BC Tech Transfer Program

05/29/2026

And that’s a wrap on Spring Field Days! Our last workshop this spring, hosted at in Ladner, was a big success. Thanks to Urban Bee Supplies for hosting us, to Julia Common and Dan Mawson for their talks on spring management and hive splits, and to Fahim for his overview of integrated pest management strategies.

Lastly, thanks to all that attended our workshops this spring! We hope you found it valuable, that you connected with your beekeeping community, and that you feel more prepared to enter into the next part of your season.

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05/28/2026

We’ve been busy doing hygienic sampling this month! A huge thanks to Brad Ingram in Kelowna (slide 3) and Diana & Bruce Grimshire in Merritt (slide 4) for hosting us at their bee yards the past few weeks — our research relies on these valuable collaborations between beekeepers across the province.

And a big shoutout to Keith Rae (slide 5), President of the North Okanagan Beekeepers club, for helping us out on one of our days in Kelowna!

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05/26/2026

05/20/2026

Happy Day of the Honey Bee to all our BC beekeepers and Happy World Bee Day to those outside of BC!

To celebrate this day, we are offering 20% off ALL our online courses until May 31, 2026! Visit ttp-bchpa.ca/our-courses or click the link in our bio to explore our courses.

Take a moment today to appreciate honey bees and their vital contribution to our food systems and our local and global economy 🐝🌷💛

05/19/2026

Meet the BC-TTP’s 2026 Research Intern, Sumedha Sharma! We are so excited to have her on our team and are looking forward to helping her build her skills in the areas of fieldwork and research and contributing to her growing knowledge of bee biology and pollinator ecology.

Swipe through to learn more about Sumedha ☀️

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05/14/2026

For many of us, swarming season has already arrived! Read our article to learn what they are, why they happen, and how to control or prevent them.

Click the link in our bio or visit ttp-bchpa.ca/swarm-control.

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05/12/2026

Hygienic behavior, further described in our last post, is a honey bee colony’s defense mechanism to prevent the spread of disease and pests in the colony. UBeeO is a tool designed to measure the level of hygienic behavior a honey bee colony has against Varroa destructor by testing the efficiency and effectiveness a colony has in removing parasitized or damaged brood. It works similarly to the pin prick method and liquid nitrogen test, both of which are also used for hygienic testing.

For full instructions on how to use this tool, read our new article by clicking the link in our bio or visiting ttp-bchpa.ca/ubeeo.

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05/08/2026

Honey bee larvae, when infected by disease or pest, release a pheromone that nurse bees respond to by removing the larvae from the colony. This is referred to as hygienic behavior and is the natural defense mechanism that honey bees have developed to prevent the spread of infection in the colony.

The graphic was adapted from:
Optera Bees. (n.d.). Image from Optera Bees website. https://opterabees.com/

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05/04/2026

Dr. Muhammad Fahim Raza on American foulbrood. This is a clip from his talk on American foulbrood during our Spring Field Day in Sechelt.

Once an American foulbrood bacterium dies, it gives birth to a spore cell that remains in a vegetative state until it enters into ideal conditions for it to germinate. Until that point, they can remain infectious for over seventy years (see reference below).

Reference:
Matović, K, Žarković, A., Debeljak, Z., Vidanović, D., Vasković, N., Tešović, B., & Ćirić, J. (2023). American foulbrood — Old and always new challenge. Vet Sciences, 10(3), 180. Doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10030180

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05/01/2026

Another couple of great Spring Field Days hosted in Coombs and Victoria last weekend. A big thank you to Honorable (BC’s Minister of Agriculture and Food), Wendi Gilson (Certified Bee Master and retired apiary inspector) and Laura Ingram (bee inspector for Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands (North)) for being our guest speakers.

A final thank you to all the attendees and to Stan Reist and Vasyl Semaviv for hosting these workshops!

We have one Spring Field Day left — join us in Ladner on May 23rd and come learn about honey bees from our amazing guest speaker, Julia Common. 

For more information, click the link in our bio or visit bchpaconference.ca. 

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