Honey Bee Health Initiative │ Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP):

Operational improvements for the purpose of reducing biosecurity risks, overwinter loss and to manage or prevent the introduction and spread of honey bee pests and disease.

• Costs for hive health management practices:
  • Baseline laboratory testing at a recognized facility for disease (e.g., Nosema, tracheal mites) as part of a disease management plan
  • Testing (e.g., Pettis testing) at a recognized facility for determining varroa mite resistance to registered treatments
  • Field testing for hygienic behaviour or other beneficial traits in managed honey bees
• Purchase of new beekeeping equipment or modifications to existing hive management systems, for example:
  • Winter wraps
  • Indoor overwintering facilities
  • Queen banking overwintering facilities
• New construction of or modifications to a honey house, including the purchase of equipment (e.g., doors, windows, climate control systems) to make the honey house bee tight, improve biosecurity, improve cleaning and disinfecting practices and prevent robbing.
• Purchase of new, disease-free drawn foundation or frames to reduce biosecurity risks.
• Installing pest control devices or deterrents for named* pests such as small hive beetle traps or purchasing pest monitoring equipment such as diagnostic test kits, varroa mite shakers or a microscope for disease monitoring onsite.
• New construction of or modifications to freezing facilities, including the purchase of equipment for processing wax (e.g., wax moulds, wax spinners, bottlers) to mitigate the introduction, spread and impact of pests such as small hive beetle and wax moth.
• Honey extraction equipment to improve the timing of extraction and the storage of honey supers to help with cleanliness and avoid biosecurity risks.
• Establishing disease resistant, healthy honey bee colonies through the purchase of disease-free honey bee stock, such as:
  • Hygienic/tracheal mite resistant queens and queen cells
  • Nucleus colonies, full size colonies and honey bee packages
  • Retroactive costs for replacement bee stock, including queens, may be eligible if incurred on or after April 1, 2023.
• In-kind costs up to $2,000

Note: Approved applicants will be required to provide a valid Import Permit for stock purchased from vendors outside of Ontario, or a valid Seller’s Permit or Queen and Nuc Permit from the vendor from whom the stock was purchased within Ontario, issued by the Provincial Apiarist, with their claim submission. To learn about permits and requirements for selling honey bees and used beekeeping equipment in Ontario.