In Canada, the harsh cold climate poses challenges for beekeepers, as highlighted in a recent report by the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, which revealed a significant 41% failure rate among honeybee colonies in Alberta during the winter of 2025.
Addressing this issue, Beekeeping Innovations Ltd., based in the Calgary area, has introduced an innovative solution known as the Bee Cube. This apiary features a fully climate-controlled environment that can accommodate multiple honeybee colonies and was specifically designed in Okotoks.
Herman Van Reekum, the company’s founder and CEO, emphasized the primary objective of providing bees with a comfortable environment to survive the winter successfully. Moreover, the Bee Cube offers a unique opportunity to revolutionize Canada’s beekeeping industry by focusing on queen bee production in a safe and cost-effective manner.
Van Reekum emphasized the significance of producing queens locally to reduce the dependence on importing foreign queen bees, which currently amounts to around 300,000 annually from countries like Australia, New Zealand, California, and Hawaii. Imported bees not only struggle to adapt to the local environment but also pose a risk of introducing harmful pests such as varroa mites, which have had devastating effects on honeybee populations globally.
Highlighting the potential threat of the Tropilaelaps mite, Van Reekum stressed the importance of avoiding the importation of foreign bees to protect North American colonies. By establishing a domestic source of queens, beekeepers can mitigate mite infections and potentially develop bees with genetic resilience to withstand Canadian winter conditions.
The process of queen bee production involves selecting a larva, feeding it royal jelly to trigger its development into a queen bee, and ensuring its successful mating with drone bees to start laying eggs and establishing new colonies. Van Reekum emphasized the importance of queens that have survived Canadian winters passing on strong genes to future generations for hive sustainability.
With Alberta being Canada’s leading honey producer, housing nearly 40% of the country’s bee colonies, the province plays a crucial role in the national honey industry. The 2025 honey harvest in Canada was valued at $241 million, underscoring the economic significance of beekeeping beyond honey production through vital pollination services that contribute significantly to agricultural output.
In essence, beekeepers like Van Reekum emphasize the essential role of honeybees in pollinating crops, supporting agriculture, and ensuring the availability of diverse food sources that are fundamental to our daily consumption.
