A synopsis about published methods and results on experiments to cultivate bee cells in vitro is given. Experimental investigations were performed with haemocytes of larvae of the L-5 stage using many different media and methods for the preparation of primary tissue culture. Monolayers could be prepared and a high rate of reproduction has been achieved, although subpassages could not be obtained. Haemocytes could be kept alive up to 27 days by using BML-TC/7A medium according to Gardiner and Stockdale, modified by Skatulla (pers. communic., 1987). Further experiments are necessary in order to study the suitability of bee cells to detect specific pathogens and toxic substances.