The vice president of the Quebec Beekeepers and Apiaries Association warned that the mortality rate of beehives in the province could reach 40% this year, recalling the importance of bees in food production.
Bees play an essential role in pollinating various crops in Quebec. “We are talking about blueberries and cranberries, among others, where 90% of their production depends on pollination by pollinators, most notably honeybees,” explained Maggie Lamothe Boudreau, vice-president of Apiculteurs et apicultrices of Quebec. In an interview with LCN.
For her, World Bee Day, which takes place on May 20 every year, is an opportunity to highlight all the major issues surrounding bees, “because without them, everything that is on our plate would not exist.” “.
High death rate in Quebec
According to MI Lamothe Boudreau, 2024 is the second year out of the last three “where we have the most losses” in Quebec.
“We estimate that we have about 35 to 40 per cent of bee hive deaths in Quebec this year,” she noted, explaining that in 2022, “50 per cent of beehives in the province will die.”
There are three main factors that explain the high mortality rate in beehives: Varroa, a parasite that attacks bees, climate change which has an effect on the length of the seasons and allows for increased Varroa reproduction, and finally pesticides that affect the immune system and liver of the bees. Bees.
Maggie Lamotte Boudreau confirmed that all regions of Quebec are affected by the high death rate due to beehives.
The latter also reminds us of the importance of not mowing the grass and leaving dandelions there.
“The dandelion is a spokesperson for Quebec's biodiversity.”
