Alberta Launches New COVID-19 Program For Beekeepers

Jun 12, 2020

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is introducing a new Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program for beekeepers.

The program will include up to $1 million to help beekeepers offset the costs of increased colony replacements due to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made importing colony replacements from usual, more affordable sources like New Zealand and Australia more difficult.

The program, available this summer, will be retroactive to cover issues faced in the spring of 2020.

Program details are still being worked out but producers are encouraged to subscribe to Alberta’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership site, where information will be shared as it becomes available.

Alberta is the largest producer of honey in Canada, producing 41 million pounds annually and contributing $67 million to the economy.

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Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.