BUZZING WITH INNOVATION
Saskatchewan Polytechnic's bee research projects promise a sweeter future

When bees thrive, we all thrive. Perhaps that's why bee people the apiculturists and researchers who track and study the species are so passionate on the subject. Two such experts are currently collaborating with Saskatchewan Polytechnic to work on bee-related applied research projects. Entirely different in focus, both projects have great potential to benefit bees and beekeepers, and to support a multi-million-dollar industry in Saskatchewan.

Image Credit: Saskatchewan Polytechnic

 

The province's bee industry includes roughly 1,300 beekeepers who tend 100,000 hives and is the second largest in Canada behind Alberta. Ranging from hobby beekeepers with two to ten hives, to large commercial operations with several thousand hives, Saskatchewan's $40-60 million annual beekeeping industry benefits from the province's large rural agricultural areas and long hours of summer daylight.

Bees, however, are increasingly at risk. Medhat Nasr know this, and it's why the renowned apiculturist agreed to put his retirement on hold to continue research on bee health. "When people think of bees they first think of honey," says Nasr. "That's not wrong bees make honey and Canada produces a lot of it but honeybees are just one part of this important industry. Bees are pollinators, and farmers will be the first to tell you that bees are an essential part of the biodiversity so crucial to crop production and food security. Without them, the yields of some crops can be down as much as 90 per cent. The world needs bees."

The Saskatchewan Beekeepers' Development Commission (SBDC) engaged Nasr to help address problems in the field through their Beekeeping Technology Adaptation Program. "I developed a working relationship with David Halstead at Sask Polytech" says Nasr, and we're now several years into a research project on bee health." Halstead is a fellow entomologist and ecologist and serves as research chair with Sask Polytech's School of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Sustainability through its Sustainability-Led Integrated Centres of Excellence (SLICE). "Our current research project," explains Halstead, "is a MITACS-funded applied research partnership with SBDC to look at new solutions for challenges facing bee populations due to a small but persistent parasite called the varroa mite."

Varroa are sometimes referred to as monster mites because beekeepers haven't yet figured out how to control them. The pests, which originated on Asian bees and travelled to North America via Southeast Asia in the 1980s and have kept beekeepers and researchers on a steep learning curve. As well as being parasitic, they further stress colonies by introducing viruses. Western bees haven't yet developed resistance and, as a result, colony collapse is becoming more common.

"We initially had some luck with European miticides," notes Nasr, "but varroa quickly became resistant and we're down to the last available miticide in the world. Our collaboration with Sask Polytech is looking to come up with a new solution."

Nasr and his team of interns (currently comprising one from Sask Polytech and one from the University of Saskatchewan) are investigating new treatments and their economic thresholds. "We are looking at several organic acids that kill mites but not bees and we have had some exciting results," says Nasr. Each type of acid has its pros and cons with variables such as temperature. "What we're really looking at is integrated pest management," explains Nasr. "It's much more than just developing a product it's finding out how best to apply it, when and how much."

Nasr's two interns, Kaila Billay and Francis Idam, are spending their summer in the field sampling colonies and in the lab where they test the samples for varroa mites. "We're counting them," says Idam, who is a student in his final year of the Agriculture and Food Production program at Sask Polytech Moose Jaw campus. "It sounds like a funny job but it's important. Beekeepers need updated methods to determine colony health so we're assessing different techniques for determining mite level and trying to help establish what level of mites lead to colony failure. With this information beekeepers will better understand what point is most advantageous to treat."

Image Credit: Saskatchewan Polytechnic

 

The interns are currently comparing three different methods to count the mites they collect from the four apiary locations where they have helped to establish and prepare 160 test hives, which they have infested with varying levels of the mites. This year's focus is monitoring and providing guidelines for next year. "Next summer we'll test to see if we're right," says Nasr.

"One of the great things about this partnership has been working with these young interns," Nasr adds, noting that the beekeeping industry needs younger people to become interested and involved in bee research. "Kaila and Francis have been excellent to work with. Besides their field and lab assistance, they helped with an educational field day where they talked to beekeepers. People don't typically like working with bees unless they have a personal interest. These two have come a long way and are nearly experts!"

Sask Polytech's Leon Lipoth, research chair for Research in Additive Manufacturing and Prototyping (RAMP), which is also connected to SLICE, is not a bee person, but he too has come a long way in his understanding of bees and beekeepers' needs through a different applied research partnership.

When Albert Chubak, the owner of Eco Bee Box, a company specializing in mini urban bee houses, approached Lipoth with a dilemma that was driving up his business costs, Lipoth put together a proposal and got to work designing a solution.

Chubak's company creates mini hives using a metal bracket he designed and patented to provide structure and rigidity. The world-renowned beekeeper recently relocated home to Saskatchewan from the United States where he previously ran his company and originally had the brackets produced. When the cost to produce them there became prohibitive he outsourced their production to China but during the pandemic, production and shipping became expensive and unreliable.

"Sask Polytech's RAMP lab in Saskatoon has a very large industrial press break that can do the job but it is expensive and oversized," says Lipoth. "What Albert needs is a much smaller version and cheaper version built with a more specific purpose."

Lipoth recently hired a former student, Ann Quimado, to be a research associate and work with him.  "Ann was a student in the Design and Manufacturing Engineering Technology program," says Lipoth, "where she developed the engineering design and programming skillset needed. This project has been a great opportunity for her to work on a real-world problem right after graduating."

Lipoth and Quimado designed an electro-mechanical miniature press break that uses a micro-controller and is small enough to sit on a desk. This innovation enables Chubak to locally produce new, more cost-effective metal brackets for the bee boxes. "We solicited some fabrication help from within Sask Polytech including a Saskatoon welding student, who welded together the frame for us," says Lipoth, "and Joe Cosette, an instructor in the Innovative Manufacturing and Welding and Metal Fabrication programs in Regina, cut the metal parts needed to make the frame using a water jet cutter. It's been a welcome collaboration with other academic programs here at Sask Polytech."

Chubak is pleased with the result. After receiving a demonstration of the mini press and some training he provided feedback and expects a few minor tweaks will complete the machine. Once these are made, he becomes owner of the intellectual property and will be able to start using the mini-press break to bend his own brackets. "Finding a local solution is amazing," says Chubak. I will now be able to bend locally cut brackets in smaller batches, saving me money, time and cutting down on logistics."

"Leon and his team have been great to work with. The project took patience and persistence, but they have been very inquisitive, asking how the bracket works, why it works and how to make it better. Seeing the machine in operation is part of the bee box process I hadn't been able to engage in up until this point."

Chubak's passion for bees goes beyond building miniature bee boxes and is rooted in his desire to share his knowledge and love of bees. Having recently written a book about bees called Do you speak bee?, he is a wealth of knowledge on bees. Chubak explains that the boxes he creates can be used to establish new colonies in new locations, a natural process that disrupts the infestation cycle of varroa mites. "The new colony gets a 28-day break to re-establish, choose a new queen and start fresh," he explains. "It's one way North American honeybees can fight varroa on their own. They do this naturally in the wild when they swarm. The problem is we like to keep bees in one place."

Like Medhat Nasr, Chubak knows that bees are important. They're more than the honey on our toast and the pleasant buzz in a field of flax in summer. Bees are a partner in the bigger picture of eco-diversity and sustainability, and we humans need to help them thrive so we can, too.

To learn more about applied research at Sask Polytech, visit our website saskpolytech.ca/research.