‘We’ve always taken for granted that the sugar’s always been there’

Beekeeping groups on the Prairies say it’s a good thing Western Canada’s sugar shortage didn’t happen a few months ago.

The bees are now tucked away for the winter, but August and September are prime feeding seasons when beekeepers condition their colonies for winter and natural nectar sources are drying up.

“We’ve always taken for granted that the sugar’s always been there,” said Ian Steppler, chair of the Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association. “The entire time I’ve been beekeeping, I’ve never thought twice about sugar availability, other than just the price going up a little bit because of supply and demand.”

“There’s not an issue right now,” said Connie Phillips, executive director of the Alberta Beekeepers Commission. “I think the concern is, if the shortage persists, that it will be a big issue in the spring when we start feeding again.”

Why it matters: Consumer sugar shortages made headlines in late November but beekeepers say it’s also a warning sign of weakness in their input supply chain.

Anyone hoping to start December with a batch of holiday cookies likely had to reach for a different sweetener.

Sugar was at a premium in grocery stores across Western Canada in late November, leading retailers to place per-customer limits on remaining stock.

A big part of the problem was an ongoing strike at a sugar refinery in Vancouver owned by Rogers Sugar, the holding company for Lantic Inc. The facility is the second largest of the three refineries operated by the company, which is Canada’s biggest sugar supplier, and the only major cane sugar refinery in Western Canada.