One-Day Introduction to Beekeeping, June 19th 2009 10am to 4pm
Learn to keep bees peacefully and naturally with long time beekeeper Les Crowder. We will be offering a one day introductory hands-on beekeeping class in the cool and beautiful Penasco valley.
Learn how to calmly and confidently open beehives and harvest fresh rich honey and bee pollen. We have busy bees hives on site for the students work with. Bring your smoker and bee veil if you have them. To reserve your place in the class or for more information call (575) 587-2065
We offer season-long (8 weekends) class in ins and outs of beekeeping. Participants meet in an informal classroom setting for a combination of discussions and hands-on work with bees, hives and hive products. Working in a living laboratory of a small bee yard, students have extensive opportunities to become comfortable with and knowledgeable about handling bees.
Season-long Weekend Series in Natural Topbar Beekeeping 2009: this class is FULL
2010 Waiting List forming, contact for more information.
2009 Dates: Weekend One: May 30th-31st; Weekend Two: June 13-14; Weekend Three: June 27-28; Weekend Four: July 11-12; Weekend Five: July 25-26; Weekend Six: August 8-9; Weekend Seven: August 22-23; Weekend Eight: August 29-30.
Class times: 10am - 4pm, with one hour lunch break.
Location: Camino de Paz School, Santa Cruz NM
Topics Covered:
Introduction, May 30th-31st
We will look at the biology of the honey bee and its role in our ecosystem. The structure of the hive, the roles of queen, worker and drone, and the honey bee’s complex set of duties in completing pollination, storing nectar and pollen, making wax and expanding the hive with baby bees, are all part of the discussion in this initial class.
view slide show of class #1 of 2008
Building Hives and Obtaining Bees, June 13-14
Now is a good time to be thinking about getting bees into your hive to start out a season of beekeeping. In this class, students have an opportunity to build a topbar hive, talk about alternative hive designs, and learn how to ‘hive’ bees. The cost of setting up a bee yard in both the conventional Langstroth hives and natural topbar hives is also covered. view slide show of class #2 of 2008
Hive Products and Dividing Hives, June 27-28
What are honey, pollen and wax? How are they produced by the bees, and what role can a beekeeper play in managing their production? Learn how to identify ripened honey, how to collect pollen with pollen traps, and how wax is made by the bees. Different types of honey and pollen are discussed as well as the difference in honey and wax yields between conventional Langstroth hives and topbar hives. We also dedicate plenty of time to a discussion of splitting or dividing existing hives as a way of growing and managing a healthy bee yard. view slideshow of class #3 of 2008
Swarm Collection, Beekeeping as a Community Service, July 11-12
In the spring time, feral hives are growing in population and many begin to throw off swarms. Homeowners often don’t want bees in their roofs, trees or anywhere around their home. Beekeepers can offer a valuable service by learning how to catch swarms, remove hives and educate the public about the importance of preserving the honey bee rather than exterminating it. By offering this service to the public, beekeepers can grow their bee yard, charge a fee for the removal and add genetic diversity to their collection of hives. In this class, students learn how to remove a hive of bees from an unwanted location by either trapping the bees or completely removing the hive. view slideshow of class #4 of 2008 and more imageshere...
Queens, July 25-26
For beginning and advanced beekeepers, this class teaches the ins and outs of raising queens. Often it is desirable to create new hives from a particularly successful hive, and raising your own queens is the way to do this. Learn how to remove tiny larvae from worker cells, implant them into queen cells, and to induce the bees into raising multiple queens in one hive. A discussion of what happens to the queens after they have been raised, how to cage a queen and how to maintain nucleus hives are all part of this weekend class. view slideshow of class #5 of 2008
Hive Health & Maintenance, August 8-9
By the middle of summer, the honey production in the hive is starting to happen. The bees are increasing their population and it is important to check the hives for disease or unwanted cross-combing. This weekend class is spent working the bee hives, making observations and logging them into journals. Students learn how to recognize varroa mites and the techniques to combat them naturally, and become familiar with a variety of other hive illnesses and their conventional as well as organic treatments.
view slideshow of class #5 of 2008
Honey Plants, Harvest and Wax Processing, August 22-23
Now the honey starts to fill the hive and harvest can usually begin. In this class, students learn to harvest honey from topbars, crush the combs over a collander into a honey tank and bottle honey. Wax is put into a solar melter to be separated from hive debris and stored for later use in candles or salves. A lecture on agricultural crops and landscaping plants that are beneficial for honey production is part of this weekend. view slideshow of class #6 of 2008
Making Salves, Soaps and Candles, August 29
In this fun weekend, students make their own beeswax candles, salves and lip balms. Books that present recipes and techniques for making various bee products are on display. A lecture on soap-making and marketing techniques for budding entrepreneurs is also a part of this class.
End of Season Hive Maintenance and Conclusion, August 30
At the end of the season, it is important to leave the bees in good standing to make it through the winter with their own resources. Combining weak hives, checking for healthy brood pattern and leaving the bees with the proper number of combs to make it through the cold season is the focus of this class. Students learn to put the bees to bed for the winter, and receive their graduation certificates.
Fee:
For fees see Registration Portal. The $100 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your space in this very popular class. The class is limited to 20 attendants. There will be no drop-in registration for this program - if you would like to attend it, you need to contact us, make your deposit and register in advance.
Certification:
This is a certificate-granting program. Students wishing to receive certification must attend seven out of eight offered classes.