The bee pollinates the lavender flowers. Plant decay with insects.
Washington State University

Honey Bees + Pollinators

The WSU Honeybees + Pollinators Program is a cornerstone of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS) dedicated to fostering resilient ecosystems in Washington and beyond.

Our mission intertwines innovative research, community engagement, and education to safeguard pollinators, pivotal to our food security and environmental health.

In partnership with the CAHNRS Resilient Washington initiative, we’re committed to advancing sustainable practices and pollinator-friendly landscapes, ensuring a flourishing future for agriculture and natural resources. Join us in exploring our research, initiatives, and how you can contribute to a resilient and pollinator-rich world.

Quick Links

Research Labs

Learn about our honey bee research programs that are addressing questions about beekeeping, honey bee health, and biology!

Extension

WSU Extension produces useful information, factsheets, videos, and links for for beekeepers and non-beekeepers!

Breeding Program

The WSU Breeding program provides selected honey bee stocks to beekeepers and works with collaborating bee breeders to provide NWC stock to the honey bee industry!

Research Publications

Peruse through our list of selected publications by the WSU honey bee program to learn about our contributions to scientific research!

People

Meet the WSU honey bee program’s diverse and passionate team of researchers!

WSU Entomology

Come see what our colleagues in the entomology department at WSU are up to!

Honey Bee and Pollinator Research, Extension, and Education Facility

Washington State University’s new facility in Othello, WA, offers a home for development of the world’s best programs to help save the bees. This facility, which opened in 2020, is located amid the pollinator-dependent agriculture of central Washington.

“This facility will increase collaboration and allow for enhanced short courses, demonstrations, and classes for beekeepers—which will directly help the agricultural industry since honey bees are vital to our food supply. This facility will really help upgrade the work we do.”

Steve Sheppard, P. F. Thurber Endowed Professor of Pollinator Ecology in WSU’s Department of Entomology


Bee Friendly

Join Us in Saving the Bees

We partnered with Paul Stamets and Fungi Perfecti to protect honey bees and pollinators. Our renowned global research program works with beekeepers, scientists, environmentalists and communities to improve honey bee and pollinator health. This effort supports research on how fungi can help honey bees.

Together, our work will ensure the thriving pollination system critically needed for domestic and global food security.

Bee Social

Can mushrooms save the honey bee?

Paul Stamets has had a life-long love affair with mushrooms, one that goes well beyond their culinary and psychedelic qualities. Wearing his signature hat — made from mushrooms — a turtle pendant and, always, a blue scarf, the nearly 60 year-old mycologist runs Fungi Perfecti, a family-owned farm and business in Shelton, Washington.

Stamets and Washington State University Bee Program joined forces to explore the connections that, as far as they know, no one has ever made before. This unlikely pairing of entomology and mycology could lead to less toxic and more effective ways to control the diseases and pests that are implicated in winter hive losses and colony collapse disorder.

Sheppard with honey bees