This one-day course is based at the Notgrove estate in the heart of the Cotswolds - about 25 minutes from Cheltenham. It's for anyone who's thinking of keeping bees. You'll be able to talk with experienced beekeepers. You'll get your questions answered and you learn all the beekeeping essentials.
Beekeeping is a great hobby and honeybees will give you an amazing window into the natural world. On this course, we'll show you how to care for these incredible creatures. You'll see inside a honeybee hive and learn what you need to become a beekeeper. By the end of the day, you'll have the knowledge to confidently start beekeeping.
We begin the day indoors. In the afternoon we visit our training apiary where you will see inside honeybee hives. We provide a bee suit and gloves. You'll be able to handle the bees (if you want).
We'll cover:
Honeybee life - how bees live together and why it matters to the beekeeper
The beekeeping year - how the bees behave as the seasons change and what this means for the beekeeper
How to get started - how much time you need, different ways to keep bees, hive types and deciding where to put your hive
Honeybee health and good practice
The equipment you need
Honey and how to extract it
This is a full day beekeeping course that will:
- Get you hands on with bees
- Show you how to handle bees
- Teach you how to use two important pieces of beekeeping eqipment - a smoker and hive tool
Two more things:
This course involves working with live bees. We do our best to ensure that you don't get stung but these courses are not suitable for you if you know that you have a severe allergic reaction to stings.
In the afternoon we visit a working apiary. Be prepared to walk a distance up slight hills and across fields to get to the site.
An Introduction to Beekeeping
This beekeeping course is for you if you'd like to know more about honeybees, the skills of beekeeping, where to put your hive and what a new beekeeper needs to buy.