The University of Florida and Enterprise State Community College recently made history by hosting the largest coordinated series of advanced instrumental insemination (II) workshops ever held in the United States. Led by Krispn Given, a global authority in honey bee breeding from Purdue University, these intensive sessions trained 23 students across two states in just three weeks. This landmark achievement bridged the gap between academic research and practical breeding, focusing on the technical precision and specialized equipment required to maintain superior genetic lines and select for specific honey bee traits geared at localized stock improvement to ensure a better bee in the future.
The Florida session, held at the IFAS Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory March 5-6, was coordinated by Amy Vu and featured a dedicated cohort of ten students. Joining Given was his Apis Engineering partner Dale McMahan, a master engineer who provided technical instruction for the course. In an unprecedented show of resource support, every student was fully equipped with an individual Queen Station insemination instrument. This hands-on setup, supported by one-on-one guidance from teaching assistants (TA) Celena Bennett of Red Phoenix Queen Bees and Chris Oster of the Ellis Lab, allowed for continuous practice with advanced features like integrated CO2 delivery and microprocessor-controlled lighting.
The historic momentum continued from March 30 to April 3 in Alabama at Enterprise State Community College, where Given led an ambitious group of 13 students through five days of lectures and advanced techniques in II. The unique scale of the course attracted high-level civic attention, including visits from Enterprise Mayor William Cooper and ESCC President Danny Long. Spearheaded by Master Beekeeper Richard Woodham and TA by Alabama State Bee Inspector Adler Salem, the workshop successfully generated deep regional interest in high-level queen rearing. By mastering these techniques, this new cohort of researchers and commercial beekeepers is now uniquely prepared to advance the future of the apiculture industry through selective breeding with the use of II.
