Introduction to Beekeeping Course
“The” Course for anyone thinking about beginning
beekeeping
Delivered with The Killinchy & District Beekeeping Association.
Commencing Feb 2024
Course Overview
This is an Open College Network Northern Ireland (OCN NI) endorsed course developed by the Ulster Beekeepers’ Association (UBKA) Education and Assessment Team in conjunction with OCN NI and CAFRE personnel.
Introduction to Beekeeping (previously called Preliminary Beekeeping Certificate) Starts mid February 2022.
It involves 7 weeks tuition + 3 practical sessions.
Delivery will be partly Zoom and partly face to face, Covid restrictions permitting.
A practical and informative course over 8 evenings providing the necessary knowledge and skills to get established in beekeeping.
This course has both theoretical and practical sessions and provides the opportunity of achieving a Certificate in Beekeeping awarded in conjunction between The Ulster Beekeepers, CAFRE and The Open College Network.
This is an introductory course.
It covers the basics of beekeeping, setting up an apiary, acquiring bees, hive management, swarm control, disease control and honey production.
The minimum age for candidates participating in the course is 11 years of age. Please note though that all children between the ages of 11 and 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the whole duration of the course.
The course will normally run for 7 sessions, one per week, commencing in Feb 2020
Practical beekeeping sessions will be held in our local apiary in April/early May when it becomes possible to examine hives and manipulate bees.
The contents of the course include: • Natural history of the honeybee and colony structure. • Manipulation of a colony of honeybees. • Hives and frames. • Siting colonies in an apiary. • The beekeeping calendar. • Colony diseases, pests and poisoning. • Foraging. • Harvesting honey from the colony.
This course will be run by experienced Beekeeper tutors.
Costs
Course fee is £140 Full Association membership and public liability insurance is also included in this fee.
Students must provide their own suits and gloves for the practical sessions in April/May. On starting the course, students will be advised on the suitability of any purchases so please refrain from getting clothing, equipment or even bees until then.
If you would like further info, please contact the course tutor at:
You can enrol for this course usually in late September and /or register your interest to be notified when it is open for bookings at
https://www.cafre.ac.uk/business-courses/introduction-to-beekeeping/
All bookings are only made via the CAFRE website.
Don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions.
