Training and Support > Introductory & Appreciation
*******Now too late to join this course, but see Appreciation Day and the benefits of joining as an Associate Member below***********************************
Introduction to Beekeeping Course: January/February 2012
Our 2012, 6 week, one evening per week, Introduction to Beekeeping Course will run from 7.00pm until 9.30pm on Tuesdays 17, 24 & 31 January and 7, 14 & 21 February at the British Beekeepers' Assn Offices, Stoneleigh Park, Nr Leamington Spa. The course fee is £50.00 reflecting our wish to encourage the public to take up beekeeping and to do so in a well informed and safe manner. There will be a hands on session on Tuesday 17 April. The course ends at this point, but those joining the Branch will have further support - please see below.
Apart from hive construction, these evening sessions focus on the essential background theory required to be a successful beekeeper, with practical input coming later when the beekeeping season commences. The course covers the BBKA recommended syllabus as follows:
- History of the honeybee & life in their colony.
- The beehive including a practical session building your own hive
- The beekeeping year
- The queen bee & colony behaviour
- Caring for the health of bees
- Plants bees like
- Honey & other hive products
- Getting started with your own hive of bees
If you choose to join Warwick & Leamington Beekeepers during the course, we will provide you with full first year beekeeping support including assistance in obtaining your first colony, a mentor and practical experience at our teaching apiary.
If you have missed our Introduction to Beekeeping Course, you may still wish to:
- Join our Branch as an Associate Member. This will give you our newsletter, an invitation to our events and access to our library.
- Attend our Winter meetings in order to meet learn from other beekeepers
- Purchase a set of protective clothing so that you can manipulate bees when the opportunity arises.
- Borrow from our library and read a book covering the basics of beekeeping
- Use the Contact Form to enquire if there is a beekeeper in your neighbourhood who would appreciate some help or provide you with some practical experience during 2012
- Gain practical experience at our branch apiary
- Reserve a place on our 2013 Introduction to Beekeeping Course
Beekeeping Appreciation Day: May 2012
For those assessing whether keeping bees is viable in their particular circumstances, we provide a one day Beekeeping Appreciation Day, which will take place in Marton Village Hall, near Rugby and a local private apiary. Provided the weather is suitable, delegates have an opportunity to handle bees (but certainly don't have to!). Apart from background information about bees, the event covers practical considerations such as equipment required, where to obtain it & costs, the annual beekeeping husbandry process and how much time it takes, and where bees can be kept.
Whereas attending The Introduction to Beekeeping course is a serious undertaking, the Appreciation day is a more casual arrangement which may be viewed as an ideal gift for someone with a general interest in nature.
Our next Appreciation Day will take place on Saturday 19 May 2012, from 10.00 for 10.30am until 4.30pm approx. The course fee is £18.00, which in 2012 is to be donated to a beekeeping charity
To enrol on the Beekeeping Appreciation day, please download an enrolment form
Some novice beekeepers either do not have time for attending formal training courses or prefer to learn as they go along. Branch meetings and the informal branch network are most helpful when advice or assistance is needed.
Those who have kept bees for a full season are encouraged to take a one hour practical assessment called the Basic Assessment which may be likened to a Beekeeping "driving licence". Click the following link to find out all you need to know about taking the Basic Assessment. Normally the Branch arranges a member to co-ordinate the taking of the Basic Assessment. Two helpful documents may be found in our downloads section concerning the taking of the Basic Assessment and some suggested responses.
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