Beekeeping at UGA
Intro
UGA's Campus Pollinator Project promotes pollinator well-being through habitat enhancement, education, outreach, research, & collaborative projects among students, faculty, staff and the community.
In our efforts to create resources that better inform the community of the importance of pollinators on campus this Story Map is designed to synthesize pollinator work that is specifically focused on beekeeping and beehives for honey bees at UGA.
Beekeeping Map
The map below indicates the locations of UGA's three current beekeeping activities:
- UGA Bee Program / CAES - Hog Mountain Road , Watkinsville
- UGA Vet Med - 2200 College Station Rd
- UGA Golf Course - 2645 Riverbend Road
Each dot represents one hive. Each program is described in more detail below.
Beehives on UGA Campus
UGA Bee Program
Women's Prison Beekeeping Program - Fogging
1221 Hog Mountain Road (Google Maps) Watkinsville, GA 30677
The objectives of the UGA bee program are to increase humanity's knowledge of bee biology, bee management, and crop pollination and to deliver that knowledge in the most effective manner to interested users. The program strives to develop research and extension initiatives that are locally responsive while globally relevant. We are also training the next generation — both undergraduate and graduate students — in practical beekeeping, bee biology, and the scientific methods of critical thinking and analysis.
Resources:
For information about the UGA Bee Program, contact Jennifer Berry, UGA Bee Lab, jbee@uga.edu .
UGA Vet Med
UGA Vet Med is committed to keeping honey bees healthy
2200 College Station Rd (Google Maps) Athens, GA 30605
The University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine is now training residents and vet students on how to care for bees, cementing the college's residency program as the first and only in the country to offer such a wide spectrum of training in every animal from bees to whales. The college's Vet Bee Club focuses on how veterinarians can lend expertise to the beekeeping community, from diagnosing diseases to inspecting hives.
UGA Today article
News:
Resources:
For information about the Bee Medicine Program @ the College of Veterinary Medicine, contact Joerg Mayer, Professor of Zoological Medicine, mayerj@uga.edu.
BEE Team @ UGA Golf Course
UGA Today article
2645 Riverbend Road (Google Maps) Athens, GA 30605
Honeybees have been a teaching and research topic at the University of Georgia for many years. These insects are important to American agriculture because they pollinate a wide variety of crops, contributing to food diversity and security. The UGA Golf Course is the latest group to commit to the mission of sustainable bee management.
The UGA Golf Course works on many fronts to have a low operational impact on the environment and provides many avenues for soil research and biodiversity. For a more detailed summary of sustainability initiatives at the Golf Course visit their Sustainability Page .
Sustainability at the UGA Golf Course.
News:
For information about the BEE Team @ UGA Golf Course, contact Scott Griffith, Associate Director of Agronomy, Assistant Golf Course Manager, scotkimg@uga.edu, (706) 425-3246.
Student Engagement
UGA Bee Club
As one of the many clubs associated with the College of Veterinary Medicine, the UGA Chapter of the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium is dedicated to providing opportunities for students to learn about and engage in apiary medicine. We provide hands-on experiences to students by working with our on-campus hives. We offer fundraising opportunities through honey and wax sales collected from our hives.
Resources:
Glossary
The following glossary of terms may be helpful to those interested in learning more about beekeeping and bee and pollinator conservation.
Absconding swarm - an entire colony of bees that abandons the hive because of disease, wax moth, excessive heat or water, lack of resources, or other reasons.
The western honey bee - Apis mellifera is the bee raised at all of UGA's existing hives and colonies.
Apiary - colonies, hives, and other equipment assembled in one location for beekeeping operations; also known as a bee yard.
Apiculture - the science and art of raising honey bees.
Apis mellifera - Genus and species of the Western honey bee originating in Europe and Africa and now located around the world.
Beehive - a box or receptacle with movable frames, used for housing a colony of bees.
Bee Sanctuaries - places of refuge where honey bees and other native pollinators can live free with minimal threats from pesticides and habitat loss or monocultures. Often consist of honeybee hives and/or native bee houses placed in zoos, urban farms, and other green spaces where they serve as a valuable environmental and educational resource.
Brood - immature bees that not yet emerged from their cells. Brood can be in the form of eggs, larvae, or pupae of different ages.
Colony - all the worker bees, drones, queen, and developing brood living together in one hive or other dwelling.
Drifting of bees - the failure of bees to return to their own hive in an apiary containing many colonies. Young bees tend to drift more than older bees, and bees from small colonies tend to drift into larger colonies.
Honey - a sweet viscid material produced by bees from the nectar of flowers, composed largely of a mixture of sugars dissolved in about 17 percent water. It contains small amounts of mineral matter, vitamins, proteins, and enzymes.
Primary swarm - the first swarm to leave the parent colony, usually with the old queen (see secondary swarm).
Pupa - the third stage in the development of the honey bee, during which it changes (pupates) from a larva to an adult bee.
Secondary swarm - a smaller swarm which may occur after the primary swarm has occurred.
Swarm - a large number of worker bees, drones, and usually the old queen that leaves the parent colony to establish a new colony.
Worker bee - a female bee whose reproductive organs are undeveloped. The majority of the honey bees are worker bees and they do all the work in the colony except for laying fertile eggs.
Words and definitions from Rutgers Beeginner Beekeeping Program
Other UGA Pollinator Projects
This is the home page for UGA's Campus Pollinator Project and Working Committee
