Ontario Construction News staff writer
Construction started last week on a $16-million honey bee research centre, an upgrade to the existing pollinator research, teaching and public outreach hub that already looks after the largest number of honeybee research colonies in North America.
A groundbreaking ceremony launched construction of the new HBRC site
The new 15,000-sq. ft. centre will have indoor and outdoor education spaces, classroom and event space, a laboratory, bee breeding facilities and pollinator gardens, and will be built near Townsend House, the longtime HBRC home on Stone Road.
“This new honey bee research centre will allow us to scale up research and outreach,” said Dr. John Cranfield, Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) associate dean external relations. “The new facility will give the centre space to grow its engagement with apiarists, with community members interested in learning more about pollinators and honeybees, and with young people looking to be a part of positive change to support pollinators and to ensure a healthy environment and a safe food supply.”
Lydia Luckevich, a 1979 U of G chemistry alumna, donated $7.5 million and the centre will be named for her and for her late husband, Don Pinchin, founder of Pinchin Ltd., an environmental consulting firm.
The HBRC has operated since 1894 as part of U of G’s OAC. For decades it has occupied a repurposed 1960s-era bungalow on campus near the U of G Arboretum. That existing space needs upgrading for growing outreach and research activities, said Cranfield.
Recent and ongoing research projects include breeding of bees resistant to varroa mites, studying essential plant oils and organic acids for use as naturally occurring miticides, and investigation of prebiotics, probiotics and protein-based nutrition supplements to counter bee gut parasites.
Designed by by Moriyama Teshima Architects, new centre will provide improved laboratory space, dedicated space for popular education programs that attract a range of professional and backyard beekeepers as well as schools and other groups.
For more information, including numerous how-to videos on beekeeping, check out the HBRC’s YouTube page.