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                                              Introduction to Beekeeping 2019!

                                                                  A BEEKEEPING COURSE THAT SPANS THE WHOLE BEEKEEPING YEAR!!!!
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       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. We are redesigning our previous one day course to include a bit more class time and to shift focus from the theory to more 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, Alpine 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, 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 sessions, and practical workshops, but we will also an online component!

   Classroom sessions (two days):
     
   - April 27th, 2019.  9:00 am - 3:00 pm.
   - May 11th, 2019      9:00 am - 3:00 pm.

      Lunch break 12:00 - 1:00, bring your own food, refreshments will be provided.

   Location:

     Casgrain building, room C-0137,  John Abbot College, Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue


   Practical workshops:

  The practical part of the course will take place at the ApiGuru's Senneville apiary.
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  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!

   - First half of June 2019:      main topic:  Apiary setup and working with the bees.  
   - First half of July 2019:       main topic:  Colony management, varroa monitoring.
   - First half of August 2019: main topic:  Varroa treatments, preparation for wintering.
   - November 2019:                main topic:  Oxalic acid (varroa) treatment and winterizing the colonies (temperature dependent activity).
   - April 2020:                          main topic:  Spring work with the bees and colony evaluations.***
   - May 2020:                            main topic:  Swarming management and apiary increase strategies.***

    ***Depending on the development of the season (early/late) we may combine the two last workshops in one, offer a combination of class/practical session, or proceed as scheduled above.


​    Online component (NEW!!!)

    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.



   Price:  We are pleased to offer this course this year at the introductory price of: $400 + tax.


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   About the Instructors:

   Branislav Babic started beekeeping in 1994 in his native Serbia, when he inherited his grandfather's Long hives and set up his apiary in the public park in front of his parents' house. He initiated the establishment of the McGill Apicultural Association in 2007, and since then has been an active participant in the backyard/urban beekeeping scene in Montreal. Branislav received his B.Sc in Animal Science in 1997, B.Sc in Microbiology (Biotechnology) in 2007, and M.Sc in Microbiology in 2011. Currently, he is the president of Apiguru Inc.

   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 at the MAA, he went on a 'bee pilgrimage' to meet beekeepers and further his education. He is currently operations manager of Apiguru inc.​
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    Questions?
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    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 25 persons, and the registration is on a first come, first served basis.


    Cancellation Policy
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   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.