The Department of Zoology of St.Teresa’s College (Autonomous), Ernakulam in association with the Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) organized an online training on “Honey Bee Rearing” on 2nd January 2021. The training aimed to provide the students with an exposure to the field as part of curriculum and better understanding about honey bee rearing practices. It was conducted virtually through the Google meet platform. 75 Students of III DC Zoology, II DC Botany and Homescience attended the training programme.

The meeting started at 2:00 PM by invoking the blessings of the Lord with a prayer song by Ms. Karthika K Babu of III DC Zoology. Ms. Ancy H, of III DC Zoology delivered the welcome address and introduced the key speaker of the day, Jose Louies, Deputy Director Wild Life Trust of India. Being an accomplished self-trained Apiculturist, he shared his expansive knowledge and experience in this field. Initially, he explained on different honey bee species, setting up of an apiary, bee box, honey etc. Afterwards, there was a live demonstration on honey bee rearing with the assistance of his children. Practical session was really beneficial where bee keeping equipments were introduced and colony division, queen bee identification also was demonstrated. He also pointed out the economic value of bee products like honey and encouraged a lot to take part in apiculture. In between and towards the end of the programme, there was an interactive session wherein the participants asked various queries regarding honey bee rearing. The session concluded by 5:00 PM with a formal vote of thanks by Mary Sweeta Luiz of III DC Zoology.