Alberta researcher pitches Australian-made beehives as new alternative for Canadian beekeepers

Eli Ridder · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 01, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: November 1

A maestro beekeeper successful Alberta is putting an insulated hive to the trial helium says could assistance a struggling Canadian industry.

Sheldon Hill, who works arsenic an pedagogue 3 hours southeast of Calgary, says an Australian-made merchandise could assistance alteration the beekeeping game.

“The sensor information is telling maine that the bees are easy capable to modulate the country wrong their hive overmuch much efficiently,” Hill told CBC News. 

He has recovered that the insulated hive results successful a stronger buildup and accrued chromatic accumulation — but it could beryllium a hard merchantability for an manufacture that often avoids specified large changes. 

Sheldon Hill is comparing an insulated HiveIQ beehive with a accepted woody hive for a year. (Sheldon Hill)

Hill was a commercialized apiarist for 3 decades successful Porcupine Plain, Sask., moving for a household of generational beekeepers.

He precocious near large-scale beekeeping down to instrumentality connected a caller relation arsenic an pedagogue and researcher with the Prairie Rose School Division successful southeast Alberta.

Through a concern with Medicine Hat College’s Centre for Innovation, Hill is moving a year-long trial comparing a HiveIQ setup adjacent to a accepted woody hive astatine a Neubauer Farms spot astir 5 minutes extracurricular Medicine Hat.

His aviator task started successful May during the outpouring buildup and continued into the all-important summertime chromatic producing period.

While Hill cautioned that large-scale probe volition inactive beryllium required, helium said the anticipation is that beekeepers, often wary of metallic bullets, volition beryllium unfastened to the innovative imaginable of insulated hives.

Sheldon Hill is investigating an insulated HiveIQ beehive from May 2025 to May 2026. He says results truthful acold amusement a 70-per cent summation successful chromatic accumulation compared to a accepted woody hive. (Sheldon Hill)

“I'm truly trying to alteration the minds of the manufacture due to the fact that close present a batch of producers don't deliberation overmuch of this concept,” helium said. 

For implicit a period beekeepers crossed the satellite person relied connected a strategy of stackable woody boxes known arsenic the Langstroth hive. 

In 2011, third-generation beekeeper Victor Croker started processing an insulated solution made retired of polystyrene to combat the Australian outback’s utmost heat.

Over a decennary later, Croker’s HiveIQ is present being sold astir the satellite — and tested successful Alberta by Hill. 

While galore Canadians whitethorn deliberation of insulation arsenic a mode to support thing lukewarm successful the winter, HiveIQ wanted to support bees chill with the aforesaid method. 

“The thermodynamics works some ways successful a beehive,” said Robert McBain, who sold Hill the HiveIQ from his Worker and Hive Bee Supply shop.

WATCH | This beekeeper successful Atlantic Canada mislaid astir each his hives to clime change:

Bees request their hives astatine an optimal somesthesia — implicit 30 C depending connected the play — and the insulated attack tin assistance bees modulate the somesthesia successful some summertime and winter.

Those conditions are important peculiarly during the outpouring erstwhile bee colonies are gathering up for the summertime chromatic accumulation period. 

Nathan Reid, North American operations manager for HiveIQ, said Hill’s enactment is important to get the shot rolling successful Western Canada. 

“I would alternatively a beekeeper perceive from different beekeeper alternatively than perceive from me,” Reid said. 

‘Already invested excessively much’

While insulated hives person existed for a agelong time, respective Alberta beekeepers who spoke to CBC News accidental it hasn’t been wide adopted due to the fact that of associated costs and the tendency to instrumentality to accepted methods passed down done generations.

Lance Dubeau, a 4th procreation beekeeper successful St. Lina, Alta., says his instrumentality has been passed down done his household for decades. 

“We’ve been utilizing the aforesaid container framework and pallet strategy since my large grandpa started beekeeping,” said Dubeau, who besides a manager connected the Alberta Beekeepers Commission board.

A caller woody hive tin outgo the Dubeau workplace astir $60, helium explained, portion HiveIQ models tin beryllium hundreds of dollars more. 

“So it would beryllium beauteous hard to person america commercialized guys to tally it astatine scale,” Dubo said. 

“But, I deliberation it's a large thought and I emotion proceeding astir caller opportunities and a caller task being done successful manufacture due to the fact that it is benignant of a dying industry."

A modulation could beryllium tricky for hobbyists, too. 

Steven and Simone Dold, of S2 Apiary successful Bearberry, Alta., started with 1 hive successful 2017 and person since expanded to implicit 40. 

“We’re traditionalists. We usage wood frames, we usage wood boxes, each of our instrumentality is woodenware,” Simone said.

She explained that to regenerate each their cogwheel with new, costly hives wouldn’t marque consciousness financially. 

Wooden boxes, added Steven, are flexible successful the mode polystyrene isn’t due to the fact that the beekeepers tin premix and lucifer instrumentality to prevention costs.

“I don’t caput cutting a spread successful our woody boxes, I tin woody with it,” helium said. 

“But I wouldn’t privation to commencement cutting holes and modifying each the styrene equipment.”

However, the Dolds told CBC News they mightiness counsel rookie beekeepers differently. 

“If somebody’s conscionable starting out, absolutely. If they look astatine 2 antithetic hive bodies and 1 has amended insulating capabilities, that mightiness beryllium the mode to go,” said Simone.

“But for us, we’ve already invested excessively overmuch successful what we have.”

Hill acknowledged it volition instrumentality clip to alteration the minds of the Canadian beekeeping manufacture but added a made-in-Canada solution could perchance velocity it along.

Canadian beekeepers look different challenges beyond clime change, including a changeless combat to fend disconnected varroa mites. Jorge E. Macias-Samano, a probe idiosyncratic astatine Simon Fraser University, changes a varroa mite trap successful a beehive astatine an experimental apiary, successful Surrey, B.C., connected Aug. 31, 2022. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

“I’m truly trying to alteration possibly the thoughts of however radical are doing things, oregon possibly the instrumentality they’re going to physique successful the future,” helium said. 

“Or is determination an accidental for a merchandise that’s conscionable much situated towards a Canadian market?”

For now, Hill plans to stock his findings wide erstwhile his survey is afloat implicit adjacent May.