Institute for Apiculture Celle

Institute for apiculture in Celle with staircase storage and orangery building

The Institute for Apiculture Celle (short: IB Celle ) of the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES) is a competence center for all aspects of beekeeping and related areas, such as environmental monitoring, plant protection and agriculture. The institute, which is popularly known as the bee institute , is based in Celle .

history

Today's Institute for Apiculture Celle was founded on July 1, 1927 in Celle under the name Hannoversches Landesinstitut for Bee Research and Apiculture Management by a resolution of the 62nd Provincial Parliament of the former Prussian Province of Hanover . The zoologist Albert Koch , who previously headed the zoological department of the Chamber of Agriculture for the Province of Westphalia in Münster , was appointed head. Initially, the institute had four employees: the director, a beekeeper, a scientific assistant and a laboratory assistant. The seat of the institute was the building of the ducal orangery , which was erected in 1677 in the French garden south of the city center. The northern part of the historical garden , 12 acres in size, was separated off for the institute with its bee colonies. A fruit and vegetable garden was also built there, which served to supply the beekeeping students. At first they were trained in horticulture and keeping small animals.

The newly founded institute received an extensive catalog of tasks, which it essentially still follows today. These include the breeding of queen bees, official bee disease diagnostics, the prevention and treatment of bee diseases and the appropriate keeping of bee colonies. In addition, there are numerous test tasks such as the suitability of beehive plants , the quality control of honey and wax for authenticity and origin. The institute operated a test, teaching and sample apiary. It also trains and advises beekeepers on courses and lectures.

When it was founded, the institute was commissioned to set up an apiology collection, particularly on the declining heather beekeeping . At that time there was a rapid technical advancement of beekeeping resources with the loss of the old beekeeping equipment . The collection, which was mainly compiled by a teacher from Eschede , found its place in a staircase from 1607, which was set up in 1931 at the institute's headquarters .

Description and organization

Entrance to the Institute for Apiculture in Celle

Since it was founded in 1927, the facility has been located north of the historic park of the French Garden. Located on the Broad Institute premises today gardens for the cultivation of bees honey plants and to set up colonies, including bee hives . The only vocational school in Germany for training to become a professional beekeeper is also located here. A museum exhibition on beekeeping is located in the stairwell and in the former orangery building. In addition, the institute has other modern buildings and workshops as well as facilities for honey extraction and storage. The IB Celle manages over 600 bee colonies , which in 2017 produced a honey harvest of over 15 tons.

The director is Werner von der Ohe. Until it was incorporated into the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES) in 2004, the IB Celle existed independently as the Lower Saxony State Institute for Apiculture , which was subordinate to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forests . The institute is a member of the working group of institutes for bee research and acts as their office. IB Celle employs 31 people and eight trainees.

The bee institute enjoys international recognition thanks to its supraregional activities in the areas of training and research and development. It also sees itself as a consulting institution for research and development tasks. In addition to beekeepers and beekeeping associations, clients are also trading and industrial companies.

ladder

1927–1938: Albert Koch
1938–1960: Erich Wohlgemuth
1960–1975: Walter Kaeser
1975-2000: Jost Heinrich Dustmann
since 2000: Werner von der Ohe

tasks

The IB Celle takes on around 16,700 tests on submitted samples every year. These studies are in addition to the market surveillance of honey prevention of bee diseases and the detection of pesticides in pollen . A pollen analysis can also be used to determine the origin and purity of honey. In the event of a suspected disease of bees, it is used by the state veterinary offices as a point of contact for samples of the wreath of food. The IB Celle is also dedicated to the breeding of queen bees . In addition to the registration point in Torfhaus in the Harz region, it also has an island registration point on the North Sea island of Neuwerk . In 2017 over 1200 queens of the so-called Celler line were sold.

The IB Celle has been training beekeepers since 1929 and is currently the only vocational school for beekeepers in Germany . In 2017, 42 vocational school students were trained as animal farmers, specializing in beekeeping, in block lessons and 28 final exams were taken. Afterwards, further training to become a master beekeeper is possible. In addition, the IB Celle also offers training for hobby beekeepers as well as an advisory service that was used over 5,000 times in 2014.

Education about the importance of beekeeping and its possible problems is a focus of public relations work. In addition to an annual report, the IB Celle publishes an irregular newsletter and the series Das Bieneninstitut Celle provides information on various topics such as: B. beekeeping practice, honey, bee biology or bee diseases. 56 days of advanced training courses were offered. The employees also gave 96 presentations. Together with the annual open day on the first Sunday of September, there were 59 guided tours of the institute in the IB Celle in 2017 with a total of over 4,500 visitors.

Publications

Beekeeping in rotation. The Celler operation , in: Deutsches Bienenjournal 1998, supplement to issue 8, also as PDF (approx. 16 MB)
Honey bees and beekeeping in Lower Saxony . Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Consumer Protection and Regional Development, Hanover 2012, unaltered reprint from 2006, 54 pages, PDF (approx. 25 MB)

literature

Hermann Geffcken: The bee institute in Celle. Research and advice on all aspects of beekeeping training in Lower Saxony in: District Museum Syke (ed.): Biene, plant, man. Booklet accompanying the exhibition. Honeybees and beekeepers in the past and present . District Museum Syke, Syke 1994, 55 pages