Pollen Trapping: What you should be thinking about before you start

Pollen can be a valuable hive product, an important supplemental feed, and a great way to diversify your beekeeping operation. But what do you need to know before you get started pollen trapping? I will talk about:
  • Why you might want to trap pollen
  • Colony health and the bees’ needs
  • How to target your trapping
  • Economic considerations
  • Consequences on honey production and pollination
  • Fitting it into your management
  • A few thoughts on trap design

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Raising Quality Queens in Pollination

Having well-cared for, healthy, and suitable queens is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure you have healthy honey bee colonies. I will talk about the reasons why beekeepers should consider rearing their own queens, how to assess queen quality (and how not to), domestic versus imported queens in Canada, and how beekeepers can make queens and splits while providing pollination services, using canola as an example. 

 

   

 

Shelley Hoover is an Apiculture and Pollination Scientist in the Department of Research and Innovation at the University of Lethbridge, in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Her research focuses on honey bee health and management, queen production and breeding, and nutrition, as well as canola pollination. Previously, Shelley was the head of the Apiculture Program for the Province of Alberta and has held Research Associate positions at the Universities of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) and British Columbia (Vancouver and Beaverlodge, Canada). She completed her PhD on honey bee worker ovary development, nutrition, and behaviour at Simon Fraser University. Shelley is also the current President of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists.