Due to the situation with Covid-19, we will keep small class sizes to ensure proper social distancing
Introduction to Beekeeping 2021!
This year-long course is aimed at providing all the necessary information that a beginner backyard/urban/small-scale/aspiring commercial beekeepers would need for their first season of keeping honeybees.
Due to covid19, we redesigned our previous one day course theoretical course to take place over zoom and include a bit more class time in the apiary for the practical, hands-on approach to learning the art of beekeeping.
The course participants will learn about the practical and legal requirements for setting up their own apiaries, choices that they have in regard to the bees, equipment, and beekeeping approaches, general management practices, pests and diseases, problem spotting and solving, wintering bees in our climate, management of the bees in different hive types, and many more topics, but most importantly to learn about using critical thinking when evaluating various beekeeping practices.
The prospective beekeepers will be able to get familiar with managing bee colonies in several different hive types (Langstroth, Warre, Layens, Slovenian AZ, Dividable Layens hive, and our 10-square hive). While the main objective of the course will be to guide the participants through the beekeeping year starting from the small nucleus colonies, what the beginners usually start with, we will have on site a good number of fully developed colonies to learn from. ApiGuru is committed to the sustainable, and balanced api-centric beekeeping practices, and this course will certainly reflect that.
Target Audience:
The course is designed for beginners, but even less experienced beekeepers will be able to learn a lot. The course content is not suitable for persons under 16 years old. Participants younger than 18 years old need to be accompanied by the participating parent, or legal guardian. People allergic to bee stings should not take this course!!!
The course will consist of two major parts, classroom/Zoom sessions, and practical workshops, but will also include an online component! Both classrooms, and practical workshops will take place over the weekends!
Classroom sessions (one days):
- TBD 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.
Lunch break 12:00 - 1:00.
Location:
Zoom
Practical workshops:
The practical part of the course will take place at ApiGuru's Senneville apiary in Montreal.
The participants should be aware that beekeeping is an outdoor activity and as such is dependent on the weather conditions. We can not know far in advance if the weather will be favorable for working with bees, so the participants should be aware that in case of bad weather some scheduled workshops will have to be postponed and/or rescheduled. Therefore, we will just approximate the workshop dates on this page, and the participants will be informed about the exact dates once we figure them out ourselves. Please note that the location of the apiary and the terrain configuration may not allow an easy access to the persons with limited mobility!
Part 1
- First half of June 2020: - Spring work with the bees and colony evaluations
- Apiary setup and working with the bees.
- Swarming management and apiary increase strategies
- Colony management, varroa monitoring.
- Hands on inspections.
- Honey production methods.
Part 2
- First half of July 2020: - Honey extraction.
- Varroa treatments, preparation for wintering.
- Fall colony management.
- Oxalic acid (varroa) treatment and winterizing the colonies (temperature dependent activity).
Part 1
- First half of June 2020: - Spring work with the bees and colony evaluations
- Apiary setup and working with the bees.
- Swarming management and apiary increase strategies
- Colony management, varroa monitoring.
- Hands on inspections.
- Honey production methods.
Part 2
- First half of July 2020: - Honey extraction.
- Varroa treatments, preparation for wintering.
- Fall colony management.
- Oxalic acid (varroa) treatment and winterizing the colonies (temperature dependent activity).
|
Online component: The participants will be asked to join a closed Facebook group that we'll set up for this course. The purpose of the group is to facilitate the communication, and scheduling of the practical workshops, share the files relevant to the course, and that build up on the topic we covered in the class and in the field, as well to discuss the topics (within the course objectives) that were mentioned during the sessions, but need more clarification. Part 1: $250 + tax. Part 2: $250 + tax. About the Instructor: |
|
Yoav Sasportas started beekeeping in 2008 in response to colony collapse . He became passionate about bees and finding solutions to the bee crisis became a mission. After receiving his first instructions from Master beekeeper Branislav Babic. he went on to learn from Sam Comfort, Michael Palmer and Kirk Webster further his education. He is currently the President/beekeeper of Apiguru inc.
Questions?
If you have questions regarding the course, please contact us
Registration
To register for this course please use the form at the bottom of this page. Once we receive your registration request we will send you the invoice with the payment instructions depending on the preferred payment method you indicated. Once we receive the payment we'll send you the registration confirmation. Please make sure that you provide a correct email address. We accept credit cards, Paypal, Interac e-transfer. Contact us for the alternative payment methods.
Participation is limited to 15 persons, and the registration is on a first come, first served basis.
Cancellation Policy
We reserve the right to cancel the course due to insufficient enrollment. If such is the case, the refunds will be issued in full.
If for any reason you change your mind and wish to cancel your registration:
Before seven (7) days prior to the start date of the course: A refund will be issued, less a $20 administration fee.
Within seven (7) days prior to the start date of the course: No refunds, however an Apiguru products and services credit will be issued.
Questions?
If you have questions regarding the course, please contact us
Registration
To register for this course please use the form at the bottom of this page. Once we receive your registration request we will send you the invoice with the payment instructions depending on the preferred payment method you indicated. Once we receive the payment we'll send you the registration confirmation. Please make sure that you provide a correct email address. We accept credit cards, Paypal, Interac e-transfer. Contact us for the alternative payment methods.
Participation is limited to 15 persons, and the registration is on a first come, first served basis.
Cancellation Policy
We reserve the right to cancel the course due to insufficient enrollment. If such is the case, the refunds will be issued in full.
If for any reason you change your mind and wish to cancel your registration:
Before seven (7) days prior to the start date of the course: A refund will be issued, less a $20 administration fee.
Within seven (7) days prior to the start date of the course: No refunds, however an Apiguru products and services credit will be issued.
