From hobbyist to expert: UM's online program cultivates future beekeepers

As the back-to-school season ramps up, one program at the University of Montana is generating quite a buzz.

Over a decade ago, when the university first launched its beekeeping certificate — the only program of its kind in the state — students eagerly flocked to the class.

However, instructors soon realized they had already reached every interested student in the region.

“After two years, we quickly realized we had educated everyone within a 100-mile radius that was interested,” said Dr. Scott Debnam, a beekeeping certificate instructor at the University of Montana.

To meet continued demand and accommodate those unwilling to travel to campus, Debnam said moving the program online was the only logical step.

Over the past decade, since the certificate became available online, students from 22 countries have gained skills in hive care, disease monitoring and predator management. This year, the program is also offering a series of courses focused on commercial beekeeping.

Debnam said the certificate was developed in response to the growing popularity of beekeeping among hobbyists, many of whom lacked the knowledge to prevent disease in their hives. This led to poorly managed bees, which added strain to the commercial industry.

To address this, the program offers three core classes — apprentice, journeyman and master beekeeping — that students must complete to become certified master beekeepers.

Since the certificate became available online, classes are now offered 50 weeks a year. Debnam said that when the apprentice beekeeping class was first offered online, it filled up in just 40 minutes with a waitlist.

Although each course lasts only a few weeks, the program is structured to be completed in three years, allowing students a full year to apply their skills between classes, according to the university.

While beekeeping programs are common across the country, Debnam said the University’s program stands out for its rigor and in-depth focus on bee ecology and biology, equipping students to apply their knowledge to their unique beekeeping situations.

“What sets us apart is we are a bona fide, fully fledged college-level education on how to keep bees,” he said.

There are about 650 registered beekeepers in Montana, according to the Montana Department of Agriculture.

While the number of commercial beekeepers in the state has remained stable, non-commercial beekeepers have more than quadrupled, rising from 95 in 2017 to 453 in 2021. The sharpest increase occurred between 2019 and 2020, with non-commercial beekeepers growing from 271 before the pandemic to 414 after it began, according to the Montana Department of Agriculture.

While anyone can become a beekeeper without formal education, Debnam emphasized that a deep understanding of bee behavior and their environmental interactions is crucial. This knowledge differentiates between maintaining a productive hive that benefits both the economy and the environment and having a hive that fails by winter or succumbs to disease.

“It’s a pleasure to teach these classes, because people are so motivated to learn what they can about the bee,” he said.

Debnam, who began researching bees in the 2000s, never initially intended to work with them. However, after graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in wildlife biology and taking a job as a bee research assistant, he quickly fell in love with the field.

Now, as another school year begins, he hopes his students’ main takeaway is that they are well-prepared to tackle any challenge they may face in the unique field of beekeeping.

“At the end of the program, I want my students to be able to answer their own questions based on science and what they’ve learned in this course,” Debnam said.