Welcome! Housed in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, we are the AU-BEES (named after Auburn’s world-famous mascot Aubie). Our outreach, extension, and research activities benefit our local community while educating the public on our vital work.
The AU-Bees Center actively participates in university community events, such as the Sustainability Picnic, Earth Day, and Beyond the Farm. Upon request, the lab also attends events hosted by local K-12 schools, community service organizations, and private businesses to provide educational talks over native bee and honeybee research, wildflower planting, and beekeeping. Our outreach goals focus on promoting pollinator health and diversity and informing the public on how they can become more involved with protecting our Alabama bees.
Are you or your organization interested in learning more about Alabama pollinators? Please send all inquiries and guest speaker requests to the AU-Bees lab outreach coordinators, Noah Crockette (Honey Bee inquiries) and Jasmine Cates (Native Bee inquiries)
Our research program aims to promote the health of insect pollinators in Alabama and further afield by executing specific activities that fall under several stakeholder-identified priority areas. Our wide breadth of research focuses on everything from conservation to kiwi pollination and more.
To help beekeepers make appropriate management decisions during winter and early spring, 17 land-grant universities, 1 statewide cooperative extension system, 5 USDA ARS labs (Baton Rouge, Beltsville, Poplarville, Stoneville, Tucson), and 3 beekeepers are jointly monitoring amount of capped brood in their colonies throughout the country from mid-October 2025 to the end of February 2026.
