Date

Location & equipment

Instructors

Subject

Sunday 7^th May

Apiary site

spare floor & blow lamp

CB NR PL-S BD

Course details and dates. Health and Safety, protective clothing; First Aid. Examination of beekeeping equipment, identification and uses. Siting a hive. Use of smoker. Cleaning floors. Check equipment. Open a hive.

Thurs 18^th May

Apiary site new brood frames;

nuc(s)

CB NR RH

Revision. Examination and compare colonies eg for stores, brood pattern, disease. Find the queen. Action to take on finding Queen cells – if none, introduce marked new frame, prepare nucleus hive. Make up brood frames.

Sunday May 21^st

Apiary site parts for

nuc(s)

BH NR CB

Examination of a Colony, Swarm prevention and Control.

Making up a Nucleus Hive/artificial swarm. Check and compare state of main hives, take appropriate action.

Thur June 8th

Apiary site

prepared supers

PLS GM BH

Students check hives for: (i) Drone only producing colonies.

ii) mated laying queens/crowding; add supers and take other appropriate action

Thur June 15^th

Apiary site

Invited expert PLS CB

Visit to mating Apiary, simple queen rearing demo. J enter

system demonstrated. Queen introduction.

Thur June 22^nd

Apiary

brood box(es) for full nucs

CB NR BH

Check hives and nucs for laying Queens. Check state of main hives i.e. for swarming, add supers and take appropriate action. Evening colonies by uniting stocks if required.

Thur July 6^th

Apiary site

Dave Sutton

RIB

NBKA Apiary Day: Detection and control of Varroa mite and diseases.

Thur July13th

Apiary site

BD, GM PLS,

Look for surplus stores; install clearer boards. Check and compare brood of main hives, take appropriate action.

Sun July 16^th

Apiary site then RH's honey house

RH, CB

removing then extracting the honey crop, filtering, honey warming, use and names of equipment

Thurs July 20^th

RH's honey house

RH, BH

Honey bottling, legislation

Thurs27^th July

Apiary site Thurs date tba

BD, BH, PLS

Autumn feeding; Robbing safeguards; winter storage of equipment

September

Apiary site date tba

BD, GM, PLS

Preparation for winter: heft hives, Mouse guards, Insulation? Varroa treatment?

Sept. 7^th

Newent Library

Peter Tomkins

60 Years, Man and Bee