An organic solution to the serious threat that mite infestation poses to North American honeybees has won a Bahá’í farmer the Premier of Ontario’s inaugural award for agricultural innovation.
David VanderDussen, of Stirling, Ontario, received the very first Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence from Premier Dalton McGuinty and Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs Leona Dombrowsky in a ceremony that took place at Queen’s Park on 8 March 2007.
The award recognizes, in particular, VanderDussen’s development of a product called Mite-Away II, which is designed to defend honeybees against varroa mite infestations. The varroa mite has been a stubborn threat to honeybees in recent years, and Mite-Away II treats the problem in an environmentally friendly way. The product is now widely used across North America.
VanderDussen has been a Bahá’í all of his adult life. Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, said that “Special regard must be paid to agriculture,” noting that it is “conducive to the advancement of mankind and to the reconstruction of the world.”1
For more information about the award, please visit the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs’ website here.