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East Surrey Bees

Beekeeping Courses

We run  a number of courses throughout the year for beginners and beekeepers with all levels of experience.

For beginners we offer  
Beekeeping Taster Days
Not sure if beekeeping is really for you ? Then why not come and meet the bees for a day and find out?  The apiary has different size and style hives in operation and during the day you will get a chance to ask all the questions you may have while looking at colonies, tasting different honeys, finding out how to start, what you need and where you can get bees to begin and finding out all about the beekeepers year and whether beekeeping is for you. Ploughmans type lunch included.
 Sunday  1st August- from 10am for a 10.30 start , till 4pm
Cost £40.00

Beekeeping Theory for Beginners
A ten week course, two hours a week which aims to cover the main aspects of keeping bees as outlined by the British Bee Keeping Association, including colony management through the year,swarming, disease recognition and prevention, hive products and honey production to name a few. 
Starting Thursday 16th September – Thursday 25th November (not 28th October) from 7.30pm in Purley at the United Reformed Church Hall  Cost £120.00

Practical Beekeeping for Beginners
For aspiring beekeepers or those who have limited experience and want a chance to develop their skills this ten-week course will provide all the help you need to work confidently with a full colony and manage them successfully to produce a honey crop- all being well! We provide protective clothing for use in the apiary together with the tools needed. Designed for the beginner it will teach you how to inspect a colony and identify the different castes and sexes, how to handle bees and give you an introduction to swarming, honey production and the problems of pests and diseases.
 
On Thursdays from  April  to  June inclusive, from 6.30pm at the apiary in Whyteleafe.
Course Cost  £85.00
 
 
 
 

Courses for established beekeepers wanting to develop and extend their knowledge and skills we run the following courses:-
 
Intermediate Practical Beekeeping
A practical beekeeping course for those with some experience this course builds on the Basic exam course to develop further beekeeping skills.  It will include different swarm control techniques, colony increase, transferring to new comb, moving hives to forage, using nucs and disease recognition and treatments. Held at the Whyteleafe apiary, this is designed for beekeepers that have kept bees for a while and want to develop their knowledge further with like-minded beekeepers.  Confirmed start date is Tuesday 18th May 2010
Course cost £85.00
 
Basic Practical Beekeeping   Exam course
Once you have kept bees for a season the BBKA Basic exam is open to you. This course is for beekeepers who have had bees for at least a year and is designed to follow the syllabus for the exam with lots of practical and a mock test as well as all the theory you will need. The exam is arranged to take place at the apiary at the end of the course, but it is not compulsory!  It will ensure you have an up to date and comprehensive understanding of the basics of beekeeping.
Tuesday evenings from 6.30 starting 25th May at the apiary in Whyteleafe Course Cost  £85.00
 
Queen Rearing
A whole day during which we will look at the preparation needed to for a hive to provide larvae of the right age to graft and how to prepare hives to receive grafts to raise queen cells. We will also spend time on the technique of grafting, practicing on prepared cups. A frame will then be used in a starter hive to show the development of the cells. During the day we will also look in detail at using a ‘Cupkit’ Plug Transfer System and the preparation of mini nucs. 
Date 22nd May 2010 10.00am - 4pm Ploughmans type lunch provided. Course cost £45.00
 
 
 
Integrated Pest Management Course
A one day course which covers the bio technical management techniques for dealing with varroa.Date to be confirmed. 

Using Organic Acids
A one day course is aimed at giving you current and up to date information regarding the safe use of organic acids to control varroa in beehives. Some of the topics covered will include the following:-Compliance with Veterinary Medicines Directive.Record keeping.Storing chemicalsSelection of the appropriate acid to be used.Mixing/dilution of the various acids.How to safely apply the chosen acid.Timing of the appropriate application Next course November 2010

If you can't see what you want please contact us as we can tailor courses to your needs.