Beekeepers build high-tech storage to improve hive survival

Idaho beekeepers are building modern storage facilities to protect their bees during the winter to so they can take full advantage of strong demand for their pollination services. French, with Cox’s Honey, explained he wants as many hives as possible to survive the winter so he can take full advantage of increasing demand for pollination services in California’s almond orchards. He’s noticed a trend of regional beekeepers investing in bee storage lately, rather than leaving hives exposed to the elements or turning to the historic standby among Idaho apiaries — renting space in potato cellars. In the past five years, French estimates almond producers have increased payments for pollinators by $35 to $50 per hive to the $175-$210 range. According to USDA, California’s rapidly growing almond industry produced a crop valued at more than $5 billion in 2015 and stepped up its acreage by 7 percent to 1.24 million acres in 2016.“The incentive is now greater than it’s ever been to have those bees alive in the winter,” French said.For several years, his family has stored up to 10,0000 hives in uninsulated “shell” buildings during the cold months preceding late January, when the bees are needed in California. He’s leased space in a local potato cellar for the surplus hives. Though both options have served him well, French said his storage buildings are outdated, and he can’t always count on finding an available potato cellar.