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Beekeeper / Apiarist
Manages bee colonies for honey production and, crucially, crop pollination.
Did you know?
More than three-quarters of the world's food crops rely at least partly on pollination by bees and other animals, says the UN's FAO.
How subjects help
- Biology: Check a hive for a healthy queen, fresh eggs and signs of mites or disease.
- Chemistry: Test honey for moisture so it won't ferment and treat mites without tainting the honey.
- Environmental Science: Place hives near flowering crops and wild plants so bees have food all season.
- Business Studies: Sell honey and rent out hives to farmers who need their crops pollinated.
A famous name
L. L. Langstroth: Patented the first movable-frame beehive in America in 1852, a design still widely used.
Try it yourself: Watch a bean wake up
- Line the jar with damp kitchen paper and push the bean between the paper and the glass.
- Keep the paper damp (not flooded) and the jar somewhere light.
- Check every day and draw what you see. Does the root or the shoot come first?
- Turn the jar on its side once the root appears. What does the root do next?
Farmers and plant scientists watch germination closely: a strong root first means a healthy crop later.
Also try: How many fish can be caught?.
Known for it in
New Zealand, Australia, USA, France, Germany