The Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University and the Texas Beekeepers Association formed a successful partnership to establish a honey bee research program. The initiation of the honey bee biology program addresses the department’s vision of excellence in teaching, research, and outreach education by providing students and the community an opportunity to study the fascinating social structure, behavior and culture of bees.
The program activities are to conduct critical basic and applied honey bee research. Targeted areas include pollination biology in agricultural and natural landscapes, mechanisms of disease and parasite resistance, and the distribution and frequency of Africanized honey bee genes in Texas. The goals of the program are to contribute new knowledge, tools and, solutions that will sustain, expand, and enhance the beekeeping industry, natural and urban landscapes and, strengthen the educational environment in Texas.