A better hive for easier beekeeping

Beekeeper Ryno Barnes recently replaced his wooden hives with hives made of polyvinyl chloride foam board, a unique lightweight, eco-friendly material. So impressed was he with the results that he launched a separate company to manufacture these hives for other beekeepers. Glenneis Kriel reports.

- Glenneis Kriel

Beekeepers have used wood for their hives since time immemorial, and beekeeper Ryno Barnes of Hout Bay in the Western Cape was no exception. Wood is natural, safe, easy to work with and relatively affordable. About five years ago, however, a growing concern about deforestation led Barnes to start looking for material to replace wood in his beehives.

Plastic, he explains, is unsuitable as it is nonrecyclable and bees are put off by its smell.

“Plastic can be chemically treated to overcome the smell, but this could negatively affect bee health and the environment,” he says.

After three years, he more or less gave up his search, as it appeared to be going nowhere. Then in 2020, an engineer mentioned to him that a British company was using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam board in medical centres and retail shelves. The material seemed promising, so he imported some boards of it and built a number of Langstroth hives. “I stuck with the Langstroth design, because it’s easy to transport and work with,” he explains.

During tests this year, Barnes found that the hives not only ticked all the right boxes for him, but offered additional benefits, too.

“I was so satisfied with the product that I entered into a supply agreement with the manufacturer to become the sole supplier of hives made from its PVC foam board. I then started the company Giro Hives as an extension of our family beekeeping business, the Cape Honey Factory,” he says.

Since then, he has replaced 280 of Cape Honey’s old hives with new ones, keeping the wooden hives for catching swarms.