Host a Hive

Niagara Beeway's Bee Network Initiative

​Host a Hive is an innovative program that introduces a new concept of beekeeping in order to mitigate the many problems facing our bee population today. Our plan is to create a Bee Network throughout Niagara whereby we will lessen the amount of stress on one individual bee farm by spreading out the hives throughout the entire region of Niagara. By dispersing the hives from one concentrated location, there will be less risk of poisoning because the bees will be foraging in multiple locations. This program is designed to place two to four hives onto a network of private properties that do not operate commercial farms which use pesticides, thereby limiting the exposure to chemical poisoning. By dispersing hundreds of hives throughout the region of Niagara, we can lessen the risk of mass mortality. If one property host experiences hive collapse, it will affect just a few hives instead of losing the entire population. This data will help us map out the safest pollinator-friendly locations. 

​We hope that you will join us in expanding our Bee Network. By hosting some hives on your property, you can do your part to save the bees!  

In the past years, wild pollinators and honey bees have come under huge stress from pollution, chemical poisoning, climate change, and Varroa mites. Their numbers have been declining and in 2021, local beekeepers suffered a loss of more than 50% of their hives. Moreover, domestic queen bees are not able to breed quick enough to service the existing bee industry, so apiaries rely on imported queen bees to supplement their needs. Every year, queen bees are regularly imported from foreign countries, but Canada is experiencing a shortage due to the supply chain being cut off during the pandemic.

​This Host a Hive program is designed to be a no maintenance process, and requires no beekeeping skills. Niagara Beeway will provide and install the hives early in the spring with a healthy bee colony inside. Throughout the season, which begins in May and ends in September, a technician will regularly visit the hives to service them and make sure that the bees are progressing in a healthy and prolific way. The hives will be placed in a safe location on your property, far away from human interaction. If the hive hosts are interested in learning about the beekeeping process, our technicians are always happy to explain what they are doing. There will also be an opportunity within the season for you to put on a beekeeper’s suit and get up close to the colony to observe the little girls hard at work.

​Honey extraction will be done twice throughout the season, and at that time you will receive 
half of honey crop for your own personal use. The other half will be used for fundraising and as gifts to underprivileged families in the community that cannot afford to buy honey. At the end of each season, the hives will be removed from your property and taken back to the bee farm for overwintering. They will be returned to you in the spring if you renew your sponsorship. All hives will remain as the property of Niagara Beeway, but can be purchased for an additional fee if you decide that you would like to adopt the hives and become a committed beekeeper. It is a fascinating hobby and is a wonderful way to contribute to
​re-vitalizing our environment and preserving our food sources. 

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Major benefits of participating in Host a Hive Bee Network Initiative: 

Niagara Beeway's Bee Network Initiative

​• Provide safe haven for honey bee colonies
• Offer uncontaminated sources of plants and water for bees to        forage on
• Increase pollination of trees and flowers throughout a 5km radius of your property
• Learn about beekeeping and hive management
• May qualify for property tax benefits after 2nd year
• Receive honey for your personal use
• Donate honey to underprivileged families
• Help Niagara Beeway grow the Bee Network
• Help preserve the bee industry for future generations 

Show me the honey: Host a Hive program to strengthen bee populations in Niagara

Article in The Niagara Falls Review

If you are interested in being a part of our family of hosts, contact us and we will send you the requirements and costs of participating in Host a Hive Bee Network. Together we hope to rebuild and protect our bee population in Niagara and create a model for other communities to follow. If we join together, we can expand our network one host at a time and slowly cover the entire region of Niagara. Once we have Niagara covered, we will expand to neighboring communities and across the province. By creating mini bee sanctuaries, we can diffuse the negative environmental impacts on the honeybee pollinators and increase the health and resilience of each individual hive so that they can thrive. Once in place this neighborhood effort can be sustained for the next 200 years. 

Now is the time to act! Local, provincial & federal governments are unable or unwilling to take the emergency actions needed to save the bee and honey industry. That is why we, at Niagara Beeway, are stepping forward to do our part to save the industry from collapse. We know that time is running out for our pollinators and if we don't take immediate action, the damage to the food chain will be irrevocable. Governments are offering no solutions, and the field chemical applications designed to improve production for the farmers, have unknown long term side effects on the pollinators, insects, birds and wildlife that all feed on the seeds and pollen of the plants that are treated. There is no time to wait for more government studies. It may take years to complete these studies and then change will only happen through legislation which could take years to implement.  By the time that help arrives, the honey bees and beekeepers will all be long gone. 

We sincerely hope that this project will be the savior of our dwindling bee population but it can only succeed if individual citizens or clubs are willing to step up and sponsor some hives. We believe that that being part of this initiative is a win-win situation for all those involved. Not only will you be doing your part to save the bees (one of the most integral parts of our ecosystem), you may benefit financially if you qualify for a farm tax credit. With this credit, you would recoup your investment after the second year of participating in the program.  

Niagara Beeway’s Host a Hive program is taking a grass roots approach to solving the problem of bee mortality. By sponsoring our Bee Network Initiative as individual landowners, you will link arms with other like-minded neighbors in Niagara to create a far-reaching network of bee hives that will cover the entire region!  Dispersing the bee colonies throughout the region will provide safe haven for hundreds of hives, all protected by private owners, just like it was done in the old days! 

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