May 29, will be declared the Day of the Honey Bee in B.C. by Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick, to recognize and celebrate how beekeeping in B.C. has grown from May 1858 when two hives arrived in Victoria Harbour into an industry that has a $250-million-a-year agricultural impact today.
There are more than 2,300 beekeepers throughout B.C. operating as a hobby, part-, or full time business with about 47,000 colonies, and as many as two billion bees. Bees play a key role on B.C.’s fruit, berry, and canola farms, with approximately $250 million in agricultural production dependent on honey bee pollination every year. Crop pollination by honey bees supports agricultural production in Canada worth over $1.5 billion per year, and $14 billion per year in the U.S.A.