UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For those interested in learning about designing breeding programs for honey bees, Penn State Extension is offering the “Honey Bee Breeding Program Design” course.
https://extension.psu.edu/
The course is aimed at helping beekeepers decide whether they would like to begin a breeding program and providing the knowledge to get started.
Participants will learn:
— The benefits of genetic diversity for disease resistance, environmental adaptability and colony productivity.
— How to target specific traits during breeding.
— Why it is important to include multiple traits in the selection of breeding stock even when the overall objective is focused on a single trait.
— The importance of identifying various traits targeted in honey bee breeding programs, such as gentleness, productivity and varroa mite resistance.
— Why accurate and comprehensive data collection is crucial for developing and maintaining effective breeding programs.
— The types of data necessary for making selections as part of a breeding program.
This course contains five sections and includes a handout, resources and references. Participants will use the handout throughout the course and can find additional information about topics through the resources. References are items that were used during the creation of this course.
A final quiz requires an 80% passing score for a certificate of completion.
More information about the course is available on the Penn State Extension website.
