First, we would like to thank Mr. Miller for inviting us to come to this meeting today. We really appreciate your interest in what's going on with the bee industry.
Mr. Miller asked us to share our story of what has been happening with our bees this year.
The bees came through winter exceptionally well, with the lowest mortality rate in years. The spring was mild and with some supplements in the form of sugar syrup and pollen substitute, they were ready to explode by the end of April. We started getting ready for splitting hives in the first week of May. This is done by adding an extra brood chamber to hives so the queen can continue to lay eggs and there is more room for the extra bees.
From beekeepers to the south of us, including Bill and Davis, we had heard reports of large numbers of bees dying after corn had been planted, but up to the beginning of May, we had not seen any evidence of that in our operation.
So far, of the 37 samples that have been taken in the province, 28 have come back positive with the chemical called neonicotinoids, which is used on corn.
On May 14, when David and our son and another worker came to the first yard of the day, they were surprised at the amount of dead bees outside the hive. We immediately called the health inspector and provincial apiarists, neither of whom were immediately available. The health inspector did get back to us at lunchtime and informed us that he would be coming to inspect and take samples. From the time we noticed the first yard affected, David and I went to a number of different yards, but they did not seem to be hit, with the exception of one yard beside that first yard we checked. After a number of bee yards were inspected by the health inspector and samples were taken, he informed us that the samples would not likely be tested at that time. They have been tested now, but we haven't received the results.
The one yard that David and I inspected together, where we found quite a number of dead bees, was not inspected by the health inspector because he had to go home. He informed us that he would not be coming back to take samples unless an exceptionally large number of dead bees showed up again. He encouraged us to continue to take samples if we wanted, but he was not sure if they would actually be tested because of problems with security and custody.
We continued to see bees dying in our yards, and hives that had been strong getting weaker and weaker. More and more corn was being planted in the area. We noticed that there was increased skunk and racoon activity in the bee yards, indicating that bees were being eaten by skunks and racoons, making it impossible to get good-sized samples.
When our home yard had a hive affected so badly that in front of the hive there was a carpet of dead bees an inch and a half thick and three feet out from the hive, we were at our wit's end. We took pictures. We have a couple of pictures with us if anybody's interested. The hive where the dead bees were was so strong only a week prior to this event, but corn had been planted on Tuesday all around our organic farm, and by Thursday morning, the hives were on a downward spiral. Some hives in the home yard were so weak that there may only have been a handful of bees in the hive. Our son was trying to find a frame of fresh larvae to graft queens from, but out of about 40 hives, he was not able to find one hive with a decent amount of larvae. He then went to a yard not too far from us which so far had not been affected and found lots of dead bees there as well.
A rough estimate would indicate there may be over 600 acres of corn and several hundred acres of soybeans in a one-mile radius around our home yard. That's not even taking into account all the corn planted around the other 32 bee yards.
Different people suggested that we call our MP about this, but I really didn't think it would do any good. Then, with all this loss, I could wait no longer, so we called Mr. Miller's office. They informed us that he was not in, but he would get back to us in about two weeks. I said that I needed to speak to Mr. Miller then as my bees were dying. I was given the Ottawa office number and did get to speak to him that day.
Millions of our bees are dead and more bees are dying every day. I don't know how we're going to sustain this continuous loss of bees. If we don't get a decent crop of honey, we won't have honey to sell at the different markets we go to.
We are not the only beekeepers affected by this chemical used on corn and soybeans. There are many beekeepers with the same stories to tell.
The bee inspector for our area stopped by on Thursday—that's this past Thursday—and observed the hives in the home yard for about 20 minutes. He noticed that for the time of day and weather conditions there should have been a lot more activity. He said, you have a major problem here, meaning in this yard.
I can see it is a very painful way for the bees to die. They twist and kick with their tongues sticking out. In some cases, the venom can be seen coming from the stinger. They can no longer control their bodies, and appear to be in terrible pain and agony. Many queens are dying or being kicked out of the hive even before they are dead. Our daughter found a queen outside at the front entrance of a hive. When she picked it up, she held it in her hand. After a few minutes, the queen started kicking her legs, but could not move because she was paralyzed.
We need to have this chemical banned from the market if we want to continue to have bees and other pollinators to pollinate fruits and vegetables, and to continue to have local honey on our table.
Thank you.