Features

Hayley Tompkins, environmental sciences student, is improving life through conservation efforts that support pollination and food production.

Our friends in the USA are celebrating National Dairy Month, in honour of this, we wanted to celebrate too by featuring some alumni who work in the dairy industry.

Our friends in the USA are celebrating National Dairy Month, in honour of this we wanted to celebrate too by featuring some alumni who work in the dairy industry.

Daniel MacKinnon
Brewmaster and Co-Owner, MacKinnon Brothers Brewing Company
B.Sc. Agr. 2006, M.Sc.

The University of Guelph’s George III cannon named “Old Jeremiah” has been a fixture on campus since the 1880s when it was acquired by the Ontario Agricultural College and placed in front of Johnston Hall. It has moved around campus many times, but for a couple of years in the mid- 1950s it disappeared.

What do marketing students and food science students have in common? While their majors may indicate that they have very different interests, the University of Guelph’s Product Development Management course is teaching students how to use these differences to their advantage through collaborative learning.  

Pollination, the transfer of pollen from the male component of a plant to the female, is arguably the most important ecosystem service. When pollination is successful it results in fertilization and the development of a fruit, nut or seed.

“People should know that one third of the food we eat is related directly to the pollination services of bees,” says Ernesto Guzman, environmental sciences professor and Pinchin Family Chair in Bee Health. “If we don’t keep a healthy, strong abundance of bees, it is going to be difficult to produce these products.”

The beloved honey bee is known nation-wide for its contribution to pollination and production of honey. In recent years, honey bees have also been a big buzz topic in the media, with reports that bees are dying at an alarming rate. Is the story being sensationalised? How alarmed should we be? Why are they dying? How can humans help?

The goal of this article is to provide a quick timeline of the issues, highlighting areas of controversy and elaborating on some of the main stressors that bees face today. 

A recent survey was conducted by Friends of the Earth, asking 2,000 Canadians a handful of questions about honey bees and their wild relatives. The question “How concerned are you about the health of honey bees and the conservation of wild, native bees in Canada?” showed that 68 percent of the people surveyed were either concerned or very concerned about the health of Canada’s bees.

The television show Portlandia has a popular skit where two characters ask a server detailed questions about the chicken on the menu. What did the chicken eat? Is it local? Organic? Did it have friends? Was it happy? The server presents a folder of information on “Colin the chicken”.

Interestingly enough, animal biosciences professor Dominique Bureau says that technology isn’t far off from providing this level of detailed information on individual animals.