Dr. Albert J. Robertson

Albert operates a family farm, Meadow Ridge Enterprises LTD, east of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. The farm is involved in honey production, cereal grain, pulses, oilseed and seed potato production (3300 acres). They have about 150 purebred Black Angus cows from which they raise bulls and replacement heifers using fix timed A.I.. He started keeping honey bees in 1975 and honey bee breeding in 1992. He currently operates approximately 1400 colonies for honey production, raises 600 to 700 nucs as well as about 2000 Saskatraz queens for sale each year. Albert set up the Saskatraz project in 2005 in collaboration with Saskatchewan and Manitoba beekeepers. He has also been employed at the University of Saskatchewan for 30 years doing research in molecular genetics and molecular biology. He obtained an M.Sc. at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Saskatchewan and University of Alberta. Albert has published over 100 scientific articles and is the inventor of several patents. He has also supervised and supported a number of graduate students.

I became interested in bee biology after keeping bees for a few years. I read a lot of books and scientific articles on bees and learned to work with bees by experience. Honey bee colonies were my mentors. Our Saskatraz breeding program has been supported by stock sales but I have collaborated with U. of S. researchers to perform molecular work on honey bees since about 2007. We have worked in departments with the necessary equipment and technical expertise, including interested students, to carry out gene expression and toxicology work. Details of these collaborations and resulting scientific publications can be found on our website at www.saskatraz.com.