Course for 2022 will be subject to Covid 19 restrictions & regulations
Aims of Course
This course is suitable for those who wish to:-
- Discover more about beekeeping and/or
- Decide whether beekeeping is a suitable hobby and/or
- Start beekeeping.
Structure
The 16 hour course over 8 meetings is divided into:-
- Theory – 10 Hours.
5 separate meetings, a mixture of face to face at Bishops Cannings Village Hall, 2.5 miles from Devizes, Wiltshire and via Zoom. - Practical – 6 Hours at one of the Club Apiaries, close to Bishops Cannings or at a Member’s apiary. (TBC – the format to incorporate the most up to date Covid-19 rules)
Theory Sessions
Theory sessions will be held on Thursdays, between 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Meetings: See Education main page for course dates
The theory will cover:-
- Life cycle of the honey bee; nature of the colony and the individual bee; forage
- Equipment : personal, hives and frames
- Beekeeping Year: inspecting the bees throughout the seasons
- Keeping the bees healthy: recognizing a healthy colony; managing pests and diseases.
- Swarm management
- Honey extraction; other products of the hive
- Getting started: setting up an apiary; health and safety issues; purchasing bees and equipment
Practical Sessions
These sessions will be held mostly Saturdays for 2 hours between 12 noon – 2 pm or 2 pm – 4 pm.
Exact times and dates are weather dependent.
Meetings: See Education main page for course dates
After kitting out – bee suits available to borrow – and practising how to light smokers, teams of 1 teacher and 2/3 students will work on a hive.
Teachers will demonstrate what to look for and how to handle bees during an inspection but mostly these sessions are an opportunity for students to gain hands on experience.
Course Extension – the Apiary is open for various weekend sessions throughout the season for course members to gain further experience handling bees. These may be limited in 2022 due to Covid government regulations.
Further Learning
We are not yet sure how the apiaries will work for 2022 but we will try to make them available for various weekend sessions throughout the season for course members to gain further experience handling bees. New beekeepers will be especially welcomed at these sessions.
Teachers
Most of the teaching team have considerable experience and expertise in both beekeeping and teaching beekeeping and are well recognized at County level and above. The team includes the Wiltshire President, a bee farmer and seasonal bee inspector.
Cost of Course:
- £40 for members. The total cost for the course and full membership (£43 plus a £5 new member fee) is £88. Membership includes affiliation of both County and National organisations, in addition to helpful emails from the National Bee Unit and the BBKA’s monthly magazine. It also includes insurance (please see the membership page of our website for full details).
- £61 for non members without bees, this includes associate membership (£16 plus a £5 new member fee) which gives access to all of Kennet facilities, especially apiaries and library. Non members with bees will need to become full members.
Application
Early application is advised as the course. It also enables applicants to gain some of the membership benefits before the Course starts. Priority will be given to local members who make early application.
Please contact Emma Morley, Education Secretary, for the full details and an application form.
Click this link or see Contacts page for contact details.
Completion of the Form with payment will confirm your place on the Course.