A bee symposium to be held Kelowna next week is generating buzz about what can be done to help the local bee population.

In Vernon, a beekeeper was concerned for his bees after a large number of them died. At the time, he suspected it was a virus.

READ MORE: Vernon beekeeper concerned after spike of deaths in bee population

Keynote speaker Victoria Wojcik, research director the Pollinator Partnership, said itsa国际传媒檚 difficult to determine the actual cause of bee deaths, but pesticides play both a short long-term role.

In her presentation, Wojcik will be giving an overview of the program Pollinator Partnership does Canada-wide, which promotes the use of native plants and gives a guide on which plants are bee friendly in the countrysa国际传媒檚 many regions.

sa国际传媒淭he number one thing you can do to help bees is provide floral habitats,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚t sounds pretty simple but when you actually get around to providing that habitat, other questions come up like what do I plant, where do I plant it?sa国际传媒�

Itsa国际传媒檚 difficult to track how the Okanagansa国际传媒檚 bees are doing, because of the diversity of plant and bee systems, Wojcik said.

Loss of habitat due to agricultural farm and urban as well as pesticide use contribute to declining bee populations.

Nicotine-based pesticides are showing in high levels in aquatic systems, and have been in use for the past 15 years, Wojcik said.

sa国际传媒淲hatsa国际传媒檚 problematic about the neo-nicotine pesticides is that the impact they have on bees, in terms of native bee health and honey bee health, itsa国际传媒檚 very rarely a direct mortality impact,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭he incidents of bee deaths because of direct pesticide are pretty low across Canada.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淲hatsa国际传媒檚 more common, which is much more difficult to assess and manage and is actually much more scary, in terms of overall be health, is that you have interactions with the hives that lead to sublethal effects, whether it impacts the nutrition of the hive, where is affects their ability to access the nutrients in their food.sa国际传媒�

In August, the federal government agreed to being phasing out outdoor use of three nicotine-based pesticides starting in 2021.

READ MORE: Pesticides linked to bee deaths will be phased out in Canada, sources say

sa国际传媒淲ith regulation coming into place with restrictions and phase out of these particular products, we should see an improvement in bee health because they wonsa国际传媒檛 be constantly subject to these pesticides in the environment,sa国际传媒� Wojcik said.

Wojcik said B.C.sa国际传媒檚 bees are doing as well, or slightly less than, the rest of Canadian bees.

With honey bees, there was a recorded 30 per cent loss within the last two years, but Wojcik said itsa国际传媒檚 difficult to track regional numbers, or get official data on every bee species in B.C.

Nancy Holmes is a professor at UBCO and representative of Border Free Bees, which has ongoing projects in the Lower Mainland, US and Mexico.

sa国际传媒淚 hear lots of reports of honey bee die offs and I just donsa国际传媒檛 know how much follow up on the reasons, very often its often a perfect storm of problems.sa国际传媒�

She said UBCO is hosting the symposium because of the interest people have in the community.

Holmes is hoping to get a grant and do research with a biologist at UBCO to do an assessment on the local bee population. As a hotspot for bee populations, the Okanagan has more than 360 different species of bee, she said.

Most of the bee population lives in the ground, it may be green, it may be the size of a fruit fly, but theysa国际传媒檙e all master pollinators, she said.

The public events begin with a free talk by Mace Vaughan of the renowned insect conservation organization, The Xerces Society. Vaughan, who supervises the largest pollinator conservation team in the US, will give a talk called Bring Back the Pollinators: What You Need to Know to Save Native Bees Oct. 12 at the Laurel Packinghouse, at 7 p.m.

Talks and workshops continue throughout the weekend with talks, workshops and ends Sunday with a plant rescue field trip.

More information can be found at . For a list of Okanagan bee friendly plants, resources can also be found through the Border Free Bees website.

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