BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • What should beginners learn?

  • Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
 #1359  by DianeBees
 15 Nov 2018, 22:22
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.

The basic assessment includes four sections:

Manipulation and Equipment. Practical Assessment of the Candidate’s ability to handle bees and beekeeping equipment and the ability to interpret what is observed.
Oral questioning and Assessment of the Candidate’s knowledge of Natural History and Beekeeping.
Oral questioning on Swarming, Swarm Control and effects.
Oral questioning on Diseases and Pests,

There's not a huge concentration on getting colonies through winter - with only two mentions of winter

able to give an elementary description of the way in which the honeybee colony passes the winter
able to describe how mice and other pests can be excluded from the hives in winter.

I would expect most clubs do a 'Getting bees ready for winter' talk at about the right time to give people a chance to carry out some of the steps.

The NBU do a leaflet, Preparing Your Colonies for Winter pdf
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=167

Module 1 covers a bit more in depth about winter and preparation.

I think training needs to go hand in hand with mentoring too - so that people have support locally - for the weather differences you'd have in a big country, or even the difference in forage within a few miles in the UK.
 #1361  by Chrisbarlow
 16 Nov 2018, 09:15
More emphasis on varroa control and non control, what effects this has, pass on official NBU advice
Also when asian hornet arrives, training specifically around this pest on the new beekeeper course
Making up nucs, nuc making is not some sort of advanced technique, it should be a standard teach to all new beekeepers and goes hand in hand with good swarm management
Queen replacement, this aligns with swarm management , nuc making and overwintering.
 #1365  by Jim Norfolk
 16 Nov 2018, 10:19
I am not sure we need a top down BBKA teaching method. If you look at the parallel with education, we have the National Curriculum and the syllabuses put out by the various exam boards. To meet these schools write their own schemes of work, detailing what is taught lesson by lesson. At first sight this looks like duplication of effort but each school is different. I think the BBKA Basic syllabus is a very good starting point for writing beginners courses.

On course content, my feeling is there is too much recipe beekeeping taught where beekeepers learn to apply a technique without understanding what is going on and why they do it. Forget the boxes and how to fiddle with them and start on understanding what is going on inside. In the classroom cover basic biology, life cycles, behaviour, food, reproduction, pests and diseases etc. These are common to all boxes of bees. The boxes are best introduced in an apiary session as part of the normal seasonal work undertaken there. It is important apiary and classrooom sessions overlap so that students can relate theory to practice.
 #1366  by NigelP
 16 Nov 2018, 16:13
Jim Norfolk wrote:
16 Nov 2018, 10:19
my feeling is there is too much recipe beekeeping taught where beekeepers learn to apply a technique without understanding what is going on and why they do it.

Couldn't agree more, people need to understand bees and why they do things in the way they do. Even many teachers don't know the answers..or haven't fully understood why they are doing things themselves..(you can tell I was an inquisitive beginner who wasn't afraid to ask questions)....

For me the BIG question that no-one ever asks is what do you want out of your beekeeping?
This is enormous, as different people are after different things, like not bothered about honey to wanting lots of honey and myriads of shades of grey in-between. There are different management techniques and different strains of bees that will allow anyone to achieve their own aims. No courses seem to factor this in.
It's the first question I ask people and their answers are quite surprising. Although I'd put most down as they just want to understand and learn how to keep bees well and come away from many courses feeling short changed. Which I feel is an associations fault.
Just had a chat today with old boy who was telling me he goes against his local associations guidelines and feeds his bees syrup. What they recommend we never found out, but their members have been known to have bragging matches as to who has the most vicious bees....
So many associations are giving very bad advice, and often this is reflected by their so called "education" officer insisting that new beekeepers are only taught what he/she thinks they should be taught. I fell foul of this type of officer this year in my own local association where I was rung up and told that the in the talk I was giving that evening that I couldn't talk about using Oxalic acid vaporisation as a method of varroa control because it was far too dangerous....
Naturally I refused to leave this out (it was only part of the arsenal of varroa control treatments I was going to mention) so he refused to let me talk. They are now my ex-association and the education officer is now their ex-education officer. Left a bitter taste that people are being spoofed only the bits of beekeeping that someone wants to them to be fed....arrogance beyond bounds. What worries me is I'm sure it still exists in many associations.
 #1367  by Jim Norfolk
 16 Nov 2018, 17:46
Nigel glad we agree. I find it riduculous that you were prevented from speaking on vaporisation of OA, because some Panjandrum thought it unsafe. I am sure you would have included full H&S details and a risk asssessment in your talk. You would also no doubt have explained that as far as the bees are concerned, vaping is far safer.

We have to have open debate and reasoned argument about all aspects of beekeeping, if we are to make progress.
 #1369  by NigelP
 16 Nov 2018, 21:09
Not sure a full risk assessment was included ;)....but masks and be careful was.
It horrifies me that this suppression of information still goes on, beekeepers insisting on imposing THEIR opinions.
 #1371  by Patrick
 16 Nov 2018, 23:09
NigelP wrote:. beekeepers insisting on imposing THEIR opinions.
Beekeepers with strong views - surely not?! I do think it’s a bit odd that beekeeping in particular may invoke a certain dogmatism regarding the “right” way to keep bees even sometimes from people who don’t even keep bees.

It’s a good thing that I’m able to take it all with a pinch of salt - must be because my way is the right way..! :D. Unfortunately the bees sometimes apparently disagree with my opinions as well, which is downright unreasonable.
 #1374  by DianeBees
 17 Nov 2018, 13:05
NigelP wrote:
16 Nov 2018, 21:09
Not sure a full risk assessment was included ;)....but masks and be careful was.
It horrifies me that this suppression of information still goes on, beekeepers insisting on imposing THEIR opinions.
There is a 'compost accelerator' sold with the historic use information sheet which detailed how it used to be used as a weedkiller. With careful advice not to spill it on the way to the compost heap.

You can vape Api-bioxal and so could give a detailed explanation of how to ensure you do that very safely to supplement the instructions as per VMD site.

www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/productinformation ... 807534.DOC


B) Posology and method of administration by vaporisation
Use an electric resistance device for vaporisation. Fill the pan of the vaporizer with 2.3 g of the product. Place the appliance through the entrance of the hive under the bees, avoiding contact with the honey combs. Seal the entrance of the hive to avoid escape of the bees and smoke. Turn on the vaporizer following the manufacturer’s instructions for about 3 minutes and keep the hive shut for another 15 minutes. Cool down and clean the vaporizer after use to remove possible residue (max 6%, around 0.140 g). Use drinkable water for cooling and/or cleaning. Maximal dose 2.3g per hive as a single administration. One treatment per year.

It is recommended to follow manufacturer’s instructions in order to achieve maximum sublimation.


In fact, it might be quite useful to talk about the PPE required for such a procedure.