More than just insulation
Meet the Co-Founders of Hive Hugger
Peggy DeSanto has been an RN for 37 years and has worked in chemotherapy, the ICU & the emergency room. She knows how precious life is. So as a beekeeper, she was devastated by the winter colony loss. Not willing to accept the high winter mortality rates, she sought out a solution.
This led to the creation of Hive Hugger, a product inspired by a mission & driven by science. It is a unique product in that it is based on the condensing hive approach. Peggy is quick to credit the innovative design to researchers like Etienne Tardif, Derek Mitchell, Tom Seeley, Bill Hesbach & Randy Oliver. She says, “they did the research, we just built a product based on what the science says we should do to protect our bees.”
The product won the ABF Best Innovation Award & was awarded the University of Minnesota SARE Grant. Peggy serves on the Board of Directors for the U of M Hobbyist Beekeepers Association. She presented at the Wisconsin Honey Producers Conference last year & will be hosting a breakout session at the Iowa Honey Producers Conference in the fall of 2024. Please feel free to reach out to her with any questions. Nothing makes her happier than to talk about honey bees.
Henry Cousineau has been a visionary & entrepreneur for over 35 years. He chooses to invest his heart into businesses that “leave the world a better place.”
When he first met Peggy, she was focused on designing an effective winterizing system for her honey bees. As serendipity would have it, one of Henry‘s businesses specializes in high-tech insulation. This gave Peggy access to engineers in thermodynamics, as well as introduced her to the technology of vacuum insulation panels. Thus, the Crown Panel, the key component to the Hive Hugger system, was born.
Henry provides behind-the-scene support for the business and describes himself as Peggy‘s biggest fan.