As honeybee colonies in Florida decline, UF is dedicating money and space to study the insect more seriously — and lure researchers to Gainesville.
UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received a grant of $2 million from state legislatures to construct two buildings in order to expand research and education on bees, said Jamie Ellis, a UF associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
In addition to the grant, the state required IFAS to give the project $500,000 and the Florida State Beekeepers Association to raise $200,000, which was donated by a single beekeeper.
The facility’s proposed location is east of Steinmetz Hall, near the Florida Museum of Natural History, so researchers can use resources from the entomology and nematology department, Ellis said, but the location has not yet been approved.
“We’re trying to make a one-stop shop for bee education,” Ellis said.
It will include teaching classrooms, areas for a bee hive and honey-making facility, laboratories, bee observation rooms and offices for faculty and staff, said Kevin Heinicka, the director of IFAS Facilities Planning and Operations.
“We are hopeful we’ll be started by June, and it’ll take seven to nine months to complete,” Heinicka said.
Ellis said he believes the new facility will attract researchers to UF. The state is the ideal spot for an advanced bee facility because the state’s temperatures allow for year round beekeeping, he said.
“I really think we’re going to have people coming and using our facility all the time,” he said.
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