Beginners Course

The Association runs the Beginners Course starting at the end of January each year, and it includes two parts: theory and practical.

The Theory Modules are covered in a series of 8 classes, delivered IN PERSON on Monday evenings from 6.30pm to 9.00pm.

The modules are:

• Session One: Introduction: Meet the honeybee, ice-breaker, course information
• Session Two: The Colony
• Session Three: The Beekeeping Year
• Session Four: The Apiary and Inspections
• Session Five: Pests & Diseases
• Session Six: Swarms
• Session Seven: Plants Pollination and Products
• Session Eight: Frame and hive building practical – work building frames and watching a demo of constructing a wooden National brood box.

The Practical Modules are delivered in a series of 5 classes, delivered on Monday evenings from 6.30pm to 8.30pm later in the year, end of May and beginning of June.

Beginners without hive/bees package:

If you don’t have any bees, will not buy the hive package or will source your own bees from somewhere else, the practical activities take place at the Murton apiary, on the Association’s hives.

Beginners buying the hive/bees package:

The Association negotiate a discounted price for a hive package, including the basic equipment, a British National hive and the bees, which you can purchase. In this case, the practical course is delivered at a temporary apiary where you will do the activities on your own bees, and at the end of the 5 weeks you will take your bees to your own home or apiary location.