Bee Vectoring Technologies sees strong endorsement from Georgia blueberry growers after exceptional preliminary results

Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (the “Company” or “BVT”) (TSXV: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE:BEE) announced on Tuesday that, with Georgia’s blueberry blooming period now complete, growers in the region using the Company’s proprietary crop protection system have reported notably-high fruit set and low fruit drop, both typical early indicators of a successful, high-yield harvest.

“BVT continues to positively impact our blueberry operations. We had very high fruit set despite poor weather conditions at times. 2020 will definitely be the highest production year for us and we will continue to use BVT for years to come,” said Winn Morgan, Co-founder of Major League Blueberries (MLB) and a leading blueberry expert.

“This was our first experience with the BVT system, and we are very pleased with what we saw,” said John Bennett of Alma Sunbelt Blueberries, a leading Georgia blueberry grower who farms 355 acres of highbush and rabbiteye. “We are encouraged with the results on our highbush farm and we are going to use the BVT system next year.”

“We are hearing from growers like MLB and Alma Sunbelt that BVT’s natural precision agriculture system is mitigating the long-standing issue of early fruit drop in highbush blueberries,” said Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. “More berries making it to maturity mean higher yields. Feedback from growers who used our system on a combined 750 acres this season has been extremely positive and clearly associated the high fruit set they have seen with use of the BVT system.”

In conventional commercial crops, growers traditionally control disease with chemical pesticide sprays. Now they are adding BVT’s natural, 100% organic, precision agriculture system, which uses biological pesticide alternatives delivered directly to blueberry flowers by commercially grown bees. This is improving yields, protecting against disease and reducing the use of water and fossil fuels, all while using a fraction of the product required with traditional spray applications.

“The Georgia growers who piloted our system this season farm on a combined total of about 3,000 acres,” said Mr. Malik. “Most are first-time users, and based on this initial success, we anticipate they’ll progressively add BVT across their entire operations over the next two to three seasons.”

Up next for BVT is the berry season in the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest and Southeastern regions of the US have a combined 60,000⁽¹⁾ acres of cultivated highbush blueberries, representing two-thirds of the 90,000⁽²⁾ acre US market. With the blooming period in Georgia now complete, harvesting will occur through May and into June. Right now, the blooming period has just started in Oregon, and in Washington state it starts in early May. Yield reports will be compiled after harvesting closes for each region, as the growing season progresses geographically across the US.

^{(1) (2)} Source: USDA, 2018 Agricultural Statistics Annual