Beekeepers Need to Follow the Regulations

There are responsibilities and regulations for anyone that handles livestock and distributes food. Even a beekeeper who has one have, and sells honey to support their hobby must adhere to the rules, and regulations.

Here are a few of the rules that apply to beekeepers.

Summary of Ontario beekeeping regulations | ontario.ca

Apiculture | ontario.ca

Register Your Hive

All beehives in Ontario need to be registered with the Ontario government. You can do this on ‘my ontario’ page.

The inspectors are here for you. They are here to help you – for free.

Click Here to Learn More: Ontario Apiary Program | ontario.ca

Open a – My Ontario Account

Ontario beekeeper registration | ontario.ca

Honey Packaging

There are different rules whether you sell at ‘farm gate’ or if you sell at local markets. Make sure you follow the right rules.

Here are some rules and guidelines for packaging food.

Click Here to Learn More Canadian Food Inspection Agency – Food Safety Enhancement Program Manual – Section 3 – HACCP System Documentation

Canadian Food Inspection Agency – Honey

Ontario Beekeepers Association – OBA

Whether you own one hive, or 1000, the OBA is a supportive organization. In less than two years of membership, John and I went from ‘struggling’ to grow, to tripling our number of hives.

Their website and magazine are worth the cost of membership. They also offer extra educational resources thorugh the Tech Transfer program.

One of the best parts of membership is the spring and fall conference. You do not need to attend the conference. Ther is an online video connected version. Past versions are also some very interesting videos about marketing honey and keeping bees on their youtube channel

Click the following links to learn more:

https://www.ontariobee.com/

Ontario Beekeepers – YouTube

Growing Your Apiary – Becoming a Commercial Beekeeper

If you are growing your apiary over 50 hives then you want to sign up for an OSCIA portal. This connects you to grants that can help beekeepers who are interested in turning their hobby into a business.

Click Here: OSCIA Portal

Agpal.ca

This is a great resource to help beekeepers find any information that may benefit or educate them.

Search Programs and Services | AgPal Program and Service Finder

This blog post isn’t meant to scare new beekeepers. Instead, it is to help you connect with resources and find the help you need to make good choices, and avoid making mistakes.

I will keep adding to this blog post as I find resources. If you know a resource that should be on this page, please let us know.

I would like to thank Michael Barber of TriCityBeeRescue for letting me share his post https://www.facebook.com/tricitybeerescue

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