?> How is the commercial beekeeping industry in Canada (a country with a 
cost base similar to the US)?

Actually, generalizing across a large and diverse country, the cost base 
and risk profile is very different different.  Our replacement bees are much 
more expensive and the supply uncertain -- and the risk of loss is higher.

On the other hand, our return on honey remained much higher, albeit still 
low, during the really tough years for US beekeeping in the last decade.

When the US dollar went high, the Canadian dollar didn't.  It dropped to 63c 
and so the returns on honey were not as bad as they got for US beekeepers 
and that made a huge difference.  Costs, other than bees, did not go up 
much.

I wrote a study back in 2003 examining the industry health two countries and 
concluded that the largest single factor driving down US hive numbers,--  
besides destruction of bee habitat and increasing regulation -- was the 
strong US dollar.

My interest at the time was the influence of the border closure on Canadian 
beekeeping, and what effect it was having on the industry, so an examination 
of US beekeeping at the time was  a logical comparison.

My conclusion was that regulation -- border closure and cutting of the bee 
supply -- was the cause of the decline in Canadian hive numbers, while the 
strong US dollar and the consequent lack of competitiveness in the face of 
subsidized foreign honey imports (a double whammy) hit the US beekeepers.

In each country, pollination has been a blessing and a curse.  Pollination 
has been a major catalyst in moving pests and disease around each country, 
but in both cases, it has kept beekeepers alive with intravenous cash 
infusions, but some would say the industry is alive on life-support only.

Pollination has been a major catalyst in moving pests and disease around 
each country, but at the same time is the only reason that we have such 
great PR and broad public sympathy in societies which otherwise are 
characterised by insect phobias.

All in all, when looking at Canada, we have to separate Alberta from the 
rest of the country.  Although Alberta has no more or better forage than 
other provinces, it has grown steadily in hive numbers , with only a decade 
or so of decrease immediately after border closure.

Why?   I can only ascribe Alberta's success to the people and the 
government.  The beekeepers co-operate strongly with one another, and the 
government is supportive of industry initiatives and very light on 
regulation.

Nothing else is much different, from the rest of the country, in which most 
provinces are languishing, staying even, or having almost no beekeeping --  
other than the decision of major seed companies to concentrate canola seed 
growing in Alberta's south.

That certainly did not hurt, since it added a fairly reliable income 
component, but even then, the number of hives required for pollination has 
fluctuated up and down, with some  periods of severe reductions in hive 
rentals that did not seem to hurt the industry at all.

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