Bees, Apiculture and Pollination
Page reviewed:
12/05/2025
The course covers a range of topics on bees from their unique biology, ecology, and behaviors to pollination ecology, to management of honey bees for honey production, and the challenges they face with pests and diseases.
The course is a 5 week course beginning in early may and consists of lectures with weekly excursions in beekeeping and wild bee identification (catch and release).
Overall, the class was extremely satisfied with the course. Some students said that the interesting and relevant lectures combined with the very practical excursions and the welcoming personalities of the teachers made them think it was the best university course they had ever taken at university.
Your will learn to
- Describe the fundamentals of beekeeping and the management practices associated with keeping honeybees healthy and productive.
- Understand the importance of insect mediated pollination and the importance of bees as beneficial insects involved in food production and ecosystem sustainability.
- Understand the conservation issues concerning wild bees and discuss the different threats facing honeybees compared to wild bees.
- Interpret and communicate scientific literature on topics relating to bees in both a written essay and through an oral presentation.
- Describe the ecological importance of social insects and the various social organization across different groups of bee.
- Understand the genetic relationship between individuals, the sex determination system, and how this affects the evolution of sociality in bees.
- Master the use of keys for species determination of insects and be able to identify bees to family groups and some to the species level.
Read more about the bee course
You can find out more about the course in the SLU course catalogue.
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