In an extraordinary legal battle that has the provincial beekeeping community buzzing, Saskatchewan apiarist Martin Weatherby has secured a landmark victory against Prairie Shield Insurance after a three-year dispute over colony collapse compensation. The Regina Court of Queen’s Bench ruled unanimously in favor of Weatherby last Tuesday, potentially setting a precedent for agricultural insurance claims across the province.
“They told me to essentially buzz off when my entire livelihood was at stake,” said Weatherby, whose family has maintained honey production in the Yorkton area for three generations. “But the evidence was clear—the colony collapse wasn’t due to negligence but to the unexpected temperature fluctuations that our insurance explicitly covered.”
The dispute began in summer 2022 when Weatherby lost 60% of his bee colonies following an unprecedented heat dome that settled over the Canadian prairies. Prairie Shield Insurance initially denied his $78,000 claim, arguing that “insufficient protective measures” had been implemented—despite Weatherby’s extensive documentation of following all recommended provincial protocols for extreme weather conditions.
The court’s 42-page decision, authored by Justice Elaine Zaychuk, specifically cited the insurance company’s “unreasonable interpretation” of the policy’s extreme weather clause and “failure to adequately consider” expert testimony from the Saskatchewan Agricultural Department regarding the unexpected nature of the temperature event.
“This ruling demonstrates that insurance providers must honor their commitments to agricultural producers facing increasingly unpredictable climate conditions,” explained Regina-based agricultural law specialist Terrence McKnight. “What’s particularly significant is that the court recognized beekeeping as deserving the same insurance protections as traditional crop farming.”
The Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission, which represents over 100 commercial honey producers across the province, has praised the ruling as “vital protection” for an industry that contributes approximately $244 million annually to the provincial economy while providing essential pollination services to canola and other agricultural sectors.
Prairie Shield Insurance spokesman Derek Lowenthal stated the company is “reviewing the judgment carefully” and considering its options, but industry analysts suggest the ruling could prompt insurance providers throughout Western Canada to reevaluate their policies regarding climate-related agricultural losses.
For Weatherby, who has already begun rebuilding his honey operation, the victory is bittersweet. “The compensation helps, but we’ve lost nearly three years of productivity and breeding lines that took decades to develop,” he noted while inspecting new hives at his eastern Saskatchewan property. “The real question now is whether insurance companies will proactively adapt their policies to our changing climate, or will more producers need to fight through the courts for protection they’ve already paid for?”
As extreme weather events become increasingly common across the Canadian prairies, will this ruling mark a turning point in how agricultural insurance addresses the realities of climate change for small-scale producers?
