Beekeepers are in line for a second round of federal-provincial subsidies to buy equipment to upgrade their operations.
Those with 50 more colonies can apply for up to $10,000; those with fewer hives, but not less than 10, are eligible for up to $3,500. They must match the subsidies with their own money.
The subsidies are higher this time than the first round when about $550,000 was spent on 350 projects related to about 20,000 hives.
The projects eligible for funding are for the purchase of equipment to prevent the introduction of disease and improve winter survival, to sample and analyze for pests and diseases and to purchase domestically-raised queen bees.
"This targeted bee health intake will provide beekeepers in Ontario the opportunity to address biosecurity risks in their operations,” said Melanie Kempers, general manage for the Ontario Beekeepers' Association.
In addition, the Ontario and federal governments said that under the new intake, applicants can be approved for a maximum of two applications.
Honey extraction equipment and activities related to COVID-19 recovery are included as eligible expenses – for example supporting the development of websites for online sales and producing Ontario stock to mitigate difficulty in accessing queens or worker bees due to COVID-19.
