Buzzing with Success: Rearing Queens in the Bee Cube®!

This summer, we've been absolutely thrilled with the success of our queen rearing operation right inside one of our Bee Cubes®. It's been an incredibly effective platform, and we owe a huge part of this success to the dedicated husband-and-wife team, Natalia and Nazar Pukshyn, from Ukraine.

Natalia and Nazar bring a wealth of experience to our team. Nazar, a veterinarian in Ukraine, and Natalia worked together as commercial beekeepers in both Ukraine and Poland, even managing a queen-rearing operation before joining us in Canada. Their expertise has been invaluable!

The Bee Cube®: A Royal Nursery

The Bee Cube® has proven to be an ideal environment for nurturing our future queens. With eight hives housed inside, we can maintain the perfect conditions for the queen larvae to mature. The comfortable and dry interior of the Bee Cube® also features a dedicated desk, providing Natalia with an excellent space for grafting. Nazar has even been able to utilize the desk for some of his artificial insemination work. No matter the weather outside, the temperature inside the Bee Cube® is always just right for our Queens.

Your Source for Healthy New Queens

We're excited to announce that we'll have a continuous supply of marked queens available throughout the summer!

• Virgin Queens: $15

• Mated Queens: $50

In addition to our queens, we're also building nucs with our queens for both our own use and for sale to the public. Our nucs are available for $350.

Purchase Now

---

Why Introduce a New Queen Now?

As the season progresses, you might be wondering why now is a good time to consider a new queen. Here are a few compelling reasons:

• Replace a Failing Queen: By this point in the season, you'll have a clear understanding of your colonies' health. As you begin to prepare for winter, replacing an underperforming or failing queen can significantly boost your colony's chances of survival.

• Create a Support Colony: Nazar has introduced us to an intriguing concept: using a nuc to support a main colony as a strategic way to prepare for winter. We'll be diving deeper into this fascinating process in a future blog post!

• Overwinter Nucs: It's entirely possible to successfully overwinter nucs, especially those with a strong, new queen. This can be a great way to expand your apiary for the following season.

  
  

Marking of the Queen

The First Bee Cube® Queen Emerges

Ready to introduce a vibrant new queen to your apiary or add a strong new nuc?

You can purchase our Queens and nucs directly through our website at beecube.io or by calling Herman at (403) 616-9208.

Buzzing with Innovation: How Our Partnership is Transforming Honeybee Health

Have you ever wondered what's happening inside a beehive? We have, and we're doing something about it.

A Match Made in Honey Heaven

When we, at Beekeeping Innovations Ltd., (let's just call ourselves BIL from here on out) first connected with the brilliant minds at the University of Lethbridge's Neurology Department last year, we knew something special was brewing. It wasn't just another business partnership – it was the beginning of a journey that could change how we care for one of our planet's most important creatures: honeybees.

The connection came through Canada's National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) – a bit of a mouthful, I know, but these folks are matchmakers for innovation. And what a match they made!

Photo Credits: Bidzina Mosiahvili

From Brain Science to Bee Science

Here's what makes this collaboration so fascinating: the U of L team wasn't originally focused on bees at all. They're experts in sensor-based animal health monitoring who are now bringing their technological wizardry to the humble honeybee. Talk about a career pivot!

Led by the incredible Dr. Hardeep Ryait and managed by Brendon Penner, the "Hub" team at U of L has essentially become our dedicated research squad. They've set up shop in the university's Science Commons Building where four talented students are designing and building advanced sensor systems that will revolutionize beekeeping.

Enter the Bee Cube®

Remember when beehives were just wooden boxes? Those days are numbered.

Our Bee Cube® is a next-generation hive equipped with cutting-edge sensor technology. Thanks to funding from IRAP we're on track to deploy twenty-five test systems in five Bee Cubes® by June 2025.

But wait – there's more!

Be the Bee™ (Literally)

The most exciting part of this project is what we're calling the Be the Bee™ Management System. Imagine having a window into the secret life of your honeybees, where sensor data combines with your own observations (easily captured via your smartphone) to create a comprehensive health monitoring system for your hives.

This isn't just a cool feature – it's going to be the heart of our Bee Cubes® and available as a standalone solution for beekeepers everywhere. Looking ahead, we're working on voice interaction and AI-powered insights that will help beekeepers stay one step ahead of potential health issues. It's like having a bee whisperer in your pocket!

Why This Matters

We could talk about revenue projections and market share all day (and our investors probably wish we would), but here's the truth: what drives us is creating solutions for one of the most critical challenges facing our food systems and ecosystems.

Honeybees are responsible for pollinating approximately one-third of the food we eat. Their decline isn't just a problem for honey lovers – it's a global crisis waiting to happen. By combining cutting-edge technology with practical solutions for beekeepers, we're working to ensure these incredible creatures continue to thrive.

Join the Hive Mind

Whether you're a beekeeper looking for better ways to care for your colonies, an environmentalist concerned about pollinator health, or an investor interested in supporting sustainable innovation, we invite you to follow our journey.

The future of beekeeping is being written right now, and it's looking brighter than ever.

Stay tuned for updates on our Bee Cube® deployments and the Canadian launch of Be the Bee™ Management System. The buzz is just beginning!

---

About Beekeeping Innovations Ltd (BIL).: We're a Canadian company at the intersection of technology and apiculture, dedicated to developing sustainable solutions for honeybee health and management. Through strategic partnerships and innovative technologies, we're working to secure the future of these essential pollinators.

Addressing the Honeybee Challenge in North America

Bee Cube® Bees

A significant shift is occurring in the United States beekeeping industry, with reports indicating a loss of approximately 1.6 million honeybee hives. This development has important implications for agricultural systems and natural ecosystems that rely on these valuable pollinators.

The honeybee situation stems from several interconnected factors working in combination:

• Pesticide Exposure: Research suggests that certain agricultural chemicals, including neonicotinoids, may affect bee navigation, foraging behaviour, and colony health. Even low-level exposure can potentially reduce resilience to other environmental challenges.

• Climate Factors: Changing weather patterns and seasonal shifts can affect the timing between bee activity and flowering plants, creating nutritional challenges for colonies as they adapt to new conditions.

• Commercial Pollination Demands: The essential practice of moving bee colonies to support crop pollination across different regions creates additional adaptation requirements for colonies as they encounter varied environments.

• Parasites and Pathogens: Varroa mites remain a significant management challenge, as these parasites can weaken colonies and transmit various viruses that affect bee health.

While seasonal colony fluctuations are a normal part of beekeeping, the scale of the current losses presents an opportunity to examine and improve honeybee management practices. With proactive approaches to these challenges, beekeepers can work toward more stable population trends in coming seasons.

Canadian beekeeping operations face similar considerations, with regional variations based on local agricultural practices, climate conditions, and pest management approaches. Collaboration between U.S. and Canadian beekeeping communities offers valuable opportunities for knowledge sharing and coordinated response strategies.

At Bee Cube®, we're focusing on positive, forward-looking solutions to strengthen honeybee populations. By combining innovative technology with refined beekeeping methods, we're helping create conditions where bee colonies can flourish. Our data-driven approaches support better hive health monitoring, enhanced disease management, and development of more resilient bee populations.

The relationship between honeybees and our food systems highlights the importance of collaborative efforts to support these essential pollinators. With continued research, sustainable practices, and innovative approaches like those developed at Bee Cube®, we can create a resilient future where honeybees continue their vital role in our agricultural systems and natural environments.