University of MN Bee Squad

10/14/2026

We had a great honey season this year at the Bee Lab with over 14,000 pounds of honey harvested! 🍯🍯

Honey bees love to make honey and produce more than they need. We only harvest the bees’ excess honey and always leave enough honey on the colonies (75-100 lbs) for the winter.

You can purchase our honey at the UMN Raptor Center, UMN Meat and Dairy Salesroom, and the MN Landscape Arboretum. Proceeds help support our lab 🐝🥼💛

09/18/2026

Some native bee color inspo, inspired by Minnesota State Parks and Trails post on Minnesota wildflowers 🌷🌸🌻

Minnesota is home to 511 species of native bees, 166 pollen specialists, and 6 families. Swipe to see some of our favorite color combos 🐝 Comment your favorite!!

Right now, bees are starting to hunker down for winter but you may still be able to spot some of these colorful pollinators!

To learn more about native bees, check out Minnesota Native Bees !!

09/01/2026

Last week we did our annual Bee Beard at the Lab! The honey bees are attracted to the queen, who is in a small cage under the chin. As thousands of bees climb up to surround the queen, we observe the beard of bees 🐝!!

p.s do not try this at home. We are professionals 😌

08/26/2026

Green nectar?! Did the bees get into your mountain dew?

The green-tinted nectar actually from Purple Loosestrife, a beautiful yet severely invasive wetland plant with showy purple flowers.

Yesterday these girls were slurping it right up!!

08/19/2026

Are your pollinator plants starting to look a bit crispy? Late season droughts are becoming more common and severe. Create a climate resiliant pollinator garden by planting more drought tolerant pollinator plants with the help of this list assembled by the Bee Lab's Ben Ziegler and Elaine Evans. https://beelab.umn.edu/climate-resilient-pollinator-plants

08/14/2026

Help scientists from the Bee Lab find bumble bees!

🐝 Bumblebee Participatory Science Program

Join entomologists from the University of Minnesota this Saturday for a guided community bee survey at Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary!

📅 August 15
🕐 1–3 p.m.
📍 Meet at the Garden’s front gate

All ages are welcome! Come learn about bumblebees, help with important community science, and explore the Garden with local entomologists.

🐝🌼 This is our final bumblebee survey for 2026. We hope to see you there!

08/04/2026

We recently hosted a group of UMN Veterinary students in one of our teaching apiaries while they were on a beekeeping rotation. Glad that the upcoming generation of veterinarians is learning about honey bee health!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/science/honeybees-veterinary-medicine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.21A.rKUD.F6jbB2_kZMJP&smid=nytcore-android-share