This video has an audio commentary. The life cycle of a honey bee is presented as an example of complete metamorphosis, the development of an insect from egg to larva, then pupa, then adult. Moths, butterflies and wasps also develop with complete metamorphosis. Some aspects of beekeeping are also discussed.
Education & Training
Introduction To Beekeeping Course
No further classroom courses will take place until the Autumn.
This is an intensive one day course providing an introduction for the complete novice and can help you decide if beekeeping is for you. For those with a little knowledge of beekeeping this can help fill in the gaps in your knowledge.
To put your name on the priority list for future courses or to make an enquiry email pbkaapiarymanager@live.co.uk
Cost is £35 per person.
Fee includes a CD of the slides used on the day, handouts of the main points and light refreshments morning and afternoon. Please provide your own lunch.
Content:
- Introducing the Honey Bee – Honey Bee Races
- Queen, Workers and Drones – Recognition, Roles and Life Cycles
- Personal Beekeeping Equipment – Suits and Tools
- Bee Hives and Other Equipment
- The Beekeeping Year
- Managing your Bees – Inspections
- More about the Honey Bee – Moving Bees and Marking Queens
- Swarming – Impact and Management Techniques
- Honey Harvest – From the Hive to the Jar
- Bee Health – Managing the Risks to Bees
- Setting up your Apiary – Obtaining Bees and Equipment
- Bee Stings – The Risks
- Resources – Further Information
- What Next – Your Personal Action Plan
What have some people said about the course:
“Just to say thank you for the course which I found really informative as well as
entertaining and which will be very useful, I’m sure, in the future.”
“Thank you both very much indeed for such an interesting and thorough introduction to bee-keeping. It was extremely useful and a very sensible thing for me to do before putting a toe in the water as it were! I have slight reservations about whether I really can conmit the time to doing it properly – the summer is busy here. Anyway will think more about it. The apple cake was delicious – haven’t found the recipe yet.
Many thanks to you both for giving up your weekend to put on such an excellent workshop.”
“Just wanted to say thank you to you for an excellent course on Saturday.
I picked up lots of useful information, and it also gave me more confidence that
I’m heading roughly in the right direction than just reading Ted Hooper’s book!”
Improvers Course 2011
Dee Williams is once again offering a course for improvers commencing at 2.00 pm on Saturday 14th May for five weeks at Woodreef Honey Farm, Amroth.
This is a practical hands on course aimed at maximising the honey crop for those with their own bees and who have completed a basic course.
Attendance will be limited to four people as individual tuition forms a large part of the instruction. A different topic will be studied each week including: swarm control, dividing colonies, making nuclei, diseases, care of equipment.
Dee has kept bees commercially for 20 years and holds the intermediate certificate in beekeeping.
Course Cost £100. To book or make further enquiries contact Dee on 01994 453571.
Wing Morphometry Course
The Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders Association (BIBBA) are organising a wing morphometry weekend at Stoneleigh on 20/21 November 2010.
Morphometry is a useful tool for helping to identify the various sub-species of Apis mellifera and is particularly valuable in a breeding programme where it can indicate the racial purity of a sample of bees. This course will enable attendees to make two simple measurements of wing veins using a computer program and then plot the results on a graph.
This course is particularly suitable for those who wish to identify native and near native bees. Attendees will need to bring their own computers (which must have Microsoft Excel) ; detailed instructions will be given before the event. Cost – free to BIBBA members, £30 to non-members.
Booking is essential as spaces are limited. Book with Dinah Sweet dinah@dinahsweet.com
Course enquiries Roger Patterson roger-patterson@btconnect.com
BIBBA (www.bibba.com) aims to help those who are interested in our native and near native bees.
Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association 