A Branch of the British Columbia Honey Producers Association

Sampling and Shipping Methods

Honey Bee Laboratory Diagnoses in British Columbia

Honey Bee Laboratory Diagnoses

​Test results are only as good as the quality of the samples. Please be sure to include your beekeeper identification, contact details and a description of the colony from which the sample was taken. To use this free and confidential service, please follow these standard methods for collecting and shipping samples:

Brood Cell Samples

Whole Bees

Fecal Samples

Scrapings of dry bee feces can be collected in a paper envelope for Nosema detection. Fecal sampling can only determine presence/absence of Nosema. It doesn’t allow estimation of the LEVEL of infection per bee that is needed to determine treatment thresholds.

Shipping address Attn:

  • Paul van Westendorp
  • Provincial Apiculturist
  • Animal & Plant
  • Health Centre
  • BC Ministry of Agriculture
  • 1767 Angus Campbell Road
  • Abbotsford, BC V3G 2M3

Please mark the envelope/container: “BEES”