This province has some of the healthiest honey bees in the world and the provincial government wants to keep them that way.

Legislation was introduced in the House of Assembly this week for mandatory registration and inspection of all beekeeping operations to help ensure Newfoundland and Labrador’s world-class honey bee population remains parasite-free.

Rodney Reid President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association (NLBKA) says the legislation is about protecting the bees we have and training people to watch for varroa mites.

It only takes a couple of mites to infect a large part of the bee population, which Reid says would be the end of the bee industry for the province.

He says one bite of food out of three is due to bee pollination so it would trickle down and be devastating to other industries like the cranberry industry. Also because of native pollinators there are a lot of viruses that come with that, which could transfer to other bees and insects as they share the same ecosystem.

Minister of Land Resources, Gerry Byrne also announced $300,000 for training and supports for the beekeeping industry, in partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association.