The health of the global honey bee population is directly linked to the stability of our food supply, making sustainable hive management a critical priority for the entire food industry. At Nate’s Hives and Nate’s Honey, we actively partner with leading academic institutions—providing direct financial support, research funding and access to live honey bee colonies—to advance scientific understanding and secure the future of the honey bee.

This collaboration focuses on three key areas: advanced honey bee research, education and the conservation of pollinator habitats.

Supporting Cutting-Edge Honey Bee Research
Our primary partnership is with Texas A&M University (TAMU), home to the only Apiculture program in Texas and one of the country’s largest honey bee research labs. We provide honey bees for research and funding to support projects that tackle complex threats to colony survival.

Research at the Texas A&M Honey Bee Lab is essential to developing health management practices and focuses on several critical areas:

• Reproductive Biology: Determining the effects of queen and drone quality on colony growth, survival and supersedure (the process by which a colony replaces an old queen). This includes testing the effects of commonly used miticides on queen and drone quality.
• Behavioral Ecology: Investigating the mechanisms of colony fissioning (swarming) in honey bees, detecting the odors released during swarm departure and observing the sequence of events that lead a colony to swarm.
• Health and Foraging: Studying toxicology and pathology in Texas honey bee populations and researching how honey bee diets and forage availability contribute to overall colony health.
• Breeding Programs: Developing breeding programs to create better, locally adapted queens for improved resilience.

By funding this essential work, we help bridge the gap between academic discovery and real-world commercial beekeeping practices.

Advancing Educational and Sensory Science
Our commitment extends to supporting educational excellence and the science of the final product, pure honey, through partnerships with other major universities.

University of California, Davis’ Honey and Pollination Center, which receives no operational funding from the state or university, relies on donations and fee-based services to maintain operations. We provide financial sponsorship to the center, helping to ensure it can continue its educational events and vital work.

A key part of the center’s work involves the Ishai Zeldner Memorial Varietal Honey Research Fund, which builds on the legacy of celebrating diverse honey flavors. This fund supports research that includes:

• Sensory Science: Analyzing the aroma, flavor and nutritional components of varietal honeys.
• Classification: Developing better methods to analyze and classify honeys to ensure quality and authenticity.

This research helps both consumers and the industry better understand and celebrate the unique characteristics of 100% pure honey.

Supporting Pollinator Conservation and Student Engagement
Our collaboration with universities also focuses on conservation and creating sustainable habits on campus, making the academic environment a living lab for future leaders.

At the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), we support the UTD Apiary Program, which manages a significant number of thriving honey bee hives, housing over half a million honey bees. UTD is an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, which provides a framework for conserving native pollinators.

Our sponsorship helps UTD achieve its commitments by:

• Creating Habitat: Enhancing pollinator habitat on campus by increasing the abundance of native plants and providing nest sites.
• Reducing Pesticides: Supporting the university’s integrated pest management plan (IPM) to increase the use of non-chemical methods and reduce pesticide use.
• Education and Leadership: Offering courses like “Honey Bee Biology” and “Honey Bees & Society,” taught by the campus apiologist, Dr. Christina Thompson, to give students hands-on experience in apiaries and inspire them to become sustainability leaders.

Expanding Our Research Impact with Cornell University
Nate’s Honey continues its long-standing commitment to pollinator science through an annual financial donation to the Department of Entomology at Cornell University. For six consecutive years, this contribution has supported the department’s Pollinator Network—a leading research initiative within Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)—which unites scientists, extension experts and students to better understand and protect both wild and managed pollinators.

Research supported through the Pollinator Network focuses on advancing practical, evidence-based solutions in several key areas:

• Pesticide Exposure: Evaluating the effects of agricultural chemicals, including neonicotinoids, on honey bee populations and informing policies that reduce pollinator risk.
• Disease Management: Studying the transmission, prevention and treatment of honey bee pathogens to strengthen colony resilience.
• Forage and Nutrition: Examining the availability and diversity of floral resources to improve honey bee diet and overall health.
• Pollination Practices: Partnering with beekeepers and growers to develop sustainable strategies that support both crop yield and ecosystem stability.

In addition to our university partnerships, the Nate’s Honey/Nate’s Hives Research Grant Program offers up to $100,000 annually to support innovative work that drives long-term success of the honey industry. This prospective funding is open to academic institutions, nonprofit organizations and industry researchers and supports projects focused on honey bee health, sustainable beekeeping practices, environmental impacts, supply-chain innovation, nutrition and production economics. Grant proposals may run up to three years, and funding may be allocated either to a single project or divided across multiple programs depending on the strength and needs of the proposal. By backing this targeted research, Nate’s Hives and Nate’s Honey are building a bridge between cutting-edge science and practical solutions for beekeepers and the broader ecosystem.