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National Bee Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard
Glossary

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Apiary:
The location and sum total of colonies, hives, and other equipment assembled at one site for beekeeping operations.
Bee equipment:
Any structure, material, or enclosure and its related components that are provided by the beekeeper to protect and house bees. May include structures that facilitate egg laying and brood development or that contain food and bee product stores. Examples include hives (for honey bees), nest blocks (for leafcutting bees), and nest boxes (for bumblebees). For the purposes of this standard, hives or nests will be used to describe this equipment as it applies to all three types of bees.
Beekeeper:
A generic term used to identify anyone who owns or is in possession of bees; utilizes pollination services; and handles bees, related bee equipment, production inputs and outputs, and waste material. The person may be the owner/operator, trained beekeeper, staff, or family member. The term beekeeper is commonly used in honey bee beekeeping. The term producer is used in the alfalfa leafcutting bee and bumblebee sectors, where the crop that the bees pollinate is the primary product.
Bee industry authority:
A provincial apiarist, bee inspector, veterinarian or regulating authority, including the CFIA and Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).
Bee operation:
All aspects of the beekeeping, bee product production, and pollination operations for which the beekeeper is responsible, regardless of where the bees are placed; comparable to the "farm" in other types of agriculture.
Biological control:
Means of controlling a pest with another organism; for example, through predation, parasitism, or with a pathogen.
Biosecurity:
"Farm-level biosecurity" refers to a set of practices that are used to minimize the transmission of pests in animal and plant populations, including their introduction (bioexclusion), spread within the populations (biomanagement), and release (biocontainment).
Biosecurity program:
A risk reduction program that conforms to the CFIA National Standard and is designed to prevent the introduction and spread of pests in bee operations.
Biosecurity risk:
An activity, condition, or situation that, without mitigation, increases the risk of potential introduction or spread of a hazard in the form of a pathogen, parasite, or insect pest.
Biosecurity standard:
A high-level, consistent set of principles and target outcomes that apply to all beekeepers (honey, leafcutting, and bumblebees) at the farm level. The goal of the Standard is to minimize the introduction and spread of pests onto, within, and beyond the farm.
Brood:
For the purposes of this document, brood refers to the embryo or egg, and the larval and pupal stages in initial bee development. For alfalfa leafcutting bees, brood is enclosed in a cell structure made of leaf material, called a bee cell. This document may refer to brood and/or bee cells.
Building:
Any indoor facility used in the beekeeping operation, such as storage, maintenance, facilities used for overwintering or incubating bees, or processing.
Clean:
Free of any visible accumulation of organic matter and debris or other residues. Also, refer to disinfection and sanitation.
Chemical control:
Means of controlling a pest, using chemical-based control products, including acids, acaricides (miticides), pharmaceutical treatments, and disinfectants. Chemical control programs encompass applicable treatment rotation plans and the timing of treatment applications.
Contaminated:
The presence of a pathogen, living parasite, or insect pest on a surface or in debris that may be transmitted directly or indirectly to a living host organism (e.g. bee or brood).
Cultural method:
A non-chemical method for managing pests. Examples include hive or nest equipment manipulation, introducing new bee stock, supplemental feeding, and sanitation.
Debris:
Any loose material that may be capable of harbouring pathogens, parasites, or pests. Examples include dead bees and bee parts, feces, dead parasites, and other discarded material.
Disease:
An unhealthy condition in the bee caused, for example, by a biological agent such as bacteria, viral or fungal pathogen or parasite that may result in death.
Disinfection:
Applying a physical or chemical process to a surface for the purpose of destroying or inhibiting the activity of micro-organisms. This is often done with a disinfecting agent, such as bleach, or by treatments, including heat, irradiation or fumigation, in conjunction with cleaning.
Efficacy:
The effectiveness of an intervention or treatment in suppressing or eliminating a pest.
Elevated response plan:
A farm-level intervention plan that is triggered by the suspected or confirmed presence of a high-risk, exotic, or unfamiliar pest within the bee operation, local area, or country.
Endemic:
Pests that are regularly re-occurring or whose causative agent is established within a region or population.
Exotic:
Infectious pests that normally do not occur in the region, either because they have never been present there or because they were eradicated and then kept out by government control measures or agricultural practices.
Farm/farm-level:
Refer to Bee Operation.
Federally reportable and notifiable:
There is a legal requirement to contact the CFIA if a specified reportable bee disease, caused by a pathogen, parasite, or insect pest, is suspected or if the diagnosis is confirmed. Only laboratories are required to contact the CFIA regarding specified notifiable diseases. Refer to the CFIA website for more information.
Infected:
A living host organism (e.g. bee or brood) that is affected by a pathogen.
Hive:
Human-constructed housing for bees. Also refer to Bee Equipment.
Infested:
The presence of a living parasite or insect pest at any stage of its life cycle, on or in a living host organism (e.g. bee or brood) or its hive or nest.
Insect pest:
Insect pests are predators that infest a hive or nest, that cause damage, and that consume brood and food stores, resulting in economic loss. Primary insect pests of bees live part of their life cycle within the hive or nest and can be spread with the movement of bees and equipment. Examples are small hive beetle and wax moths that infest honey bee colonies, or dried fruit moth and various beetles that infest alfalfa leafcutting bee nests. See also Nuisance Pest.
Inspector:
A person who inspects apiaries and bee shipments for compliance with regulations or insurance claims and who may offer advice or provide resources to beekeepers.
Managed bees:
For the purposes of this standard, managed bees include honey bees, alfalfa leafcutting bees, and bumblebees for which some form of artificial housing is provided (i.e. hive or nest boxes). Unmanaged native and wild bees are excluded.
Mechanical method:
A non-chemical method for managing pests. Examples include barriers, traps, screens, fences, use of hive or nest stands, and removal of foreign material from surfaces using a brush, broom, hand, or other object.
Nuisance pest:
A nuisance pest may disturb the bees; cause distress; damage the hive or nest material; consume bees, brood and bee cells; rob food stores; spread diseases and parasites; and result in weakened bees that are more susceptible to other bee pests. Nuisance pests include insects such as ants and wasps, rodents, racoons, skunks, and large mammals such as bears, as well as some birds and even pets. See also Pests.
Parasite:
An organism that lives upon or within another living organism and that may be dependent upon the host for its survival. Examples include the Varroa destructor mite in honey bees and chalcid parasites (Pteromalus venustus) in alfalfa leafcutting bees.
Pathogen:
A biological agent such as a bacteria, virus or fungus that has the potential to cause bee disease; for example, through the spread of spores.
Personal equipment:
Includes items that are considered an extension of the bee handler's person and may come in contact with infected or infested bees and contaminated debris or hive equipment. Examples include tools, brushes, gloves, and protective clothing.
Permit:
Applies to bees, bee equipment, bee products, and production inputs for which their importation, interprovincial movement, purchase, and/or use is regulated by the government and is permitted.
Pest:
A pest is an unwanted organism. A pest may be a parasite, disease pathogen, predator, or insect pest. "Pest", used as a generic term in this document, refers to any of these living organisms.
Physical method:
A non-chemical method for managing pests, such as freezing and heating.
Premises:
A parcel of land with a continuous property boundary and that is defined by a legal land description or, in its absence, by geo-referenced coordinates. Premises include indoor facilities or outdoor locations used for the bee operation where the following are kept, used, or disposed of: bees, hives or nests, personal equipment, bee supplies, and moving, handling, and processing equipment.
Producer guidance:
Voluntary guidelines and examples of beneficial management practices, targeted at producers to implement biosecurity measures, as defined by the Biosecurity Standard, at the farm level. Guidelines are specific to the industry sub-sector (honey, alfalfa leafcutting, and bumblebee beekeeping).
Production input:
Production inputs include consumable products such as feed, water, treatment products for pest management or control, products used for cleaning and disinfection, and some materials used in hives or nests. Production inputs exclude live bees and reusable hive and nest equipment, tools, and protective clothing.
Protocols:
A code of conduct, defined procedure, or series of steps to follow when implementing biosecurity management practices.
Provincial apiarist (PA) or apiculturist:
Provincial government employees who study, educate, and administer regulation in the field of apiculture. Typically responsible for enforcing the Apiary Act, Bee Act, or equivalent. The PA is typically also an inspector.
Quarantine:
A specific order applied to a particular premises, bees, or equipment by the provincial apiarist or the honey bee regulating authority and inspector to prevent further spread, or to detect a biosecurity risk or concern.
Quarantine area:
An area specified by a provincial apiarist, or the honeybee regulating authority, in which additional efforts are made by industry and/or government to prevent further spread or to detect the biosecurity risk of concern.
Recommended:
A product, treatment, or practice recommended by a bee industry authority. When used in reference to chemicals such as pesticides or pharmaceuticals, the term means products registered by the appropriate regulatory authority for the specific usage mentioned in the text.
Sanitation:
A set of practices that reduce the presence of organic material/debris and that reduce the presence, survivability, and infectivity of disease-causing agents from an object or surface. Forms of sanitation include physical or mechanical removal and (power) washing, and may be done in conjunction with disinfection.
Threshold:
A measurable level of a factor that contributes to bee health, including a level of infection or infestation at which intervention should be taken to limit negative impact on bee health and on economic loss.
Target outcomes:
Goals that all those who manage bees, regardless of the size of their operation, should try to attain to protect their bees from introducing and spreading pests.
Weed:
Any unwanted vegetation, including cultivated and volunteer crops, growing in and around the apiary or buildings where bee are kept.
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