Where to buy our honey

15 April 2022

Our honey is for sale seasonally at Three Mile Ridge Country Store. It's in Lethbridge on Highway 230 on the Bonavista Peninsula. You can't miss it when travelling from the Trans-Canada Highway to Trinity or Bonavista.

It's also sold by Levain Pastry, 77 Harvey Road, St. John's, NL. They have a superb selection of irresistible pastries that go well with honey. They also sell bread and confections. https://levainpastry.ca/

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"I love my rooster." A farm song sung by the late Poppy Doug

Honey bee and wild pollinator research

Here's a listing of various scientific articles and other information related to honey bee and wild pollinator research, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador. We'll add more as it comes available.

Updated 19 April 2022

Newfoundland and Labrador specific

Hicks, B.J. 2014. "The History and Present Status of Honey Bee Keeping in Newfoundland and Labrador." The Osprey. 45(3):11-14.
Lamp, Benjamin. 2017 Studies on the adaptation of Deformed Wing Virus to mite-vector borne transmission. Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
Shutler, Dave, et al. 2014. "Honey Bee Apis melifera Parasites in the Absence of Nosema ceranae Fungi and Varroa destructor Mites." PLOS ONE. 9(6): e98599. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098599.
Williams, G. R. 2010. Newfoundland and Labrador Honey Bee Disease Survey. Report to Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Williams, G.R., K. Head, K. L. Burgher-MacLellan, R. E.L. Rogers, D. Shutler. 2010. "Parasitic Mites and Microsporidians in Managed Western Honey Bee Colonies on the Island of Newfoundland, Canada." The Canadian Entomologist. 142: 584–588.

Honey bees and pollination (Atlantic Canada focus)

Hicks, B.J. 2011. "Pollination of Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) in Newfoundland by Native and Introduced Bees." Journal Acad. Entomol. Soc. 7:108-118.
Hicks, B.J., T. Bartlett, J. Bishop, S. Cicciarella, B. Hiscock and R. Woodford. 2012. "Does Trap Colour Influence Sampling of Bee Pollinators on Blueberry Fields?" The Osprey. 43(4):5-9.
Hicks, B.J. and J. Sircom. 2016. "Pollination of commercial cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) by native and introduced managed bees in Newfoundland." J. Acad. Entomol. Soc. 12: 22-30.
Javorek, S.K., K.E. MacKenzie, and S.P. Vander Kloet. "Comparative Pollination Effectiveness Among Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) on Lowbush Blueberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium angustifolium)." 2002. Ecology and Population Biology. 95(3):345-351.
Sellars, R. and B.J. Hicks. 2014. "Bee Diversity and Abundance in Three Different Habitats of Eastern Newfoundland." Journal Acad. Entomol. Soc. 11:9-14.
Sheffield, C., P.G. Kevan, RF Smith, S.M. Rigby and R.E.L. Rogers. 2003. "Bee Species of Nova Scotia, Canada, with New Records and Notes on Bionomics and Floral Relations (Hymenoptera : Apoidea)." Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 76(2):357-384.
Stubbs, C.S. and F.A. Drummond. 2001. Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae): An Alternative to Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) for Lowbush Blueberry Pollination. Journal of Economic Entomology. 94(3):609-616. Abstract http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/0022-0493-94.3.609

Bees native to Newfoundland and Labrador

Hicks, B.J. 2015. The Status of Native Bee Species in Newfoundland and Labrador. Report to Department of Conservation and Environment, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (An updated excerpt from a report submitted to Department of Conservation and Environment, Gov't NL, 2009).

Pathogens (diseases and pests)

Brutscher L.M., A.J. McMenamin, M.L. Flenniken. "The Buzz about Honey Bee Viruses." PLoS Pathog. 2(8): e1005757. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1005757
Daughenbaugh, Katie F., Madison Martin, Laura M. Brutscher, Ian Cavigli, Emma Garcia, Matt Lavin, and Michelle L. Flenniken. 2015. “Honey Bee Infecting Lake Sinai Viruses.” Viruses. 7, 3285-3309; doi:10.3390/v7062772.
Genersch, Elke and Michel Aubert. 2010. "Emerging and re-emerging viruses of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)." Vet. Res. 41:54. DOI: 10.1051/vetres/2010027
Manning, Rob. 2013. Endemic Honey Bee Diseases and Pests in Western Australia. Certified list current as of July 2013. Department of Agriculture and Food, Government of Western Australia.
McMahon, D.P., et al. 2016."Elevated virulence of an emerging viral genotype as a driver of honeybee loss." Proc. R. Soc. B. 283:20160811.
McMenamin, J. Alexander and Michelle L. Flenniken. 2018. "Recently Identified Bee Viruses and Their Impact on Bee Pollinators." Current Opinion in Insect Science. 26: 120-129.

Mutilleni, F. 2011. "The Spread of Pathogens Through Trade in Honey Bees and Their Products (Including Queen Bees and Semen): Overview and Recent Developments." Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz. 30 (1): 257-271.
Roberts, John, Denis Anderson and Peter Durr. 2015. Upgrading knowledge on pathogens (particularly viruses) of Australian honey bees. Barton, ACT, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. Publication No. 15/095.
Shutler, Dave, et al. 2014. "Honey Bee Apis melifera Parasites in the Absence of Nosema ceranae Fungi and Varroa destructor Mites." PLOS ONE. 9(6): e98599. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098599.
Williams, G. R. 2010. Newfoundland and Labrador Honey Bee Disease Survey. Report to Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Williams, G.R., K. Head, K. L. Burgher-MacLellan, R. E.L. Rogers, D. Shutler. 2010. "Parasitic Mites and Microsporidians in Managed Western Honey Bee Colonies on the Island of Newfoundland, Canada." The Canadian Entomologist. 142: 584–588.

Pathogen spill-over between honey bees and other insect pollinator species

Colla, S.R., M.C. Otterstatter, R.J. Gegear, and J.D. Thomson. 2006. “Plight of the bumble bee: Pathogen spillover from commercial to wild populations.” Biological Conservation. 129:461-467.
Fürst, M.A., D.P. McMahon, J. Osborne, R.J. Paxton, and M.J.F. Brown. 2014. “Disease associations between honeybees and bumblebees as a threat to wild pollinators.” Nature. 506:364–366.
Graystock, P., K.Yates, B. Darvill, D. Goulson, and W.O.H. Hughes. 2013a. “Emerging dangers: deadly effects of an emergent parasite in a new pollinator host.” Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 114:114-119.
Graystock P., K. Yates, S. Evison, B. Darvill, D. Goulson, and W.O.H. Hughes. 2013b. “The Trojan hives: pollinator pathogens, imported and distributed in bumblebee colonies.” Journal of Applied Ecology. 50:1207–1215.
Graystock, P., D. Goulson, and W.O.H. Hughes. 2015. “Parasites in bloom: flowers aid dispersal and transmission of pollinator parasites within and between bee species.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 282: 20151371.
Manley, R., M. Boots, and L. Wilfert. 2015. “Emerging viral disease risk to pollinating insects: ecological, evolutionary and anthropogenic factors.” Journal of Applied Ecology. 52:331–340.
McMahon, D.P., M. A. Fürst, J. Caspar, P. Theodorou, M.J.F. Brown, R.J. Paxton. 2015. “A sting in the spit: widespread cross-infection of multiple RNA viruses across wild and managed bees.” Journal of Animal Ecology. 84:615-624.

Economics of beekeeping

Cook, D.C., et al. 2007. "Predicting the economic impact of an invasive species on an ecosystem service." Ecological Applications. 17(6):1832-40. Not available on-line but see the abstract.
Potts, et al. 2010. "Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers." Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 25(6):345-353.

General

De-Melo, Adriane Alexandre Machado et al. 2017. "Composition and properties of Apis mellifera honey: A review." Journal of Apicultural Research. DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2017.1338444
Goulson, Dave, Elizabeth Nicholls, Cristina Botías, and Ellen L. Rotheray. 2015. "Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers." Science. 347(6229):12255957-1 to 12255957-9.
Hopwood, Jennifer, et al. 2012. Are Neonicotinoids Killing Bees? A Review of Research into the Effects of Neonicotinoid Insecticides on Bees, with Recommendations for Action. Oregon: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
MacIvor, J. Scott. 2016. "Cavity-nest boxes for solitary bees: a century of design and research." Apidologie. doi:10.1007/s13592-016-0477-z
MacIvor J. Scott and Laurence Packer. 2015. "‘Bee Hotels’ as Tools for Native Pollinator Conservation: A Premature Verdict?" PLoS ONE 10(3): e0122126. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122126
Williams, Geoffrey R. et al. 2015. “Neonicotinoid pesticides severely affect honey bee queens.” Scientific Reports. 5, Article number: 14621 (2015). doi:10.1038/srep14621

The craft of beekeeping

Beekeeping is animal husbandry, and honey bees are "stock." There's a lot about beekeeping that can't be learned out of a book. You have to learn it by doing it!

A superorganism

An immensely fascinating and complex eusocial insect, the honey bee has lots to teach us about the plant and animal ecosystems in which we place our honey bee colonies. The honey bee colony is a "superorganism" and honey bee evolution occurs at the colony level.

Nectar of the gods

For thousands of years, and from one culture to the next, we humans have had a great love of honey. It was one of our most important sweeteners before the invention of cane sugar.