Beverley
Beekeepers' Association
The local
Beekeeping Association for East
Yorkshire
Training
Courses
We do recommend that you join your local beekeeping
association and learn some practical skills before you
start out. An ideal way is to join a beginners’ beekeeping
course. Most district associations now run courses - some
are leisurely spread out through the year, involving theory
and practical sessions, while others are intense
instruction over a weekend. A comprehensive list can be
found at
www.thorne.co.uk.
Here
at Beverley
we run a beginners’ course each year from the end of May to
the beginning of July at our apiary site off Long Lane,
Beverley. We lend students protective clothing as we open
up beehives and demonstrate how to
carry out some basic manipulations and checks. Experienced
beekeepers are on hand to instruct, give advice, and answer
any questions. You will learn how to handle bees, recognize
workers, drones and the queen, find bee eggs and larvae.
Most importantly you will find out if you really enjoy
being in amongst bees. The class usually runs over 6 weeks
on a weekday evening from 6.30 to 830. For those who feel
they would prefer a one day intensive introduction to
beekeeping on a Saturday, we are planning to run courses in
July. For those prepared to spend more time learning
beekeeping we can offer one-to-one teaching. Some of our
members will ‘mentor’ new beekeepers by taking them on as
assistants. This can be an excellent way to pick up
practical knowledge over the whole beekeeping season and
will enable you to link up with your beekeeping guru for
advice later when you have your own bees. For each of these
three alternatives there is a charge of £30 to cover costs,
which includes friends’ membership of Beverley Beekeepers’
Association, loan of protective clothing, and a full set of
course notes. Demand for places is always very high. If you
think you would like to apply, please let us know as soon
as possible, stating which of the alternatives you would
prefer. We are not able to allow anyone to take up more
than one of the alternatives.
If
you are interested in going on one of our courses then
please email our course organiser here
librarian@stewbec.karoo.co.uk
Whilst you are waiting to go on a course we do welcome
people as Friend members which costs only £5 per year. If
you join in this way you get to find out about local
beekeeping information, get our regular club newsletter and
can come along to meetings. Go to the Membership pages and
download a form if you would like to join us as a
friend.