Our Story
How This All Began
Founding Story
In 1967, a 10-year-old Willi Brunner received his first beehives from his father, sparking a lifelong passion for beekeeping. Over the years, he expanded his operation to several apiaries in Winterthur and took on roles in the beekeeping community, including bee inspector and teacher for Bienen Schweiz.
While working in water purification, Willi frequently traveled to China and India, making it difficult to balance his career, family, and beekeeping, especially the time-sensitive miticide treatments for Varroa mites. Looking for alternatives, he explored hyperthermy (heat treatments) but found existing solutions too time-consuming and ineffective.
One day, while reading a beekeeping journal on a flight, Willi had a conversation with an electrical engineer, leading to a breakthrough idea. By embedding a heating element directly into the frames, it would be possible to heat brood cells without disrupting the hive’s internal climate, with treatments powered by solar energy. This idea had significant business potential.
The Start of The Project
In mid-2014, Willi approached his son Pascal and Renato Cortesi, also a friend of the family. Together, they formed a team and conducted first successful field trials on their own apiaries with 80 hives. In the first product generation, all frames were hard-wired and it was kind of challenging to work with the technology, however the results were very promising. That is why in 2016, after one year of extensive trials, they turned the project into a company.
From day 1 on, Lifehive followed the principles of innovation, sustainability and the involvement of the beekeeping community. Quickly, the company gained first market traction, and soon the solution was installed in 15 countries all over the globe.
The expansion came also with challenges, since the young company did not have customer support set up. That is why we took the strategic decision to further improve the product, thanks to the client feedback that we could collect from the first product generations. We knew that commercial beekeepers would have the highest expectations to a product, and that is why we partnered with large-scale beekeepers in USA, Canada and New Zealand.
A Buzzing Future
Lifehive will be launching on Kickstarter in February 2025.
With 4 seasons of installing, testing, demonstrating and working on commercial bee farms, the time is right to launch this product to the public and we are super excited about this event.
In the current version, there is more than 10 years of product development & piloting, backed by a scientific study, and supported by the most renowned startup supporters in the ecosystem. Now it’s your turn to join the movement!
Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
To empower beekeepers with the best protection against bee loss, through environmentally positive innovation.
Vision
A world with bees - a future where these essential pollinators thrive, and their critical role in our ecosystems is safeguarded.
Values
Environmental Awareness
Our actions have an impact. We are committed making the most positive environmental impact as possible and leaving the lightest imprint. Central to this ethos is our commitment to remaining as true to nature as we can.Integrity
We assure transparency and trustworthiness in our relationships with our stakeholders. We believe in the quality of our processes and products, and the value we deliver our clients.Customer Focus
Understanding our clients’ needs is central to our commitment to providing genuine value.We recognize that our future is built upon people (as well as bees), and maintain close links with the beekeeping community.Curiosity
We believe in searching for new insights unapologetically, and value the importance of learning.