Newfoundland (Rural Roots Canada) – Evacuating livestock during a fire is stressful enough. But what happens when your animals are too small for leads, too numerous to count, and will fly back home if moved?
Newfoundland and Labrador’s intense wildfires this summer had a significant effect on agriculture in the province.
Beekeepers faced a unique challenge — bee colonies are nearly impossible to evacuate on short notice.
David Tutton, Communications Director for the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association, learned this the hard way when he was forced to evacuate his home in Holyrood, leaving his 15 bee hives behind.
“If you move the hive more than three kilometres away, they can’t find it. They’re telling us at two in the afternoon that we have to be out in 20-30 minutes. That’s impossible with a hive,” Tutton explained.
Worker bees forage outside of the hive. Move the hive during daylight, and the workers will return to find their colony gone. It’s best to relocate a hive after sunset to ensure that all the bees are being moved.
“Some of my hives were like six boxes high. How do I move them? I need a truck, and I need some help,” Tutton said.
With little warning before evacuation orders, many beekeepers had no choice but to leave their colonies behind and hope for the best.
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Fire bans also prevented the use of smokers, a tool used to produce calming smoke when working with bees.
“The smoke changes their sensory response,” said Tutton.
It prompts bees to eat honey, making them calmer and less defensive. During a wildfire emergency, even that small flame was too risky.
Beyond evacuation challenges, the drought itself impacted bee colonies across the province. Without as many flowers, bees had little pollen to collect and couldn’t produce honey.
When Tutton returned home after the evacuation, a brief rainfall showed just how desperate his bees had become.
“Once we came back, we had a shower of rain on Saturday and Sunday. If we hadn’t had that drop of rain, we could’ve lost all the bees. We had no resources, absolutely nothing,” he said.
To keep colonies alive, beekeepers resorted to feeding sugar water, which sustains bees but can’t be harvested as honey. While the bees will store and cap the sugar water just like honey, it has no market value. For beekeepers who rely on honey sales, less production led to financial loss.
Donna House, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association, noted the impact varied significantly by location.
“It really depended on where you were,” she said, with some areas experiencing more severe drought conditions than others.
As beekeepers prepare their hives for winter, concerns remain about weakened hives and next year’s honey production.
