Beekeeping Courses
Please register your interest Contact : Terry Gibson eMail bee-aware@gmx.com or phone 01553 674051, or fill in the course registration form below
Taster Sessions
Sundays 2 - 4pm at Blackborough End Apiary.
Dates:- April 11th, May 16th, June 13th, July 11th, August 8th.
Cost £5.00 per person. Participants to bring suitable footwear and a cap.
Maximum number per session will be 12.
Hive Building course
Sundays 10 - 12noon at Tottenhill Village Hall.
Dates:- Two sessions, Dates to be advised.
Cost £10.00 per person - Maximum number is to be 10.
Introduction to Beekeeping
Current course is closed to new attendees.
But please contact us to register for the next course
which should start in October 2010.
Course of Beekeeping Workshops
Friday evenings 6.30 - 8.30pm at Blackborough End Apiary.
1. Swarm Control
2. Nucs
3. Queen Management
4. To be announced
5. Honey removal and extraction
6. Feeding
Dates:- First session 7th. May.
Free, but available to members only.
"May all your supers be full". Terry Gibson.
Just interested ?
Welcome to the fascinating life of Bees and Beekeepers in West Norfolk. If you want to find out about honey bees then a good starting point is to join one of our apiary sessions (see events page). Here you can see hives and bees, hear about looking after honey bees and meet beekeepers too. We also have stands at the major Shows in Norfolk and often have an Observation hive too where you can see bees in action. If it is not possible to make these dates then contact us and we will see if there is a beekeeper in your area who will be willing and able to talk to you about keeping bees.
Getting Started
In summary you will need .... some knowledge, some equipment, an inquisitive mind and a few hours a week during the season (late March to September). As with many animals if you leave them alone they will die but if you look after them they will reward you with lots of honey and a wonderful sense of satisfaction too. Wear a beesuit into your local store, garage or pub and you will get a warm welcome and a barrage of questions too !
Probably the best way to start is to attend one of our apiary sessions early in the season and then come along to our association apiary each week to get used to handling bees
If you join our association, which we hope you will, you will get insurance (public and product liability), a year book with lots of useful articles and a list of beekeepers in your area, and a newsletter which provides useful contacts, equipment and bees for sale and details of meetings.
The right hand panel provides links to some of the topics you need to think about or alternatively / as well you can contact us directly and we will try and help you work out the best approach for your circumstances.
Here is your first year in beekeeping .......
DURING THE WINTER:
- Go to lectures and meetings of your local branch.
- Attend any courses you can find.
- Read, using the library of your association and your local library. We suggest two of the books to read are "Guide to Bees and Honey" by Ted Hooper and "Beekeeping a Seasonal Guide" by Ron Brown.
- Take a beekeeping journal
- Find a site for keeping your bees, your garden may not be suitable.
IN THE SPRING and SUMMER
- Buy, from a Beekeeper in your association if you can, a 4 frame nucleus with a young queen. Ask for bees that are quiet and easy to handle. With your nucleus you will gain, experience, confidence and manual skills. You are unlikely to have swarming problems. Your bees will be on 10 or 11 frames by July.
- Feed your bees ready for winter.
NEXT WINTER:
- Make or buy two more hives.
IN THE FOLLOWING SPRING:
- Increase your bees to two shocks by making an Artificial Swarm.
- Collect a Swarm.
By the end of the season you will have three good stocks, experience and a crop of honey.
With Acknowledgment to RON BROWN of Devon