BCHPA E-News - September 2025

Author

BC Honey Producers' Association
September 01, 2025

Welcome to our E-News, a mostly-monthly newsletter from BC Honey Producers’ Association. You are receiving this email from our subscription list. This letter is created and compiled for the purpose of communication, entertainment and general interest and it is not an endorsement or reflects the opinion of our association. Submissions are welcome at [email protected] but we reserve the right of content selection. You can also view and share E-News at BCHPA E-News.

New Speakers Added!
Maggie Lamothe Boudreau - Rayons de Miel, Quebec
Dr. Jeff Pettis - Apimondia President,
See the full faculty

It’s that time of year again when wrap up our season, wrap up our hives and get together for our year-end wrap-up! The BCHPA AGM is an opportunity to celebrate our successes, learn from our mistakes, and plan to do it all over again. Our conference team has recruited a world-class faculty and planned an event that will inspire you to be a better beekeeper, give you time connect with friends and colleagues, and celebrate the best of beekeeping from across our great country and beyond. We’ve tried our best to make the event affordable and rewarding and worth the investment. Register today and take advantage of the Early Bird pricing. See you in Salmon Arm!

Early Bird Pricing in September

Photo of the Month

Photo by Tracey Kalkat in Osoyoos, BC

To submit a photo of the month, please email your submission to [email protected]

Bee Research Updates

Engineered yeast provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees

We first measured the quantity and proportion of sterols present in honeybee tissues. Using this information, we genetically engineered a strain of the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to produce a mixture of essential sterols for bees and incorporated this yeast strain into an otherwise nutritionally complete diet. Colonies exclusively fed with this diet reared brood for significantly longer than those fed diets without suitable sterols.

www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09431-y?fbclid=IwY2xjawMbRVVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFlSXFzWmxQaUlkVXdsenB0AR4TdZDZ4XkUZFuwq7BwD1uh5MAP-6xwL_UA73TaZDLkaqrWz8N5wjVVtrYxjQ_aem_COkW4FEcnEti_P3skPA9Mg

Bees, flowers and UV

Human-invisible but bee-visible UV patterns in flowers aid pollination by signalling to pollinators and protecting vulnerable DNA in pollen.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/plb.70050?af=R&fbclid=IwY2xjawMbRp1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFlSXFzWmxQaUlkVXdsenB0AR74AePoZw_hUDyRL7AJOGO8Mes7xZSWHirOLaTGLREo_EJO2PPrdImbyX-HyQ_aem_4d62E9bUA6xM6r3GiPV1jg

Larval antibiotic exposure causes persistent impacts on honeybees across life stages via metabolic succession

Gut microbiomes are profoundly important to host health. In apiculture, antibiotics frequently used to exclude bacterial pathogens can be detrimental …

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389425025476

No effects of human-grade probiotics on Apis mellifera health metrics

We found that probiotics did not statistically increase individual honey bee health and performance as measured by body lipid level, tibial length, and weight of bees, nor colony performance as measured by monthly assessments of brood area, colony weight, and Varroa destructor levels.

academic.oup.com/jee/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jee/toaf210/8238819?login=false

Bees in the News

Canada and Ontario investing more than $1.7 million to support honey beekeeping operations

Investment will help hundreds of beekeepers improve their honey bee colonies and boost competitiveness in the face of U.S. tariffs.

www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2025/08/canada-and-ontario-investing-more-than-17-million-to-support-honey-beekeeping-operations.html

From the BC TTP

Online learning for beekeepers by beekeepers
Learn from experts at your own pace

INTRODUCTORY OFFER EXPENDED TO SEPTEMBER 31
Save 20% with Coupon Code INTRO20

Just for Fun

Classified Ads

Just a reminder that we have a CLASSIFIED AD section on both our website and in our quarterly magazine, BeesCene. You can purchase an ad that runs for 3 months for only $22.00. Contact Heather at [email protected]

Submissions Welcome!

If you come across a piece of current research or mention of honeybees in the news, please forward it to us at [email protected] for inclusion in this monthly newsletter.