Bees can now get their hives renovated — and it could save their lives

A group of bees will be soon flying back to their hives after a long day of pollinating — only to find they've got a new front entrance on their hive.

And it's not just a fancy new front porch.

ProtectaBEE is a honeybee hive entrance that can help protect the pollinators from pests and diseases. It's red and appears to have nozzles for the entrance and exit to the hive.

Erica Shelley is the founder of Best For Bees and says the hive entrance was first created for bee vectoring — a process where bees walk through a biocontrol powder, which they shake off onto crops while getting pollen. The biocontrol powder protects crops and deals with the parasitic Varroa mite, which feeds on honeybees.

"That's still in development, it's a few years out," Shelley said.

But in testing the product, Shelley said they found other benefits.

"The red colour actually is not easily seen by other insects," she said.

"It actually is a protection against wasps and hornets and yellow jackets and even robbing bees from other hives and, it turned out, it actually protected against skunks and mice."

The device was created in partnership between Best For Bees, a research and development company for beekeepers based in Kitchener, and University of Guelph researcher Peter Kevan.

The device is already getting international recognition.

ProtectaBEE has now been recognized on a world stage. The device won a silver medal from the World Beekeeping Awards, which were handed out at the Apimondia International Apicultural Congress in Chile last month.

Shelley says there were about 20 entries from developers and inventors from around the world, large machines down to smaller innovative ideas.

"To have the world's experts look at your thing that you've invented and they've seen so many inventions come through over the years and then to award a medal to it, it was just that kind of honour," she said.

"It also means we're on the right track and what we're working on is something that has meaning and is obviously worthwhile."