It’s early summer, and honey bees are keeping busy with foraging for nectar and pollen, nurturing their larvae, and producing honey. But what are the beekeepers up to? Radio Catskill reporter Chia-Tien Nicole Chen spoke to Robyn Underwood, the Extension Educator of Apiculture at Penn State, to find out.

With nearly 30 years of researching honey bees and a PhD in entomology from the University of Manitoba under her belt, Underwood describes her work as “teach[ing] beekeepers to be better beekeepers.” She devised an online, self-paced course called “Beekeeping 102: Organic Honeybee Colony Management,” which is now open for registration through PennState Extension. In it, she goes over beekeeping methods such as organic-approved pest control techniques and a calendar of tasks to be completed throughout the seasons.