Interested to learn how to keep honeybees? We offer classes for up to 35 UCR students that introduces them to the biology of honey bees and the concept of responsible beekeeping. The key aim is to provide a hands-on experience that allows participants to look after their own hive. The class runs over a time frame of 10 weeks in spring and fall and a 5 week period during summer. We start each week with a 2 hour lecture that introduces a specific topic relevant to bees such as their social life style, the hive management or detecting honeybee diseases. This is followed up by a seminar where we read and discuss topic related scientific articles from the research literature. This is then followed up later in the week by allowing students to explore their own hives and discover honey bees and their fascinating biology in real time. At the end of the class, students get rewarded by their bees by spinning out and bottling honey from their hives as a lasting remembrance of their class.
Bees and Beekeeping has become a very popular class at UCR students and some of our students remain in contact with us for year or now keep their own hives:
Fall 2023 Participant
I have nothing but good things to say about the Bees and Beekeeping course It is a wonderful course full of not only instructional learning but also hands on experiences. I feel like I gained so much experience and knowledge in such a short period of time. The lectures were very engaging and the time we had with the bees nailed in any information we learned from class I internalized a lot of what we learned due to the CIBER teams passion and knowledge of bees. I have always been fascinated by bees¨ but this class taught me how important they are to human society¨ and why it is so important to study and take care of them I would recommend this course to anyone who asks. The entire time safety was never a concern because the Professor made sure we were well trained and equipped to handle the Bees. There was also always someone to ask questions to and share our discoveries. I am definitely leaving this course full of happy experiences and greater confidence around bees.
Spring 2023 Participant
This was the BEST class I have ever done. If I could ever take a class ten times and never get tired of it, it would be this one.
Spring 2022 Participant
Now I know why this class is so popular!
