BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #1358  by DianeBees
 15 Nov 2018, 22:15
deweyandrew wrote:
13 Nov 2018, 22:34
What do you think is essential for new beekeepers to learn?
Do you find the BBKA Courses cover all that they ought to well?

(My first name is Andrew)
Hello Andrew!

We all seem to make our own beginners courses - there's not a standard one, but using the BBKA Basic assessment syllabus as a measure of what a beekeeper should know about by the end of their first year or two of beekeeping is a good thing to aim for.

I will start a thread on this in Education section though!
 #1376  by Steve (The Drone)
 18 Nov 2018, 10:10
Hi Andrew. I remember years ago listening to a talk by a very erudite American Bee Farmer. He was based up by the Canadian border and had amazing photos of his hives in deep, deep snow. When he began farming he had a contract to move his hives for the apple orchard polination. Possibly due to insecticide spays against the coddling moth he was getting unacceptable colony losses. When he switched to honey only production and kept his bees on meadows then his winter losses plummeted. He also bred all his own queens and would have nothing to do with ‘packaged bees’.
With regards training. We run a ‘Meet the Bees’ session, followed by ‘beginners, ‘improvers’ and then ‘revision’. Mentoring is most important. If any interesting manipulation is in hand at the apiary then it is advertised on the webpage and all are welcome.
Steve.
( would be interesting to here what tips our Scandinavian Chums get on).
 #1663  by Jules59
 09 Jan 2019, 09:20
Hi Im Jules

Started beekeeping in 2018 by joining the Nuneaton branch of Warwickshire Beekeepers Assoc. and subsequently purchased a 6 frame nuc.
Had a busier year than expected. Undertook swarm management but they swarmed anyway - into my apple tree. Collected the swarm into a nuc which I eventually sold as I didnt want 3 hives to look after in my first year.
Also collected 15kg of honey - which was nice.
Currently over-wintering two WBC hives (built from kits) at the end of my rural Warwickshire garden.
Its been a fascinating but steep learning curve.
 #1665  by AdamD
 09 Jan 2019, 13:46
It's often a steep learning curve with bees and they don't always do as you expect, hence the expression "Bees don't read books" However it seems that you have survived your first season! Excellent!
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