The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that a new state-of-the-art facility at the University of Guelph will be dedicated to researching, monitoring and educating the public about honeybees, and will be a key tool in the fight against declining populations. The Globe's Kate Helmore writes that construction on the Honey Bee Research Centre broke ground Wednesday morning. The $16-million facility will include up to 200 hives, a research laboratory, a shop for honey and hive products, pollinator gardens and walking tours plus a classroom where honeybee enthusiasts can learn how to become apiculturists (beekeepers). The centre is part of the University of Guelph's school of food, agriculture and resource economics department. The 150,000-square-foot facility will replace the current honeybee research centre -- a 1950s bungalow with a research lab in the bedroom and honey extracting station in the basement. Honeybees and other pollinators are essential to food production, providing one-third of the pollination necessary for the food we consume. When combined with the pollination of orchard fruits, berries, vegetables, forage and canola oil, the honeybee adds $7-billion to the Canadian economy annually.