Foreign workers crucial to bee farms

Berg said every little bit helps but it may not have an impact on his business.

“We’ve got three guys in quarantine and they will be in quarantine for another week and a half. I’m hoping the $1,500 will help us but we’ve got our guys squared away,” Berg told farmnewsNOW.

SJ Beez also brought in two foreign workers a month ago and they have completed their 14-day quarantine.

The bee farm has a staff of 10 from April to mid July. From July to the end of August that increases to 20. Five are foreign workers.

With many Canadian out of work some will question the need for foreign workers. Berg said the only reason they started getting foreign workers was they could not fill the jobs locally.

“When I was in high school, there was actually waiting lists to work for beekeepers in the area. We couldn’t find high school students or university students who were interested in filling those positions,” he said. “We had to resort to bringing in temporary foreign workers and now we have the same guys coming back every year.”

Berg said it comes down to a combination of the training invested in the workers already in place and some security for the beekeepers knowing the workers will come back year after year.

“This is seasonal work, if we hired a laid off Canadian worker and they get a chance to go back to their full-time job in June or July we really can’t compete with that,” he said. “Somebody that was laid off with a full-time job and their job opens back up, they’re going to leave us and go back to their regular job.”

Berg said he does not believe they will have any trouble filling the rest of the crew this year.

“We’ve actually had a bunch of high school kids that have worked for us other years that have been calling, so we will hire a few more of them. We’re in pretty good shape here but there are other beekeepers that are in a bind and haven’t been able to secure labour,” he said.

Berg said social distancing will add some new challenges to the operation. He said a crew cab truck travelling to multiple sites can hold five or six workers. More trucks will be needed to transport workers.

“But once we’re in the yard we’ll have to change how we think but it won’t be hard to accommodate at all,” he said.

As far as the bee operation, Berg said, like everyone else, they are waiting for warmer weather.

“It’s a little hard to tell so far about the bees. Winter seems to be holding on pretty tight. It’s really hard to tell what our survival rate will be. So far it looks good, but we really don’t know until we get the bees outdoors and actually start looking at them,” he said.

Berg has a few concerns with the chaos COVID-19 has caused but they’re adjusting to the new normal.

“It’s a new way we have to do things to make sure everybody’s safe and just hope everyone stays safe along the way,” he said.

Berg is a director with the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission and is also on the board of the Canadian Honey Council.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF

by Alice McFarlane

Foreign workers crucial to bee farms

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