The Basics of Beekeeping

This popular beekeeping course will interest the beginner and novice beekeeper as well as those individuals looking for knowledge about bees and the beekeeping industry. A wide range of topics will be explored including equipment, biology, regulations, duties and responsibilities, honey and hive products, pests, and diseases.

The course is comprehensive but also fun and interactive. There will be opportunities for field trips designed to connect you to the bees and the beekeeping community. All field trips require a waiver to be signed. The field trip date is scheduled for March 17th, 2pm-4pm, weather permitting. The rain date is scheduled for April 7th, 2024, from 2pm- 4pm, weather permitting.

Come and learn how to responsibly manage honeybee colonies and enjoy the relationship between the bees, their beekeeper, and our environment.

Week 1 - February 28 Getting Started!

The first class will explore equipment, yard location and regulations, as well as the physical and financial requirements of beekeeping.

Week 2 - March 6 Bee Biology and Pest Management

Understanding bee biology is fundamental to understanding how the bees and colony work together in your Apiary. Integrated pest management is essential to discourage ants, raccoons, and bears from visiting your bee yard.

Week 3 - March 13 – Disease Management & Hive Products

Identifying, monitoring, treating your bees, as well as record keeping are all part of a larger integrated disease manage program for your apiary. There is more to bees than honey! Together we will explore all the other products a beekeeper can create from a hive.

OPTIONAL Field Trip Sunday March 17^th – 2 pm-4 pm Spring in the apiary, feeding, medication and health, weather permitting.

Week 4 - April 3 - Honey: Liquid, Creamed and Comb

From bee to bottle, the story of honey. Harvesting, marketing, labeling and hands on extraction.

Week 5 - April 10- Getting Your Bees and Communication.

Bees can be captured in swarms, purchased in nucs, or split from an existing hive. We will discuss how to catch a swarm, install a nuc, split a hive and learn the magic of bee communication.

Week 6 April 17 - A Year in the Life of a Beekeeper

From start to finish this class will tie everything together as we explore the month-to-month account of the honeybee colony and the duties and responsibilities of the beekeeper that cares for them.

RAIN Date Field Trip Sunday April 7th 2 pm - 4pm. Spring in the apiary, feeding, medication and health.