A course in bee culture was initiated in 1875. An apiary was constructed on the UT farm for instructional purposes, with E. Dean Dow supervising the work. Several colonies of Italian and black bees and some Italian queen bees were acquired. In 1919, under its contract with the federal Board for Vocational Training (later assumed by the Veterans’ Administration) for the training of disabled veterans, J. P. Hess, program administrator, created beekeeping and poultry curricula as agricultural fields in which disabled veterans could be successful.