Dr. Muhammad Fahim Raza | 2026 Summer Update
Dr. Muhammad Fahim Raza, the BC-TTP's Technician in Apicultural Research, has had a full year already. In the past two and a half months alone, Fahim has visited 3 agricultural regions of British Columbia for testing and sample collection visiting 22 beekeeping operations, collaborating with 30 beekeepers, opening over 600 hives, and collecting 255 samples for various ongoing research projects. His travels so far have taken him to Kelowna, Kamloops, Merritt, Victoria, Qualicum beach, Coombs, Comox, the Sunshine Coast, Aldergrove, Ladner, Mission, Surrey, Burnaby, and more. Through the months of April and May, he also taught several in-person workshops and online presentations.
Currently, the BC-TTP is involved in five projects:
American foulbrood surveillance and antimicrobial susceptibility tests from BC isolates
European foulbrood surveillance from adult bee samples collected from the Lower Mainland
Hygienic testing in hives across BC
Overwintering Nucs in collaboration with Dr. Leonard Foster’s lab from the University of British Columbia
Varroa mite monitoring and testing new synthetic chemicals in collaboration with Dr. Erika Plettner from Simon Fraser University
The 255 samples mentioned above were collected for three projects: American foulbrood and European foulbrood surveillance programs, and hygienic testing. Of these samples, 40 needing immediate attention have been processed, and it will take approximately one year to complete all of them. We are very grateful for the many labs we are able to collaborate with to make sample processing possible including Dr. Leonard Foster’s lab at the University of British Columbia, Erika Plettner’s lab at Simon Fraser University, and the Applied Genomics Centre in Paul Adam’s lab at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Additionally, we greatly appreciate the external support we receive from Dr. Nuria Morfin at the University of Manitoba, the Knowledge & Research Transfer Program from the Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association, Dr. Sarah Wood from the University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. Abigal Chapman, BC’s Provincial Apiculturist.
On top of field work and sample processing, Fahim has been mentoring our summer research intern, Sumedha Sharma, and will be welcoming a new fall intern in September who will be helping primarily with lab work. For the remainder of the summer, Fahim will be completing any remaining sampling that is still needed and set up standard operating procedures for the processing of these samples that will take place in the fall at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Come the fall, Fahim’s priorities will shift to more long-term goals, including finding new partners to collaborate with to expand our ongoing disease surveillance programs. Additionally, he hopes to establish and ensure the validation and reproducibility of improved bacterial disease diagnostic techniques in the lab, publish the generated data in open-access scientific journals, and to apply for research funding grants to secure the TTP's future in combatting BC beekeepers’ ongoing concerns.
The BC-TTP is so grateful for Fahim’s expertise, dedication to his research, and passion for serving BC’s beekeeping community.
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