The Healing Capacity of Honey Bees: Veterans Using Beekeeping as a Modality to Achieve Positive Mental Health Outcomes

Recorded On: 10/18/2023

Summary: Veterans deal with a whole host of disabilities, traumas, and transitional issues following military service. Agriculture can serve as a solution to many veteran issues through professional training to support career goals and therapeutic activities to support overall wellness of the veteran and their families. Crosscutting programs like Heroes to Hives seek to address these multifaceted needs through professional training in beekeeping and transpersonal wellness practices within the course that seek to utilize bees and the interaction with them as modalities for positive health outcomes. In this session, we will discuss how Heroes to Hives delivers wellness opportunities and practices to their students.

Intended Audience: Health Care Providers, Ag Educators, and Veteran Service Providers

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

Participants will learn about the Heroes to Hives program’s integrative training program.
Participants will understand the value of integrating transpersonal practices into agricultural settings for wellness.
Participants will learn how collaboration with the VA can lead to new wellness opportunities for veterans using VA care.
Participants will learn about the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program’s Professional Development grant opportunity.

Adam Ingrao, Ph.D., B.S.

Co-Founder and National Director

Heroes to Hives

Dr. Adam Ingrao holds a B.S. in Agriculture and Plant Science from California Polytechnic State University and a Ph.D. in Entomology from Michigan State University. He is the Co-Founder and National Director for the Heroes to Hives program and an Outreach Specialist at Michigan Food and Farming Systems. Dr. Ingrao has been working in agriculture for 30 years and with honey bees professionally for 17 years, teaching beekeeping to audiences around the world. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on agriculture topics, is a regular contributor to Bee Culture magazine, and was most recently a co-author of the textbook Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner.