Description
KEEPing Your Bees Alive
1/18/24 – 1/25/24 – 2/1/24 – 2/8/24 – 2/15/24 – 2/22/24 – 2/29/24 – 3/7/24
Thursday Evening – Class Runs 6pm -8pm
Youth 10- to 12-year-olds free with paying adult.
Paid classes come with a 10% discount card. Excludes Bees, Sales items and treatments.
Classes will explore.
Instructors: Mark Case and Nancy Ruppert
- January 18, 2024—Instructors: Mark and Nancy
Introduction to beekeeping—Commitment involved, including expense; “Is beekeeping for me?” Reality check. Brief review of the seasonal nature of beekeeping and how the bee calendar differs from ours. Resources available (NCSBA, local clubs, NCDA&CS, journals, etc.).
- January 25, 2024—Instructor: Mark
Equipment (including PPE) and assembly—Basic beekeeping equipment, including PPE. How to assemble frames/insert wax/build boxes, etc.
- February 1, 2024—Instructor: Nancy
Honey bee anatomy and physiology (basic); How to inspect a hive (including intro to reading a frame)—Basics of honey bee body & how it works; steps in how to most effectively & efficiently inspect a hive
- February 8, 2024—Instructor: Mark
How to get started with bees—Starting with nucs, packages, swarms, etc. Tips to avoid early catastrophes with your first colony. Being a good neighbor, including HOA rules.
- February 15, 2024—Instructor: Nancy
How to read a frame (in more detail); food problems in the hive. What to look for & how to identify it; too little or too much food in hive; how to assess pollen/food stores.
- February 22, 2024—Instructor: Mark
Methods of increase—Splits, swarms, etc.
Queen problems—queen failure (egg-laying and pheromones), queenlessness, “too many” queens, etc.
- February 29, 2024 (leap year)—Instructor: Nancy
Pest/parasite issues—Hive beetles, varroa, wax moths, etc.
Getting through spring and summer—seasonal issues & activities
- March 7, 2024—Instructors: Mark and Nancy Last scheduled class
Getting through fall and winter—seasonal issues & activities
Review of primary principles of KEEPING YOUR BEES ALIVE
- March 14, 2024—Reserved as make-up date in case of bad weather during prior scheduled dates
Problems
Queen Issues
Food Issues
Pest/Parasites
Getting from spring though summer
preparing for fall and winter
