Researching sweet winter solutions for honeybees

Five experimental beehives are buried under a foot of snow near the top of Science North. There are no familiar sounds of buzzing, but the data these bugs are gathering might help other hives survive future northern Ontario winters.

The man behind this experiment is Otto Rost, a past president of the Sudbury and District Beekeepers Association and a hobby beekeeper for more than 30 years. He says although honeybees aren't native to the area, they're incredibly important to our ecosystems. That's why he's teaming up with Science North to find ways of keeping bees warm — and alive — in the winter.

"I figured that by changing the ventilation pattern in the boxes, that would help reduce heat loss," Rost says. "The other idea is using different types of insulating layers."

'We're doing this blind'

The hives are hooked up to temperature probes in Science North's outdoor apiary. These probes measure the inner temperature of the hives while another sits outside, gauging the outdoor temperature. Rost and Science North staff scientist Meghan Mitchell have been keeping an eye on the numbers since early autumn. Come spring, they'll compare the temperatures from inside the hives to each other and the outdoor temperature. From this, the two can see which modifications keep the hives the warmest.

"One of the main challenges is the cold itself, and making sure the equipment is usable in the colder weather," Mitchell says. "Also, because we can't open the hives and look inside to see what's happening, we're just doing this blind — we don't really know what's going to happen, which is the exciting part."

Early findings

The two have already seen differences in the way the hives react to cold weather.

One of the hives has fewer bees and was registering at colder temperatures early on in the experiment. But now, that hive is giving off one of the highest readings.

"In your brain, you're thinking they're good, nice and warm. But it's only because they're at the top of the hive where the temperature probe is," Mitchell says. "Normally at this time of year, the bees would still be in the bottom, eating the food stores moving upward. This hive is weaker, they're not as strong. So they're all right at the top."

Essential to the ecosystem

Because the winter season only happens once a year, it could take a long time to pinpoint the most successful modification. But Mitchell says the final work will have a big impact on local hobby beekeepers all year long.

"Bees are so important to the ecosystem and for pollination," Mitchell says. "This kind of project is going to give us an idea of how to take care of them on a smaller scale, so hobby beekeepers in northern Ontario will be able to better care for their hives."