Re-thinking
Bee Hives

Langstroth-style 10-Frame

Bear on Bee Hive

Bee Fortress USA's Mission:

In defense of honey bees utilizing original equipment designs and beekeeping best practices.

Bee Fortress Founder, John Rocheleau, became an inventor in 1996 with hand tool designs that made specific tasks in HVAC easier. In just 2-1/2 years, he signed two License Agreements with a market leader in forced hot water heating for his ball valve and bronze and iron flange inventions. These designs gained immediate market acceptance and are companions to most modern-day forced hot water heating circulators in North America, and in commercial applications internationally.

22 years later, John invented his first HVAC-enabled bee hives. 5 more years have passed and John’s best inventions to-date are coming available in 2026.

1-Hour Radio Interview on Inventing

An interview with John Rocheleau, Indoor Climate Control Expert and inventor, on The Exchange program on New Hampshire Public Radio, FM 89.1. Circa 2000.

John's Business Philosophy: sell high-quality products and systems comprised of Excellent Designs and Materials, Function, Form and Value.

New in business for himself in 1988, John strived for as many HVAC customers as he could reasonably service, and in 2005, he created Protech HVAC, LLC, moved to New Hampshire’s Seacoast to take on high-end HVAC and commercial refrigeration work, and soon, was doing large Indoor Climate Control projects…

 

·       I began my HVAC career at Tech School in Manchester, in 1980, worked for four HVAC companies, then started my own HVAC business in 1988.

·       In 1996, I became an inventor of products for the HVAC and Plumbing trades and in 1999, I licensed my circulator flange and valve inventions to a market leader. Many of these inventions are installed on modern heating systems. I have my own mechanical product line and have been issued 9 patents.

·       I am the inventor of the world’s most advanced beehive, which happens to control heat and humidity inside the hive, among many other functions that keep honeybees alive. This indoor climate-controlled hive is the only bear-proof beehive in the world.

·       As a sales engineer for two larger 35-50-person companies, I designed diverse HVAC systems for refrigerating, central heating and cooling, humidity control and air-cleaning and ventilating.

·       I’ve worked in residential buildings from mobile homes to mansions, commercial buildings such as convenience stores, large restaurants, motels, hotels, and a litany of other use buildings spanning nearly 46 years.

·       I was hired to create $353,000 worth of HVAC systems in an 8,000 square-foot home owned by the inventor of Broadband Cable Modem technology.  Mr. Yassini received $400,000,000 from this technology, which he licensed to Comcast. Because he could afford the best HVAC systems, he wanted the best designer and installer he could find. After a year and a half of construction, my finished systems included, a mini-split A/C system for temperature and humidity control in his server room; 5 Hydro Air heating and cooling systems, a $55K humidity control system that took the excess moisture from the air, removed its heat then discarded the condensate and put the heat back into the indoor pool and 10-person spa.

·       Since 1992, I’ve designed and installed mini-split systems with floor, wall and ceiling indoor units in Dunkin Donuts and Subway sandwich shops. Technology for these systems was on par with the systems Heritage installed in the Avery home – not very advanced.

·       Recently, I installed a state-of-the-art Mitsubishi Hyper Heat mini-split heat pump system for a customer in East Washington who has used me for all his HVAC needs since 1989. He created the NASA Mars Rover and logos for CNN, ESPN, Shark Week, History Channel and numerous other famous brands, including PBS and major scientific companies.

·       I designed and installed $200K of HVAC system upgrades in the home of a millionaire who I met in The Golden Egg Restaurant, in Portsmouth. The man lived next door to the Founder of Comcast.

·       The inventor of the Nike sneakers with lights in their soles, hired me to install $75K of heating and cooling central and mini-split systems, exhaust and Make-up Air systems and others.

·       I designed the Indoor Climate Control systems for a shitake mushroom farm in Washington, New Hampshire.

·       For years, I was the guy who maintained and built the systems to keep the contents of mansion and museum properties owned by Historic New England protected from heat and humidity extremes.

·       A famous actress hired me for air conditioning systems installations in her home. She starred in La Dolce Vita

·       A doctor in Exeter, New Hampshire hired me to work on his heating system, and there next to the boiler was the desk where author Dan Brown penned The Davinci Code when he lived in this house. A Harvard professor hired me to repair the heating system in the next house Brown owned that he just bought from Brown, who had just vacated it to move into his new, much larger home on the other side of the golf course, across the street from U.S. Senator, and former Governor of New Hampshire, Judd Greg.

These are relevant examples of customers who hired me to keep their properties and possessions protected from temperature, humidity, condensation and mold. They wanted the best systems for the applications money could buy. I had one callback and promptly fixed the issue with no further charge. I readily admit I’m not perfect, though my standards are very high. That said, I wanted the best home for my bees.

John’s Inventions Studio (right) and some of John’s HVAC work (left).

HVAC-enabled
Bee Hives.

John's Foray into making Bee Hives from Sapele hardwood.

Sapele hardwood holds up amazingly outdoors, with barely any movement in any temperature.

The hive sits on a first moat design to keep crawling bugs out of the hive, but I would change this moat to one that didn’t drown bees.

Below the moat is my custom hive stand.

The predecessor to the "Smart" Honey Bee Hive

In the spring of 2020, John and his long-time friend Jim, built ten Smart Hives. While these homes for Italian bee colonies began their existence on the Seacoast, they then moved to the White Mountain National Forest, where harsher weather and black bears influenced the successive designs.

Jim and John Counting Parts to Be Assembled

The "Smart" Bee Hive

Bear-Resistance & Solar-powered Ventilation in 2021

The Vulnerable, Yet Affordable Langstroth Hive as Comparison

Langstroth bee hives are not pretty, and a high wind or a determined bear can easily take them down.
The Smart Hive can accentuate a beautiful building and landscaping, not detract from it. Move  the slider in the center.
compare2 Beefortress_compare_1

A Black Bear knocked over the first Smart hive design. Soon, Steel Corner Guards and more ratchet straps Provided greater protection against Black Bear Attacks.

At right is the 2023 Fortress Beehive, which is one of three configurations.
The new Fortress Bee Hives are available for shipping summer of 2023.

Call 800-598-5949 to learn more and how to order a Fortress Beehive.

This hive has reversible Side Shields that are white on one side and black on the other. Or, the Shields can be removed to display the wood boxes. We also supply hardwood boxes made of oak, sapele and black locust.

Stay tuned to see our revamped website coming in August 2023!

In the meantime, click on an image below to see the images in the gallery.

Black shields are out-facing in winter, and white are out-facing in the summer to moderate heat inside the hive.

The Fortress Beehive is heated and ventilated either with solar power, or line voltage power.

The Fortress Beehive Is Available to most Types of Customers:

Those who want the highest quality hardwood hive boxes enclosed by 100% stainless steel. Those whose primary concern isn’t price, but want the best-of-the-best.

Those who can’t justify buying The Best of The Best, can have a high quality Fortress hive with thinner stainless steel to fit their use with their own pine boxes.

All Individual Fortress hive components are available as a one-off to fit a Langstroth 10-frame and 8-frame hive.

Quantity price-discounted  for those who want more than one Fortress hive, or individual components to fit a Langstroth hive.

Call for pricing and delivery schedule.

Stay tuned, as this website is being revamped and will be live in August 2023.

Bee Fortress USA, Inc. in the Media

Contact Bee Fortess USA, Inc.