Bee Vectoring Technologies Launches First Cranberry Trials

Mississauga, Ontario and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - May 20, 2020) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. BEE BEVVF BEE (the "Company" or "BVT")  today announced it will conduct trials of BVT's natural precision agriculture system on cranberries in Massachusetts and New Jersey , two major cranberry growing regions. This represents an expansion of BVT into a new crop on the heels of its successful commercialization of their product in the strawberry and blueberry markets.

The trials will be conducted in collaboration with leading cranberry researchers at the University of Massachusetts and New Jersey's Rutgers University on fields from growers who are part of a major US farmer-owned cranberry cooperative. The Company is also in discussions with US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists based in Wisconsin who are interested in following the work in both Massachusetts and New Jersey.

An estimated 98% of global cranberry production comes from North America, with approximately 41,500 acres⁽¹⁾ and 18,000 acres⁽²⁾ cultivated across the US and Canada, respectively, on vast commercial cranberry farms in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Florida, British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario and other parts of Canada. The US is the world's top cranberry producer, with a US$292 million⁽⁴⁾ industry that harvests more than 905 million⁽³⁾ pounds of the fruit each year.

Cranberry growers constantly battle fruit rot, which is caused by different fungal pathogens, and are increasingly looking for new tools to fight these pathogens as chemical fungicides are being banned or becoming less effective due to resistance development. The trials will begin in late June and will evaluate the efficacy of BVT's proprietary Clonostachys rosea CR-7 beneficial biological fungicide in improving cranberry crop health and mitigating fruit rot.

As a biological (a natural pesticide alternative), CR-7 is the right tool at the right time for cranberry growers to utilize in addressing these significant concerns. CR-7 has received a residue tolerance exemption from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which confirms that products with CR-7 are safe for human consumption. Unlike many chemical pesticides, there is no requirement to test crops for residual CR-7, eliminating the grower's risk of crops being rejected, especially in export markets. This is a significant competitive advantage for growers using CR-7 products.

"BVT has been successful in establishing itself in the strawberry and blueberry markets. Cranberries are our next big crop opportunity in America, where we have EPA approval for commercial operations," says Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. "The farmer-owned cooperative involved with these trials is especially interested in the results since the BVT system aligns closely with their commitment to sustainable agriculture."

BVT's natural precision agriculture system delivers the biological pesticide alternative CR-7 directly to crop blooms via commercially grown bees. This means growers use a fraction of the crop protection product required with traditional spray applications. Water consumption and use of fossil fuels is also significantly reduced.

^{(1) (3) (4)} Source: 2016 and 2017. USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

⁽²⁾ Source: Fruit & Vegetable, https://www.fruitandveggie.com/stats-canada-reports-growing-blueberry-cranberry-and-field-vegetable-acres-20130/

About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.

BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT's award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides - and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide, and has US EPA registration of its VECTORITE™ with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops.

Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter.

Contact:
Ashish Malik, President & CEO
info@beevt.com

Babak Pedram, Investor Relations
Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-995-8651
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres of strawberries in Florida, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated May 29, 2015, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

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