Starting Out With Honey Bees November 14, 2009

If you have been thinking about honey bees, here is a beginning class for you. Since the beekeeper's year starts in the fall, now is the time to find out if beekeeping is right for you. This class will lay the groundwork so that you'll feel comfortable as a beginning beekeeper. It will be taught through a combination of lecture and video. You will learn how to buy and assemble equipment, where to place your hives, how to acquire bees, how care for your growing colonies, and how to prevent, identify and treat diseases. Basic beekeeping has changed little over the past 150 years, but diseases and pests now make beekeeping even more of a challenge. Integrated Pest Management will be emphasized. Though the first summer's honey is mainly left for the bees to get through their first winter, harvesting will be touched upon briefly. The goal of this class is to help you begin beekeeping more confidently than if you were on your own.