Researchers in the area now have a new place to study bees. Construction has finished on GPRC’s National Bee Diagnostic Centre laboratory in Beaverlodge.
The project expanded NBDC’s floor space from 265 to 865 square metres for additional workstations, diagnostic equipment, and office spaces. Acting Manager at NBDC Patricia Wolf Veiga says the expansion will allow the centre to conduct even more testing than before.
“The laboratory will not only give us more space; it will allow us to increase our capacity. With our previous equipment and lab set-up, we were able to conduct around 20,000 diagnostic tests per year. Our estimation is that the expansion will increase that number to around 60,000.”
The new building will house both NBDC and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Honey Bee Research Program. The expansion project was completed with the help of $6 million dollars in funding from the provincial and federal governments as well as from the College.