CBISQT Home Page

C-BISQT

The Canadian Honey Council has chosen to participate in developing an On Farm Food Safety good production practices for the production of honey and products of the hive. This plan is called C-BISQT (pronounced Sea Biscuit) which stands for Canadian Bee Industry Safety Quality Traceability (CBISQT). It has been developed by beekeepers for beekeepers with funding assistance from honey bee industry members and Agriculture Agri-Food Canada. It is a preventative approach to food safety control based on the principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) programs. The good production practices manual has been submitted to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for review for technical recognition. The implementation of the practices outlined in the C-BISQT manual is voluntary. Some producers are finding that their customers are requiring HACCP based production before purchase. This change in the retail industry has been recognized by the Canadian Honey Council and we have been proactive in preparing this manual and record keeping system. Many of the requirements in the C-BISQT manual are already in place by beekeepers. The Canadian Honey Council has been proactive in recommending standards for bulk honey containers. A detailed standard for drums is now in place.  Click here for more information on Honey Drum Standards

Integrated Pest Management

A new booklet,"IPM for Health Bees" is now available from the CHC. This full colour 3x5 inch pocket size booklet summarizes the cultural controls, monitoring and treatment required for managing bees for Varroa Mites, Tracheal Mites, American Foulbrood and Nosema. To order please contact geoff@honeycouncil.ca

Biosecurity

The Bee Biosecurity Advisory Committee (Bee BAC) will work with industry in the development of a voluntary tool that:

•           Provides a consistent approach across the country for identifying and mitigating the risks for the transmission of disease and pests,

•           Improves upon industry identification and knowledge of the risks associated with pathogens and pests,

•           Identifies outcomes to achieve in the application of biosecurity intervention, and

•           Enables the identification of potential gaps in current control measures which can help beekeepers improve the control of honey bee diseases and pests at the farm level.

Biosecurity is a term that refers to the activities that can be done to minimize the risk of introducing and spreading disease and pests.

A national benchmarking exercise will begin in November to determine current biosecurity practices. Participants will be selected at random and contacted by a third party representative who will seek their input in the identification of “best practices” for the bee (honey, leaf cutter, bubble) industry.

As the project progresses more information will be posted on the Canadian Bee Industry Safety Quality Traceability website www.cbisqt.ca. It is expected that the guidelines will be available in 2012.

For more information, please contact any of the following Bee BAC members:Heather Clay, Tom Trueman, Corey Bacon (contact details on resource page)

Downloads 

Oxalic Acid is now registered for use for the treatment of varroa mites. The official label with directions for use can be downloaded as a pdf.

The CHC has produced a colour poster showing seasonal management of bees using an Integrated pest management approach.
Download the poster here.
 IPM Poster