Alberta researcher introduces Australian-made beehives as new option for Canadian beekeepers
A master beekeeper in Alberta is testing an insulated hive he says could help the struggling Canadian industry.
Sheldon Hill, who works as a teacher three hours southeast of Calgary, says an Australian-made product could help change the beekeeping game.
“The sensor data is telling me that the bees are able to control the area inside their hive more efficiently,” Hill told CBC News.
They have found that insulated hives result in stronger construction and increased honey production – but that may be a tough sell for an industry that often avoids such major changes.
Hill was a commercial beekeeper in Porcupine Plain, Sask., for three decades, working for a family of intergenerational beekeepers.
He recently gave up large-scale beekeeping to take up a new role as an educator and researcher Prairie Rose School Division In southeast Alberta.
through partnership with Medicine Hat College’s Center for InnovationHill is running a one-year trial comparing the HiveIQ setup next to a traditional wooden hive Neubauer Farm Property approximately five minutes outside of Medicine Hat.
Their pilot project began in May during spring production and continued through the most critical period of summer honey production.
While Hill cautioned that large-scale research will still be needed, he said the hope is that beekeepers, who are often wary of silver bullets, will remain open to the innovative potential of insulated hives.
“I’m really trying to change the mindset of the industry because a lot of manufacturers right now don’t think much about this concept,” he said.
For more than a century, beekeepers around the world have relied on a system of stackable wooden boxes known as the Langstroth hive.
In 2011, third-generation beekeeper Victor Crocker began developing an insulating solution made of polystyrene to deal with the extreme heat of the Australian outback.
More than a decade later, Crocker’s HiveIQ Now being sold worldwide – and tested in Alberta by Hill.
While many Canadians may think of insulation as a way to keep something warm in the winter, HiveIQ wanted to keep bees cool using the same method.
“The thermodynamics in the beehive work both ways,” said Robert McBain, who sells Hill the HiveIQ. Worker and Hive Bee Supply Store,
Commercial beekeeper Nathan Mutch of Halcomb Honey & Hives near Miramichi has lost $50,000 after losing 99 percent of his bees this spring.
Bees require an optimal temperature for their hive – upwards of 30 C depending on the season – and the insulated approach can help bees control the temperature in both summer and winter.
Those conditions are especially important during the spring when bee colonies are forming for the summer honey production period.
Nathan Reid, HiveIQ’s North American operations manager, said Hill’s work is important to moving the ball forward in Western Canada.
“I would rather have a beekeeper hear from another beekeeper than hear from me,” Reed said.
‘A lot has already been invested’
While insulated hives have long been in existence, several Alberta beekeepers who spoke to CBC News say it has not been widely adopted due to the associated costs and a desire to stick to traditional methods that have been passed down for generations.
lance dubeauThe fourth-generation beekeeper in St. Lena, Alta., says his equipment has been passed down through his family for decades.
“We’ve been using the same box frame and pallet system since my great-grandfather started beekeeping,” said Dubeau, who is also a director Alberta Beekeepers Commission Board,
A new wooden hive can cost about $60 at Dubuque Farms, he said. HiveIQ models can cost hundreds of dollars more,
“So it’s going to be very difficult for us to convince commercial people to run it on a larger scale,” Dubow said.
“But, I think it’s a good idea and I love hearing about new opportunities and new projects in the industry because it’s kind of a dying industry.”
A transition can prove difficult, even for hobbyists.
steven and simone doldS2 Apiary in Bearberry, Alta. started with one hive in 2017 and has since expanded to more than 40.
“We’re traditionalists. We use wooden frames, we use wooden boxes, all our equipment is wooden utensils,” Simone said.
He explained that it would not make economic sense to replace all of their equipment with new, expensive hives.
Wooden boxes are not as flexible as polystyrene ones because beekeepers can mix and match equipment to save costs, Stevens said.
“I don’t mind drilling holes in our wooden boxes, I can deal with it,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t want to start cutting holes and modifying all the styrene devices.”
However, Dolds told CBC News he might advise novice beekeepers differently.
“If someone is just starting out, absolutely. If they look at two different hive bodies and one of them has better insulation capabilities, that might be the way to go,” Simon said.
“But for us, we’ve already invested a lot in what we have.”
Hill acknowledged that it will take time to change the mindset of the Canadian beekeeping industry, but a made-in-Canadian solution could potentially accelerate it.
“I’m really trying to maybe change the ideas of how people are doing things, or maybe the tools that they’re going to create in the future,” he said.
“Or is there an opportunity for a product that is more geared toward the Canadian market?”
For now, Hill plans to share his findings widely when his study is fully completed next May.
