Information Package / Course Catalogue
Beekeeping
Course Code: ZZO525
Course Type: Area Elective
Couse Group: Second Cycle (Master's Degree)
Education Language: Turkish
Work Placement: N/A
Theory: 2
Prt.: 2
Credit: 3
Lab: 0
ECTS: 6
Objectives of the Course

Beekeeping in the World and in Turkey, honey bee in zoologic system,anatomy and physiology, life cycle and bee behaviour, technical aspects of beekeeping, hive, tools, bee races, seasonal works in technical beekeeping, bee diseases and parazites.

Course Content

The importance of beekeeping in Turkey and in the World, honey bee colony life, seasonal works, colony management, bee products, production, storage and harvesting, bee diseases.

Name of Lecturer(s)
Learning Outcomes
1.Understanding the importance of bees and beekeeping in agricultural production
2.Recognizing bee colony individuals and understanding their duties and functions and Recognizing the characteristics of bee races
3.Understanding the necessary conditions for technical beekeeping, recognizing the tools and equipment used in beekeeping
4.Understanding and applying seasonal work in beekeeping
5.Understanding the diseases and pests that are important for honey bees and the methods of protection
Recommended or Required Reading
1.Graham Joe M. Ed. The Hive and the Honey Bee Dadant &Sons Inc. Illinoin 1997.
2.Doğaroğlu M. Arıcılık Teknikleri. Anadolu Matbaası İstanbul 1999. 296 pp.
3.Morse R. A. Bees and Beekeeping. CornellUniversity Pres. İthaca 1980, 295 pp.
4.Genç F., Dodoloğlu A.,Arıcılığın Temel Esasları, Atatürk Üniv. ZF Ofset Tesisi Erzurum 2002.337pp.
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
Week 1 - Theoretical & Practice
History of beekeeping, beekeeping in the world and in Turkey (Application: Access to statistics on beekeeping from FAO)
Week 2 - Theoretical & Practice
Body structure of the honey bee (Application: Examining the worker bee sample, head, body, abdomen, wings, legs and pollen basket under the macroscope)
Week 3 - Theoretical & Practice
Colony and Life (colony, hive and comb, gender, life periods, individuals forming the colony, queen bee, drone, worker bee (Application: Post-wintering care and feeding in colonies, varroa control)
Week 4 - Theoretical & Practice
General characteristics and behaviors of honey bees (Division of labor, information transfer, path finding, wax secretion and honeycomb processing, nectar, pollen and propolis collection, etc.) (Application: Colony control, spring feeding, installing basic honeycombs on frames)
Week 5 - Theoretical & Practice
Bee species and races (Brown bee, Italian bee, Carniolan bee, Kaflas and Anatolian bee) (Application: Spring care and feeding in colonies)
Week 6 - Theoretical & Practice
Nectar, nectar processing, pollen and storage, nectar and pollen sources (Application: Queen, baby and adult bee controls in colonies)
Week 7 - Theoretical & Practice
Required conditions for technical beekeeping (natural conditions and beekeeping location, high-yield bee races, beekeeping knowledge and experience (Application: identification of nectar and pollen plants within the ZF Campus, demonstration of beekeeping equipment)
Week 8 - Theoretical & Practice
Necessary conditions for technical beekeeping - modern tools and equipment (hives, primitive hives, modern hives and nests, mask, bellows, gloves, deglazing tool, queen bee grid, etc.) (Application: On-site demonstration of the tools and equipment used in beekeeping)
Week 9 - Theoretical & Practice
Management of Colonies (Opening of hives, beekeeping area, spring period, queen control, queening of queenless colonies, food and population control) (Application: Combining queenless colonies with colonies with weak queen bees)
Week 10 - Theoretical & Practice
Management of Colonies (swarm period, swarm control, artificial swarm production, honey flow period, discarding honeycombs) (Application: Swarm control in strong colonies, artificial swarm production and discarding honeycombs in strong colonies)
Week 11 - Theoretical & Practice
Management of Colonies (Honey flow period, honey harvest) (Application: Control of honey stocks in colonies)
Week 12 - Theoretical & Practice
Management of Colonies (Autumn period and Wintering) (Application: Pollen harvesting)
Week 13 - Theoretical & Practice
Package beekeeping (characteristics of packages, production work, placement of bees in the hive) (Application: Preparation of packages and shaking bees from strong colonies into packages)
Week 14 - Theoretical & Practice
Bee diseases and pests (American foulbrood, European foulbrood, chalk disease, nosema, paralysis honeycomb moth, varroa) (Application: Examining Varroa on a macroscope)
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Type of AssessmentCountPercent
Midterm Examination1%30
Final Examination1%70
Workload Calculation
ActivitiesCountPreparationTimeTotal Work Load (hours)
Lecture - Theory141128
Lecture - Practice141128
Assignment103140
Laboratory4028
Midterm Examination120222
Final Examination126228
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours)154
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
PÇ-1
PÇ-2
PÇ-3
PÇ-4
PÇ-5
PÇ-6
PÇ-7
OÇ-1
4
3
3
3
2
OÇ-2
4
3
3
3
2
OÇ-3
3
3
2
3
3
2
OÇ-4
3
3
3
3
2
OÇ-5
3
3
3
3
2
Adnan Menderes University - Information Package / Course Catalogue
2026