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ISU Honey Apiary

Beekeeper inspects hives in honey apiary

ISU Honey Apiary

The ISU Honey Apiary was established at the university's Horticulture Research Station, north of Ames, in 2020.

Although bees have been researched for decades at ISU, the bee program established this new apiary specifically with honey production in mind. The project received start-up funding from the office of the Dean of the College of Agriculture. For its first year, our team established and maintained 20 cardinal and gold hives at the ISU Horticulture Research Station located north of Ames. It was a fantastic honey crop year and our bees yielded over 700 pounds of honey. In addition to bottling and selling this year’s honey, some of it will be used in the ISU Creamery to make a new honey lavender ice cream called ‘Lunar Lavender.’

The apiary also serves as a beekeeping demonstration site and a space for collaborative beekeeping research. Students are invited to the apiary as part of an undergraduate beekeeping course for hands-on beekeeping experience.

Bottles of honey will be available seasonally for purchase through the Horticulture Research Station. Honey will be available again in the fall of 2021.

For more photos, check out the ISU bee program’s Instagram: @iowastatebees.