Construction of the University of Florida Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory Building is nearly finished! Scheduled to open August 2018, the Bee Lab will be the premier honey bee research facility in the United States. This new facility will feature observation hives and a teaching laboratory, and research efforts will concentrate on honey bee husbandry, biodiversity, ecology, and integrated crop pollination.

Florida’s warm climate makes it the ideal location to conduct honey bee research year-round, attracting visiting scholars and out-of-state beekeepers. Honey Bees are estimated to pollinate 20% of the world’s agriculture food supply; in 2014, honey bee pollination contributed a value of $639 million to Florida agriculture.

The Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory strives to advance our understanding of managed and wild bees, with the goal of improving the health and productivity of bee pollinators everywhere, and works to train future generations of bee educators, researchers and conservationists.

You can support the Bee Lab here. If you are interested in naming a space at the Bee Lab, please contact Julie Conn at (352) 273-2099 or jrconn@ufl.edu

Follow the Bee Lab on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UFHoneyBeeLab

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