Beekeeper details challenges of honey production in Manitoba

The wet spring and warm summer could mean a tougher yield for honey producers in Manitoba.

Michael Clark, a beekeeper in southwest Manitoba said the spring and summer have been challenging for him.

"With the cooler, wet temperatures, they affect crop production, and then whatever affects crop production also affects honey production through bees," Clark said during an interview with CTV Morning Live.

"The hot weather also affects honey production, because it causes the bees to have to create their own air conditioning inside the hive. So where you have bees normally be foraging for nectar, they're collecting water and then they're dehydrating and fanning that water on their wing to keep the temperature cooler."

Clark added the southern parts of the province have been dealing with heat, while northern producers have dealt with more rain, and a lot of crops didn't get seeded.

"Most of the honey production is in the in the canola crops," he said. "When the canola stops yielding, then the honey flow stops."

In addition to the weather, Clark said bears have also become a problem for honey producers, saying they're destroying hives to access honey.

"We're not there every single day. So sometimes, we try to get there about every 10 days, but if the bear was there the day after you were there, he has about 10 days that he can just decimate the yard," he said.

Clark said it's too soon to tell what impact the issues will have on the honey yield, but in talking with other beekeepers around Manitoba, he feels it won't be a good crop this year.

"We're definitely going to have a depressed crop," he said.