University of Guelph opens new Honey Bee Research Centre to expand pollinator research

The University of Guelph is celebrating the opening of a new facility. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte has the buzz.

The University of Guelph has opened a new state-of-the-art research facility, marking the next chapter in honeybee research and education at the school.

University officials, researchers and supporters gathered Thursday to celebrate the opening of the Luckevich Pinchin Honey Bee Research Centre, dedicated to honeybee health, increasing educational opportunities and supporting Canada’s beekeeping industry.

“It’s an extension of our 130 years of doing work on apiculture science and supporting honeybee health and pollinator health,” said John Cranfield, dean of the Ontario Agricultural College.

The new facility replaces the bungalow that had housed the Honey Bee Research Centre for decades.

“Our lab was a bedroom. Our living room was our classroom,” explained Paul Kelly, a research and apiary manager at the centre.

The expanded building includes specialized research laboratories, classrooms, workshops, bee breeding facilities, honey extraction and processing areas, as well as pollinator gardens.

Cranfield said researchers played a key role in the planning process to ensure the space met their unique needs.

“It’s a 15,000-square-foot research facility that was designed with intention in mind.”

The centre includes specialized incubation rooms that allow researchers to recreate the conditions inside a beehive.

The facility will also be used to study honeybee behaviour, genetics, diseases and hive health, while developing strategies to help bees survive the threats posed by pests, disease and climate change.

While honey production is often the first thing people associate with beekeeping, Kelly said the insects’ greatest contribution is pollination.

“In Canada, honeybees contribute $7 billion to the economy annually. A third of the food we eat benefits from bee pollination. Eighty per cent of that pollination is done by honeybee colonies.”

The new facility will also make it possible to increase the number of managed colonies onsite. The centre currently oversees about 320 colonies, but they hope to expand that number to 700.

“That will give us greater opportunities for collaboration and doing research on a larger scale,” Kelly said.

The University of Guelph’s honeybee program dates back to 1894 and is considered one of the leading centres for honeybee research and education in North America.

The public can tour the new facility on Friday, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

As threats to pollinator populations continue to grow, university researchers say their new hive of innovation will be at the forefront of efforts to protect honeybees and the agricultural systems that depend on them.