Education And Training

During 2020 the SBKA will run a 6 week introductory course on Beekeeping.  The course syllabus is below, and will give a sound introduction to the basics.  Students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of colony management, and remove some of the myths about bees.

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Course Dates Are:

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Monday 9th March,

Monday 16th March,

Monday 23rd March,

Monday 30th March,

Tuesday 7th April

Monday 20th April.

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Followed by 3 Practical Sessions:

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Saturday 25 April

Saturday 2 May

Saturday 9 May 

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If you are interested, please complete the contact form, and a member of the team will be in touch.

Week 1 - The life of the honeybee queen, worker and drone

09 Mar 2020

  • Development of the Queen, worker and drone

  • Identify brood in all stages and honey, nectar and pollen in the comb

  • Periods spent as egg, larva pupa and adult summer and winter bees life span

  • Collection and use of pollen, nectar, water and propolis

  • How the honeybee passes the winter

Week 2 - Equipment

16 Mar 2020

  • Personal  equipment needed to open a hive of honeybees and importance of cleanliness.

  • Able to name and explain the functions of the principle parts of the modern beehive. Different types of hives and their advantages and disadvantages

  • Use of hive tool, smoker and other tools; spray, queen cages, nucs, markers bucket for washing soda

  • Effects of stings and treatment

Week 3 - The Beekeeping Year

23 Mar 2020

  • Growth of the colony

  • Spring Inspections

  • Swarming Season

  • Harvesting

  • Feeding

Week 4 - Queens, Swarming and swarm control

29 Mar 2020

  • Reasons for swarming and events during swarming

  • One method for swarm control

  • How to collect a swarm

  • Signs of queenlessness and tests

  • Laying workers and drone laying queens

  • How to introduce a new queen

  • Reasons for uniting colonies and one method of uniting colonies

Week 5 - Honey harvest and the annual cycle

06 Apr 2020

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  • Feeding the bees sugar syrup/fondant/pollen supplement

  • Robbing and prevention

  • Harvesting honey and wax and legal requirements of bottling and selling honey; hygiene

  • Apiary hygiene and comb change

  • Flowers for Bees

Week 6 - Pests and Diseases

19 Apr 2020

  • The appearance of healthy brood

  • Symptoms of AFB and EFB, chalk brood and sac brood

  • Varroa and its effects

  • Treatments for  varroa including integrated pest management

  • Adult bee diseases Acarine and Nosema symptoms

  • Disease diagnosis and sampling bees

  • Notifiable diseases and legislation

  • Wax moth, mice, woodpeckers, wasps and precautions

Practical Session 1

24 Apr 2020

This will be weather dependent - details will be announced at the training Sessions

Practical Session 2

01 May 2020

This will be weather dependent - details will be announced at the training Sessions

Practical Session 3

08 May 2020

This will be weather dependent - details will be announced at the training Sessions

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