The University of Florida’s honeybee program has been around since the 1920s, but this June, it will mark the completion of a new honeybee headquarters on the university's campus, said Jamie Ellis, the Gahan endowed associate professor of entomology in the University of Florida's Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).

“The Honey Bee Research & Extension Laboratory is a series of three buildings; it’s a mini bee campus. One of the buildings, the Amy E. Lohman Apiculture Center, will house the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services’ (FDACS) Apiary Inspection team, a beekeeping museum, a honey extraction and processing facility and workshop space,” said Ellis, who heads the Honey Bee Lab.

The Amy E. Lohman Apiculture Center is named for one of the project’s key supporters, Ellis said.

“The Lohman Center will serve our research, extension and instruction efforts related to honeybees and beekeeping,” Ellis said. “We will be able to teach students and beekeepers how to build beekeeping equipment, extract and process honey, develop strategies for adding value to their beekeeping products, control honeybee pests and pathogens and run a beekeeping business.”

Lohman’s gift has helped establish a lasting resource for honeybee research, education and outreach, Ellis said.

“I think it is important to highlight that Ms. Lohman’s gift is a legacy gift. Sure, Ms. Lohman and other beekeepers like her will benefit from this today. However, this facility will survive well into the future and be a place where thousands of students and beekeepers are trained,” Ellis said. “This education will translate into healthier bees that, in turn, will continue to provide the pollination services that our crops so desperately need.”

In addition to Lohman, hundreds of beekeepers, industry supporters and businesses from around the country, the Florida State Beekeepers Assn., FDACS and the University of Florida have come together to fund the entire Honey Bee Lab, Ellis said.

The Honey Bee Lab is located next to Steinmetz Hall on the southwest corner of the campus in Gainesville, Fla. One of the buildings will have a room in which glass beehives are kept, allowing visitors to look directly into the active hives, Ellis said. The complex will also house hundreds of thousands of bees in its outdoor apiary.

“In addition to providing a space for our outreach programs, researchers and students, we have been intentional in making this a space where the public can learn about beekeeping and the importance of bees to our food system,” Ellis said.