For 4 years now, the course “Practical Beekeeping” has been offered on the campus of Hof University of Applied Sciences. Intended, among other things, as a contribution to nature conservation, students can learn everything about the care and proper handling of honey bees under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heym. In July, the first honeycombs are covered and the honey is extracted. The first jars with the sweet harvest were now presented to university president Prof. Dr. Jürgen Lehmann.
The reasons for bees and course offerings from the environment of bees at the university are manifold
First, bees are irreplaceable for our lives. As pollinators, bees are at work for all of us. The pollination service makes bees the third most important “farm animal” in Germany.”
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heym
In addition, students also have a naturally positive basic attitude toward bee conservation. This is also reflected in the numerical proportions of the “Save the Bees” referendum. At the time, there were 1.8 million supporters, which represented about 14% of the Bavarian population. Of course, the course is also accompanied scientifically: “Semester papers and final theses are regularly carried out in the environment of the bee laboratory. Various measuring devices for counting bees, logging mobile phone radiation, the earth’s magnetic field and temperature measurement were also put into operation and tested. These projects will of course be further developed,” says course leader Prof. Jürgen Heym.
In addition, since the beginning of the project in 2019, the university has been recording the operational data of the hives. These are the hive weight, yield and weather data at 5-minute intervals. This can then be used, among other things, to read off the breeding activity or swarming activity of the bee colony.
Short film
To document the work of the course, a short film was recently produced by the university communications department:
