Enterprise State Community College's newly formed Department of Agricultural Sciences has established partnerships with Auburn University's College of Agriculture, the Auburn University Bee Lab, and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI). These partnerships are providing unique opportunities to students interested in pursuing higher education and careers in agriculture. We prepare students to solve difficult problems and engage in important research, offering an education that integrates academically rigorous coursework with the ability to apply this knowledge in practical ways in the lab and field. We have established the State Apiary Unit Lab - ADAI's state honeybee diagnostic lab - in which students are earning college credit while testing honeybee samples for nosema and tracheal mites.

ESCC now has an Apiary where we are keeping honeybee colonies donated to us by Auburn's AU-Bees. We are using the honeybee as the model to approach the merging of theoretical knowledge and practical field application. This "outdoor classroom" allows students to appreciate the importance of the biology of organisms such as the honeybee.

We are fortunate that a by-product of these projects is honey production. In June of 2024 we bottled our first honey, and adopted the name Weevil Bees. We anticipate our honey to bear the Sweet Grown Alabama logo in preparation for our first sales.