'It still hurts every time you get stung': Meet P.E.I.'s new apiarist

Getting stung is the worst part of the job for Cameron Menzies, and P.E.I.'s new provincial apiarist has had his share —  500 to 1,000 times, he says. 

Menzies took over as P.E.I.'s bee specialist in February and works with beekeepers to develop their operations, creating programs to subsidize and support the industry. Those bees helps pollinate P.E.I.'s valuable wild blueberry crop.

"Most of the stings I get, I consider my fault," he said. "You can aggravate the bees and they might sting you and let you know 'Hey, maybe you shouldn't be doing that with us right now,' so I try not to get mad at the bees," he said.

"But it still hurts every time you get stung."

'The bigger the fruit is going to be'

After spring frosts and cool weather P.E.I. lost 42 per cent of its beehives, compared to the average 20 per cent. 

That left only 4,000 hives from P.E.I. for blueberry pollination, with 2,000 brought in from Ontario. That's why it's important the remaining hives are loaded with bees, Menzies said.

"The more effective the pollination of a blossom, the bigger the fruit is going to be and thus the higher the yield," Menzies said. 

With that in mind, Menzies is now doing a hands-on survey to answer a question he said often comes up — which hives contain more bees at the end of the short few weeks of pollination, local hives or those from off-Island?

Imported versus local

"'Some people are curious as to if there's a strength difference from the imported hives we bring from out of province and the ones we use here," said Menzies. 

He has spent the last few weeks doing a quick assessment, opening up hives across the Island and peeking inside. 

Menzies plans to write up a report that doesn't name any specific beekeepers but will give them, and the blueberry growers to whom they rent hives, an idea of which hives were able to better thrive. It will be up to the industry to decide what to do with the data, he said.

Meanwhile, as the last of the blueberry blooms fade away this week, beekeepers will bring their hives back home to begin honey production. 

And he will spend much of the rest of the growing season monitoring the blueberry fields. 

"It's really hard to say how effective the pollination was until we can actually go and evaluate the fruit set later on, and then the yield," he said.

Calms the bees

As Menzies surveys the hives, he gives a fascinating glimpse into the secret life of bees and their keepers.

Before Menzies even opens the hives, he calms the bees by blowing non-toxic smoke into the wooden crates. 

Whenever there is an intruder near the hive, the bees secrete pheromones that trigger an alarm response in other bees, he explains. The smoke masks the pheromone and prevents other bees from being alerted to the danger.

The bees also interpret the smoke as a possible forest fire, so they start gorging on honey in case they have to abandon their hive. All that makes them lethargic and slow to attack.

'I do keep an EpiPen with me'

Sunny days also keep the bees busy and focused on their work.

"These are good foraging conditions for the bees so they're relatively content, so I've taken the liberty of taking my veil off," explained Menzies. 

But he doesn't get too cocky.

"I'm not allergic, but I do keep an EpiPen with me just in case. You never know."

Menzies wasn't always this brave around bees, he admits.

"My sister and I playing in the garden — we would see a bee and we would freeze," he recalls.

"Now that I've been around bees a little bit more, I get more confident with them and I can admire them and get a little bit closer without aggravating them."

'Good, strong hives'

As the provincial apiarist, Menzies works with beekeepers who rent out their hives to wild blueberry growers in the spring to pollinate their flowering crops.

Growers can stipulate what level of strength, or number of bees, they want in the rented hives. Stronger hives cost more.

"It's always good to have good, strong hives working out in the fields," Menzies said. "But we don't get in between the grower and the beekeeper."

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