By David MacDonald I t is likely that Isaac Newton exaggerated that whole apple story. Or at least history has. There is no evidence in his personal writings to suggest that he ever came under attack from falling apples, but it is enduringly amusing that the man responsible for making us all learn those formulas in school took a ripe Flower of Kent apple to the noggin. It was a young friend of Newton’s, William Stukeley, who included the now famous account in a posthumous biog- raphy. “He assumed the problem was the type of hive he was using, so he decided to do some research.” The Manzer’s story invokes Newton’s in perhaps setting alone, but it wonderfully sets up the scene of a knowl- edge-based start-up success story – one that has the potential to make a positive global impact (not to mention an impact on Digby County’s future). “Manzer Apiary Inc. was formally established in 2015, but the whole idea for the E-Z Hive began 8 years prior. My brother Owen – who is also my business partner – decided to keep bees to pollinate his hobby plum orchard. His greatest challenge seemed to be keeping the bees alive, especial- ly when it came to overwintering them. He assumed the problem was the type of hive he was using, so he decided to do some research. He researched the top bar model –I believe, the oldest types of artificial beehive – and began making modifications. This is how the prototype was born,” he explained. Brian worked closely with Owen on design for the better part of a decade before the brothers entered their inno- vative beehive in Innovacorp’s I-3 Technology Start-Up Competition in 2015. They placed second in Zone 3 (Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants Counties), taking home a cool $25,000 in cash $15,000 in support and services. “We have just completed a year of field trials which were conducted by Acadia University and the results were very positive.” The interest shown in the E-Z Hive is not at all surprising to the matter-of- fact Manzers. “Bee mortality seems to be on the rise wherever you look,” Brian said. And that’s not good considering that pollinators like bees make possible every one in three bites of food consumed. The gravity of this situation – Newton aside – has created two distinct markets that Manzer Apiary serves with their beehives: The commercial pollination industry and organic garden hobbyists. But the brothers didn’t rest on their laurels.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MAY 2017
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