Beginner Beekeeping Course

Gain practical experience and learn what the hobby involves with our one day practical beginner course.

Covers all the basics you need to get started in beekeeping.

Full price £75 for a one day (6 hour) course.

Course location Birchover, Nr. Matlock, Derbyshire.

Courses run from 10:00am to 4:00pm and are aimed at beginner level beekeepers. No beekeeping experience or knowledge required.
 

The course will cover all aspects of basic beekeeping including:
- The different types of honey bee found in the hive and their basic life cycle.
- What you need to look for when opening a hive at different times throughout the year.
- How to keep a colony of bees healthy and strong.
- The basics of preventing swarming.
- Simple methods of rearing new queens.
- How to split hives to increase colony numbers or replace winter losses.

- Honey extraction and processing.

Used bee suits and gloves will be available to anyone attending a course who would like to borrow them for the day. New suits and gloves can also be bought here, or bring your own if you already have them. Wellington boots are the recommended footwear, these are bee proof and are ideal if you have them - but other footwear can be worn if you prefer.

The course is a practical beekeeping course and at least half of the course time will be spent inspecting some of the colonies of bees in our training apiary, finding the queens etc. Practical beekeeping can be hot and tiring (especially on a warm day). So the day is broken up with a number of indoor presentations covering all the essentials for new beekeepers. The presentations take place in our honey extraction building and they give everyone the chance to sit down, cool off and have a cup of tea!