Quebec beekeepers call for emergency aid over bee deaths from parasite
Quebec beekeepers call for emergency aid over bee deaths from parasite
Quebec beekeepers call for emergency aid over bee deaths from parasite
A TikTok star beekeeper has come under fire after a bee removal specialist criticized her 'dangerous' methods. (Valengilda/Getty Images/CNN)
The fears of Quebec beekeepers have come to pass -- a mortality rate among their bees that's three times higher than the average.
To help them withstand the shock, they are asking for emergency aid from the federal and provincial governments.
Members of the Beekeepers and Beekeepers of Quebec (AADQ) have recorded, on average, a mortality rate of 60 per cent in their hives, the association revealed at a press conference on Wednesday.
Over the past five years, this rate has hovered around 21 per cent in the province.
The long summer in 2021 created the right conditions for the spread of Varroa, a parasite that attacks bees. AADQ President Raphaël Vacher described the situation as "historic" and "critical."
Given these conditions, Vacher is calling for joint federal and provincial emergency aid of $12 million to help beekeepers, most of whom have lost more than half of their bees.
"Imagine the disastrous consequences on 'their] liquidity. The business loses its income, but it has the same expenses. If there is no state intervention, it is certain that we risk losing these companies," he said.
Government support would allow companies to restock their hives in hopes of a "more normal" season in 2023, he said.
The federal and provincial ministers of agriculture could not immediately be reached for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 18, 2022.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a key aide in Donald Trump's White House, told the House committee investigating the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Tuesday that Trump was informed that people rallying on the mall that morning had weapons but he told officials to 'let my people in' and march to the Capitol.
The top aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who is testifying before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot was a young, fast-rising star in the Trump administration.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
A scathing letter from an RCMP communications manager released today says RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki referred to direct pressure from the federal public safety minister to release firearm details in the days after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.
The federal Liberal government has agreed to provide sensitive cabinet documents to the inquiry examining its use of the Emergencies Act during the "Freedom Convoy" protest.
A jury at a coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women murdered by their former partner is recommending that Ontario formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic and establish an independent commission dedicated to eradicating it.
Ontario drivers should get a break at the pumps this weekend as the provincial government slashes its portion of the gas tax but at least one industry analyst is warning that the relief will likely be temporary.
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after Ottawa police officers shot and killed a man and injured a woman while responding to the stabbing deaths of two women.
A scathing letter from an RCMP communications manager released today says RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki referred to direct pressure from the federal public safety minister to release firearm details in the days after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.
Witnesses said a man used a jack to free a female cyclist trapped underneath a vehicle at the corner of Glengarry Avenue and Fanshawe Park Road East early Tuesday afternoon.
With limited spaces in French immersion programs, the Thames Valley District School Board is finding itself having to remind families there’s not enough room for everyone.
A 65-year-old suspect in Timmins has been arrested for disturbing the peace for repeatedly using an "air cannon," or a device that makes extremely loud, air raid-like noises.
Ontario's new natural resources minister, former Bracebridge mayor Graydon Smith, is facing a hearing to determine whether he harmed a threatened turtle species when he was the mayor of the small town.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
Every morning, when Karli Chomick would drop her children Savanna and Ryder off at St. Timothy Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener, she would do the same thing: give them a hug and a kiss, then tell them to be kind.
Being in recovery from a spinal fracture suffered in a car accident one month earlier didn’t stop Katelynn Saengdala, a then 32-year-old manufacturing worker of Kitchener, from saving two people struggling to stay afloat in Lake Erie.
The premier of British Columbia has announced he won't seek a third term, but will remain on the job until the provincial NDP can hold a leadership convention.
A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the case of a woman who was stabbed to death last month, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
The Supreme Court of Canada struck down a law passed by the former Stephen Harper Conservatives that allows a judge to increase parole ineligibility periods for offenders who commit multiple murders. Now there’s fear it could mean sentence “discounts” for other mass murderers.
Now that COVID-19 restrictions have lifted many Albertans can’t wait to start travelling again, but experts warn no matter the type of vacation get ready to pay more.
Flyers mailed out with the final tax-bill featuring Windsor council’s recent accomplishments but boasting photos of the mayor are stirring up debate, with some calling the leaflets “unethical.”
The body of a 19-year-old man who went missing while swimming at the public beach in Buena Vista, Sask. on Last Mountain Lake has been recovered, according to RCMP.
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after Ottawa police officers shot and killed a man and injured a woman while responding to the stabbing deaths of two women.
Former OC Transpo general manager John Manconi faced intense questioning as he testified at a public hearing in the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Commission.
A jury at a coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women murdered by their former partner is recommending that Ontario formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic and establish an independent commission dedicated to eradicating it.
A TikTok star beekeeper has come under fire after a bee removal specialist criticized her 'dangerous' methods. (Valengilda/Getty Images/CNN)
