Bee Lab

The UNL Bee Team prioritizes "people-centered" outcomes, fostering community connections by building broad collaborations and creating diverse networks of learners, educators, and advocates focused on healthy bee management and conservation science. Through active community engagement, the Bee Team empowers individuals, inspiring personal and professional growth while enabling them to make meaningful contributions to the well-being of their communities.

In our workshops, we deliver informational content through lectures, handbooks, videos, and demonstrations. This content is enhanced by field training exercises, where participants gain hands-on experience in bee hives, guided by our expert instructors and mentors. We model these hands-on techniques during our courses, then support local beekeeping organizations and educators in offering similar training through their own programs, helping to spread beekeeping knowledge and skills more widely.

This community-focused approach also fosters collaborative environments, facilitating the development of additional beneficial training programs, including "train-the-trainer" initiatives, working groups like the IPM4Bees Midwest Working Group and the Midwest Managed Pollinator Protection Plan (Midwest MP3) Working Group, as well as other beekeeping programs such as the Heroes-to-Hives Veterans Program and the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance.