Elmer and Brian Manzer built a top-bar beehive for senior beekeepers. Their design has kept colonies alive with zero losses over five years, using a patent-pending ventilation system and built-in feeders that work through winter.
We expect in another year that this will really take off and will be the future of the honeybee, will be in this beehive. Morning, I'm Elmer Manzer. And I'm Brian Manzer. We're the owners of Manzer Apiary, Inc. We are builders of new design top bar beehives, a natural home for the honeybee. This beehive that we've developed is a user-friendly beehive. It's had 100% success for 5 years, no bee loss, and it's designed with seniors in mind. That's what this was. Senior people are the beekeeper of the day. They were the beekeeper of the day before. We're hoping the younger generation gets into it, but it is a very user-friendly beehive for the seniors. It has an incredible ventilation system. As far as we know, there's nothing like it in the world, as far as we know. We are in the process of patenting that discovery. Comes with a feeder. Feeder comes with it for sugar water for spring feeding. There's two types of feeders also on the inside here that we don't have with us. And that's basically all there is. Every one of them is straight top bar. It also has a sugar cake holder that comes with it. In the wintertime, you would put sugar in that, and it's just a cake of sugar so that if they run out of honey, they'll eat the sugar so they won't starve to death over winter. There probably will be advancements, we just don't know what they are yet. That's a day-by-day trial and error thing, you know. As far back as just like 2 months ago, we were still making little tweaks to it. Things that you realize as you go along, you say, "Oh, we can better that, we can better that." So yeah, there probably will be advances, we just don't know what they are yet. I'm sure we'll find them as time goes on.
Julie Vanexan recognizes Shaun Whynacht from Blue Cow Marketing at the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
