby and commercial operations, and
WHEREAS: Apiarist Staff have been diligent with small hive beetle inspections of imported Hawaiian Queen Bees and recent suspect apiary sites, and
WHEREAS: Apiarist Staff support the beekeeping industry through organizing and conducting education and research symposiums,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that MBA inform the Manitoba Ag Minister of our appreciation for the work Rhéal and David do for our industry.
4a. Assigned to Executive Committee 8 Jan 2013 to prepare letter.
4b Appreciation for staff voiced to Min Kostychyn at meeting 14 May 2013.
5. SMALL HIVE BEETLE
WHEREAS adult Small Hive Beetles (SHB) were discovered during September in a South Central area of Manitoba, and
WHEREAS Apiarist Staff established a quarantine zone for the apiaries in the area, and
WHEREAS Zones such as quarantine, transition, and beetle-free could be created for shb mitigation, and
WHEREAS the timing of the beetle arrival from USA likely will occur after the current disease inspection program is completed
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that MBA work with Apiarist Staff and the Minister of Agriculture to establishing Small Hive Beetle mitigating protocols and staffing options to extend inspection services to coincide with potential small hive beetle arrivals from the USA.
5a. Assigned to Pest & Pest Management Committee 8 Jan 2013.
5b. Various e-mails issued to obtain views from Western Provinces on interprovincial movement of bees April 2013
5c. Spring 2013 Inspection done on two site where SHB first found, and confirmed no live SHB .
6. BARREL FEEDING
WHEREAS it has been shown that open barrel feeding of colonies is an ineffective way to administer controlled doses of antibiotic and other medications, and
WHEREAS open barrel feeding may result in unintended consequences to neighboring beekeepers, such as unregulated uptake of medication and syrup into hive boxes still to be extracted, resulting in potential honey contamination, and
WHEREAS barrel feeding is prohibited in some jurisdictions, because it is thought that it may promote disease transmission,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that MBA seek to discourage barrel feeding of medications in areas where neighbouring beekeepers’ colonies may be present.
6a. Assigned to Newsletter Committee 8 Jan 2013.
7.APPLICATOR QUESTIONS
WHEREAS the beekeeping industry continues to be harmed by accidental and irresponsible insecticide application, and
WHEREAS the applicators are the persons entrusted with applying these chemicals in a safe and responsible way, and
WHEREAS the Provincial Government requires applicators to answer a list of questions every time they spray, as per section 6, subsection 4 in the “Pesticide and Fertilizers License Regulation 216/87R”, of the “Pesticide and Fertilizer Control Act”.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED MBA lobby the Manitoba Minister of Agriculture, as well as the Canadian Honey Council Pesticide Committee, to include the statement, “are there beehives within 1 mile of the application area, and if so, what did you do to prevent accidental spray damage to those hives,” to the list of Regulation questions.
7a. Assigned to Executive Committee 8 Jan 2013.
8. APIARY SITE LIST
WHEREAS beekeepers need to take responsibility in the process of protecting Honey Bees when pesticide application is being done, and
WHEREAS the pesticide applicators need an easily accessible resource to be able to check for beehives in the area of application,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED MBA keep a voluntary up to date electronic map of hive locations with beekeeper contact information, which the applicators can access to prevent bee loss.
8a. Assigned to Executive Committee 8 Jan 2013.
8b. Request sent to webmaster seeking options for current MBA web site 9 Jan 2013.
8c. Al Campbell investigating Geographic Information System map viewing software used by surveyor company.
8d. Al Campbell in discussions with Mike Alaire, Manitoba Aerial Applicators about a new app in Australia Nov 2014, and Geoff Wilson, Sask talked at MBA COnvention Feb 2015 about Drift Watch system introduced in SK in 2014.
8e) Members of MBA attended MB Applicators AGM on 15 April 2015 to learn about the BeeConnected app and the progress CropLife is making at securing rights to use this communication tool for use in Canada. This app seems to fit the needs of Applicators, Beekeepers and crop owners.
8f) CropLife Canada issues announcement that Australian developed app, BeeConnected, is available in Canada, and they are working in concert with Canadian Honey Council to begin promoting beekeepers/aerial applicators use of this new communication tool. MBA distributed the e-mail information to members on 14 May 2015 thus completing action on this resolution.
(page last updated 14 May 2015)