The simple plastic tray replaces a convoluted and expensive base currently used on hives. It has a removable plastic strip along its front which beekeepers can turn over for summer or winter conditions. It also features a ventilation panel underneath to regulate hive temperature. "Instead of fiddling with little bits of timber and buying mesh, this plastic tray does all of that and very cheaply. It's such a simple solution."
Not only has it been created in Whanganui but another local company - Axiam Plastics - is producing it.
Mr Bartley said his honey business has 400 hives in the Ruatiti area and that would increase to 800 this season.
"I was watching our beekeepers making up hive bases and I thought there had to be an easier way. We came up with a couple of prototypes and took them to Axiam," he said.
He said it wasn't just the national award that mattered. There had been "huge interest" from New Zealand and international beekeepers. Samples of the Whanganui product have gone to honey producers in Israel, the Philippines, Australia and Canada.
Mr Bartley said the design has been patented.
He said Hiveplus had been established to specifically target the beekeeping industry and more products were on the drawing board.