Agriculture committee  What Ms. Lamothe Boudreau is proposing is really important. The spring is precisely when we need a lot of queens, but we have trouble getting them.

Agriculture committee  I recommend that a beekeeping support program be put in place in Canada.

Agriculture committee  I understand you very well. I said at the outset that we did not oppose importing, but we had to be cautious about Africanized genes. Assume that genes like this invade Canada or Quebec and drones from those hives arrive in the summer. I agree that they won't make it through the winter.

Agriculture committee  I am neither for nor against this approach. However, I think the PMRA has to do research. I gave you the example of queens coming from California. This year, we won't be able to get any because the Africanized gene is present at one of the companies, Pope Canyon Queens, in California.

Agriculture committee  For us in Quebec, pollination is not really a problem, particularly for blueberry fields. The log allows 14 hours: 12 hours' driving and two hours for meal breaks. Apart from a few exceptions, there is no problem in Quebec when it comes to the distances to be travelled for transporting bees.

Agriculture committee  Certainly there are already programs in Quebec for winter losses or crop insurance, but the federal government's share is really not huge, and I fundamentally believe that the federal government has to provide support for crop insurance and winter losses, because those losses are huge.

Agriculture committee  You are entirely right when you say the square centimetres have to be put to good use. That is obvious. However, it seems that 95 per cent of pesticides used in agriculture are not necessary. The problem is that the agronomists who sign the permits for spreading pesticides sign those permits because they have been hired in the past by the companies that produce pesticides.

Agriculture committee  No one at the Canada Food Inspection Agency is really working for beekeeping. For several years, we have been asking that certain acaricides be approved so we can get to grips with varroa. It is very complicated. If we talk just about formic acid, we can use it only two ways. There would be others, but it isn't regulated, so we can't do it.

Agriculture committee  We have to get approval for different products, so we don't get resistance, so we can have a number of products in order to achieve self-sufficiency.

Agriculture committee  Obviously, support programs need to be put in place. Regarding the support programs for farmers offered by Financière agricole du Québec, let's say they aren't bad. However, the programs offered by the federal government are not really suited. We really do need help. The young people who are taking over have to be able to finance their business.

Agriculture committee  That's exactly right. The federal beekeeping succession programs really do need to be adapted.

Agriculture committee  We also very much need a tech transfer team. What we have in Quebec is meant for small beekeepers for whom it is a hobby. We were talking about that just now with the people from British Columbia. In Quebec, we have nothing for professionals, and it really is hard for them.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for having us here today. My name is Jean-François Doyon and I represent the Groupe DJF. I have been involved in beekeeping for over 45 years, with my wife. We have two sons who are of the age to take over, but they are very worried about the bee losses suffered in the last several years.